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ALLEGRA FRANCO

www.allegrafranco.org | instagram @allegrafranco_betmidrash | email info@allegrafranco.org

‫לשונה‬-‫פיה פתחה בחכמה ותורת חסד על‬

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ALLEGRA FRANCO

Investment in Quality Education Developing future teachers by investing in their masters degree in education.

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Skilled Teachers

Quality Education

Armed with the knowledge

This investment will be paid

from the Allegra Franco

forward to the education of

Bet Midrash and pedagogical skills from a masters program in education our teachers will be prepared for the classroom.

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our children, ensuring academic excellence in judaic studies education.

The Allegra Franco Graduate >> Completion of undergraduate program >> Personal mentorships with community teachers >> Profiency in Hebrew Language >> Development of leadership skills >> Completion of the 3 year Bet Midrash Program >> Masters in Education >> Internships with community schools

Our Mission

The Allegra Franco Women’s Bet Midrash and Teaching Fellowship was created to enhance and advance the study of Limudei Kodesh for women in our community.

This program caters to those who are passionate about Limud Torah for the sake of learning. It gives those looking towards the educational track the tools and support they need to become master Judaic Studies educators.

Key Points > Bet Midrash Program Led by Rabbi Albert Setton > Guided self study enables ownership of material > Habruta style learning - Students supporting and learning from one another

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Mastery of Content

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Strength in Pedagogical Skills

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Consistent mentorship and guidance

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Importance of Gap Year in Israel

> Perpetuating community values and traditions

> Masters Degree in Education >Utilizing the wealth of multiple educational institutions to build the skills of future teachers > Ensuring the right program for every student by allowing them to explore all the possibilities of various programs

> Professional Development > One on one private mentoring plus group mentoring sessions > Classroom and school observations, valuable feedback and debriefings > Ivriyon and Leadership Programs

> About 15% of our women students spend their gap year in Israel > Instill a love of learning and an appreciation of our texts & traditions > Immersion in the hebrew language > Exposure to different learning styles

Our Staff Rabbi Albert Setton, Head of Bet Midrash > Mastery of the basic fundamentals of the Jewish library- Tanach, Practical Halacha Le’maa’seh, and philosophy of the Rambam. > Through the study of Tanach, Students will be introduced to the ethical and moral questions addressed by Hazal and Jewish thinkers throughout the generations. This will create a strong foundation of the basic tenets of Machshevet Yisrael.

Rabbi Albert Setton Head of Bet Midrash

> Students will learn to navigate the greater Jewish library > Students will be able to prepare original Torah thoughts by using the skills of literary analysis, biblical commentary, and Machshevet Yisrael.

Stephanie Dweck, Director of Professional Development > Guiding fellows on various graduate programs in the educational field > Pairing students with community mentors > Developing and maintaining strong relationships with every student in our program. Consistent presence in the Bet Midrash, interacting and learning together with the students.

Stephanie Dweck Director of Professional Development

> Securing internships for fellows within our community schools

“Training young women to go into Torah education is abso-lutely necessary work. Our community schools are thirsting for female leaders who can inspire our young women and become their role models. Coupling a rigorous Torah background with a master’s degree in education to produce female Judaic Studies teachers is a game changer for our yeshivot and a major step in the right direction.”

Rabbi Richard Tobias Principal, MDY

tremendous funds and

“The Allegra Franco Women’s Bet Midrash and Teaching Fellowship Program is a vital program for women in our community.

By a ratio of 8:2, female teachers make up the majority of Qodesh teachers in our schools.

Women who are educated and inspired by the excellence of Yahadut will only be better role models and teachers for all our children.”

resources into educational

Rabbi Moses Haber

“While school’s invest

programs, activities and curriculum, all schools would agree that our ultimate priority and the area that we collectively need most is recruitment and training of the next generation of Judaic Studies teachers”

Rabbi Yahel Tsaidi Head of School Yeshivah of Flatbush

Rav Yeshiva, Barkai

Community Support

“Looking forward to growing a Bet Midrash that will be a dynamic learning environment with advanced Torah study, allowing women to develop spiritually and make important contributions to the community at large.”

Mrs Annie Savdie

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Have you spent the year in Israel and want to continue to learn?

MORE THAN JUST A NEW LOOK >>

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READ HOW THE ALLEGRA FRANCO BET MIDRASH AND CAREER FELLOWSHIP IS TAKING JEWISH EDUCATION TO THE NEXT LEVEL

I WANT TO BE A JUDAIC STUDIES TEACHER.

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WOMEN’S

ALLEGRA FRANCO EDUCATING OUR FUTURE

NOW

ALLEGRA FRANCO

MEET THE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

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Why

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S EF ER TEHILLIM

ALLEGRA FRANCO EDUCATING OUR FUTURE

A NIGHT OF WOMEN’S LEARNING

WILL YOU

LEARN WITH US?

pedagogical skills

5/27 8PM

FOR TOMOR RO NCE W DA UI

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fall registration now open

ALLEGRA FRANCO?

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MEET A 2020 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM

WHAT?

POST HIGH SCHOOL ISRAEL 2020

SYLVIA COHEN, MDY HS

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ENTER ZOOM ID SDWECK OR #992 278 8479

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@ allegrafranco_betmidrash

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Master’s Accreditation Community Wide Women’s Bet Midrash Year in Israel Scholarship

TODAY ’S

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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

WEDNESDAY APRIL 22 @ 8PM

WHAT’S NEW at ALLEGRA FRANCO?

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THE NEW ALLEGRA FRANCO

Do you enjoy learning in a group setting?

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Are you thinking about becoming a Judaic Studies teacher?

Allegra Ashear Franco, A"H

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Is learning Torah on a regular basis something you want to incorporate into your life?

Meet the Recipients of 2020’s Year in Israel Scholarship

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Do you love to delve into text and want to learn to deepen your skills?

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ALLEGRA FRANCO EDUCATING OUR FUTURE

ALLEGRA FRANCO EDUCATING OUR FUTURE

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INFORMATION SESSION

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On social media

WOMEN’S BET MIDRASH

ALLEGRA FRANCO

BET MIDRASH & FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

Why?

habruta ..

(hab ru ta)

derived from the word haber; friend. emphasis on the value of learning in pairs: “Two scholars sharpen one another” Two scholars, through discussion and debate, help to sharpen each other’s insight into the text.

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Sunday

9:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Sefer Bereshit

Monday

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Rambam Ahava

7/22 Rosh Hodesh Av

Monday

8:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Sefer Tehilim

JOIN US AT THE LARCHWOOD SYNAGOGUE TENT

Tuesday

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Understanding The Oral Law

ALLEGRA FRANCO EDUCATING OUR FUTURE

BRING A FRIEND TO LEARN WITH! DAY SESSION BEMIDBAR WEDNESDAY 7/22 11:00AM -1:00 PM • LUNCH WILL BE SERVED OR

EVENING SESSION HALACHA & TECHNOLOGY WEDNESDAY 7/22 6:30PM-8:30PM • DINNER WILL BE SERVED

RSVP STEPHANIE (347) 587-9102

Wednesday 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Halachic Responsa: Medicine and Reproduction

Women’s Bet Midrash

Bet Midrash Schedule *classes are accredited at Yeshivah University

Women’s Bet Midrash

What’s habruta learning?

What the Bet Midrash Has Meant to Me The New Allegra Franco By Sylia Aboudi On any given Monday or Wednesday this summer, on my bike (or in a car on a lazy day). I walk down the path behind the building, and duck beneath the rows of canopies to sit down at ONE of the tables and chairs provided. I take out my humash, open to Sefer Bemidbar, and rub my hands together in anticipation for today’s packet of sources, painstakingly and generously put together by Rabbi Albert Setton.

When I skim through the subject matter, my heart Korah since high school, and I can’t wait to see what I’ll discover today about myself, my religion, and my somehow we’ve touched upon crowd psychology, the purpose of a “good” or productive rebellion vs. a “bad” or nefarious one, the prominence of roles and boundaries in Judaism, and why Ramban’s ar gument here might hold more water than Ibn Ezra’s even gotten through half of today’s sources. I leave with my brain tingling. I leave feeling invested in the words, the story, the lessons. I leave feeling closer to the Torah than I have felt in years. When I tell my family and friends that I am participating in Allegra community, they raise their eyebrows in surprise.

Let’s just say I’m usually the one questioning how the

stories and laws in the Torah apply to my life as it is now. Growing up, I attended a yeshivah that tried its very hardest to impart the lessons of the Torah through the words of the Tanach and the Mikraot Gedolot. From Bereshit to Debarim to Melachim 2 and on, I watched the realization of one G-d dawn defeated its enemies and then, ultimately, defeated itself. I learned how that tradition was preserved throughout thousands of years, with discussion and self-imposed boundaries between us and other na tions. Yet, I never felt like part of that story. I always felt like the story was being told to me by someone else. I might have been projecting my own feelings of insecurity, but I felt that my interpretations of the text didn’t matter in the face of these untouchable Gedolim who had already laid the path out for me. the Bet Midrash during a women’s Zoom learning the participants were provided with a source sheet on the subject of women learning Torah. I believe participating women. We all came back from our Breakout Sessions ready to defend our capability in the face of what Rambam had to say on whether women could take the Torah seriously or not! Once

we now live in a time when women are more scholarly and therefore able to handle the study of Torah, we watched the video on a new Bet Midrash initiative. My heart was pounding as the Rabbi this is the kind of Torah-learning I had been waiting for my entire life.

“Is this only for people who want to be teachers?”

No. “So it’s open to anyone who wants to study?” Yes. “Does this have a typical class format, with a teacher teaching and students listening?” No. text together, much like the Habruta format used in a common Bet Midrash. I signed up immediately to study Sefer Bemidbar. I had always seen Sefer Bemidbar as a strange collection of numbers and names, with several extremely dramatic occurrences strewn throughout that would change the trajectory of an entire generation of desert-dwellers. Under Rabbi Setton’s watchful eye, it has become so much more than that. I still have chills when I think about the day we were given our source sheet on Sotah.

From what I vaguely recalled learning back in high law that allowed a man to put his wife through public humiliation because he suspectedshe was cheating on him. If it got to the point when the woman was

brought before the Kohen, her guilt or innocence would be determined when she drank bitter waters prepared for this very purpose. If she was guilty, her belly would swell and explode. If she was innocent, for being innocent was to have a child with the very man who put her through this whole thing!

I almost dared anyone there to convince me this wasn’t some example of how women were treated unfairly. My partner Aimee and I began to dig into the text. First we went through the peshat. We went a little deeper, and learned about all of the pieces that would have to be in place for a couple to even get to the point where the drinking of the bitter waters would be necessary—how many warnings, or wit nesses, or opportunities both parties had to back out of this ordeal! We learned that the woman had the ability to back out and demand a divorce. We learned that the waters wouldn’t work if the man had any sin on his conscience. We learned when witnesses were all of these steps and conditions seemed tedious, but Rabbi Setton asked in his amused, quiet manner, for us to carry on to the end. We came to the end with an astounding realization. were met that allowed for a couple to make it this far into the process, the only reason a woman would stand before her husband, the Kohen, and the gath ered, and take a chance in drinking those waters, was to prove her innocence to her husband so that they may start a new life together free from the suspicion and guilt. We suddenly understood why

pregnancy would be a natural reward with that night and, still thrilled with my realization, explained at shabbat dinner, I described to my family the moment I understood that sotah was more marriage counseling than public humiliation. Why was it Wouldn’t it have been the same if I had asked a rabbi this question, on why a woman should be treated this way, and he came back to me with this expla nation? I would argue that, no, it would not have been the same. I went into that day’s session with my own prejudices. When that happens, no amount of explaining, even by a rabbi I greatly admire, could completely erase that uneasy feeling. But through our study and discussion, Aimee and I were able to grasp the deeper meanings of the text. Our dialogue was at Yet always, we felt like we were forging our own connections with the text. Rabbi Setton may have given us the pile of cobblestones, but we laid down the rocky pathway to understanding through our Allegra Franco Women’s Bet Midrash and Teaching Fellowship Program stemmed from the idea that in order to turn out solid Judaic Studies teachers, teachers need to own the material they are teaching, not just relay to their students what they themselves had learned. Imagine how much more passionate a teacher would be about making sure her students understand the lessons of sotah when she herself had grappled with the content herself! Imagine how

much more receptive to questions she would be when she herself had learned in an atmosphere that didn’t just tolerate questions, but welcomed them!

I feel so grateful that the Bet Midrash opened its doors to all women, not just those seeking to become teachers. I am so excited to delve into Sefer Tehillim this fall. I am so excited that this Bet Midrash opened up a part of my brain that was beginning to grow dusty from years out of practice. I am excited about everything I’ve learned, and everythinI have yet to learn.

Sylia Aboudi is a mother of three.

She holds a masters in Education.

She will be teaching in Barkai Yeshivah this fall, after gaining two years of experience at MDY. She is fervently passionate about writing, reading and painting.

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Rosh Chodesh Events

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WOMEN’S

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Satellite Programs

Weekly Dibre Torah on the parasha

ALLEGRA FRANCO

P NDERING THE PARASHA To sign up and receive our weekly parasha source sheet, join our mailing list at Allegrafranco.org or DM us.

‫טועמיה חיים זכו‬ We will provide sources and guided questions on a key topic.

Enjoy learning these sources on your own, with a peer, or family member!

Rosh Chodesh Special Events

Over 70 girls attended to learn about thep Power of speech. Classes led by the students of the Allegra Franco Bet Midrash.

Over 100 girls joined to learn with leading women educators

Bet Midrash August 2020 and Joint program with Larchwood Synoguage

Chanoch LaNa’ar Al Pi Darco – Educate a child according to their way

(Proverbs 22:6)

www.allegrafranco.org | instagram @allegrafranco_betmidrash | email info@allegrafranco.org

‫לשונה‬-‫פיה פתחה בחכמה ותורת חסד על‬