Section archive - Formal Education

This study investigated the voices of students interpreting Hebrew Bible texts in one fourth-grade classroom. Through think-alouds on the Biblical text with each student, exit interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations, this study found that those students whose interpretive stances were more aligned with the teacher’s were given greater voice in classroom text discussions than students whose interpretive stances were misaligned. Drawing on neo-Vygotskian education theory, I argue that Jewish educators need to take students’ interpretive stances seriously; attempting to force students into an interpretive framework that is set by the teacher will only undermine student learning and engagement.

Didactic rewrites of aggadic stories are an important resource in values education. This study, geared primarily toward teachers involved in choosing curricular materials, investigates how the didactic rewriter actually becomes an interpreter, rather than a mere transmitter, of the original text. The personal values of the rewriters can influence the retold story, as can their desire to adapt it to their target audience. In order to increase teacher awareness of the rewriters’ interpretive process and its ramifications, two different rewrites of the same original aggadic story are compared as a paradigm. The different values and role models which emerge as well as the potential impact of each rewrite on the child’s moral development are examined.

When formulating a vision of what they want their students to learn, day school educators need to start with a shared understanding of Jewish literacy. This issue explores the connections between a vision of Jewish literacy and a Jewish curriculum. Authors consider the purposes and goals of literacy; suggest ways that Jewish sources can serve as an educational framework; advocate for various subjects, curricular emphases and pedagogical or delivery methods; and share specific initiatives that they have developed.

'The Final Journey: How Judaism Dignifies the Passage' is a curriculum that explores Jewish death rituals. Developed and tested at the YHS, Boca Raton, it is designed to teach Jewish high school students in all streams of Judaism about the elegant path along which the Jewish deceased are taken in their final journey prior to burial. The content of the 8-session course centers about the role of the Chevra Kadisha, the Jewish Burial Society. As advocates for the deceased, they wash, purify and dress the body, thereby illuminating the humanity and ultimate dignity of the tahara ritual.