Personal Narrative: My Role As An Orthodox Jew

As an Orthodox Jew, religion plays a central role in my life. I attended a private Jewish high school, where much of my day was devoted to religious studies. While I learned about many different aspects of Judaism, my favorite subject was Talmud. Even though the Talmud has little practical relevance to modern life, or even contemporary Jewish law, I still found it to be a fascinating subject. On its surface Talmud may not seem like an engaging subject. It was composed as a legal text two thousand years ago, . Furthermore, it is written in Aramaic, which adds to its seeming impenetrability. In fact, though, we studied Talmud for precisely these reasons. Talmud served as mental regimen, a way of teaching critical, logical thinking. As my Rabbi used to tell us, Talmud “teaches us how to think clearly.” To me, learning Talmud is like putting together a puzzle, in that the pieces need to be arranged so that they fit together properly. Talmud also appealed to me because it’s open nature; anyone can propose a novel idea or explanation. We studied in pairs, two people together, working through a section of the Talmud. Oftentimes, my partner and I would come to different conclusions, and we would have to debate …show more content…
I love the strict and precise logic of math and physics, which provide me with the ability to come to solution and know that it is right. When I construct a mathematical proof, I utilize the logic skills that I honed studying Talmud. But I also appreciate the humanities, which are more open to interpretation. Talmud, I believe, provides the best of both worlds; it adheres to strict logical principles while leaving much open to interpretation, allowing me to mentally explore different paths and see where each one leads me. While I no longer take Talmud as a class I still make time to study it several times a week, to tend to the intellectual spark that it kindled within