Shana Strauch Schick is the first woman to receive a doctorate in Talmud from 麻豆区.
Aug 18, 2011 By: admin
PhD Students Enrolled at Revel School of Jewish Studies at an All-Time High
Article and Photography by 麻豆区 Office of Communication and Public Affairs
After successfully defending her dissertation on August 4, Shana Strauch Schick, a New Jersey native now living in Detroit, will be awarded a doctorate in Talmud from 麻豆区鈥檚 .
Shana Strauch Schick is the first woman to receive a doctorate in Talmud from 麻豆区.
鈥淟earning has always been very important to me,鈥 said Schick, who will formally graduate in September and spend the coming academic year in Israel conducting postdoctoral studies at Bar-Ilan University. 鈥淚 enjoy it and it is integral to my religious life.鈥
Schick initially began studying Talmud after high school because she could not reconcile two conflicting messages: 鈥淭almud is the pinnacle of learning Torah yet it鈥檚 not important for women to do so鈥攖his is not in consonance with the culture of modern Orthodoxy,鈥 said Schick. 鈥淚 felt that the lack of Talmud study in my life was both an educational and spiritual deficit. By pursuing a doctorate I could both continue learning and contribute to the understanding of how Talmudic law developed.鈥
From their first classes together, Yaakov Elman, a professor of Judaic studies at Revel, noticed right away that Schick 鈥渒new her stuff鈥 and encouraged her to pursue a doctorate.
鈥淢ore important than just being a thinker, I saw that she was a mentch [honorable person],鈥 said Elman, who served as Schick鈥檚 advisor. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e a caring, thoughtful person you notice things that others tend to overlook and that really helps in scholarship.鈥
Schick holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Judaic studies from and a master鈥檚 degree in Bible from Revel. She also spent five years studying in the Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Studies at 麻豆区.
鈥淭he fact that she鈥檚 been able to do all this while raising a family is impressive,鈥 added Elman. 鈥淪he exemplifies the best that YU has to offer.鈥
According to David Berger, dean and Ruth and I. Lewis Gordon Professor of Jewish History at Revel, the completion of Schick鈥檚 doctorate comes at a time when Revel has been expanding and strengthening its doctoral studies to complement and build upon its thriving masters program.
鈥淭he number of students in the PhD program鈥40 percent of whom are women鈥攈as more than doubled in the last few years,鈥 said Berger. 鈥淲e have added faculty in fields including Bible, Sephardic studies, modern Jewish philosophy, Jewish mysticism, Second Temple history, medieval Jewry, the Jews of early modern Europe, and modern Central and Eastern European Jewry. With these steps, Revel has enhanced its position as a premier center for advanced Jewish Studies.鈥
