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About Me

Rabbi Chaim Coffman
Rabbi Coffman has helped people from all across the spectrum to prepare themselves properly for Orthodox Conversion to Judaism. His students admire his vast knowledge and appreciate his warm, personal attention and endearing sense of humor.
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Followers

Welcome to Rabbi Chaim Coffman's Blog!

I would like to thank you for visiting my blog, Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism.

The conversion process can be a lengthy and daunting one to say the least and I want you to know that I am here to help you through it.

I have been teaching newcomers to Judaism for over a decade and over the last few years I have seen that conversion candidates really lack the support and knowledge they need to navigate the conversion process and successfully integrate into the Orthodox Jewish community.

I created my mentorship program in order to help make this whole experience as smooth and as painless as possible! (Can't do much about the growing pains, though ;)

Feel free to get to know me a little through the posts on my blog and visit the mentorship and syllabus page if you are interested in possible joining us.

I sincerely wish you all the best in your search for truth and spiritual growth.

Looking forward to meeting you,
Chaim Coffman

My Rebbe, Rav Moshe Sternbuch

In case you were wondering why I have all of these articles written by Rav Moshe Sternbuch, he is my Rebbe, and one of the gedolei hador (greatest Rabbis of our generation).

Rav Sternbuch fully endorses me and supports my mentorship program.

He is the address for all of my halachic or hashkafic (practical and philosophical) questions that I or my students may have.

The articles are based on his weekly talks on the Torah portion that the Rav gives in Jerusalem in his kollel. As a member of the kollel I get first dibbs on the photocopies and I type them up for my blog so you can all benefit from the Rav's erudition and insight.
Saturday, April 6, 2013

The 48 Ways of Acquiring Torah - Dikduk Chaverim - Closeness of Friends

The next of the 48 ways to acquire Torah is closeness of friends. This means that a person who has close friends, they can help him in his ability to acquire Torah. They help him understand the text better through the way they make inferences and the knowledge that they have.

Another possible explanation is that through the camaraderie of friends, they will help one understand what their rebbe is teaching. This means, after the rav gives the class, they discuss the intricacies of the class and break it down to make sure they understand every aspect.

This does not mean that one cannot understand the class by himself but as explained previously, since one has their own biases of how they look at things, it is better to learn with a chevrusah (study partner) to bounce ideas off so what they learn will be crystal clear.

Rabbenu Yonah tells us that from the the Mishna in Chapter 2 Mishnah 12 that one of the best things to have for character development is to have a good friend since one can get good advice and direction from them.  Usually, good friends will not lead one astray and the benefits from one are limitless.

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