Diving into Yeshiva's talk practices: Chavruta argumentation between individual and community towards crystallizing methods

Abstract

Abstract The present study offers a systematic analysis of the evolution of talk practices of ultraorthodox Jews learning in dyads called Chavruta. We investigate whether and how these practices contribute to the maintenance of traditional legal discourses and or move in a transformative direction. We answer this question by observing two learners in a Chavruta setting in consecutive sessions. We show that the Chavruta learners are constantly seeking for finding methods of their own while discussing legal texts. We show that the study of Chavruta learning is relevant to both educational change and to civil law in Western countries. Although the institutions and contexts in which ultraorthodox students learn seem extremely stable, we show that this relevance relates to social change, both in education and in civil law.