HELPING EVERY

STUDENT LEARN

RABBI WEBER’S REVOLUTIONARY SYSTEM

18 February 3, 2016

FOR REVIEW O

NLY

RABBI WEBER’S REVOLUTIONARY SYSTEM

Rabbi Yeshayahu Weber

Reuven had been an exemplary student throughout his elementary school career.

When it was time to apply to yeshivah gedolah, the yeshivos vied for his enrollment.

He accepted the offer of a prestigious yeshivah and was soon known as the top bachur of the shiur.

When he took written tests, he amazed his maggidei shiur. Each test was a four-hour marathon, as he

wrote volumes for each answer.

Then, one day, he simply couldn’t do it anymore. He couldn’t walk into the beis medrash; he couldn’t open

a gemara. He was an emotional wreck. Not only were his parents distraught, but his Rosh Yeshivah

was alarmed. He advised Reuven’s parents that before they spoke to a psychologist or therapist,

Reuven should be seen by Rabbi Yeshayahu Weber, the founder of a unique system for learning Gemara.

BY TZIYONA KANTOR

1923 Shevat 5776

FOR REVIEW O

NLY

Rabbi Weber spoke to Reuven for a while as Reuven’s mother waited anxiously in a side room. After the evaluation, Rabbi Weber invited her into his office. “You don’t need to go further; the problem is really quite simple. Your son,” he smiled at Reuven, who was digesting the information that Rabbi Weber had discussed with him, “as you probably know, is brilliant.

He has a phenomenal memory; he doesn’t forget a thing. The problem is that he has never really comprehended the Gemara beyond the level of an eight-year-old.

“When he takes a test, he doesn’t know how to build the answers because he doesn’t have a real grasp of what the Gemara is saying. He doesn’t know how to approach a sugya, so he writes every detail that he remembers related to the subject. But without any filters or direction, he writes too much. And since his answers are so huge, the teachers don’t bother reading them — they just assume they must be brilliant!

“Reuven knows this subconsciously, and he simply can no longer keep up the smokescreen. He knows he’s not really learning Gemara. He needs to go back to the beginning and understand how Gemara works. He needs to use his amazing memory to delve into the Gemara and make the connections in order for it to really come alive.”

Reuven’s mother started to cry. “You are the first one to tell the truth. I suspected this for a long time. I would always ask the rebbeim, ‘Does Reuven understand the Gemara?’ and they would speak about his brilliant memory and nod their heads. Thank you, Rabbi Weber!”

How It All BeganRabbi Weber was born in Yerushalayim over 65 years ago

and moved to the United States with his family in the ’60s. After he got married, he brought his young family back to Yerushalayim. After being involved in chinuch for a long time, he started building his new method of teaching students how to successfully learn Gemara. This method has now received approval from leading rabbanim and roshei yeshivah, including, shlita: Harav Aharon Leib Steinman, Harav Tuvia Weiss, Harav Shmuel Auerbach, the Tolna Rebbe, Harav Noach Orlowek, and lbcl”c Harav Ovadiah Yosef, zt”l.

Rabbi Weber took time out from his schedule to explain his “new” method to teach boys how to learn and understand Gemara, and train rebbeim in properly teaching it. “First, let us understand the history of today’s cheder system,” Rabbi Weber begins. “Before World War I, a father would hire someone to teach his son(s), or a few families would join together for this purpose. At most, a cheder would have 10 to 12 boys learning together.

“There weren’t separate classes to divide the boys by levels or ages. Not all the teachers were good, but the Gemara was taught in the same way to everyone, regardless of level. Those boys who excelled would then find a bench in a nearby shul where the town’s talmidei  chachamim who learned all day would guide them in their learning. The rest of the boys went off to work. A few of the boys from the shuls would eventually make it into the larger yeshivos. Since this was a natural weeding process, the few boys who ended up in yeshivah definitely knew how to learn properly and excelled at it.”

RABBI WEBER’S REVOLUTIONARY SYSTEM

The ceremony at which certificates were presented to 60 people who concluded a special “Rav Weber Method” course in Bnei Brak, attended by Harav Aharon Leib Steinman, shlita, Harav Gershon Edelstein, shlita, and prominent chinuch personalities.

20 February 3, 2016

FOR REVIEW O

NLY

The Problem“Nowadays, all boys attend cheder. On one hand, it is great

that every boy is given the chance to learn. Yet the chadarim have large classes and even larger expectations. The large class sizes are an indication of how Klal Yisrael is growing and flourishing, baruch Hashem, but they have nothing to do with the success of the cheder system. In addition, the schools have competitive curricula with demanding standards and extreme social pressures. Teachers need to prove their worth to stay in the system, yet their success is determined by the few students who are able to excel on a high level (often at the expense of the other students’ learning). In truth, all students need to feel a sense of accomplishment in their learning.”

According to Rabbi Weber: “It is halachah l’maaseh — an important practical consideration: A class for Gemara should not be larger than 10-12 students!”

The SolutionNot only is there a mitzvah to learn Gemara, but the Gemara

is a tool, a keli, that can be used to understand and process the world by putting together concepts that run throughout the many masechtos. Therefore, through learning Gemara, a boy’s personality is developed. He will grow into a mentch, a thinker, a person who understands consequences; it is a tool for life.

In an ideal system, every rebbi would be taught by a chinuch expert how to properly teach Gemara and build his talmidim using the tools of the Gemara. These teachers would then teach Gemara to small groups of boys, with the aid of apprentices who would, by observing and assisting the rebbi, get on-the-job training using the proper methods. In this way, the system would grow and produce master educators and builders of the next generation of successful talmidim.

Since implementing this program is not practical at this point, Rabbi Weber has developed a system where students learn one on one with tutors who are trained to give them the tools to learn Gemara successfully and develop skills for life.

Five ToolsAssuming a student knows how to read the Gemara

reasonably well, he must then properly study it using five tools

that need to be adapted for his own personality, strengths and character traits.

1. Understanding2. Thinking (logical analysis) 3. Organization in short-term memory4. Reading comprehension5. Expressing independently

UnderstandingRabbi Weber explains, “I see a desk. It is larger than

a student’s desk; it has drawers and holes on the top to accommodate wires. I understand that it is an office desk. That is ‘understanding.’ I have taken the known facts and come up with a logical conclusion.

“If a person who is not Jewish or does not know any Jewish concepts would see a pushka, he would not understand what it was for. Yet a person who knows the concept of tzedakah and has seen a pushka before will recognize it and realize it is there to be used for the mitzvah of tzedakah. It is the product of putting two ideas together to develop a new idea.”

ThinkingIt is not sufficient to just understand. One has to be able

to take the next step and give the idea a judgment, or value, in order to be able to apply it to other cases. Going back to the desk analogy, once a person understands that the desk is an office desk, he can now begin applying this knowledge to decide how he will use it. For example, he will realize that he can thread the wires for his computer through the holes on top so that he can set up a functional workstation. He can decide which office supplies and documents should be kept in each drawer.

Thinking is recognizing the similarities and distinctions, the connections and the relationships, between different ideas. It makes the understanding of an idea broader, wider and deeper, so it can be applied to yet other areas.

OrganizationThe Gemara is vast, yet many parts are interconnected; organizing is connecting the dots and creating a complete picture; it is the use of short-term memory to grasp the full picture. It is recognizing similar ideas, even though they come from different, seemingly unrelated, places. For example, at a garage sale, a person might see another desk that is similar in structure to the first one that he recognized as an office desk. Although it is out of the office setting, he will note the similarities between them and realize that it is also a desk that is intended for office use.

Reading ComprehensionThe Gemara’s words convey the meaning of the concepts

and straightforward ideas. The student needs to understand

Rabbi Yeshayahu Weber visiting Harav Ovadia Yosef, zt"l.

2123 Shevat 5776

FOR REVIEW O

NLY

the Gemara using textual skills such as punctuation, accurate translation and “reading between the lines” through context clues and comprehension.

ExpressionOnce a student can express the meaning of the

Gemara in his own words — once he can clearly explain the concept, showing that he understands it and can apply it to other situations and connect it to other ideas — he becomes part of the eternal chain that connects all lomdei Torah.

What prevents real learning?A problem that has developed in the cheder system

is that all too often teachers expect their students to jump into the thinking process without first giving them the tools to understand. Only after establishing basic understanding can a teacher build concepts into a thinking process. Teachers often relate to the children on their own adult level of understanding and don’t appreciate all the steps that go into developing understanding in students. To the teacher it is already automatic and obvious. But that is not how the child views the Gemara’s questions, because he doesn’t have the teacher’s vast learning experience or life experience.

Another challenge in learning is that the Gemara is not always sequential. The Amora’im would compare different ideas from various places, which on the surface do not seem related, using a unique thinking process. A child needs to grow with these new concepts to develop a deeper way of thinking. He needs to learn that each part can affect, and be connected to, many others. The seder of Nezikin can be connected to Kodashim. On the surface, they seem like two totally different topics, but after delving deeper — or better yet, after a qualified rebbi explains it — a student can start to see the connections and discover more new concepts.

Rabbi Weber’s SystemEach child has his own personality, his own strengths

and weakness, his own likes and dislikes, his own emotional intelligence and behavioral challenges. Rabbi Weber interviews each child to understand his personality and nature. Then, together with a tutor, he builds a method to help bring the child to properly understand the Gemara and think effectively. This can be a lengthy process; in some cases the tutor and student may not even open a gemara for a long time.

Rabbi Yitzchak Weiss, superintendent coordinator for Rabbi Weber’s tutors around the world, explains the process:

“It is a step-by-step program of building the child’s

personality and mental abilities, in order for him to begin to love learning Gemara and the thinking process involved.”

Step 1: A connection is made between the child and Gemara. By understanding the child’s personality, his preferences and his strengths, the tutor is able to show him that he is really connected to Torah learning.

For example, if a child loves drawing, his artwork can be used to connect to ideas within the Gemara and show him that he can see things differently using his skill.

Step 2: Once the talmid is bolstered using his natural strengths, the tutor can being to work on his weaknesses.

Step 3: Finally, the tutor steps back and lets the student create his own connections to the Gemara.

Rabbi Weber’s method is not to spoon-feed the information, but to build the student’s tools so that he can use them independently. He doesn’t even encourage his tutors to reward students with prizes or treats. The goal is for the student to develop a love of learning for its own sake.

Using this method, the student’s whole personality can change; his thinking can become organized, he can develop a depth of understanding. If there are other issues that need to be dealt with, Rabbi Weber is a proponent of using all the help available for emotional, mental and neurological issues. He recommends therapists and doctors who can help a student reach a point where he is able to grow in learning; whether he requires language, music or art therapy, special education or any other extra assistance. It is important that the student feels good about himself, in order for him to be successful in his Gemara learning.

How It Actually Works“Once,” Rabbi Weiss relates, “I had an eight-year-old

student who had ADHD. He was not following in class. Since he couldn’t sit still, he never caught on to the basics. I needed to start by introducing very concrete

RABBI WEBER’S REVOLUTIONARY SYSTEM

Harav Yeshayahu Weber visiting Harav Nissim Karelitz, shlita

22 February 3, 2016

FOR REVIEW O

NLY

ideas so that he could begin to grasp the concepts of learning. For two months, we would go outside every day and learn hilchos Shabbos in a very tangible way. We would break branches off of trees, dig holes, and drag tables across a grassy field. We demonstrated the concepts of hilchos Shabbos in the most physical ways possible. By understanding that these concrete concepts connected to the Mishnayos, he was able to start building his connection to higher learning. At that point, we were able to start exploring the abstract. This step was important because children can’t be given only concrete examples in the Gemara. Even at a young age, they need to start understanding more theoretical concepts.”

Rabbi Weber gives another example of building concepts with young students. “We teach the halachos and different concepts that involve Erev Pesach. There is so much involved with Erev Pesach. All the different facets of chametz: eating it, owning it, turning it to dust, how does it all change if it is Shabbos.... These concepts, which can be experienced, are also abstract ideas that need to be learned and drawn out.”

Rabbi Weiss tells another story of utilizing strengths to work on weaknesses. “We once had a 19-year-old bachur who seemed to be a masmid. He knew 1,000 pages of Gemara by heart, but then he suddenly stopped learning. He simply didn’t enjoy it. He didn’t connect the Gemara to anything — he really hadn’t developed an understanding and thus had no gratification from learning. Everything to him was unconnected; just pages to memorize with no substance.

“I started learning with him for two hours a day. Every day we worked on understanding the consequences of each detail he had previously memorized. I asked specific questions that would stimulate his thinking process. In the beginning, he couldn’t understand the difference between a found wallet that had a siman (a unique sign) and one that didn’t. We had to build mental pictures so he could “see” the differences. We asked questions that helped him slowly make the transition from viewing the Gemara as random facts to recognizing cause and effect. It became a new way for him to think, skills he could use in his everyday life.

“I had another bachur from Boro Park who wasn’t doing too much with his life. He never opened a gemara; he was just hanging around. He was going to be starting shidduchim and decided to clean up his act. Someone sent him to Rabbi Weber.

“We started from the beginning, with Chumash, then we moved on to Mishnayos and basic Gemara. He put in a lot of effort; he was motivated to suceed, and soon started making the connections. It’s been a year and a half, and he is still progressing in his learning.

“Another student had moved from Australia to Israel at age 12. The father, a Chassid, sent his son to a Yiddish-speaking school. The boy, who really only understood English, was lost. He wasn’t able to learn in so many new languages (Yiddish, Aramaic and Hebrew) at once. For four years he sat in class and never really understood anything. His father was a baal teshuvah and didn’t feel confident helping him with Gemara either.

“We started to work with a computer program that helps the students understand the Gemara using pictures and charts. Questions are presented using different colors, shapes and graphs. He started to enjoy the learning. He switched to a Hebrew-speaking school where he would only need to understand Hebrew and the language of the Gemara. It has been two years, and, though we still meet occasionally, he has mastered the language and can learn the concepts independently.”

Worldwide RevolutionRabbi Weiss relates that Rabbi Weber travels around the

world to evaluate struggling students who are seeking help. He has trained tutors in England, the United States, Canada, Russia, Europe and South Africa. If there isn’t a tutor available at a student’s location and the student can speak Hebrew or English, he can be helped via Skype.

A revolution is taking place. There is help available. This system of learning Gemara — innovative and new, yet with roots in the past — can transform every boy into a successful talmid.

Additional approbations available from the Inyan office.

Harav Gershon Edelstein, shlita, perusing Harav Weber’s sefer during his visit

Harav Yeshayahu Weber visiting Harav Chaim Kanievsky, shlita

2323 Shevat 5776

FOR REVIEW O

NLY