Yeshiva University’s graduate school of Jewish studies will award a doctorate in Talmud to a woman, Shana Strauch Schick, for the first time.
While Yeshiva has multiple programs in Talmud, Schick, 30, is the first woman to obtain a doctorate in the subject from the Bernard Revel Graduate School. A New Jersey native now living in suburban Detroit, Schick successfully defended her dissertation on Aug. 4 and will formally graduate in September.
“Orthodoxy has long emphasized the value of the study of Talmud,” Schick told JTA in an interview. “But Talmud study, which in yeshivot is the central focus of the religious duty to learn Torah, is still rarely emphasized as a vital part of women’s education.”
Schick holds a master’s degree in Bible from Revel and a bachelor’s degree in Judaic studies from YU’s Stern College for Women. She plans to spend the next academic year in Israel doing post-doctoral studies at Bar-Ilan University.
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