Levana Chajes - Jewish Learning Tutor

Proud to share, slightly delayed by Israeli post and my own travels (and maybe also the awkwardness of sharing anything meaningful on social media these days) the completion of my MA at Hebrew University. My academic studies have always profoundly influenced the way I learn and guide students in Torah, if nothing else because in this environment I will always remain a student. Let this post also be a casual reminder that if you always wanted to learn to lein Megillah now is as a good a time as ever to start, and if you’ve been curious about Kabbalah - I wrote my MA thesis on the quintessential beginners textbook, as it were, which is a great place to start. Hit me up!

Today's Talmud class with my student on zoom! We drew up this diagram together as we learned. Those familiar with this popular sugia will know that this is far from the conclusion, but we are full of suspense for the end of the sugia next week. Will Hazal give us what we want? Or will they leave it vague? Stay tuned.
Also - if you've always wanted to learn Gemara but can never find the time or courage to dive in, I'm available for private Zoom classes at your convenience. Perfect for beginners of all ages.
Also, with Purim five months away - this is a great time to begin learning if you've always wanted to lein Meggilah!

Today a bat mitzvah student completed her first perek of the megillah entirely over zoom! So proud of her and grateful to her supportive parents who sit with her while she practices in between lessons 💜🥳

I'm teaching a girl in Dubai for her bat mitzvah which falls on Purim, and today we got to the part of the Meggilah where they say that Esther has two names: Esther and Hadassa. So I brought the sugiya where this is discussed. After explaining to her the "tzurat ha-daf" we dove into the sugiya. Right in the middle when I was describing the Machloket between R. Meir and R. Yehuda she suddenly exclaims "this is so fun! I wish I was the writer of the gemara!" Dayeinu.

If any of you have young girls that have yet to have their mind blown by a wild talmudic sugiya, please feel free to reach out and book a zoom session 💜

אני מלמדת ילדה בדובאי לקראת הבת מצווה שלה שיוצא בפורים שנה הבאה. היום בשיעור הגענו למקום במגילה שם מזכירים 2 שמות לאותה אישה - אסתר והדסה - אז הבאתי את הסוגיה במסכת מגילה שם דנים בנושא זה. אחרי שהסברתי לה את צורת הדף נכנסו לתוך הסוגיה עצמה. תוך כדי התיאור שלי את המחלוקת בין ר׳ מאיר ור׳ יהודה היא פתאום קראה בהתרגשות: ״איזה כיף! הלוואי שאני כתבתי את הגמרא!״ דיינו.

אם יש לכם ילדה או נערה שטרם התפלאה מסוגיית תלמוד מטריפה, בבקשה תרגישו חופשי ליצור קשר ולקבוע שיעור בזום 💜