“Either a hevruta partner or death”: A critical view on the interpersonal dimensions of hevruta learning

How might one perceive the role of his or her hevruta partner in the hevruta learning relationship? Drawing on recent developments in the scholarship of rabbinics, this article offers an interpretation of a Talmudic legend that discusses three forms of interpersonal relationships in hevruta learning. Rather then considering hevruta learning as a formal setting meant to serve the learner's own learning, this interpretation offers a dialogic view of hevruta learning in which the learner carries a responsibility for the learning of his or her hevruta partner as well. The article concludes by suggesting further considerations of the interpretation of Talmudic legends as a resource for Jewish education and of hevruta learning as a locus for moral education.