Concerned over the fate of the GPATS program, I emailed Rabbi Kahn, a leading Talmud scholar here at Stern and my professor for the past few years. On June 26th, he responded with certainty that the GPATS curriculum would remain unchanged.
Right before finals season began in the middle of May, both The Commentator and The Observer published articles presenting differing views on the proposed changes to the GPATS program. Speculations included an altered curriculum to provide more professional training, with less focus on Gemara b’Iyyun, in-depth Talmud study, and Yoreh Deah, practical areas of Halakha, such as kashrut. The annual stipend would be cut for those intending to pursue a career within the Jewish community, and those pursuing careers in other fields would be charged fifteen thousand dollars a year. The Commentator claimed that the changes would be detrimental to the future of GPATS and its students, threatening the seriousness of the program, while The Observer maintained that these changes would uphold the integrity of the program.
The email that was sent to me in June by Rabbi Kahn, a prominent member of the GPATS faculty, assured me that the curriculum would remain intact. This was by far the most crucial element that needed to be maintained in order for GPATS to remain the same serious and sophisticated women’s Torah scholarship program it had been in the past.
Until now, the program has remained stagnant. GPATS has not grown since its inception in 1999. The first class of 2000 had only eight students. This past June, the graduating class also held eight students (next year’s graduates will be a whopping ten). Suffice it to say it is a small program, but in no way does this reflect the substantive role that it plays in advancing women’s Torah scholarship within the Orthodox community.
One of the confirmed changes in the program is in regards to the reduction of the annual stipend received by full-time GPATS students. In the early years of full-time students received an annual stipend of eighteen thousand dollars (today that would be slightly less than twenty-five thousand dollars, due to inflation) taken from a benefaction of Ambassador Alfred Moses. Eventually, funds ran low and the stipend was reduced to fifteen thousand dollars paid to full-time students. GPATS will now fall under the administration of Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF), and the stipend amount will be reduced to five thousand dollars annually as of Fall 2015.
It is my understanding that the stipend was meant to provide basic living expenses to the program’s students. Full-time learning means very little working at best, unemployed at worst. Would a sixty-percent reduction in stipend deter women from enrolling in the program? That was my initial reaction and fear. While five thousand dollars is a considerable amount of money that no one would refuse, it is considerably less than the fifteen thousand dollars paid in the past, or even the eighteen thousand paid fifteen years ago.
While it is a valid concern, it’s just that: a concern. As apologetic as it sounds, if a potential student is interested in attending the program out of commitment to furthering her Torah education or perfecting her learning skills or whatever her reason may be, she will still enroll. Yes, GPATS used to offer its students a free master’s degree and a heftier stipend, but due to financial constraints, the stipend must be reduced. GPATS will continue to award its students a free master’s degree and every student will receive a five thousand dollar stipend annually. While the stipend reduction is indeed a matter of circumstance, it’s also an important signifier that the administrators of the program are confident that women will continue to enroll in the program regardless of stipend cuts. Perhaps then, by implication, women’s Torah scholarship has become considered slightly more the norm, a little bit more accepted.
Although there may be a few technical changes, the mission of GPATS remains resolute. As it stands, GPATS is the only Orthodox program in the United States that offers serious Torah learning for women at a high level and awards its students a Master’s degree upon graduation.
Time will tell whether or not my speculation will ring true. While it’s possible that the budget cuts will harm GPATS, we can only hope that the CJF will maintain GPATS and the vital role it plays in the Modern Orthodox community.