Welcome

This web site aims to encourage open discussions on every possible topic related to Torah study. We welcome the involvement of men and women from anywhere in the world. The website is an extension of the Etta Kossowsky Fund learning programme, which encourages Torah learning for women in Israel through Study Groups. Like the Fund, it is a memorial to Etta Ehrman Kossowsky z.l. (1969-95).

In our articles section your will find contributions covering a wide range of topics. The most recent article (in Hebrew) is by Esther Marcus: Jeremiah. This is a special shiur, given in one of the Etta Kossowsky study groups on Shabbat Yithro, the Shabbat nearest to Etta's yahrtzeit. The talk presents a general view of the prophet Jeremiah, setting him in the historical and moral context of his day and showing evidence from the text that the prophet was much more positive than tradition has it. Esther Marcus, at the end of her talk, recalled warm memories of her friendship with Etta.

We have two articles from an Etta Kossowsky Study Group which has been studying the 'Shemone Perakim' by Maimonides. The first of these two articles is on chapter 1 of Shemone Perakim: On the Soul and its Powers; Aristotle and Maimonides describe man's Soul. The second article (in Hebrew), Shemone Perakim, by Lori Fagelston, is a brief look at a few of a number of challenging topics raised by the last chapter: questions such as 'free will and determinism'; 'miracles and the natural order', discussed by the study group.

Three of the articles collection are a product of a series of talks given at Etta Kossowsky Study Group meetings on the Amida prayer, the Shemonei Esrei prayer of (originally) eighteen blessings.

• Sanctifying the Sabbath in the Amida Prayers of the Sabbath by Lorie Fagelston
• Personal, Individual and Communal Prayer by Esther Ehrman.
• The Priority of Knowledge by Ronni Suna (dedicated to the memory of Rav Izhak Shlomo ben Hillel and Miriam Chaya bat Shmuel)

We also have an interesting series of talks given by Rav Duvdevani of Bet Shemesh on 'The Commandments of the Torah as they apply to Women'.

We welcome your comments and criticisms on whatever you read on this site.