I was reading an article about a Talmud course that is offered at Columbia University. The teacher is Rabbi Dr. Ari Bergmann who is a frum. I will leave other comments about the article aside and make one comment.
The article says: Bergmann revels in the diversity of his sources and the diversity of the students attracted to his class. “There’s a guy with a black yarmulke, a Haredi, all the way to a guy who doesn’t wear a yarmulke and who isn’t Jewish. Men and women too,” he told me. It is clear, he added, that the longtime resistance to the critical study of Talmud among traditional yeshivot is breaking down. “The world is changing.”
“These two approaches, the traditional and the academic, were once viewed as incompatible and thus their audience was completely different,” Bergmann added. “Now, however, these two approaches are not only seen as compatible but complimentary to each other.”
Seen by whom? How many people on earth see these two approaches as complimentary?? Not in just about any Yeshiva and not in any university. So my conclusion is that when he says that these two approaches are seen as complimentary he is talking about ... himself.
Note: I am not stating my opinion as to whether I think he is right or wrong [and who am I anyway and what do I know about gemara compared to Talmidei Chachomim?!]. Just that although the world is changing - it is not in relation to this topic. Yeshivas learn yeshivish and universities learn academic.
