“To feed the hunger for knowledge that exists among American Jews, we need education that doesn’t talk down to people or make them feel like children”
Today’s Jews, he said, are better educated in general education, which...
Category Archives: Jewish Education
“Jewish education in this country has given too little attention to the texts, history, and culture of the Jewish people”
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Jewish education in this country has given too little attention to the texts, history,...
“It is not in our interest to call all informal Jewish experiences experiential Jewish education”
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Experiential Jewish education is not just about meeting learners where they’re at and acquiescing...“Experiential Jewish education…should first and foremost be about transformation and growth”
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Experiential Jewish education, and dare I suggest all good Jewish learning today, should first...Considering the interest of Judaism and making it accessible
The focus of rabbinical school training has often been on how we can attract more Jews to Judaism. But the secret is this: Jews are attracted to Judaism — the unadulterated, complex and nuanced, powerful Jewish tradition. We just don’t have enough teachers out there who can speak their language and transmit the beauty and intricacy of Jewish tradition to those hungry for some meaning in their lives. We have been working so hard to pull people back from complete repudiation of Judaism — or worse, apathy — that we don’t know how to meet the demand of those finally interested in the conversation and looking to own it themselves.
Elie Kaunfer, “The Real Crisis in American Judaism”, The Jewish Week (7 April 2010), 14.
“We do not have the luxury of assuming that Jews will feel engaged in the Jewish tradition just by experiencing a few inspiring programs”
We do not have the luxury of assuming that Jews will feel engaged in the Jewish tradition just by experiencing a few inspiring programs. Jews must become self-directed translators of the Jewish tradition — for themselves and their peers. This means less focus on “experiences” and more focus on the building blocks of educational discovery. This is not about religious indoctrination. This is unlocking the power of Jewish heritage.
American culture supports so many forms of creativity and experimentation — but this rarely extends to Judaism. We believe that an education must include Shakespeare, Joyce and knowledge of the Civil War, yet not the Mishnah or Psalms. What would it take to promote a deep engagement with the building blocks of the Jewish tradition and to make this pursuit an acceptable pre- or post-college endeavor?
Elie Kaunfer, “The Real Crisis in American Judaism”, The Jewish Week (7 April 2010), 12.
“Young people need to have immersion in meaningful, joyful Jewish life as early as possible”
The Jewish community is doing remarkable work on campus. Jewish groups of the left, right and center are investing tremendous resources to bring a diversity of opinion and Israel education to campus. If students are still unengaged, uneducated and uncommitted Jewishly, it’s only because the college years are too late to start.
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The young people who are the Jewish leaders on campus did not emerge overnight. They come from homes that value formal and informal Jewish education. They share a common language and common experiences that strengthen their sense of belonging to a global community and a historical people. Young people need to have immersion in meaningful, joyful Jewish life as early as possible.
Jeff Rubin, “It’s Jewish Education, Stupid”, The Jewish Week (10 January 2014), 28.
“Harnessing technology to create efficiencies and revolutionize education hasn’t had the intended impacts in the past….”
Harnessing technology to create efficiencies and revolutionize education hasn’t had the intended impacts in the past. In part that’s because we ascribe a magical quality to it and try to force it into paradigms that it was never designed to do. Technology should be a method of enhancement, never a cost-efficient replacement for face-to-face learning experiences, or a smokescreen to distract from other cost-efficiencies.
No amount of artificial intelligence or blended learning or Smart-this or i-that is going to be able to replace the pedagogical benefits of a highly trained educator who can help students gain and apply knowledge (Judaic or otherwise) to help them make sense of the world in which they live. Trying to harness technology to supplant these professionals in search of some perceived vast savings that has yet to be realized is a fool’s errand.
Russel Neiss, “Jewish Ed Tech Macher Says Tech Is Not – NOT – the Answer to Affordability“, eJewish Philanthropy (19 May 2013)
“How much time in our synagogue schools has been spent on helping students cultivate their sense of the sublime?”
How much time in our synagogue schools has been spent on helping students cultivate their sense of the sublime? How much time has been spent providing an immersive and reflective experience of different mitzvot as possible responses? How much time has been spent on coaching them in the performance of those regularized practices so that they become a normative aspect of their life? To take an example from outside Judaism, when Jews are serious about undertaking yoga or Bhuddist meditation, they don’t learn about it. They take it on as a discipline that must be practiced regularly with a teacher that can help them develop their ability to perform properly.
Bill Robinson, “The Religion You Don’t Believe In, I Don’t Believe In Either”, eJewishPhilanthropy (3 November 2013).
A fundamental flaw with much of Jewish education in America is that it forces us to view Jewish identity within a vacuum
A fundamental flaw with much of Jewish education in America is that it forces us to view Jewish identity within a vacuum. The goal of imparting students with as much Judaism as possible often leads teachers and administrators to ignore equally — if not more — discussions about focusing on the challenges of living a Jewish life in a predominantly non-Jewish world. What we ignore is the importance of teaching our children how to engage as “a Jew among the nations.” This doesn’t mean abandoning Jewish particularism; it just means supplementing it with a more holistic approach. Our children should graduate the Jewish educational system with pride in their inheritance, humility in what they know (and how much more they could know), and the knowledge that their Judaism provides added value for negotiating modern life.
Simon Klarfeld, “The Fundamental Flaw In Jewish Education”, The Jewish Week (20 September 2013), 20.