nly gleaned if one is sensitive to the nuances of diukim (deductions) and hava amina (original suppositions) upon which the Gemara discussion is based. To this end, it is worth demonstrating once in a while how the principles in the sugya have bearing on everyday life, e.g., the concepts of kinyan chatzer (acquiring something when it enters your domain) and keilav shel lokeach (a vessel that belongs to the one who wants to possess it) as they would relate to loose change found in a soda machine, et cetera.
Having decided to put his life on hold to learn more Torah, the ba’al teshuvah now finds himself in front of an intimidating volume comprised of two foreign languages, with discussions on obscure details of various laws that he is likely never to encounter.
This leads to another question: How much of the ba’al teshuvah’s yeshivah day should be devoted to Gemara? The answer would seem to depend on how long the student has been exposed to learning. The yeshivah where I teach–Machon Yaakov in the Har Nof section of Jerusalem, under the leadership of Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld–consists of a two-year program. In the first year, although emphasis is
placed on introducing students to the study of Gemara, it is within the context of a well-rounded curriculum of Torah subjects, e.g., Chumash, halachah, hashkafah, et cetera. The second-year program focuses significantly more on Gemara, with most of the day devoted to iyun (analysis) and bekiyut (widespread knowledge) although there are still slots for other Torah subjects as well.
A major obstacle for the newcomer to Gemara is vocabulary. The student may still be struggling with basic Hebrew, and now he is now confronted with Aramaic! For a young adult with an analytical mind, it can be especially frustrating to be unable to read more than a few words. There are no quick solutions to developing a Gemara vocabulary. Many teachers use vocabulary sheets that may be very useful for making the sugya at hand more digestible, but they rarely yield enduring gains. A wonderful idea that has been used quite successfully is to have the student write his own “dictionary.” Every day, he should
choose three words that he judges to be “key words” that he expects to see again. Key words are then reviewed on a weekly basis, either with a chavruta or with the rebbe, and within a few weeks the student will have the beginnings of a working Gemara vocabulary. In addition, the student should be trained to try and look for the root of a word, as this will allow him in many instances to attain a “family” of words at one time. The rebbe should also try to show how certain words are related to terms found in the Chumash or siddur. The rebbe needs to balance the need to develop the student’s textual skills–which, although demanding time and effort, is arguably the talmid’s greatest asset when he leaves the yeshivah–with ba’al peh, oral discussion, in which the student will be able to participate more freely as he learns the vocabulary.
Another challenge the student encounters is on an intellectual plane. Although he may be bright and capable of engaging in an analysis of the concepts he is learning, he may still find it difficult to follow the long chains of discussion often found in a sugya, especially as he needs to keep track of what was held true at each stage of the discussion. In addition, he may be used to contemplating one idea at a time, whereas when studying Gemara there are often multiple opinions or approaches “on the stove” simultaneously. Brief summaries every once in a while are very helpful for consolidating the flow of information. Many rebbeim also use charts and diagrams to help organize the information.
It is also helpful when concluding a topic to ask the students to stop, organize the sugya in their own minds and then have one student summarize it for the class. When a student has to express the elements of the sugya in his own words, it helps him digest it. Because of the students’ greater aptitude for conceptual discussion–and because it is less demanding technically–they will often t