"Michael Rosenak is the world's preeminent philosopher of Jewish education. His new book is a deep and imaginative exploration of the relationship between the great texts of the Jewish pastand the most profound issues of contemporary Jewish education. It is a marvelous accomplishment." . Berry W. Holtz, Jewish Theological Seminary of America "Michael Rosenak has written a beautiful, wise and knowing book ... Jewish educators of diverse commitments will all find themselves addressed in the book, and enlightened by it. Non-Jewish educators will learn that for them, too, the sources of Judaism carry urgent lessons for moral and religious education at the start of the twenty-first century. A truly important book." . Arnold Eisen, Stanford University Is Jewish education simply an ancient and archaic type of socialization into "customs and ceremonies" or a sophisticated practice, based on rich cultural conceptions of the educated individual, the decent society and the relationship of knowledge and virtue? This author, rather than offering a dry analysis, takes the reader on a leisurely yet careful excursion into the world of Jewish tradition in order to discover models of the educated human being within it. In the process, the reader discovers dialogues between Western philosophy and Talmudic Midrash and is offered a fresh view of culture, faith and identity. Contents: Education, "Language" and "Literature" - A Philosopher of Judaism for Jewish Education - The "Fear of Heaven" God's Treasure - Jewish Values: The Evil Inclination and Beyond - Becoming an Insider: Initiation and Commitment - The Jewish Educator and Jewish Sources. Michael Rosenak is Mandel Professor of Jewish Education, Hebrew University and a Member of the Academic Board, The Jerusalem Fellows, Jerusalem.

From the Preface: THE IDEA OF THIS BOOK came to my mind many years ago, after several conversations with my friend and colleague in Jewish educational studies Joseph Lukins professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He had suggested that an educated Jew is, among other things, one who lives in some spiritual and cognitive proximity to the weekly Torah reading, the parashat hashavua, "portion of the week." He insisted that issues in the philosophy of education might be in the liturgy's scriptural readings,that even the way messages of tradition divided the Torah into "portions" reflected discrete modes of teaching Torah.In this book, theoretical conceptions, garnered from many places, even if they do not precede reading of Torah, are certainly prisms through which I can read it.

From the Preface: THE IDEA OF THIS BOOK came to my mind many years ago, after several conversations with my friend and colleague in Jewish educational studies Joseph Lukins professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He had suggested that an educated Jew is, among other things, one who lives in some spiritual and cognitive proximity to the weekly Torah reading, the parashat hashavua, "portion of the week." He insisted that issues in the philosophy of education might be in the liturgy's scriptural readings,that even the way messages of tradition divided the Torah into "portions" reflected discrete modes of teaching Torah.In this book, theoretical conceptions, garnered from many places, even if they do not precede reading of Torah, are certainly prisms through which I can read it.

In this cutting-edge study, Michael Rosenak provides a new understanding of the challenges inherent in teaching Judaism today. His ground-breaking theories are based on close examination of religious experience in individual's lives, consulting sources from all Jewish denominations, from Israel and the Diaspora, and from the non-Jewish world. Rosenak uses his research and a wealth of academic theories to formulate and present proposals for an honest, new approach to teaching religion in our contemporary, secular world.