Section archive - Trends in Jewish Education

When Jewish Sensibilities were formulated (2003) as a framework, it was not for the purpose of teaching Jews how or why to be Jewish. Rather, Jewish Sensibilities were a way for Jews to reflect on the Jewish content already in their lives; they also allowed practitioners in the field of health care to think about the Jewish patients and families they were encountering with greater comprehension and compassion. But of late, Jewish Sensibilities have been used in an “off-label way” to teach Jewish wisdom and codes of behavior to those who are unfamiliar with them. This article considers the efficacy of that strategy.

There have been several recent articles about the potential held by Social and Emotional Learning methodologies and power these have when combined with an overlay of positive values. While values education has become prominent in Jewish education, SEL is still somewhat novel and deserves more attention.

Many Israelis living in the United States long-term or for good struggle to find ways to help their children feel connected to their Israeli identity. One of the most important aspects of this identity is ensuring that their children can communicate in Hebrew — not just on a conversational level but on a deeper, emotional and cognitive level that often requires formal training. Previously, most options for Hebrew instruction were centered around religious observance and taught at religious Jewish day schools. But Israeli parents who feel alienated by the religious instruction typical of Jewish day schools are increasingly creating alternative, structured educational programs so their children can receive secular Hebrew instruction.

Citations are one of the ways that scholars engage one another in dialogue, debate, and discussion. As such, they represent a powerful way in which practitioners constitute themselves and others within a scholarly field. This article studies the citational practices of articles published in the Journal of Jewish Education over a 10-year period in order to discover how scholars have constituted the field of research in Jewish Education.