Old Traditions, New Practices: A Proposal for a Return to Text Study as a Centerpiece of Jewish Community and Family Life

Abstract

W hile study of classical Jewish texts has always been central to the traditional curriculum, that study has waxed and waned among liberal Jews. In this chapter, Daniel and Lauren Resnick offer their own critical survey of that phenomenon. In particular, they hypothesize that the status of classical text study waned in part due to the erosion of the educational norm of textual discussion in general education. In other words, as information-delivery models came to dominate pedagogy in schools—as textbooks crowded out texts—Jewish education followed suit. However, they suggest that the tide has turned in the last decades, with a wave of research in general education that focuses on “dialogic instruction” and that emphasizes participatory discussion of texts. Texts, then, are making a comeback against textbooks, and the prospects for Jewish education are positive.