Program Focuses on Gemara Skills

Levi did the system. Elementary school was followed by a mainstream yeshiva high school, and a stint in Russia as a shliach. He has the passport stamps and global friends to prove his journey. But there is something missing, and it’s not the smicha certificate hanging on his wall. For all his years behind a desk and with a chavrusa, Levi still does not know how to decipher a blatt of Gemara. And he isn’t alone.

At 34, Levi wants more for his 11-year-old son, who, he hopes, is at the cusp of a lifetime of learning. Mivtza Torah – Gemara Bifnim, a recently launched division of Igud Hamelamdim, just might be the answer.

The program began in sixth grade classrooms across seven schools in Crown Heights, Baltimore, Toronto, and Chicago this September. Under the guidance of their rebbeim, boys study the set curriculum of their individual schools. Once every three weeks, the students are tested on the material covered, inside. The tests, written specifically for each individual classroom by Gemara Bifnim, are “open book,” allowing boys to actually use and hone their Gemara skills.

“It’s not a memory game, it’s not about remembering the conversation or story line,” explains coordinator Rabbi Avrohom Bluming. “It’s about looking inside the Gemara to see which words mean this, and who is this referring to, and how do you know that. These skills are the key to knowing how to learn Gemara independently anywhere in the world, at any time.”

The current chinuch landscape is filled with extracurricular programming, encouraging students to excel in baal peh, in mivtzoyim, in darkei hachassidus. The achievements gained in these areas are astounding. To match that enthusiasm within the classroom itself, Igud Hamelamdim sought a positive program that would not only encourage proper Gemara study, but also make it tantalizing.

After each test, boys are rewarded with points that will amass throughout the year. In the spring, the points will be redeemed at a sefarim store in each school. Whoever takes the test receives points based on the number of his correct answers without a minimum passing score. Based on their scores, boys are also entered into raffles that are drawn after each exam. Unlike initiatives that cater to students at extreme levels of their classes, Gemara Bifnim is designed for each talmid, at his own ability.

Rabbi Gamliel Dray has been teaching for seven years. The program, he says, “is amazing.” Where other curricula focus on memorization, leaving weaker students behind, Gemara Bifnim literally opens the Gemara before each student. “They use their own Gemaras, they use their own brains.” explains the Oholei Torah rebbe. “The boys are learning, liking it, and looking forward to each class. They are really learning how to learn.”