Miryam Kiderman: Tribute to Rav Kahn


Miryam Kiderman

I’m overwhelmed with the need to join the multitudes of women who are students of Rabbi Moshe Kahn. I told a colleague today that since I can’t attend the shiva, zooming into the funeral felt like the least I could do to show up- and writing here feels the same- the least I can do to show respect and honor and to do something with my sadness and grief.

I want to say that I am unworthy- I was his student formally for only one year- but the clear message of speeches at the levaya today is that R Kahn believed that we are all worthy.

It is incredible that the attributes that come to mind when I think of R Kahn are the same ones that have been echoing in speeches and posts- kindness, humility, commitment to Talmud Torah. Respect for everyone. In a world where so many of us have personas, what a rarity it is to reflect on a person who was so truly himself.

Rabbi Kahn’s impact on the world of women’s learning and teaching can’t be understated. To paraphrase Rabbanit Sally Mayer, R JJ Schacter, Rabbi Chaim Strauchler, and his children who were also his talmidim- R Kahn gently but firmly led generations of women by providing access to Talmud Torah at the highest level- and in doing so, he quietly revolutionized the learning and engagement of thousands. He did so with his dedication to the text, and his dedication to teaching, and without discrimination.

Like many women, I started my Gemara learning from a photocopy. As a student in GPATS and at Midreshet Lindenbaum, the concept of women not having the capacity to learn from primary sources is unheard of- much to R Kahn’s credit. It is overwhelming to consider what our world could have looked like had he not taken up the mantle of bringing women in to the world of teaching and learning Torah Shebe’al Peh in this manner. The legacy of his thousands of students and the tens of thousands students they will teach is incomprehensible. Ashreinu.

We have lost a giant- may we merit to stand on his shoulders.

(Miryam is a psychologist for pulmonary medicine at children’s national hospital in DC )

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