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).

Our articles section covers a very wide range of topics. Many of the contributions are summaries of talks given in Etta Study Groups. All are Torah oriented and reflect personal readings of texts and commentaries. Some articles are in Hebrew, but most of the contributions are in English.

Our most recent contributions come from this year’s Memorial Evening. You can listen to them and get the flavour of that special annual occasion.

• The first talk from the Memorial Evening was given by Michi Kossowsky - Why did the Meraglim act the way they did?
• The second talk was given by Rachel Adelman - Eliyahu Hanavi and the Wandering Jew
• The third talk was given by Eli Ehrman - The Divine Cosmic Gardener which you can also read on The Divine Gardener

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.