Sep 21, 2015 By: admin
Yeshiva College Student Creates Thriving Community of Learning on Creative Torah Thought Blog
It started simply as a way to share divrei Torah with friends.
As a student in a community day school in Toronto, Ontario, Alex Maged had enjoyed sharing Torah thoughts in the school鈥檚 newsletter. He was excited to continue his own Jewish growth after high school at . But fewer opportunities for learning would be available to some of his closest friends as they moved on to secular universities.
鈥淚 realized they wouldn鈥檛 have a regular outlet to hear divrei Torah from, so I would send them things,鈥 said Maged. 鈥淲hat mattered was the personal element. If I sent them something somebody else wrote, they might not read it. But if it was written by someone they knew, perhaps they would.鈥
So Maged decided to create a weekly blog that would focus on a unique kind of Torah thought: his own. Though he drew regularly each week from sources as diverse as Biblical and Talmudic texts to Western philosophy and ancient Near Eastern literature, the concept of each post was original, carefully researched and written by Maged alone for the small group of friends he hoped would read it. Called , the blog follows a few simple guidelines.
鈥淭he goal is for you as a reader to feel that you are engaging with the Parsha directly, and to discover within it insights that are sophisticated on both a textual and a theological or moral level,鈥 said Maged. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very much inspired by figures like Rabbi David Fohrman and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, and I like to incorporate secular sources as well. I鈥檓 trying to put together the kind of literary observations and analysis one might find in a more academic journal, with a message that resonates with the average person.鈥
He added, 鈥淎fter all, at the end of the day, it鈥檚 not a journal article, it鈥檚 a dvar Torah.鈥
Initially, Maged was a bit nervous about the amount of time he found himself spending on the rigorous researching and composition of his articles; he wondered whether it was compromising the time he had for his own independent learning. But on a Shabbaton at , an encounter with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Kressel and Efrat Family University Professor of Jewish Thought at YU, brought him clarity.
鈥淚 asked him how he became so knowledgeable about so many things,鈥 said Maged. 鈥淗e told me that as a young man, his own rosh yeshiva had instructed him to teach subjects that he didn鈥檛 have much of a background in, and that forced him to develop one. It was so true. The process of trying to formulate ideas in a succinct and relevant way has forced me to crystallize thoughts, push myself to learn how to use all the resources that are available to YU students, and explore new sources that I鈥檝e never seen. It鈥檚 also helped me with retention, because after you鈥檝e worked an idea over in your head so many times, it鈥檚 bound to sink in.鈥
As he wrote, Maged found himself more and more immersed in the blog and the process of creating content for it. But he also noticed a funny thing happen: the more he wrote, the more people began to read and respond to the blog.
鈥淚 got really into it and it bloomed from the few friends I was writing for to over 1,200 followers,鈥 he said. 鈥淪ome of the people who have offered positive feedback are incredibly humbling: Rabbi Shalom Carmy, Rabbi David Fohrman, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Rabbi Yaakov Beasley. There have been dozens of prominent Jewish scholars and communal leaders who subscribed, too鈥擱abbi Hayyim Angel, Dr. Aviva Zornberg, Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Rabbi David Aaron, for instance鈥攁nd that鈥檚 been incredibly humbling as well. More close to home, I also started to hear it get quoted at Shabbat tables, which was really exciting.鈥
Stories about the impact his divrei Torah were making began to trickle back to Maged. A rabbi mentioned that he refers to "What鈥檚 Pshat" regularly when preparing sermons to deliver to his congregation, and a few campus rabbis who work with the Orthodox Union鈥檚 Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) mentioned to Maged that they also relied on the blog as a resource. Another reader told Maged she had shared an article with her class at Hebrew Union College, where they all studied it together. It was especially meaningful for Maged to hear his own professors at YU quote his articles in class. 鈥淚t made me feel like I have a role to play in the cycle of learning," he said.
Maged鈥檚 studies at Yeshiva College have been at the heart of the cyclical process. 鈥淲hatever I鈥檇 learn in my secular classes that week, I鈥檇 bring to bear in my articles,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檇 learn in a psychology class about the bystander effect and I would happen to see it in that week鈥檚 parsha. It was exhilarating.鈥
He added, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I absolutely love my time at YU. The rich secular studies complementing the Jewish studies feels like a heaven for me.鈥
Maged was especially intrigued by something his professor, Dr. Eliezer Schnall, would do at the end of each class: 鈥淗e just says how what we learned in psychology that day relates to Torah and demonstrates where to find it in a Biblical or rabbinic text. Professor Schnall inspired me to do the same thing with my work.鈥
Schnall is a regular reader and commenter on Maged鈥檚 blog, as is another one of his closest spiritual and intellectual mentors, Rabbi Shalom Carmy, associate professor of Bible at Yeshiva College. 鈥淚 have been to his house many Shabboses, we have a weekly chavrusa, and we鈥檙e in constant email contact,鈥 said Maged. 鈥淗e even said one of the sheva brachot at my wedding. He鈥檚 had a huge impact on me.鈥
鈥淎lex came to YU with the ability to write easily and well, to entertain and express ideas that are original and plausible, together with an appetite to learn more and expand one鈥檚 horizons, and to digest criticism cheerfully,鈥 said Rabbi Carmy. 鈥淭his combination is exceedingly rare in a culture where academic types tend to stolid conformity and whimsical indulgence often passes for creativity.鈥
Now Maged is in his senior year as a major in political science at Yeshiva College's Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program, and the future is wide open. 鈥淚 really love doing what I do鈥攖his blogging and writing and sharing Torah ideas,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 get so much from it, spiritually, intellectually and emotionally. For now my plan is to continue doing it, trying to expand the readership, and see where it goes from there.鈥
So Maged decided to create a weekly blog that would focus on a unique kind of Torah thought: his own. Though he drew regularly each week from sources as diverse as Biblical and Talmudic texts to Western philosophy and ancient Near Eastern literature, the concept of each post was original, carefully researched and written by Maged alone for the small group of friends he hoped would read it. Called , the blog follows a few simple guidelines.
鈥淭he goal is for you as a reader to feel that you are engaging with the Parsha directly, and to discover within it insights that are sophisticated on both a textual and a theological or moral level,鈥 said Maged. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very much inspired by figures like Rabbi David Fohrman and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, and I like to incorporate secular sources as well. I鈥檓 trying to put together the kind of literary observations and analysis one might find in a more academic journal, with a message that resonates with the average person.鈥
He added, 鈥淎fter all, at the end of the day, it鈥檚 not a journal article, it鈥檚 a dvar Torah.鈥
Initially, Maged was a bit nervous about the amount of time he found himself spending on the rigorous researching and composition of his articles; he wondered whether it was compromising the time he had for his own independent learning. But on a Shabbaton at , an encounter with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Kressel and Efrat Family University Professor of Jewish Thought at YU, brought him clarity.
鈥淚 asked him how he became so knowledgeable about so many things,鈥 said Maged. 鈥淗e told me that as a young man, his own rosh yeshiva had instructed him to teach subjects that he didn鈥檛 have much of a background in, and that forced him to develop one. It was so true. The process of trying to formulate ideas in a succinct and relevant way has forced me to crystallize thoughts, push myself to learn how to use all the resources that are available to YU students, and explore new sources that I鈥檝e never seen. It鈥檚 also helped me with retention, because after you鈥檝e worked an idea over in your head so many times, it鈥檚 bound to sink in.鈥
As he wrote, Maged found himself more and more immersed in the blog and the process of creating content for it. But he also noticed a funny thing happen: the more he wrote, the more people began to read and respond to the blog.
鈥淚 got really into it and it bloomed from the few friends I was writing for to over 1,200 followers,鈥 he said. 鈥淪ome of the people who have offered positive feedback are incredibly humbling: Rabbi Shalom Carmy, Rabbi David Fohrman, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Rabbi Yaakov Beasley. There have been dozens of prominent Jewish scholars and communal leaders who subscribed, too鈥擱abbi Hayyim Angel, Dr. Aviva Zornberg, Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Rabbi David Aaron, for instance鈥攁nd that鈥檚 been incredibly humbling as well. More close to home, I also started to hear it get quoted at Shabbat tables, which was really exciting.鈥
Stories about the impact his divrei Torah were making began to trickle back to Maged. A rabbi mentioned that he refers to "What鈥檚 Pshat" regularly when preparing sermons to deliver to his congregation, and a few campus rabbis who work with the Orthodox Union鈥檚 Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) mentioned to Maged that they also relied on the blog as a resource. Another reader told Maged she had shared an article with her class at Hebrew Union College, where they all studied it together. It was especially meaningful for Maged to hear his own professors at YU quote his articles in class. 鈥淚t made me feel like I have a role to play in the cycle of learning," he said.
Maged鈥檚 studies at Yeshiva College have been at the heart of the cyclical process. 鈥淲hatever I鈥檇 learn in my secular classes that week, I鈥檇 bring to bear in my articles,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檇 learn in a psychology class about the bystander effect and I would happen to see it in that week鈥檚 parsha. It was exhilarating.鈥
He added, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I absolutely love my time at YU. The rich secular studies complementing the Jewish studies feels like a heaven for me.鈥
Maged was especially intrigued by something his professor, Dr. Eliezer Schnall, would do at the end of each class: 鈥淗e just says how what we learned in psychology that day relates to Torah and demonstrates where to find it in a Biblical or rabbinic text. Professor Schnall inspired me to do the same thing with my work.鈥
Schnall is a regular reader and commenter on Maged鈥檚 blog, as is another one of his closest spiritual and intellectual mentors, Rabbi Shalom Carmy, associate professor of Bible at Yeshiva College. 鈥淚 have been to his house many Shabboses, we have a weekly chavrusa, and we鈥檙e in constant email contact,鈥 said Maged. 鈥淗e even said one of the sheva brachot at my wedding. He鈥檚 had a huge impact on me.鈥
鈥淎lex came to YU with the ability to write easily and well, to entertain and express ideas that are original and plausible, together with an appetite to learn more and expand one鈥檚 horizons, and to digest criticism cheerfully,鈥 said Rabbi Carmy. 鈥淭his combination is exceedingly rare in a culture where academic types tend to stolid conformity and whimsical indulgence often passes for creativity.鈥
Now Maged is in his senior year as a major in political science at Yeshiva College's Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program, and the future is wide open. 鈥淚 really love doing what I do鈥攖his blogging and writing and sharing Torah ideas,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 get so much from it, spiritually, intellectually and emotionally. For now my plan is to continue doing it, trying to expand the readership, and see where it goes from there.鈥
