SherbyNet - /page/wikibook/entry.mu

Micron Document

<!DOCTYPE html>

<title>Zilberman Method</title>

</head>

<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Zilberman Method</span></span>

</h1>

</header>

<p>The <b>Zilberman Method</b> is a system of teaching the <a href="Torah" title="Torah">Torah</a> to young students, pioneered by <a href="Jerusalem" title="Jerusalem">Jerusalem</a> rabbi <a href="Yitzchak_Shlomo_Zilberman" title="Yitzchak Shlomo Zilberman">Yitzchak Shlomo Zilberman</a>, that emphasizes rote learning of the text, while leaving the more advanced study of <a href="Talmud" title="Talmud">Talmud</a> to older students.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Schools employing the method are colloquially referred to as <b>Zilberman Schools</b>.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Theory">Theory</h2></div>

<p>The Zilberman Method draws upon traditional teaching methods as outlined by <a href="Chazal" title="Chazal">Chazal</a> and championed by The <a href="Maharal" class="mw-redirect" title="Maharal">Maharal</a> and the <a href="Vilna_Gaon" title="Vilna Gaon">Vilna Gaon</a>. The <a href="Mishnah" title="Mishnah">Mishnah</a> and the <a href="Talmud" title="Talmud">Talmud</a> set forth <a href="Halakha" title="Halakha">halakhic</a> guidelines for teaching Torah to children. These guidelines include the ages at which texts should be studied: "Five years old [is the age to begin studying] Scripture; a ten year-old [learns] the Mishnah; a thirteen year-old for the <i><a href="Mitzvot" class="mw-redirect" title="Mitzvot">mitzvot</a></i> ([obligation of the] commandments); a fifteen year-old [for the study] of Talmud...";<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> the times of study (including Shabbat for children; <i>Hachazan roeh heichan tinokot korin</i> – the chazzan observes [on Shabbat] where [in the text] the children are reading)<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and the manner of teaching (<i>safi lei k'tura</i> –stuffing the children like oxen;<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <i>ligmar inish v'hadar lisbor</i> –read the text and then explain it.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>The Zilberman method has children focus exclusively on <a href="Tanakh" class="mw-redirect" title="Tanakh">Tanakh</a> and Mishnah in their younger years, ensuring that they know large portions of both areas by heart before they begin learning <i>Gemara</i> (Talmud). Indeed, graduates of such schools tend to have impressive fluency in these areas. Two key elements in Zilberman's methodology, however, must be singled out: <i>chazarah</i> (review) and student participation.

</p><p>In the Zilberman-styled school, a new text of <a href="Chumash_(Judaism)" title="Chumash (Judaism)">Chumash</a> (Scripture) is introduced in the following manner. On Monday and Tuesday, the teacher chants the text with the <i>tropp</i> (<a href="Hebrew_cantillation" title="Hebrew cantillation"><i>ta'amei ha'mikra</i></a>) and the students immediately imitate him. This is repeated several times until the students are able to read the text independently. Then the teacher introduces the translation/explanation of the text and invites students to participate in the process. New words typically need to be translated only once; subsequently, students are encouraged to call out the translation on their own. All translations are strictly literal. If the translation does not automatically yield a comprehensible meaning, the students are invited to try to find one. The class spends the rest of the week reviewing the material. Each <a href="Chapters_and_verses_of_the_Bible#Verses" title="Chapters and verses of the Bible">pasuk</a> is reviewed with the tropp at least twenty-four times.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Adjustments are made for each grade level.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Examples">Examples</h2></div>

<p>In <a href="Shabbat_(Talmud)" title="Shabbat (Talmud)">Shabbat</a> 63a it states, "A man should recite, and only later expound." This is in contrast to standard procedure in the Torah world, where intense scrutiny of the text at a relatively young age is favoured over the covering and committing to memory of vast amounts of material. Zilberman also instituted that school sessions be continued on <a href="Shabbat" title="Shabbat">Shabbat</a> and <a href="Jewish_holidays" title="Jewish holidays">Jewish holidays</a>, albeit at a reduced schedule.<sup id="cite_ref-Yitzchok_Shlomo_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Yitzchok_Shlomo-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Other_practices">Other practices</h3></div>

<p>Rabbi Zilberman kept the practice of donning his <a href="Tefilin" class="mw-redirect" title="Tefilin">tefilin</a> all day, and so encouraged his students.<sup id="cite_ref-Goodbye_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Goodbye-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In normative practice, the tefilin are removed after <a href="Shacharit" title="Shacharit">Shacharit</a>. Zilberman was one of the first rabbis to promote the usage of <a href="Tekhelet" title="Tekhelet">tekhelet</a>, and encouraged his students and family to make use of the dye in their <a href="Tzitzit" title="Tzitzit">tzitzit</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> He encouraged his students to get married young, because it states in <i>Pirkei Avot</i> "An 18 year-old [enters] the <i><a href="Chuppah" title="Chuppah">chuppah</a></i> (wedding canopy)".

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>

<p>Proponents of the Zilberman Method argue that it is not a new innovation, but rather a return to an ancient form of <a href="Torah_study" title="Torah study">Torah study</a> elucidated in the <a href="Mishna" class="mw-redirect" title="Mishna">Mishna</a> and <a href="Talmud" title="Talmud">Talmud</a>, and favoured by both the <a href="Judah_Loew_ben_Bezalel" title="Judah Loew ben Bezalel">Maharal</a> and the Vilna Gaon.

</p><p>Zilberman found the existing Jerusalem <i><a href="Heder" class="mw-redirect" title="Heder">heder</a></i>s' curriculum not suitable for his own children, so he began to teach them at home according to his method.<sup id="cite_ref-Goodbye_9-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Goodbye-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the beginning of the 1980s, after years of limited success with incorporating his teaching style in existing institutions, Zilberman founded, with the help of his sons, a school in the northern part of the <a href="Jewish_Quarter_(Jerusalem)" title="Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem)">Jewish Quarter</a> of Jerusalem.<sup id="cite_ref-Yitzchok_Shlomo_8-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Yitzchok_Shlomo-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The school, <a href="Yeshivat_Aderet_Eliyahu" title="Yeshivat Aderet Eliyahu">Yeshivat Aderet Eliyahu</a> – also known as "Zilberman's <a href="Cheder" title="Cheder">Cheder</a>" – adopted its founder's method, and became an inspiration for many of his students, who later branched out all over <a href="Israel" title="Israel">Israel</a> founding schools with the same teaching approach.<sup id="cite_ref-Yitzchok_Shlomo_8-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Yitzchok_Shlomo-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Zilberman's life work was favored by rabbi <a href="Shlomo_Zalman_Auerbach" title="Shlomo Zalman Auerbach">Shlomo Zalman Auerbach</a> and the <a href="Dov_Berish_Weidenfeld" title="Dov Berish Weidenfeld">Tchebiner Rav</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Yitzchok_Shlomo_8-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Yitzchok_Shlomo-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Schools_using_the_Zilberman_Method">Schools using the Zilberman Method</h3></div>

<p>In addition to Yeshivat Aderet Eliyahu, numerous other schools throughout Israel adhere to Zilberman Method principles, including <b>Talmud Torah Yishrei Lev</b> and the Zichru schools.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}

/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

</style><div class="reflist">

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("./mw/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("./mw/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("./mw/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("./mw/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}

/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

</style><cite id="CITEREFGOTTLIEB" class="citation web cs1">GOTTLIEB, DOVID. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://jewishaction.com/religion/education/the_zilberman_method/">"The Zilberman Method"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">11 December</span> 2017</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFRabbi_Gershon" class="citation web cs1">Rabbi Gershon, Tannenbaum. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://5tjt.com/the-zilberman-method-innovation-in-torah-education/">"The Zilberman Method: Innovation In Torah Education"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">11 December</span> 2017</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Misnah, Avot 5:21</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 11a. See <a href="Rashi" title="Rashi">Rashi</a>, <a href="Nissim_of_Gerona" title="Nissim of Gerona">Ran</a></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 50a</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 63a</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFGottlieb2010" class="citation web cs1">Gottlieb, Dovid (March 8, 2010). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ou.org/jewish_action/03/2010/the_zilberman_method/">"The Zilberman Method"</a>. <i>OU.org</i>. Jewish Action.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Yitzchok_Shlomo-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Yitzchok_Shlomo_8-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Yitzchok_Shlomo_8-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Yitzchok_Shlomo_8-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Yitzchok_Shlomo_8-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thejewisheye.com/gedolimb58.html">"Rav Yitzchok Shlomo Zilberman: The Zilberman Derech -Charting a New-Old Path"</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180815090921/http://www.thejewisheye.com/gedolimb58.html">Archived</a> 2018-08-15 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, <i>The Jewish Eye</i></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Goodbye-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Goodbye_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Goodbye_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Hadar, Alon (23 August 2007) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.haaretz.com/1.4964563">"Goodbye to All That"</a>, <i>Haaretz</i>. "They wore tefillin [phylacteries] all the time."</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Meyers Epstein, Varda (3 January 2014) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/ear-to-the-ground/tekhelet-a-choice-or-an-imperative/2014/01/03/">"Tekhelet: A Choice or an Imperative?"</a>, <i>The Jewish Press</i></span>

</li>

</ol></div></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://oldcitycheder.org/">Official website</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://jsli.org/zilberman-method/">Zilberman Method</a> at Jewish Spiritual library</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://jewishaction.com/religion/education/the_zilberman_method">The Zilberman Method</a> in Jewish Action</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://5tjt.com/the-zilberman-method-innovation-in-torah-education">The Zilberman Method Innovation in Torah education</a> on Five Towns Jewish Times.</li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-03-27" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Zilberman_Method&oldid=1282608400">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

</div>

</div></div>

</div>

</main>

</div>

</body></html>