Jewish Identity Formation through Jewish Education - Einzelansicht

The goal of the course is to reflect on the core purpose of Jewish education by assessing critically the focus on identity building that seems to justify and reign every educational endeavor.

Students are invited to think critically about short- and long-term impacts of Jewish education on people’s individual life and on communal life.

To this end, we will deal with the diverse learning environments and their different approaches: religion class in public schools, Jewish day schools, summer camps, Israel trips and Bar/Bat Mitzwah lessons.

We will also examine which role parents/the family, peers, Jewish educators in general, rabbis and cantors in particular as well as teachers and counselors play when providing Jewish education.

This way we will arrive at a better understanding of the interplay between learner, teacher, content and milieu.

Barry Chazan: The Philosophy of Informal Jewish Education (2003)

Mary Earl: RE-framing education about beliefs and practices in schools (2015)

Sue Fishkoff: It’s official – Jewish Camps strengthens Jewish Identity (2011)

Harriet Hartman & Ira M. Sheski: The Relationship of Jewish Community Contexts and Jewish Identity: A 22- Community Study (2012)

Bethamie Horowitz: Connections and Journeys: Assessing Critical Opportunities for Enhancing Jewish Identity (2003)

Jon A. Levisohn/Ari Kelman: Beyond Jewish Identity (2019)

Amy L. Sales and Leonard Saxe: Particularism in the University. Realities and Opportunities for Jewish Life on Campus (2006)

Proof of performance includes regular participation, reading the texts given for the weekly meetings and various written self-reflections.