Yesodot Skill-Building Program

Drisha taught me that I don’t need to sit at the foot of a teacher and just absorb their knowledge like a sponge. Of course Pirkei Avot says that you should acquire for yourself a teacher, and that is what I found for myself within the expert faculty at Drisha. But beyond this, what Drisha gave me were the skills needed to be able to obtain Jewish knowledge on my own. I know now that I can pick up any text. And if I don’t know a word, I know the dictionary to use. And if I don’t know the grammar, I know the book to refer to. But most of the time I do know the words, and I can figure out the roots, and I can figure out the binyanim, and I can figure out meaning from context. 

That’s Torah, but I can also do that with Nevi’im, and Ketuvim, and Rashi, and Tosfot, and parts of Mishnayot and Gemarah. 

It’s occurred to me that my Jewish learning is now in my own hands. I’ve finally reached a point where I have power over my own learning. The way I grew up, that was not an option and it was not something I ever thought I could obtain. Drisha has ultimately made me a more knowledgeable Jew.

Even more importantly, that knowledge has led to a love of the faith, a love of God and a love of the spirituality and the practice.

Now it’s not something that’s forced on me. It’s something that I take in and that I comprehend and I utilize.

For that, I have Drisha to thank.