Premodern Jewish Education and the Crisis of Modernity

• In Event: Issues and Methods in the History and Philosophy of Jewish Education

Abstract

Pre-modern Jewish education centered on a unique vision of the workings of the universe and the path to human wellbeing. The Hebrew Bible—the foundation of Jewish belief and practice over the ages—emphasizes the centrality of knowledge of the covenantal demands imposed by God on the Jewish people. When communication of these demands shifted from oral pronouncement via divinely appointed messengers to the received biblical text, immersion in this text became a central feature of Jewish life, enshrined by rabbinic leaders in every facet of synagogue and home ritual. The semi-autonomous Jewish community—with broad powers assigned by the overlords of the Jews all through the pre-modern centuries—was able to create an all-encompassing educational system firmly anchored in the biblical and rabbinic worldview.

Attitudes toward societal organization and religious belief evolved markedly over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This new thinking eventuated in two great revolutions in America and France, which reshaped the structure of Western societies. Semi-autonomous agencies like the pre-modern Jewish community were dismantled. Jews were granted the boon of equal citizenship, but were deprived of their separate educational system. Jews were now able to enjoy access to general educational facilities, and education of Jews began to take place largely outside the Jewish community. In the process, Jews had to create new and voluntary educational settings that could cope effectively with traditional and innovative challenges to maintenance of Jewish identity.

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Author

• Robert Chazan, New York University