Pub Date : 2021-04-03DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2021.1904701
Laura Novak Winer
The words and melody of the song still come through strong and clear in the radio of my mind. B’nai Re’im anachnu yadua l’kulam . . . (“We are B’nai Re’im; everyone knows it . . .”) I didn’t know what these words meant, and I have no memory of being taught their meaning. As a Kibbutz camper at Camp Swig in the 1980s, it was a sign of true belonging that I could sing the words loud and clear. I wore that accomplishment with pride. It was only later, as my Hebrew fluency improved, that I was able to piece together the meanings of the words to the song. Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps by Sarah Bunin Benor, Jonathan Krasner, and Sharon Avni uses stories much like my own, as well as historical, ethnographic, and sociolinguistic methods to examine the ideologies and pedagogies of Hebrew education in the American Jewish summer camp setting. They uncover and analyze two models of integrating Hebrew into these primarily Englishspeaking environments: infusion and immersion. The authors define Hebrew infusion as a “socialization process” in which the goal is for campers to develop “feelings of connection” to Judaism and to being Jewish “through the use of Hebrew . . . as the emblematic language of the Jews and Judaism” (p. 3). The goal of Hebrew immersion, on the other hand, is for the campers to develop fluency and competency. In contrast to other recent books about Jewish summer camps, which provide an analysis of the environmental landscape of the American Jewish camp system (Sales & Saxe, 2004) or are studies of specific camps in particular (Cohen & Kress, 2010; Lorge & Zola, 2006; Rothenberg, 2016), Hebrew Infusion offers a distinctive and focused study of one aspect of Jewish summer camping. In this way, Hebrew Infusion is similar to, yet more extensive than, Reimer’s recent research on Shabbat-at-camp (Reimer, 2018). This approach provides the reader with a deep understanding of the purposes, goals, and pedagogies of Hebrew education in the camp setting and offers readers opportunities to extrapolate the findings to consider how they may apply to other Jewish educational settings. The first section of Hebrew Infusion presents historical case studies of models of Hebrew infusion and immersion in early American Jewish summer camps. Cases were developed by examining archival documents, photographs, and artifacts and via interviews of individuals who worked at or attended these camps. Early Reform movement camps—particularly the Union Institute in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and Camp Saratoga in Saratoga, California—offer cases of Hebrew infusion. These camps incorporated Hebrew words and phrases, songs, prayers, signs, and place names into the camp culture to cultivate “identification and belonging . . . connecting campers with their heritage, the state of Israel, and the camp community” (p. 49).
{"title":"Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps","authors":"Laura Novak Winer","doi":"10.1080/15244113.2021.1904701","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2021.1904701","url":null,"abstract":"The words and melody of the song still come through strong and clear in the radio of my mind. B’nai Re’im anachnu yadua l’kulam . . . (“We are B’nai Re’im; everyone knows it . . .”) I didn’t know what these words meant, and I have no memory of being taught their meaning. As a Kibbutz camper at Camp Swig in the 1980s, it was a sign of true belonging that I could sing the words loud and clear. I wore that accomplishment with pride. It was only later, as my Hebrew fluency improved, that I was able to piece together the meanings of the words to the song. Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps by Sarah Bunin Benor, Jonathan Krasner, and Sharon Avni uses stories much like my own, as well as historical, ethnographic, and sociolinguistic methods to examine the ideologies and pedagogies of Hebrew education in the American Jewish summer camp setting. They uncover and analyze two models of integrating Hebrew into these primarily Englishspeaking environments: infusion and immersion. The authors define Hebrew infusion as a “socialization process” in which the goal is for campers to develop “feelings of connection” to Judaism and to being Jewish “through the use of Hebrew . . . as the emblematic language of the Jews and Judaism” (p. 3). The goal of Hebrew immersion, on the other hand, is for the campers to develop fluency and competency. In contrast to other recent books about Jewish summer camps, which provide an analysis of the environmental landscape of the American Jewish camp system (Sales & Saxe, 2004) or are studies of specific camps in particular (Cohen & Kress, 2010; Lorge & Zola, 2006; Rothenberg, 2016), Hebrew Infusion offers a distinctive and focused study of one aspect of Jewish summer camping. In this way, Hebrew Infusion is similar to, yet more extensive than, Reimer’s recent research on Shabbat-at-camp (Reimer, 2018). This approach provides the reader with a deep understanding of the purposes, goals, and pedagogies of Hebrew education in the camp setting and offers readers opportunities to extrapolate the findings to consider how they may apply to other Jewish educational settings. The first section of Hebrew Infusion presents historical case studies of models of Hebrew infusion and immersion in early American Jewish summer camps. Cases were developed by examining archival documents, photographs, and artifacts and via interviews of individuals who worked at or attended these camps. Early Reform movement camps—particularly the Union Institute in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and Camp Saratoga in Saratoga, California—offer cases of Hebrew infusion. These camps incorporated Hebrew words and phrases, songs, prayers, signs, and place names into the camp culture to cultivate “identification and belonging . . . connecting campers with their heritage, the state of Israel, and the camp community” (p. 49).","PeriodicalId":42565,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Jewish Education","volume":"87 1","pages":"183 - 187"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/15244113.2021.1904701","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47455639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-03DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2021.1926375
Sivan Zakai
ABSTRACT This article offers a detailed study of one child’s relationships to Israel from kindergarten (2012–2013 academic year) through 7th grade (2019–2020 academic year). By tracing Avigail over the course of eight years, I argue that children do not develop “a relationship” with Israel but rather many different relationships over time. Using a combination of qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews, image and music elicitation, storytelling exercises, and parental communications, this case study uses one child’s many different conceptions of and relationships to Israel over the course of her childhood and adolescence to shed light on key questions in Israel education.
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Pub Date : 2021-04-03DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2021.1925829
Jeffrey S. Kress, Sivan Zakai
Education is by nature a process of change and growth. “Learning” implies movement from one status to another, from “before knowing” to “now knowing.” Longitudinal research, which involves the study of the same participants at multiple points in time, thus seems very well suited to the goals of research in education and allied fields. While longitudinal studies can be purely descriptive, there is often the assumption that observed change (or stasis) can be attributed to some factor internal or external to the participants. Though it is simple enough to grasp the basic idea of longitudinal research (which we might summarize as “ask and ask again”), there are complexities in sketching the contours of the approach. For example, how many data points are needed for a longitudinal study? While “two” would be an obvious answer that is accepted in the field, there are those that argue that three or more points are needed in order to ascertain growth trajectories and overcome potential measurement error (Ployhart & Vandenberg, 2010; Wang et al., 2017). What of the interval of data collection and the timespan of the study? Terman’s controversial Study of the Gifted began (as the Genetic Study of Genius) in 1921 and remaining participants were still being followed into the twenty-first century. University of Michigan’s Panel Study of Income Dynamics, which started in 1968, claims to be the “longest running longitudinal household survey in the world” (https://psidonline.isr.umich.edu/). Looking at the other side of the timespan raises some interesting issues about the nature of the approach. One might imagine a candidate for “world’s shortest longitudinal study” to go something like this:
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Pub Date : 2021-01-02DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2021.1870839
Barry W. Holtz
ABSTRACT What does it mean for teachers to “know their subject matter” and what are—or might be—the sources of teachers’ knowledge? The article contends that there is an underutilized potential resource for Jewish teachers that Judaica scholarship about classic texts may offer to pedagogy. The article examines, as a model, the Rabbinic tale—stories found in Rabbinic literature about the Rabbis themselves—homing in on the ways that this literature is viewed by scholars today. It then explores the pedagogic implications of this scholarship and suggests both the advantages and complexities in using Judaica scholarship in this fashion.
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Pub Date : 2021-01-02DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2021.1877949
Ari Y. Kelman
Hello. As the new editor of the Journal of Jewish Education, it is my honor and pleasure to offer this brief introduction to this issue. First, though, I want to extend my profound gratitude to our previous editor, Dr. Helena Miller, who served as the senior editor of the Journal for the past 6 years. Dr. Miller cultivated new authors, sustained the journal’s commitment to high-quality research in the field, worked tirelessly to include voices that represent the global dimension of our scholarly community, and expanded the range of research areas through a series of special issues. The field is richer, broader, and better because of her efforts, and I share with both researchers and practitioners a deep appreciation for Dr. Miller’s contributions to and enthusiasm for our shared work. Transitions are always an occasion to look both back and forward, so indulge me for a moment to look even further back than Dr. Miller’s time at the helm. This journal made its debut in 1929, under the editorial leadership of Alexander Dushkin, who formulated two intentions for this new undertaking. First, the journal was to become an organ for the professionalization and modernization of Jewish education. As a “record of Jewish educational experience and opinion, and a review of existing activities and trends,” the journal would foster the growth of a “scientific, professional attitude” in the field. Second, the journal was to provide “current literature on Jewish education to which teachers, rabbis, and laymen (sic.) can turn for information and guidance” (Page 2). The journal launched with the explicit intention to provide “information as well as inspiration” by both building up the field from within and expanding its reach. Now, 102 years later, the journal has succeeded, largely, in becoming the primary organ for the publication and circulation of new research in the field. Theories and methods have undergone multiple changes over the decades, as has our definition of the field of Jewish education, which, when the journal began, focused largely on what we would now call “supplementary schools.” Our field is far more diverse, far broader, and far better established than it was in Dushkin’s day. On that measure, the journal has certainly succeeded. The other measure, however, remains a work in progress. Researchers still complain about being ignored by practitioners, and practitioners often critique researchers for not providing them with knowledge they can readily apply in their daily work in schools, camps, adult learning groups, and elsewhere. Dushkin and the early leaders of the journal understood these two aims to be inseparable. The enterprise of Jewish education, as they understood it, JOURNAL OF JEWISH EDUCATION 2021, VOL. 87, NO. 1, 1–3 https://doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2021.1877949
{"title":"Building Bridges","authors":"Ari Y. Kelman","doi":"10.1080/15244113.2021.1877949","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2021.1877949","url":null,"abstract":"Hello. As the new editor of the Journal of Jewish Education, it is my honor and pleasure to offer this brief introduction to this issue. First, though, I want to extend my profound gratitude to our previous editor, Dr. Helena Miller, who served as the senior editor of the Journal for the past 6 years. Dr. Miller cultivated new authors, sustained the journal’s commitment to high-quality research in the field, worked tirelessly to include voices that represent the global dimension of our scholarly community, and expanded the range of research areas through a series of special issues. The field is richer, broader, and better because of her efforts, and I share with both researchers and practitioners a deep appreciation for Dr. Miller’s contributions to and enthusiasm for our shared work. Transitions are always an occasion to look both back and forward, so indulge me for a moment to look even further back than Dr. Miller’s time at the helm. This journal made its debut in 1929, under the editorial leadership of Alexander Dushkin, who formulated two intentions for this new undertaking. First, the journal was to become an organ for the professionalization and modernization of Jewish education. As a “record of Jewish educational experience and opinion, and a review of existing activities and trends,” the journal would foster the growth of a “scientific, professional attitude” in the field. Second, the journal was to provide “current literature on Jewish education to which teachers, rabbis, and laymen (sic.) can turn for information and guidance” (Page 2). The journal launched with the explicit intention to provide “information as well as inspiration” by both building up the field from within and expanding its reach. Now, 102 years later, the journal has succeeded, largely, in becoming the primary organ for the publication and circulation of new research in the field. Theories and methods have undergone multiple changes over the decades, as has our definition of the field of Jewish education, which, when the journal began, focused largely on what we would now call “supplementary schools.” Our field is far more diverse, far broader, and far better established than it was in Dushkin’s day. On that measure, the journal has certainly succeeded. The other measure, however, remains a work in progress. Researchers still complain about being ignored by practitioners, and practitioners often critique researchers for not providing them with knowledge they can readily apply in their daily work in schools, camps, adult learning groups, and elsewhere. Dushkin and the early leaders of the journal understood these two aims to be inseparable. The enterprise of Jewish education, as they understood it, JOURNAL OF JEWISH EDUCATION 2021, VOL. 87, NO. 1, 1–3 https://doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2021.1877949","PeriodicalId":42565,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Jewish Education","volume":"87 1","pages":"1 - 3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/15244113.2021.1877949","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41766554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-02DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2021.1870840
Beverly Gribetz
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Pub Date : 2020-12-05DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2020.1847005
Seth Jason Goldsweig
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to better understand how Jewish day school leaders in Toronto perceive non-Orthodox Jewish day school financial sustainability. This multisite case study used a questionnaire, completed by 23 leaders of non-Orthodox Jewish day schools, and one-on-one interviews with all eight heads of school of the non-Orthodox Jewish day schools in Toronto to collect data. Both data collection instruments addressed three guiding research questions. Conclusions point toward a need to develop new ideas, to increase collaboration between the schools, and to focus efforts on raising the perceived value of Jewish day school education for prospective families.
{"title":"Leadership Perspectives on the Financial Sustainability of Non-Orthodox Jewish Day Schools in Toronto","authors":"Seth Jason Goldsweig","doi":"10.1080/15244113.2020.1847005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2020.1847005","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to better understand how Jewish day school leaders in Toronto perceive non-Orthodox Jewish day school financial sustainability. This multisite case study used a questionnaire, completed by 23 leaders of non-Orthodox Jewish day schools, and one-on-one interviews with all eight heads of school of the non-Orthodox Jewish day schools in Toronto to collect data. Both data collection instruments addressed three guiding research questions. Conclusions point toward a need to develop new ideas, to increase collaboration between the schools, and to focus efforts on raising the perceived value of Jewish day school education for prospective families.","PeriodicalId":42565,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Jewish Education","volume":"87 1","pages":"226 - 261"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/15244113.2020.1847005","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43477701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-22DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2020.1841588
Moshe Krakowski
ABSTRACT This article uses data from site visits to four Hasidic elementary schools in Brooklyn to examine how specific learning, review, and testing activities used in these schools might be applied in other Jewish education classrooms to build knowledge depth and automaticity. The literature on learning and cognition in secular subjects has identified many classroom techniques that promote deep learning and long-term retention rather than superficial recall, but these techniques have not been applied systematically to Jewish studies classrooms. Hasidic schools, whose overall approach to religious education differs significantly from that of other Jewish day schools, employ distinctive learning activities that incorporate many of these techniques. Some elements of Hasidic learning practices may thus represent a valuable model for other Jewish studies contexts.
{"title":"Teaching and Testing in Hasidic Schools: Skills, Content, and Knowledge Automaticity as a Model for Other Day School Contexts","authors":"Moshe Krakowski","doi":"10.1080/15244113.2020.1841588","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2020.1841588","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article uses data from site visits to four Hasidic elementary schools in Brooklyn to examine how specific learning, review, and testing activities used in these schools might be applied in other Jewish education classrooms to build knowledge depth and automaticity. The literature on learning and cognition in secular subjects has identified many classroom techniques that promote deep learning and long-term retention rather than superficial recall, but these techniques have not been applied systematically to Jewish studies classrooms. Hasidic schools, whose overall approach to religious education differs significantly from that of other Jewish day schools, employ distinctive learning activities that incorporate many of these techniques. Some elements of Hasidic learning practices may thus represent a valuable model for other Jewish studies contexts.","PeriodicalId":42565,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Jewish Education","volume":"87 1","pages":"35 - 59"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/15244113.2020.1841588","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41691902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-11DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2020.1834890
Lauren Applebaum, A. Hartman, Sivan Zakai
ABSTRACT This study examines how 3- and 4-year-old Jewish children think and feel about Israel. The research, conducted as a collaboration between scholars and practitioner-researchers who work in Jewish early childhood centers, draws upon group interviews, elicitation/provocation exercises, a drawing task, and teacher documentation to investigate how some of the youngest learners in Jewish educational settings conceive of Israel. We found that 3- and 4-year-old Jewish children think about Israel as a foreign country with its own customs, landmarks, and language. They also think about Israel as a distinctly Jewish place, with a special role in Jewish traditions and stories. We found no evidence that 3- and 4-year-old children reflect on Israel as a place of personal meaning for their own Jewish lives. This absence challenges both the theory and practice of Israel education in the early childhood setting.
{"title":"A Little Bit More Far than Mexico: How 3- and 4-year Old Jewish Children Understand Israel","authors":"Lauren Applebaum, A. Hartman, Sivan Zakai","doi":"10.1080/15244113.2020.1834890","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2020.1834890","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study examines how 3- and 4-year-old Jewish children think and feel about Israel. The research, conducted as a collaboration between scholars and practitioner-researchers who work in Jewish early childhood centers, draws upon group interviews, elicitation/provocation exercises, a drawing task, and teacher documentation to investigate how some of the youngest learners in Jewish educational settings conceive of Israel. We found that 3- and 4-year-old Jewish children think about Israel as a foreign country with its own customs, landmarks, and language. They also think about Israel as a distinctly Jewish place, with a special role in Jewish traditions and stories. We found no evidence that 3- and 4-year-old children reflect on Israel as a place of personal meaning for their own Jewish lives. This absence challenges both the theory and practice of Israel education in the early childhood setting.","PeriodicalId":42565,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Jewish Education","volume":"87 1","pages":"4 - 34"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/15244113.2020.1834890","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47303134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}