14 | JANUARY 23 • 2020 

grow our education.
”
Klausner said, “The trip gave us 
time to learn with other girls in 
the seminaries. It was interesting 
to see how they spend hours every 
day learning Gemara — and it 
gets us excited to be able to partic-
ipate in that as well.
”
Although Schon did not attend 
the siyum in Jerusalem, she was 
able to teach a shiur (Talmudic 
study session) here to 25 adult 
attendees and share her learning 
of Gemara with others in the com-
munity.
“It was really impactful to see 
how what I was saying was educat-
ing the people in the room,
” Schon 
said. “
A lot of people came up to 
me who didn’
t have the opportu-
nity to learn Gemara as women 
when they were children, includ-
ing a Judaic teacher of mine. It was 
crazy to experience that because 
it was a like a flip — she’
s always 
been my teacher and someone I 
have looked up to, but now it was 
my moment to share my knowl-
edge with her.
“It truly made me feel blessed 
to be able to have this opportunity 
and it is something I do love. I’
m 
so grateful for Rabbi Stein and my 
school for providing me with this 
opportunity.
”

FOR ALL STUDENTS
Rabbi Noam Stein, Farber’
s high 
school principal, started the Girls 

Beit Midrash Program at Farber 
four years ago. 
“The Gemara program for girls 
started a number of years ago but, 
for many years, their program 
was fewer hours a week and less 
intense than the boys’
 program,
” 
Rabbi Stein said. “We changed 
the program around four years 
ago and opened this more intense 
Gemara option for girls where 
they were learning not just the 
same hours as boys in school, but 
also the same extra additional 
hours of outside-of-class learning.
”
Through this program, the four 
girls have written articles that have 
been produced into four journals 
about Talmud topics. The journals 
include articles from boys and 
girls. 
While many Orthodox schools 
throughout the U.S. still have 
strong differences on what girls 
and boys learn, Rabbi Stein says he 
never could wrap his head around 
the idea of not allowing girls to 
learn Gemara at the highest level.
“The main thing for me was 
that the Talmud is the central 
text of Judaism and it is the way 
in which generations of people’
s 
minds have become connected to 
Jewish ideas and to a deep love of 
God by diving deeply into God’
s 
word,
” Rabbi Stein said. “For me, it 
always seemed it didn’
t make any 
sense not to give that amazing gift 
to connect deeply to Judaism and 

We live in a generation where 
Orthodox women now have the 
opportunity to study Torah at the 
most advanced levels, something 
that in the not-so-distant past
was unimaginable.

— RABBI SCOT A. BERMAN, FARBER HEAD OF SCHOOL 

FACING: Farber Hebrew Day School students Cara Lopatin, Yaffa Klausner and 
Sima Stein at the Western Wall in Jerusalem
TOP TO BOTTOM: The Farber contingent at the siyum: Sima Stein, Yaffa 
Klausner, teacher Amy Stein and Cara Lopatin. At the siyum, a speaker calls 
attention to Farber students in attendance.

continued from page 12