February 28 Teaneck Yom Iyun Will Focus on Purim, Women's Learning Yeshiva University’s Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) will host a Women’s Community Yom Iyun at Congregation Keter Torah, 600 Roemer Avenue, Teaneck, New Jersey, on February 28, 2016, from 9 a.m to 12 p.m. The day of learning will feature four shiurim about the upcoming Purim holiday and an introductory lecture on women and Torah learning. Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, senior scholar at YU’s Center for the Jewish Future and University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought, will deliver the opening lecture, titled, “The Changing Landscape of Women and Talmud Torah.” Participants will then have the opportunity to select one of two Bible lectures to attend—“Vashti: The Heroine of the Megillah,” by Nechama Price, GPATS director and instructor in Jewish studies and Bible at YU’s Stern College for Women, and “Purim: Why a Second Day of Celebration?” by Sarit Anstandig, Tanakh faculty at the Frisch School—followed by their choice of one of two lectures in Jewish law and gemara: “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead: Rejoicing at the Demise of Our Enemies” by Chana Zuckier, co-director of the Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at Yale-JLIC, and “Hearing Versus Listening: Does Megillah Require Kavana?” by Lisa Septimus, gemara teacher at the North Shore Hebrew Academy and yoetzet halacha. Price, Zuckier, Anstanding and Septimus are all alumni of GPATS, a two-year master’s program that provides women with an opportunity to pursue high-level graduate study to further their growth in Torah and Talmudic skills. “GPATS is not only about the exhilarating experience of absorbing one’s self in rigorous Talmud Torah—it is equally engaged in sharing that knowledge and experience with the broader community of women,” said Price. “The students of GPATS have benefited from the exquisite opportunity to learn with talmidei chachamim [Torah scholars], including our illustrious faculty, and we are honored to share that experience with the community. Similarly, our alumni teach Torah in many different capacities and sharing their love of Torah with the community is an integral part of the GPATS mission.” “When Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik delivered the first formal lecture on Talmud to students at Stern College in 1977, it was because he believed that women need to be educated in our traditions and have access to the inner halls of the oral Torah legacy,” said Rabbi Kenneth Brander, vice president for university and community life at YU. “The Torah l’shma [pure study] of GPATS is the continuation of the Rav’s vision. Throughout the world the graduates of GPATS are making a significant difference in the vitality of Torah study, helping to guarantee the immortality of the Jewish experience.” The Yom Iyun is co-sponsored by 21 local synagogues: Bais Medrash of Bergenfield, Beth Aaron Congregation, Congregation Ahavat Achim, Congregation Ahavath Torah, Congregation Arzei Darom, Congregation Beth Abraham, Congregation Beth Tefillah, Congregation Bnai Yeshurun, Congregation Darchei Noam, Congregation Keter Torah, Congregation Rinat Yisrael, Congregation Shaarei Orah, Congregation Shaare Tefillah, Congregation Shomrei Torah, Kehilath Kesher, Netivot Shalom, Ohr Saadya, Shomrei Emunah Congregation, Young Israel of Fort Lee, Young Israel of Teaneck, and Zichron Mordechai.