Jewish Portal of Teacher Education

Source: Gleanings: Spring 2015, Volume 2, Issue 1

Gleanings is the eJournal of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education of The Jewish Theological Seminary. This first issue of volume 2 of Gleanings focuses on Godtalk in classrooms, camps and other Jewish educational settings. Please join us in the conversation about this important issue.

The writers in this issue were requested to relate to the following questions:

“God was in this place, and I, I did not know.” Bereishit 28:16

• To what extent do we, as Jewish educators, engage in conversations about God?
• What are the impediments to teaching seriously about God and theology?
• What are the methodologies used by educators to help students speak about God, and why are some more successful than others?
• How does an educator who is not sure about his other beliefs about God create a meaningful discussion, without it descending into “It doesn’t matter what you believe, or whether you believe at all—all that matters is what you do”? (The “doubt box” takes you only so far!)
• How do we navigate through the idea of God in designing curriculum?
• Which resources do educators use to encourage conversations about God?

This issue contains the following articles:

• Avoiding Talking about God? What Can We Do about It? - Elana Kante
• Bringing God into Complementary School Classrooms - Sara Stave Beckerman
• Beyond the Doubt Box: Voices from the Field Reflect on Engaging in God Talk - Ilisa Cappell
• Talking about God in Jewish Education - Steven Brown
• Reflections on Teaching about God in Preservice In-Service, and Student Learning - Alvan Kaunfer
• GodTalk - Sarah Tauber
• The Nun Who Brought God to Ramah - Jacob Cytryn and Mary Ellen Coombe