At New England Rabbinical College: A life of study and community

Part II in a series

By Jonathan Rubin

jrubin@jfri.org

PROVIDENCE — In the hallways of the New England Rabbinical College, Torah is alive. Whenever they leave or enter a room, students place their fingers on a mezuzah and kiss their fingertips, a custom which, it is said, makes the words of Torah sweet on their lips. They pray three times a day with total intensity. In the kitchen, everything from juice pitchers to tablecloths are painted with either red stripes (for meat) or blue stripes (for milk), to help keep them separate in accordance with Jewish dietary laws. Hundreds of sacred books in Hebrew and Aramaic line the walls of the many study rooms.

Each day, students have group and individual study sessions (see sidebar). Mornings are spent in preparation for a shiur (lesson) by one of the yeshiva’s two directors, Rabbi Eliezer Gibber or Rabbi Yosef Lipson.

During group study all the students are  together in one room with two or three rabbis and any community members who show up. They study in three-hour sessions in pairs called chavrutas, either with a learned person, rabbi or otherwise, or with a colleague. Chavrutas are the traditional style of serious Jewish learning; the goal is both to test oneself and someone else in order to arrive at an overall deeper understanding of the sacred texts.

“Learning” is usually thought of as something passive, a studious deed accomplished in silence. During a study hall at a yeshiva (also known as beit midrash, or “house of learning”), you might think you’ve accidentally walked into a baseball dugout in between innings. As one student puts it —“you’d think we were going to kill each other.” Indeed, the cacophony of passionate back-and-forth Talmudic discourse is so loud you need to be six inches away from someone to make out what he is saying.

Learning Torah is nearly an act of prayer in itself, so many students sway meditatively as they ponder or debate. Others twirl pens as they focus, and grab coffee when they need to stretch their legs. Some record lessons and listen to them on their ipods later.

The students are sharp. They often answer questions on multiple levels using numerous examples – analytical thinking is the trademark of what some call a “classical” Jewish Talmudic education.

Before receiving a degree in rabbinics, after spending four to five years at the yeshiva, some students find the time to take classes at night at Providence College, where the two institutions have a special relationship. When they’re done, they may leave the Rabbinical College with an additional secular degree, for example, in accounting or marketing.

Student profiles

What would encourage a student from Baltimore’s robust community of thousands of Orthodox Jews to come to Providence, whose Orthodox population is only about 550, according to the 2002 Jewish Community Demographic Study?

For Berish Edelman, 21, it was exactly this “small yeshiva” environment that attracted him. The 1,000-plus students at the yeshiva in Baltimore seemed overwhelming, and he wondered if he could get the individual attention he was looking for. He found a small, nurturing, close-knit environment in Providence where everybody seemed to be in one big family. Edelman is not alone – small yeshivas seem to be growing in popularity nationwide.

He said he chose a yeshiva for higher education because “I’ve always wanted to know what everything is all about – life, the universe; you know, clichés like that.” He’s chosen a Jewish path in this journey through ethics, history, philosophy, law, metaphysics and more.

Edelman takes night classes at Johnson and Wales University towards a degree in computer graphics. He’d like to use his computer skills part-time, and teach in a Jewish or secular environment, or work at a kollel.

He said he might understand why people believe a yeshiva education produces only sheltered graduates, but he says he’s received a huge amount of “real life” experience, from public speaking to building successful relationships with peers and authority figures, and from hard work and community service.

Student life

College food is not something that is usually raved about, but the bochurim are big fans of yeshiva grub. Earlier this month, lunch was baked ziti, apple crisp and salad, prepared by its full-time chef, Hannah Rosenthal.

Kosher foods are ordered from New York and shipped to Davis’s Dairy on Hope Street. Produce is bought locally.

For the students, it’s also like a fraternity. They spend so much time together that they seem like family, and they treat one another like mispocha. One student became afflicted with Krohn’s disease and had to be hospitalized for a few days. The entire yeshiva – students and staff — stopped by for a hospital visit.

Duvid Insel, 19, was hanging around the upper floors of the Rabbinical College one night with some friends when the phone rang. Apparently, someone had recently passed away and the Jewish burial society needed someone immediately to stay with the deceased (“shomer”) at the funeral home until help arrived in the morning. So the students took two-hour shifts from midnight to 8 a.m., saying customary tehillim (psalms) over the body.

“I was a little scared going in,” Insel said. “But it really makes you think about life.”

Many students find wives while at yeshiva. Last year, three students were wed in a six- week period.

Student Menachem Weisman, 21, was humbled by the close connections he immediately established. “In my first two months, I went to three funerals,” he said.

As full-fledged members of the community, rabbinic students always have something to do. Students will fill in for minyans at local synagogues, or read Torah on Shabbat. When someone passes away, they will gather at someone’s house to help with t he shiva prayers. The yeshiva also assembles the largest Orthodox community minyan in town during Rosh Hashanah.

“This place is like 1-800-rent-a-bochur,” said Weisman with a laugh.

The students also update the school’s website, send out a newsletter on the weekly Torah portion, and, if they’re so inclined, help out around the yeshiva by binding books, fixing furniture, fiddling with computers or building shelves.

The college has a few computers and internet access, but random net surfing is discouraged.

“The internet can be powerful, or dangerous,” a student said, paraphrasing a strict nationwide stance that many American yeshivas are currently adopting.

Down time

Life at the yeshiva is mostly study, but not all. To wind down, students might play handball in the dormitory floors upstairs, lift weights, or play football outside in the snow. Some nights, they rent the basketball courts at the Jewish Community Center. Or, in a scene somewhat reminiscent of the movie, “The Chosen,” you might see them playing some pretty decent baseball in the JCC fields.

And then there’s the annual Purim parade, a massive social event planned by a few students. Some attendees have been the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island’s own “dancing police officer,” Providence firefighters, DJs and musicians.

“We’re always thinking about it. Maybe we’ll do Star Wars this year,” said Noach Karp.

Through their tutoring and volunteer efforts, the bochurim became intimately acquainted with most of the Orthodox families in the city. As a result, when Shabbat rolls around, students are rarely lacking an invite to someone’s house for a meal.

Shabbat is a true celebration of song and joy that students look forward to all week. On many Friday evenings, the entire yeshiva is invited to Rabbi Gibber’s house, where his wife Marsha cooks up enormous quantities of cholent, the traditional Shabbat stew of meat, grains and potatoes. She is also a teacher at the girls’ Orthodox high school, and she and Miriam Lipson run the Women’s Auxiliary as well.

While the vast majority of their time is spent inside the yeshiva, students still walk to CVS to pick up essentials, or pick up some supplies at a mall or Home Depot. Some will use the occasional free weekend for a day trip to Mystic, or the Basketball Hall of Fame, or Roger Williams Park Zoo.