Decisions about which practices, beliefs, and values will be part of one’s Jewish identity are today — more than at any
other time — in one’s own hands, and this is
having a considerable impact on Jewish education. An increasing number of options now
exist for those seeking Jewish learning outside
of established settings like synagogues. Private
tutoring, online resources, social networking,
and alternative educational programs make it
possible to gather information and make decisions about one’s religious life without affiliating with a particular community or adhering to
a single authority.
Some who “opt-out” of mainstream educational institutions do so in order to accommodate conflicting demands on their schedules;
for others, the decision to “do-it-oneself” may
be motivated by high fees for membership, unresponsive leadership, or frustration with
Jewish learning experiences that are not up to
the standards of excellence that a sophisticated
Jewish population demands. While private tutoring should, by definition, provide personal
attention, an individualized approach that responds to the specific needs of each student
and offers opportunities for self-guided research
and discovery is also characteristic of excellent
classroom settings. As well, classroom learning
should expose children and their families to a
range of opinions, enable belonging amid plurality, and provide opportunities for participation in intergenerational communities of
practice. It may be challenging to ensure that
these types of experiences occur outside of
communal settings.
A vibrant Jewish education is simultaneously conservative and expansive: It is concerned with the transmission and perpetuation
of existing ways of living, while at the same
time it seeks to enable the future flourishing of
Jewish life through innovation. Educators must
therefore be expert in making relevant what is
ancient while also grounding contemporary
sensibilities in tradition. Decisions about the
content of lessons shape the learner’s conceptions of authentic Jewish practice and the
norms for communal participation. For good or
ill, institutions typically have leaders that have
the authority to make determinations of how
and where to draw these lines and staff that are
held accountable for their implementation.
Do-It-Together Jewish Education
SAUL KAISERMAN
SHMA.COM
Where individuals or groups are “doing it themselves,” outside of institutional frameworks,
distinctions may begin to blur between leaders
and participants, creators and consumers, and
funders and beneficiaries. While this might foster greater empowerment and shared accountability, it can also lead to curricular decisions
based less on a careful consideration of communal concerns than on personal preference.
We should require of our educators evidence of
expertise, even if not in such traditional forms
as accreditation or titles, and empower them
with the authority to insist on commitments to
practice that are grounded in tradition and communal engagement.
Parents are the primary Jewish educators in
the lives of their children, implicitly and explicitly shaping their beliefs, practices, and attitudes about Jewish living through their own
behaviors. When parents prioritize other extracurricular activities over Jewish studies or
have a “drop-off” approach to their child’s
schooling, children are likely to internalize the
message that Jewish learning is of little importance. In households with fewer connections to
Jewish community or less participation in ritual observances, it is essential that Jewish education involve enculturation within viable
expressions of communal Jewish life. Teachers
and tutors must not only model the values and
practices that they teach, but also must enable
students to experiment with and commit to the
performance of those practices.
Whether we are working in institutional
settings or outside of them, we should share a
concern with effectively educating an increasingly diverse Jewish population with wide-ranging needs. Our common agenda must
include recruiting and training creative and
skilled teachers, developing engaging and useful curricular resources, and guiding individuals
and families to make personal meaning out of
the wealth of information and experiences to
which they have access. To maximize the potential for both personal and communal
growth, we should determine what kinds of
learning experiences are best done individually
and what in collaboration with others. For example, learning to chant from the Torah involves rote memorization that may be suited to
computer gaming or forms of private study, but
meaningful examination of the multifaceted
■ Stories and the
Jewish Narrative
■ Loyalty
■ Weddings:
New Thinking
on Kiddushin
■ Moral
Conscience
& Divine
Commandment
■ Philanthropy &
Controversy:
Allocations &
Agendas
■ Succession:
How We Rebuild
Jewish
Leadership
■ New Liturgy and
Piyutim
■ Unleashing
Imagination
What Jewish conversation would you like
to have? Send suggestions for future
Sh’ma topcs to
SBerrin@shma.com.
in Sh’ma
Saul Kaiserman is the director
of lifelong learning for
Congregation Emanu-El of the
City of New York and the editor
of the weblog New Jewish
Education.
