Across the Divide: What Might Jewish Educators Learn from Jewish Scholars?

Abstract

This article explores the possible contribution to Jewish education found in the resources of Judaica scholarship. It begins by exploring the complex and often uneasy connection between the world of the university and the world of education and then offers an alternative to this tension by suggesting ways that Jewish subject matter scholarship might both help expand Jewish educational research and improve the actual practice of education. Four models are offered as means of implementing these ideas. These models are explored through specific examples and analysis of the potential advantages and challenges embedded in each. Barry W. Holtz is the Theodore and Florence Baumritter Professor of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. A shorter version of this paper was delivered at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, February 18, 2004 upon the author's assuming the Theodore and Florence Baumritter Chair in Jewish Education. I wish also to acknowledge the Mandel Foundation for its generous support during the writing stage of this project.