The study of gemara (Talmudic studies) has been the bedrock of the boys’ Yeshiva curriculum for centuries, since by analyzing the mishnayos, it leads to a clearer and deeper understanding of Torah.   Boys are introduced to gemara, usually in fifth grade, and gemara becomes their main limudei kodesh study through junior high school, mesivta, and bais medrash.  The self-esteem of many yeshiva boys and their attachment to Yiddishkeit depends heavily on their proficiency in gemara.  Moreover, boys with better gemara skills have more mesivta and bais medrash options available.

The Gemara Challenge

The transition to gemara is welcomed by most boys because of the prestige of learning what the grown men are learning.  Gemara, when well taught, is stimulating, interactive, and creative.  For boys who have good logic skills but poor ability with text, gemara is their first opportunity to “shine” in school as they contribute to class discussions.

However, gemara is more challenging than the chumash and mishnayos that the boys were learning previously.  The language is Aramaic, the text has no punctuation (no vowels, commas, periods, question marks, etc.) and the logic is complex.  Boys who were successful in chumash through rote learning now have to develop reasoning skills.  Generally, boys who had trouble keeping up with earlier subjects have a much harder time now, especially once the class progresses to the more complicated sugyos (topics).

In order to help their sons learn well, parents need to be aware of their sons’ strengths and weaknesses in academics and motivation.  A student’s proficiency in gemara depends more on his level of motivation than on his intellect.  In this article, compiled through interviews with experienced mechanchim and reviewed by prominent mechanchim in our community, we provide tips for parents to help their sons learn to enjoy and find fulfillment in their study of the Talmud.

How Parents Can Help – Before Gemara Begins

Creating the Right Home Environment

More than other subjects, boys need a tranquil environment in order to achieve in gemara.  Aside from sholom bayis, this includes good relations among the siblings and between the father and his son.  During the early school years, the father should build a mutually satisfying learning/chazara (review) relationship with his son.  It is helpful when parents have realistic expectations about their children.  If the father and/or the uncles had trouble focusing in school, the son may experience similar difficulties.  Additionally, the parents should be honest with themselves: if the father cannot review chumash with his child without acrimony, he will not be able to chazer gemara productively with him.

Parents should also try to foster in their son a sense of self-confidence in his learning by recognizing and praising his achievements.  This will make it easier for the boy to “stretch” to grasp complex sugyos (gemara topics) later on.

Monitoring the Academic Situation

It is the parents’ responsibility to make sure that their son is up to par in his limudei kodesh academics.  Are the boy’s reading and translating skills within the normal range?  Parents might wish to test their child’s reading skills after second grade by having him read to them an unfamiliar perek of Tehillim.  Reading problems are easily overlooked, but they are liable to devastate a child’s academic and emotional future.

Learning disabilities and academic weaknesses should be dealt with as early as possible before the child becomes overwhelmed.  Problems that exist in the earlier, pre-gemara grades usually become exacerbated when the academic material turns harder.  Is the boy behaving appropriately during class?  In general, if the Yeshiva staff is concerned about a boy, parents should be concerned, too.

Building Motivation

While it is hard to “create” a motivated son who is driven to succeed in gemara, parents may influence their children by showing that learning and achieving in Torah is their primary value.  This may be conveyed by sharing divrei Torah enthusiastically, celebrating siyumim and other milestones in learning (beginning of chumash, mishnayos, etc.), and praising children for success in learning.  Seeing their father study Talmud regularly is helpful, too.  It is also a good idea to refrain from pulling boys out of yeshiva freely, for vacations and other discretionary reasons—children can sense the importance parents place on their learning in Yeshiva.

Parents should also try to avoid distracting their children with contradictory messages by putting less stress on hobbies and other interests.  Minimizing (or eliminating) media exposure, movies, games, and internet, is also helpful.  Children who spend extensive time playing or watching electronic media find it harder to focus on academics and become habituated to instant gratification rather than accustomed to working patiently to acquire skills.  On the other hand, children need wholesome ways to relax and to exercise in order to function well in and out of yeshiva.

Preparing for Gemara

Fathers may prepare their sons for gemara by studying with them the gemara-style rashi (Bo, Mishpatim, Vayikra) or by learning mishnayos in more depth.  This may be valuable for boys who have trouble reasoning—practice helps build up the necessary skills.

Fathers should also make sure that their own gemara skills are up to par.  This may entail reviewing/relearning the material that is covered in their son’s yeshiva.  If the father did not attend a standard yeshiva, he should try to find a shiur that covers the topic or find an experienced chavrusa to help him prepare.  The Yeshiva may be able to point out such shiurim for fathers.  (In Passaic, Yeshiva PTI provides such shiurim.)  Learning the sugyos solely from a translated gemara does not convey the yeshivish pronunciation or the flavor of classroom environment.  Fathers may need to sacrifice their own learning schedule and preferred topics in order to prepare for their sons’ gemara learning. 

Chazara – the Learning in the Home

Parents have the most impact on their son’s gemara learning through the chazara process.  In a standard yeshiva, the Rebbe spends most of his classroom time explaining the shakla v’tarya (the reasoning) of the gemara thoroughly, spending less time actually reading the gemara inside. This helps keep a class of lively preteens stimulated and interested as they explore the exciting give and take of the sugya.  The Rebbe relies on the chazara at home every night for the more hum drum skills-building work in kriya (reading text) since this really requires one on one attention.

The top boys in the class are usually able to catch both the logic and the text from paying close attention in class.  Their chazara needs may be met by reviewing with each other, although they might gain a richer understanding by review with a qualified adult.  Most boys need a serious review session in order to fully absorb the material and to learn how to read gemara inside.  Chazara is typically done with the father, although many parents pay to have their sons learn with a Yeshiva bochur or with a boy in an older grade.

Tips for More Effective Chazara

Prepare Properly – The reviewer needs to know the material thoroughly.

Don’t Rush – Allocate sufficient time so that the material may be covered without time pressure.  Calm, patience, and emotional support are crucial for teaching gemara.  The reviewer should avoid interruptions; fathers should try to have chazara time be one-on-one togetherness time.

Incentives Work—When parents offer incentives to a less motivated child, they avoid wasting time and energy motivating him to learn.  Impulsive boys relate better to instant rewards like candy.

Don’t Judge – Fathers should pretend that they are being paid to tutor their son.  When a boy does not know the material, the tutor’s job is to explain it, rather than to blame the boy for not learning it in class.  (If the boy consistently fails to learn the material in class, the parent should contact the Rebbe to find the cause of the problem).

Shakla V’Taria First – It is usually beneficial to have the boy review the oral component of the lesson outside the gemara, peeking in the gemara as needed.  The reviewer should prompt the boy to explain the mishna’s teaching, the gemara’s question, the answer, the proof, and the argument.

Reading Inside – Once it is clear that the boy understands the gemara’s logic, it is time to open the gemara and read the text.  The boy should be prompted to read with expression in order to supply through his intonations the missing punctuation (question, answer).

Allow the Boy to Discover—Chazara is more rewarding if the boy is given time to find things out for himself, whether it’s a question or answer in the gemara’s debate or the meaning of a word in the text.  Part of the chazara agenda is to build the boy’s self confidence in his ability to learn even if he is does not perform well in the classroom.  Therefore, the reviewer should look for opportunities to praise.

Give Priority to Kriya –  If there is not enough time to complete both aspects of the chazara, priority should be given to reading text inside, because this is the skills-building part.  If the boy fails to grasp the gemara’s logic, he is missing out only on that lesson; if he does not learn how to read the gemara, he will suffer in the next grade.

Be Proactive–If the reviewer sees that the boy has a problem, he should approach the Rebbe, rather than expecting the Rebbe to call first or to detect and deal with the problem on his own.  For example, the boy might not know his lessons because he is frequently tired in class.  This is a problem that the parents need to be involved with.

Mothers and Chazara

Given the importance of the skill building aspect of chazara, the mother should step in as reviewer if there is no alternative, since review on one’s own is nearly useless.  Mother may look inside a translated gemara with punctuation to check that her son is reading correctly (women may consult their own Rav if they are uncomfortable with this psak).  Aside from forcing the boy to actually review, this also conveys to her son the importance of gemara and chazara.

If the Boy is Having Difficulty

It is extremely important for parents to be aware when their son is having trouble grasping the material and to be ready to intervene.  Once a boy experiences consistent failure, it is very hard to motivate him to keep trying.  This sense of failure may poison other aspects of the boy’s life.  Therefore, interventions should be started as soon as problems are detected, after consulting with the Rebbe and/or the Menahel.

Making the Material More Manageable

Use a Gemara with Punctuation—This study aid makes a big difference for boys who have trouble reading text.  Practicing with the nekudos habituates the boy to the Aramaic pronunciation system so that he will learn it more easily.  Once he adjusts to Aramaic, he will not need this support..

Reduce the Assignment— Success motivates: review less material to ensure that the boy masters a subset of the lesson.  Ask the Rebbe if the boy might be tested on only the mishna and a few lines of the gemara that follows.

Enrich the Chazara—Techniques for the reviewer to adopt include: creating word lists, punctuating photo-copied gemara, using physical props (blocks, toy animals, cash), making the case into a story, and updating the sugya to contemporary situations (e.g. ox=car).

Pre-teach the Material—Some boys benefit from being familiar with the material before they encounter it in class.  This allows them to participate in class discussions and builds self-confidence.   Pre-teaching becomes a problem if the boy thinks he knows the material and therefore fails to pay attention in class; parents should warn the Rebbe in advance.  To avoid this, it is best to pre-teach to the boy’s specific weaknesses, e.g. basic logic concepts or vocabulary.  Pre-teaching in the summer should only be done for boys who are motivated; the unmotivated are burnt out by the end of the academic year and need to relax.

Hire a Professional—Discussed in more detail below.

Switch Yeshivas—Sometimes, the boy’s best chance to succeed is to attend a Yeshiva (junior high or high school) better suited for his needs: i.e., a smaller Yeshiva or a Yeshiva that specializes in teaching boys with learning disabilities. Rebbeim with special needs education know how to use a variety of techniques to help boys grasp gemara content.  For example, a Rebbe might create a “road-map” of the sugya, diagramming and color coding the give and take of a complicated machlokes (debate).  A Rebbe in a standard classroom does not have time to break down and transcribe each piece of gemara.

Hiring a Professional Tutor

Tutoring, typically done by Rebbeim, is expensive–$30 – $50 per half hour session.  Usually, parents begin by paying for two half hour sessions per week at their home or at a Bais Medrash; they may need to increase to three or four times per week.  The Menahel of their son’s yeshiva is a good source of recommendations, as are parents with sons with similar challenges.  The tutor must be matched in skills and temperament to the boy’s needs: some boys need a strict disciplinarian, others, a softer tone.  A good tutor is able to detect and address the source of the boy’s difficulties; he also knows motivation techniques and how/when to push or to hold off with a weak student.

Tutors are far more effective when they regularly speak with the Rebbe.  In addition, it is the parent’s job to check with the Rebbe that their son is truly benefiting from the tutoring.  While deep seated problems cannot be fixed quickly, some slight signs of progress should appear within a few weeks: improvement in motivations, skills, or behavior. If there is no improvement, parents should consider trying another tutor, since success in tutoring depends on the quality of the “shidduch” between the parties.

If Nothing is Working

Sometimes, despite the best efforts of the parents and their son, the boy simply cannot grasp the gemara.  In such situations, it is best for the parents to give their son unconditional love, find him opportunities to succeed in other areas, and leave off the pressure to succeed in gemara.  The important thing is to try to maintain the boy’s morale so that he may try again in a different environment when he grows older.  There are many mesivtas and bais medrash programs that cater to good boys who have trouble with gemara.

Conclusion

Some boys take to gemara like a duck to water; most need some support and incentives from their parents.  There are boys who will only find enjoyment in gemara after years of effort.  It is the challenge of the parents to appreciate each of their sons, while guiding them to achieving their potential in Talmud Torah.