Interreligious Education at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College: A View from the Jewish Edge (original) (raw)

"Jewish Education" and American Jewish Education, Part II

Journal of Jewish Education, 2015

In this series of articles, I explore the history of Jewish Education magazine with particular emphasis on its intersection with the his- tory of American Jewish education and American Jewish life more generally. I isolate major themes and issues that preoccupied the magazine’s editors and writers, and analyze how their discourse sheds light on their individual aims, values, and philosophical outlooks, as well their collective efforts at educational reform. I am particularly interested in elucidating how Benderly’s disciples sought to reinterpret their mentor’s vision in a changing American Jewish environment and why this vision was at best only partially realized.

Jewish Education and American Jewish Education, Part III

Journal of Jewish Education, 2006

This is the last in a series of articles exploring the history of Jewish Education magazine, later known as the Journal of Jewish Education, with a particular emphasis on its intersection with the history of American Jewish education and, more generally, American Jewish life. Major themes and issues that preoccupied the magazine’s editors and writers are isolated and analyzed as to how their discourse sheds light on their individual aims, values and philosophical outlooks, as well their collective efforts at educational reform. Particular attention is paid to how educator Samson Benderly’s disciples sought to reinterpret their mentor’s vision in a changing American Jewish environment and why this vision was, at best, only partially realized.

Towards An Orthodox Vision of Jewish Co-education

Towards An Orthodox Vision of Jewish Co-education, 2022

This purpose of this thesis is to promote and nurture Jewish coeducation by constructing an Orthodox vision of Jewish coeducation. Jewish education as a whole demands an educational vision, a guiding principle for a school’s development, practices, and self-assessment. However, there is an absence of intentionality and philosophical thinking regarding Jewish coeducation, which necessitates formulating a vision of Jewish coeducation. For Modern Orthodox schools, an institutional Orthodox vision is vital to ensure the school’s ability to address the educational questions that gender and coeducation raise in the 21st century. Similarly, for Israeli Religious State schools (ממלכתי דתי), the practice of formulating an Orthodox vision of coeducation could serve to promote and promulgate the viability of Jewish coeducation. An Orthodox vision of Jewish coeducation must involve Halachic language. The modern Rabbinic literature that deals with Halachic status of coeducation consists of a spectrum of diverse positions. The spectrum ranges from utter condemnation, nuanced opposition, ambivalence, to full-fledged endorsement. The position of R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, who founded the Orthodox, coeducational Maimonides School in Boston, serves as a guide for analyzing these Rabbinic sources. Some argue that Maimonides School was a concession to the times and R. Soloveitchik’s hand was forced, and only single-sex schooling is fundamentally permissible, whereas others contend that R. Soloveitchik believed that coeducation is not Halachically forbidden. Those who argue that R. Soloveitchik disapproved of coeducation believe that coeducation is a matter of Halacha, and those who believe that R. Soloveitchik did not disapprove of coeducation maintain that coeducation is an educational question. However, it becomes clear in the course of the thesis that coeducation isn’t a matter of strict Halachic analysis, even for those who opposed it, and that one’s stance towards coeducation is reflected in one’s use of, and interpretation of, Halachic sources. This is because educational innovations for Orthodoxy require Halachic language to sustain that innovation. Defining education according to William Frankena as “the activity of fostering or transmitting excellences,” Jewish coeducation can foster three excellences, each corresponding to Jewish texts and ideas. A coeducational institution that offers an intensive Torah curriculum for 5 both sexes has a greater ability than a single-sex female institution to grant women a proficient Torah education. Jewish coeducation also is able to educate Jewish Orthodox youth how to be active and respectful Orthodox participants in mixed communities. Lastly, the melting pot of men and women in a coeducational classroom dedicated to studying the Torah creates new and novel Torah insights. As a result of these three “excellences,” Jewish coeducation emerges as a form of modern religious education that is highly equipped to face the challenges that the “hyphenated Judaisms,” Modern Orthodoxy and Religious Zionism, are forced to deal with. Jewish coeducation creates a holistic educational experience, reaping the benefits of “explicit education” and “implicit education,” (religious socialization and self-empowerment), and enables the modern religious student to participate in general culture while instilling a strong Jewish identity.

Introduction to Judaism (Tufts Spring 2022)

Judaism is a vibrant contemporary religion whose traditions and practices are rooted in antiquity and developed across the globe. This course is an introduction to Judaism as a diverse textual tradition and lived religion, with a focus on beliefs, ethics, and rituals. It begins in the present with a global perspective on Jewish communities, their identities and history. It then examines the different ways these communities have read and applied Jewish scripture-the Written and Oral Torah-with a focus on both narratives and norms. It explores the relations among law, philosophy, and mysticism as well as among religion, ethics, and political power. Judaism is understood in its cultural variety and religious plurality.