Not in Heaven

By Eli Sacks
Harvard University '03

As a former Hillel Education Chair and Jewish Studies major, the description of continued Jewish learning which strikes me as most apt is the following: radically inconvenient. The intense academic demands of college life often don’t make the prospect of extra classes an attractive one. The time-consuming nature of extracurriculars leaves little opportunity for Jewish learning. And the importance of maintaining an active social life can easily push study down on a list of priorities. “Inconvenient,” it seems, hardly begins to describe the place of a continuing Jewish education in the lives of many college students.

How, then, can we make a space for learning? How can we bring the key mitzvah of Talmud Torah into our lives? There is no one answer. Everyone’s life is different, and everyone attaches a different priority to Jewish study. From my own experience, however, I can humbly offer three suggestions. They are meant not as a fail-safe prescription for success, but rather as a record of my own experience.

First of all, tackle the question of “why.” For Jewish education to be a meaningful part of your life, learning needs to speak to the reasons why you have any Jewish life at all. If your commitment to Judaism grows out of a deep spiritual connection to God, delve into texts relating to Jewish notions of the Divine. If you find meaning in being part of a continual tradition stretching back for generations, dip your toe into the ocean of Jewish history. And if you’re not sure what relevance the Jewish tradition has for you, explore the different strands of thought present in that tradition. I do not mean to suggest that you can engage in Jewish study only if you know precisely what draws you to Judaism. If your learning has no connection to that which attracts you to Jewish life in the first place, though, it won’t hold your interest for very long.

Second, don’t learn alone. While Jewish education needs to speak to your most personal link to the tradition, learning has always been understood as the cooperative endeavor par excellence. Studying with others ensures not only that you will be challenged by someone else’s perspective, but also that you forge long-lasting connections to those around you. Find a study partner, or hevruta, with whom you can learn regularly. Find a community where education is valued and where you can bounce around ideas which arise out of your study. Jewish learning is an intensely personal experience, but that doesn’t mean it can’t also be intensely communal. Study can add to, rather than interfere with, your social life.

Finally, bring Jewish education into the “non-Jewish” parts of your life. If you want to find meaning in learning, don’t let it be something which you relegate to one tiny corner of your life. Share interesting texts and insights with your non-Jewish friends. Talk to professors about challenging ideas and topics. It’s easy to separate Jewish learning from the “normal” stuff we do; by collapsing that division, you’ll ensure that Jewish education doesn’t become that other thing you take care of when academic, extracurricular, and social demands have been met. And you’ll let those who care about you know about an important part of what makes you who you are.

Making time for Jewish study will always be difficult. With some creative thinking, though, you can make sure that learning always has a place in your life. After all, doesn’t the Torah itself promise that its wisdom is “not in heaven?”

[Posted 8/26/03]