Book Review

Abstract

Portraits of Adult Jewish Learning offers much food for thought for what makes for effective adult Jewish learning. In her Introduction to the book, editor Diane Schuster invites us to embrace a significant paradigm shift in how we define adult Jewish learning. She suggests that we move away from defining adult Jewish learning as a group of learners gathered around a table, immersed in the study of Jewish texts. There are “many different kinds of tables of learning,” she suggests. “Rather than being unified by a common purpose or a single modality of Jewish education (such as beit midrash [study hall], a Hebrew class, or a talk by a rabbi), these learners sit at—or walk around in—or log onto—very different gathering places for study than we have seen before in research that scrutinizes Jewish education” (Schuster, 2022, p. 2). This greatly expanded definition will require, she suggests, a revised approach to research as well. Schuster cites Jon Levisohn who points out that “the customary standards by which past researchers have measured Jewish literacy are now obsolete and too confining . . . .This narrow model of literacy ignored the rich diversity of Jewish people in every community, as well as the many ways that different types of Jews acquired and transmitted knowledge about Judaism and a meaningful Jewish life” (Schuster, 2022, p. 3). Literacy is not to be measured by information absorbed but rather by knowledge gleaned by which adults can “produce their own meanings.” Portraits of Adult Jewish Learning offers a broad and varied collection of portraits of these different “tables” where adult Jewish learning is taking place. Eight sets of researchers share with readers their research on eight different settings for Jewish learning. From discussionfilled museum visits that lead to a sharing of information and insights (Chapter 1) to a reflective and generative deep-dive into the revision of a play whose script is reimagined by a multi-faith group of thoughtful thespians (Chapter 2), Portraits forces us to consider the many different ways that adult Jewish learning is taking place around us, and how we might translate the current life-experiences of Jews into profound learning experiences. Many of the portraits clearly represent alternative approaches to traditional text-study. Some, however, such as the portrait of the partnership between the Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco with the Shalom Hartman Institute (Chapter 5) and the Wexner Heritage Program’s curricular initiative on pluralism (Chapter 8) describe examples of using texts to frame educational experiences. Some portraits, like the Avodah Jewish Service Corps yearlong service experience (Chapter 3) and the Early Childhood educators learning trip to Israel (Chapter 4) take giant steps away from the traditional model of around-the-table text study and ask readers to expand our framework for what should be included under the umbrella of effective adult Jewish learning. The book’s biggest impact is reflected in Schuster’s own shift in perspective in the nineteen years since she authored her ground-breaking book on adult Jewish learning, Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning: Adult Jewish Learning in Theory and Practice (2003). In