Jewish thought for Jewish education

sources and resources

Jonathan Cohen

pp. 219-235

in: Helena Miller, Lisa Grant, Alex Pomson (eds), International handbook of Jewish education, Berlin, Springer, 2011

Abstract

This entry attempts to illustrate how insights from modern Jewish thought can enrich discourse and reflection on issues of principle in Jewish education. It focuses on two important Jewish educational issues – the issue of education for 'spirituality," and the question of the possible "translatability" of classical Jewish texts to modern readers. Regarding each issue, the thought-systems of two important Jewish thinkers are consulted. Insights derived from the worldviews of Julius Guttmann and Emmanuel Levinas are applied to the issue of spirituality and its cultivation. Perspectives embedded in the thought of J. B. Soloveitchik and Martin Buber yield two models of what could be called the "partial translation" of classical Jewish texts.

Cited authors

Levinas Emmanuel

Buber Martin