In December, Abigail (Abby) Klein Leichman ’81S and Cheryl Ruben Vogel ’80S reached out to the Office of Alumni Affairs to tell the inspiring story of their friendship while students at Stern College for Women and how their dedication to learning Torah together was rekindled after 40 years. Cheryl, who majored in English/Communications at Stern College, is currently an educator living in Newton, Massachusetts.  Of her three children, her son Joshua graduated from Yeshiva College and the Mazer School of Talmudic Studies in 2007 and her son Max earned his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2015.  Abby, who was also an English/Communications major, is a writer, editor and journalist living in Ma’aleh Adumim, Israel. The following is their story, as told by Abby and Cheryl.

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By Abigail Klein Leichman ’81S and Cheryl Ruben Vogel ’80S Abby and Cheryl met in the fall of 1977. Cheryl was a sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio, and Abby was a freshman commuting to Stern College from Yonkers, New York.  

Abby (left) and Cheryl through the years

  Over the next three years (until Cheryl’s graduation), they shared many classes, among them, creative writing with Dr. Fred Plotkin, Basic Jewish Concepts with Rabbi Saul Berman, Beginning Chumash with Prof. Sharon Schwartz, biology with Dr. Fred Goodman, Yoreh De’ah with Rabbi Kenneth Hain (including kashrut and interpersonal relationships), Spanish with Prof. Nancy Knopka, Jewish history with Rabbi Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel and The Works of Shakespeare with Dr. Manfred Weidhorn. They spent many Shabbatot at Abby’s home in Yonkers, had lots of fun adventures (ask them about New Year’s Eve in Times Square sometime) and studied together for countless hours in preparation for tests.  Abby even kept a sleeping bag in Cheryl’s dorm room so that she didn’t have to take the long trip home after late-night study sessions (or dates!). They were bridesmaids at each other’s weddings, celebrated the births of three children each and stayed in touch all these years, although they never lived in the same area. They both have grandchildren in the United States and Israel. Last August 21, Abby messaged Cheryl on WhatsApp that her partner in Torah didn’t have time to learn anymore and she was thinking of asking for a new partner. Cheryl replied, “I would partner in Torah with you! Like old times!” And within two minutes, it was decided: After a hiatus of about 40 years, they would once again learn Torah together. They share an interest in Nevi’im [The Prophets], and because it was close to the Yamim Nora’im [High Holy Days], they decided to start with Jonah and ordered Erica Brown’s Jonah: The Reluctant Prophet.  On August 26, they had their first weekly chavruta [learning partnership] session. Cheryl, an experienced Jewish educator, took the lead in outlining each chapter so that their discussions were focused. Each brought in additional material accessed from other sources, such as a Matan shiur [lecture] by Tanya White that Abby watched. They benefited from one another’s insights, perspectives and questions, with the result that reading Sefer Yonah on Yom Kippur this year was more meaningful to them—and to their husbands, with whom they shared highlights of their learning—than ever before. They are now learning Sefer Yehoshua with the aid of Michael Hattin’s Joshua: The Challenge of the Promised Land. This time, they are using a video conferencing feature on the Sefaria website that allows them to see each other and the text being studied all on the same screen. Both Cheryl and Abby feel that one silver lining of the terrible pandemic is the increased accessibility to Torah learning; for instance, in addition to their chavruta, they are both taking an online Tehillim [Psalms] class through Torah in Motion. These two proud Stern College alumnae love their renewed studies and are grateful to the faculty at Stern for teaching them the skills to learn Torah on their own and instilling within them a lifelong appreciation of Tanakh [bible]. Kol HaKavod!