Meir Fachler (meir@gemaraberura.com) is the Executive Director of Gemara Berura, qualifying him as an early pioneer in the field of computer-assisted Talmud study. In this article, he shares the underlying principles and a new application for studying Mishnah and related texts.

Bringing Mishnah and Gemara studies to the Digital Age

Many are familiar with the Gemara Berura (www.gemaraberura.com) skills-based, computer-assisted methodology for teaching Talmud, with its array of digital reference and formatting tools that provide a user-friendly experience. The new version of Gemara Berura includes a separate tool for teaching and learning Tannaitic (including Mishnah, baraita and Tosefta) and even Amoriac memra texts, as they appear in the Gemara. These texts we will call “Mishnah-type” texts. The methodology is called Mishnayot Berurot and uses what we call the OMD”T tool. This article describes the overall learning methodology employed by Gemara Berura and how this is now applied in Mishnayot Berurot.

Emphasizing skills over content

When dealing with halakhic, (not the aggadic) elements of the Talmud, the goal of teaching Talmud (Mishnah and Gemara) should be to enable students to become proficient independent learners. In order to achieve this, there is widespread agreement today (bolstered by a slew of post-Talmudic Rabbinic authorities) who advocate that the early years of Talmud study needs to be much more skills-based in its approach. This does not by any means imply that the content of the Talmud is not important or that it shouldn’t be taught, rather, that the all-too-common standard practice of teaching the subject matter without much emphasis on the learning skills has proven to be a failure for many Talmud students. We believe that Talmud studies should allow for a seamless integration of skills and content, with an emphasis on building up the students’ independent learning skills as well as their content knowledge base.

Any skills-based approach to teaching Talmud needs to focus on what the Mishnah or Gemara is “doing” more that what it is “saying.” The subject matter of the Talmud (what it is saying) changes according to the particular passage that is being taught, while the intrinsic style, approach and methodology that the Talmud employs in order to present the subject matter (what it is doing) is, generally speaking, what makes the Talmud the Talmud.

What Gemara “does”

In the Gemara elements of Talmud, the name generally given to what it “does” is called shakla vetarya – loosely translated as the “to-and-fro”, “give-and-take” system of argumentation and deliberation. It introduces, asks, answers, supports, rejects, concludes, etc. Gemara Berura developed a list of ten such shakla vetarya function classifications. Essentially, shakla vetarya is the non-linear connected structure of these argumentation functions.

To help Gemara learners to be able to distinguish what the passage is doing at any given moment, the authors of the Talmud employed a system of key-words and phrases that indicate what the particular part of the passage is “doing” in terms of shakla vetarya. Getting our students to master these key-words and phrases, and thereby master the Talmud’s complex but systematic shakla vetarya approach, allows them to eventually be capable of grappling with any Talmudic text – whatever the subject matter.

What Mishnah “does”

In the Mishnah elements of Talmud, the somewhat simpler, inner classification system is made up of four basic classification categories – Omer (Author), Mikreh (Case), Din (Ruling), Ta-am (Rationale) – often abbreviated as OMD”T. (There is sometimes a fifth category, the Koteret, or Title.) As with the Gemara, getting our students to master the Mishnah’s systematic OMD”T structure and approach allows them to eventually be capable of grappling with any Mishnah-type text – whatever the subject matter.

Mapping out the shakla vetarya and OMD”T structures

Using key-words and other indicators that the Talmud provides, the basic skill-set for mastering shakla vetarya and OMD”T is what we call DCC – Divide, Classify, and Connect. First, we need to divide the text into its basic units. Then we need to classify each unit according to one of the ten shakla vetarya or five OMD”T functions. Once this has been achieved, since neither the Mishnah nor Gemara is linear, we need to connect the classified units in a way which reflects the actual structure of the passage at hand.

As students progress in their understanding of the role and function of keywords, and their ability to DCC at various levels of complexity increases, they will be able to approach more and more Gemara and Mishnah passages with a high level of understanding of both what the passage is “doing” and “saying.”

Harnessing technology for skills-based Talmud learning

A number of elements of this skills-based approach warrant the utilization of computer technology.

1. Reference tools. The Talmud contains in-built information embedded within the text that assists us in understanding the inner structure of the passage at hand. This includes Key-words, Names of the Talmudic sages, and difficult Aramaic terminology. Therefore, the Gemara Berura (GB) and Mishnayot Berurot (MB) methodologies provide on-demand reference tools, such as a dictionary of the key-words (GB), biographical details of the Talmudic sages (GB, MB) and an Aramaic-Hebrew dictionary (GB).
2. Formatting tools. The words “mapping out” and “structure” bring with them strong visual and graphic connotations. Therefore, GB and MB provide a series of formatting tools that allow students to literally divide, classify (and color-and-shape-code) and connect the Mishnah or Gemara passage at hand. In addition to the formatted DCC’ed text, Gemara Berura also automatically generates a flowchart that vividly maps out and structures an exact reflection of the DCC text formatting process.

These digital reference and formatting tools allows students to “unpack” the shakla vetarya and OMD”T of any Talmudic passage, and to see a graphic representation of what it is “doing”, on-the-fly.

In the new Mishnayot Berurot, we now can (sub-) divide the Mishnah-type text into its OMD”T units, then classify each unit according to its OMD”T classification, and then connect each OMD”T classified unit in a way that reflects the actual structure of that text. Mishnayot Berurot also automatically generates a color-coded flowchart that is an exact reflection of the Mishnah DCC process. The result of this process is that we have a clearly defined understanding of the OMD”T structure, and we can see clearly what the Mishnah is “doing”.

In addition to this familiar Gemara Berura-style DCC text formatting and flowcharting, and unique to Mishnayot Berurot, it is also possible to automatically export the OMD”T-formatted Mishnah-type text to a Microsoft Word table, such that each column represents one of the OMD”T classifications. This MS Word table provides an added graphic representation of the text, and becomes a powerful basis for a worksheet on which, for example, the students could be asked to fill in the blank boxes.

Potential benefits of computer-assisted tools for teaching Mishnah

These are some of the potential benefits that could be gained from teaching with the Mishnayot Berurot methodology:

1. For visual learners, Mishnayot Berurot enables students to view the Mishnah-type text in three alternative graphic representations beyond the standard print text version: 1) the formatted DCC’ed text version, 2) the Flowchart version, and 3) the Table version, each clearly and vividly defining the inner OMD”T structure of the Mishnah-type text at hand. With this multiple graphic-organizer approach, students are able relate to at least one of these graphic representations, according to each individual learning style.
2. If classrooms are equipped with the necessary technology, it is now easier to teach mishnayot as a skill, not only as teaching contents. Students and teachers alike can experiment with their understanding of the inner OMD”T structure and contents of the Mishnah at the click of a mouse or touch of the finger on a SmartBoard. This takes what is often perceived as a mainly frontal teaching activity and promotes a more interactive classroom style.
3. Since GB and MB are integrated and promote the same basic DCC skill-set, it becomes much easier to teach mishnayot as an introduction to Gemara studies. The OMD”T system seeks to mimic what the Talmudic sages did when they discussed the Mishnah-type sources. They too would seek to analyze the Mishnah-type text at hand and ascertain if they clearly understood each case, ruling etc. If not, these would be the first questions they would ask in the shakla vetarya process. Moreover, students will begin to recognize that certain keywords are specific to one of the OMD”T classifications. This, in turn, will enable them clearly map out and track the relationship between the Mishnah-type text and the Gemara’s shakla vetarya process – making the whole Talmud-learning endeavor a much more integrated experience.
4. When learning a particular Gemara, it is possible to compare and contrast conflicting or supporting Mishnah-type texts in a way that graphically highlights the exact point of conflict or support – in particular when using the MS Word table tools

Conclusions

As schools are beginning to utilize computer technology in the classroom via projectors, SmartBoards, etc, the need to provide profoundly useful tools and applications for Judaic Studies (beyond on-line access and digital data bases), becomes more acute. In the past, Gemara Berura has been addressing this need in the middle to high school arena. With the advent of Mishnayot Berurot, it is addressing this need in the elementary school arena as well.

As in all computer-assisted applications, Gemara Berura and now Mishanyot Berurot are basically powerful and extremely useful teaching and learning tools. They are not a substitute for teachers, good teaching practice, and books. What remains to be seen is how schools will develop skills-based Mishnah curriculum that harnesses to the full the potential advantages and benefits that the computer-based Mishnayot Berurot brings to this critical area of teaching Torah She-be-al Peh.