Jan 20, 2006 -- The AVI CHAI Foundation has renewed funding for The Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies at Stern College for Women for the fifth consecutive year. Begun in 2000, the two-year program, which was initiated and sponsored by an AVI CHAI grant, currently enrolls eighteen women. YU President Richard M. Joel has been instrumental in providing supplemental funding to ensure the program’s success in accommodating increasing student interest. The Graduate Program provides women the opportunity to continue their study of Talumdic literature beyond college. It is directed toward outstanding students who are committed to pursuing advanced Jewish studies full time. To that end, generous stipends are provided. The AVI CHAI Foundation, a private foundation established in 1984, has two goals: to encourage Jews to become more deeply involved in Jewish learning and observance, and to promote mutual understanding and sensitivity among Jews of different backgrounds. As part of the educational outreach component, students in the program have given regular shiurim (classes) in Gemara and Halakhah (Jewish law) on the campuses of Columbia University, Queens and Brooklyn Colleges among others. They have served as assistant teachers in Talmud at respected yeshiva high schools in the metropolitan area including Ramaz, Flatbush and Ma’ayanot. Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel, E. Billi Ivry Professor of Jewish History, is director of the program. He notes that graduates of the program have made significant inroads in the community as educators, scholars, and role models. “Our program has produced outstanding women who are trained to master a broad range of Talmudic and halakhic sources,” he said. “They serve both formally and informally as an ever-expanding cadre of women who seek to study Talmud with the high level of scholarship needed to confront the halakhic challenges of life in a modern society.” A Shabbaton was recently held at The Jewish Center in Manhattan at which 15 Fellows of the program offered shiurim, drashot (sermons) and learning sessions throughout Shabbat. The program was coordinated by Rabbi Shmuel Hain, assistant rabbi of The Jewish Center and assistant director of the program. “We hope to replicate this type of program in leading synagogues in the metropolitan area during the spring semester and beyond,” said Rabbi Hain. Elana Stein, a PhD candidate at Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, delivered a d’var Torah (sermon) in the main sanctuary of The Jewish Center. In addition to numerous educational positions in diverse settings, Ms. Stein teaches a weekly shiur in advanced Talmud at the Columbia Hillel. Pesia Soloveitchik, an honors graduate of Stern College with a degree in chemistry, gave a class in tractate Kiddushin. She has been a member of the YU Atlanta Kollel and is currently an intern at the Beth Din of America.