The Summer Torah Education Program was founded in 2005 to provide an authentic yeshiva learning experience for young men that cannot take off a full year to come to yeshiva.

The program is designed for someone who has not spent a significant amount of time in yeshiva (several months or more)  but has started the process of returning to observant Judaism.  Knowledge of Hebrew is not required.

The goal of the program is to help the student significantly raise the level at which he can read and understand, on his own, the classical Jewish texts.  To accomplish this, the program provides one-on-one study with a rabbi/tutor throughout the day.  This allows the student to practice reading and translating the text himself.

This year there are two sessions in the summer and one  in the winter.  See the home page for the dates of the sessions.  You can attend one or both of the sessions in the summer.  The program is specifically designed so that the material covered in one session does not overlap that covered in the other session.

STEP is affiliated with the yeshiva Machon Shlomo in Har Nof, Jerusalem.  The program uses the yeshiva’s facilities for classes and room and board.

STEP offers you the following:

• Classes in Talmud, Chumash (Bible), Jewish law and Jewish ethics.
• Comfortable accommodations and home-cooked meals.
• Small interpersonal classes.
• A proven, effective method for teaching the beginner how to study Talmud and Mishnah and Chumash texts without translations.
• An experienced, professional teaching staff.
• An inspiring Shabbaton in the Old City.
• Outdoor activities.
• The nearby Jerusalem Forest for hiking as well as other recreational outlets in the area.
• A warm supportive environment for you to live and grow in.

1. Talmud tutorial

The STEP tutorial is the core of the student’s study day.  The student works one-on-one with an experienced rabbi – one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon (a different rabbi in the afternoon).  The work done in the tutorial, more than anything else in the program, advances the student’s ability to study Torah texts on his own.  Because he is working one-on-one, he is working at precisely his skill level whether he is a beginner or advanced.  Furthermore, the  tutorial setting allows the student to be actively involved in the learning process.  The student does all of the reading himself (as opposed to the tutor reading it to him) during the tutorial and does his best to read, translate, and explain the text.  The rabbi/tutor is there to guide and help the student without feeding him information.

In each tutorial session the student studies a piece of text from the Talmud – typically eight to ten lines.  He reads this piece of text several times, the first time focusing on proper pronunciation, the second time on translation, and the third time on the meaning of the text.  The text that he is studying forms the basis of the Talmud class that follows the tutorial.

2. Talmud class

The Talmud class builds on the work that the student does in the tutorial.  The text that he studied in the tutorial is analyzed on a deeper level.  The goal of the Talmud class is to help the student understand the structure of the text being studied and to show the students how to carefully analyze each step of the arguments presented in the Talmud and by doing so to come to a deeper understanding of the text.

3. Halachah (twice/week)

The Halachah class focuses on practical Halachah.  Classes cover topics in Shabbos, Kashrut, and interpersonal law (eg. giving charity, honoring parents, visiting the sick, slander).

4. Topics (three/week)

Classes on various topics in Jewish thought and given by various speakers.   Students provide input on topics to be covered.

5. Chumash/Rashi

In depth study of Chumash with the commentary of Rashi and Midrashim.

6. Pirkei Avos – Ethics of the Fathers

In each session of STEP we attempt to cover an entire chapter of Pirkei Avos – the Ethics of the Fathers, studying one Mishnah each day.   The focus of the class is to draw from the text ideas that are relevant to our lives as Jews in today’s world.  At the end of the session each student prepares a class and presents a Mishnah.

Sunday through Thursday

8:00  Shacharis

Breakfast

9:30 – 10:30   Tutorial (Talmud)

10:30 – 11:45  Talmud Class

12:15 -1:15  Class on different topics, depending on day of week (Ethics, Philosophy, Halachah)

1:15  Minchah

Lunch

3:00 – 4:00  Tutorial (Chumash, Pirkei Avos, Talmud)

4:15 – 5:00  Chumash/Rashi

5:15 – 6:00  Pirkei Avos

Dinner

8:15    Maariv

Friday, Shabbos – Davening but no classes