Apr 28, 2010 -- Inspired by the story of Ruth, some 200 young women assembled at Stern College for Women for an evening of Jewish scholarship and siyum [completion] presented by the Torah Leadership Network (TLN), a program coordinated by the Center for the Jewish Future (CJF). Representing high schools from across the tri-state area, the students divided into four chaburot [groups] to study and complete the entire Megillat Rut [Book of Ruth]. The evening also featured a lecture by Deena Rabinovich, an instructor in Bible at Stern and director of Stern’s Jewish Educators Project. “We wanted to do something special to mark the end of a year spent creating a community of Torah learning among the high school students and madrichot [advisors],” explained Sarah Emerson Helfand, director of women’s programming for the CJF. “By studying the story of Ruth—the epitome of strong Jewish female leadership—we were able to convey to our own undergraduates and the high school students, our firm commitment to teaching and developing strong Jewish women leaders.” Participating schools included Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central), SKA, Maayanot, Bruriah, Shalhevet, Yeshiva of Flatbush, HANC, Shulamith and Hillel. “I had a wonderful time seeing my friends from other schools,” said Devora Eisenberg, a sophomore at Shalhevet. “The food was great and the learning was awesome.” The program was organized and led by 40 undergraduate madrichot from Stern and women in the graduate-level Tanach Learning Program, who trained the madrichot and provided them with detailed source sheets. “As an alumna of Stern, it was both inspiring and heartwarming to witness the love of learning displayed by today’s generation of Stern students and wonderful madrichot,” said Mindy Sussman, a school administrator at Shalhevet. “I was equally impressed by the caliber of the Stern Torah studies faculty.”