Education in the Jewish State

This essay argues that schooling in Israel is tied too closely to ideology. This results in an indoctrinary orientation that contributes to divisiveness and imperils Israeli democracy. After reviewing and critiquing the roots of this orientation, I advance an alternative that understands education as an agent of the good rather than ideology. Israeli schooling requires a vision of goodness broad enough to encompass competing conceptions of Jewish life espoused by the majority as well as non-Jewish orientations affirmed by various minorities. Such a vision can be grounded, I contend, in a democratic Jewish theology that emphasizes God as teacher rather than tyrant.     

Freedom from and Freedom for: Luther's Concept of Freedom for the Twenty‐First Century

This article examines Martin Luther's two fundamental claims around Christian freedom. Drawing on Luther, I suggest three primary characteristics of Christian freedom that should be recovered and championed in our twenty‐first‐century context: it is relational, it is a gift; and it contains within it an ethical imperative for the sake of the neighbor. Together, these three characteristics point to the fact that in a Christian understanding, “freedom” is never considered by itself, but only in the larger context of “freedom from” and “freedom for.”     

Accusation and Innuendo: Oligarchic Jewish Politics in Fourteenth Century Valencia

Jewish History - This article offers an interpretation of oligarchic politics in the Jewish community of Valencia over the course of the fourteenth century through an analysis of archival documents...     

19世纪犹太教传统救赎观的现代转型

19世纪之前,犹太教传统救赎观禁止犹太人通过人为努力返回以色列,其精神内涵与实践方式均局限于纯粹宗教范畴,规避世俗元素。19世纪,在部分正统派信徒的推动下,传统救赎观从奉行原则、精神内涵和实践方式三个维度转向现代,突破移民活动的阻力,吸收民族主义与世俗实践精神,从而同之后出现的犹太复国主义以及以色列社会相对接。     

Religion,Education, and Religious Education in Irish Schools

This essay is part of a collection of short essays solicited from authors around the globe who teach religion courses at the college level (not for professional religious training). They are published together with an introduction in Teaching Theology and Religion 18:3 (July 2015). The authors were asked to provide a brief overview of the curriculum, student learning goals, and pedagogical techniques employed in their courses.     

Guidance and New Education for Schools

A rationale for broad-based school reform is detailed, including a brief examination of the old guidance as separate from the teaching model for school practice. Instead it is now clear that the general curriculum of schools must include psychological growth as a direct object of classroom instruction. To accomplish such “new education,” goals will require a major role shift and commitment on the part of school guidance. There are currently in place a few examples of guidance education in the curriculum at both the elementary and secondary level. These efforts serve only as exemplars of what is possible, namely that an effective guidance role can alter both classroom teaching strategies as well as broaden the curriculum content. It is most strongly suggested that guidance theory and practice take the lead in seeking school reforms.     

中小学校中的科学与无神论教育

对青少年进行科学教育、无神论教育,使他们从小就树立科学的观念,逐步培养起科学精神,形成科学思想,主要要依靠中小学的学校教育.原因是这个年龄的学生主要接受的是学校教育,学校是他们学习知识的主要场所和渠道,因此学校的教育对他们这个阶段思想观念的形成将起重要的作用;另外从学生年龄特点看,中小学时期是一个人养成科学观念,形成科学素质的基础阶段,是否能够树立崇尚科学,追求真理信念,对他一生发展都将有重要影响;其三,科学与无神论的宣传教育不仅是一种思想主张,而且是关系到国家兴衰的大问题.我国由于长期存在封建残余的影响,一些封建愚昧和迷信落后的东西在群众中还有一定的市场,一些新形态的迷信,如伪科学时有泛起.中小学生不是生活在真空里,会直接或间接的受到愚昧迷信等不健康的东西危害,学校必须承担起责任,对他们进行科学教育和无神论的教育,提高科学“免疫力“,从小筑起尊重科学、捍卫科学的大堤.其四,面对邪教“法轮功“给党和人民带来的严重危害,学校应该带头发挥宣传科学、宣传无神论,批判伪科学的重要阵地作用.要加大在中小学开展科学教育和无神论教育的力度,努力创造利于青少年健康成长的良好环境.……     

Jewish Identity and the Secular Achievements of American Jewish Men and Women

Three questions are addressed concerning the relationship of Jewish identity to secular achievements. Are the secular achievements of American Jews related at all to the strength of their Jewish identity? Which has a stronger relationship to secular achievement, a religious or an ethnic Jewish identity? Do communal aspects or private, personal aspects of Jewish identity have the stronger relationship to secular achievements? Using the 2000–2001 National Jewish Population Survey, we find that educational attainment, labor force participation, and occupational achievements are related to several expressions of Jewish identity, even after controlling for the traditional sources of variation (age, gender, education, family status). Jewish identity, as expressed in terms of religion, ethnicity, communal commitment, and private attitudes and practices, is related to contemporary Jewish secular achievement, albeit differently for men and women.     

中学心理教育模式研究

《中小学心理教育模式》研究是江苏省教科所“九五”规划重点课题。该课题于1997年3月23日开题。于2000年5月20日结题。在课题开题之时,教育部(基教办)1999年(13)号文件“关于在中小学开展心理健康教育若干意见”尚未下达。因而在学校教育工作者中对心理教育存在着两种错误认识与态度：     

Race and the construction of Jewish identity in French and American Jewish fiction of the 1920s

In both the United States and France, Jewish-fiction writers of the 1920s often invoked the idea of Jewish racial unity as a non-rational, uncontrollable force separating Jews from mainstream society irrespective of their desire for integration. This genre of fiction reveals an ambivalent attitude towards race-thinking. The notion that there are intractable physical differences between groups threatened the Jews status as fully privileged co-citizens. Yet a racialized self-understanding provided them with a way to articulate the intangible bonds of community, which their official status as a purely religious group normally held them back from expressing openly. The common trope of the failed Jewish-Gentile romance best expresses the dual desire of French and American Jews for acceptance and distinctiveness. A sense of racial identity often leads protagonists to reject a non-Jewish lover or spouse and draw strength from a renewed sense of connection with the Jewish people. More often than not, however, these figures are left with feelings of ambivalence and regret, as they realize that their universalist dream of uniting with someone from a different racial background is not possible in the real world, where their Jewish particularism inevitably dooms such relationships to failure.I would like to thank Hasia Diner, Laura Lee Downs and Bonnie S. Anderson for reading and commenting on previous versions of this article.     

Invention and convention: Jewish and Christian critique of the Jewish fixed calendar

The institution of the Jewish fixed calendar has provoked muchcontroversial discussion not only among Jewish, but also Christian scholars. The significant contributions to the subject by two of the great sixteenth-century polymaths, the Jew Azariah de' Rossi and the Christian Sebastian Münster, pinpoint the delicate nature of calendrical investigation. Münster's frequent use of one particular piyyut (a religious poem) to undermine the basis of the Jewish fixed calendar is intended to defend the contradictory calendrical data in the Gospels. De' Rossi implicitly attacks Muenster for his recourse to this unhistorical text. Yet de' Rossi himself is intent on proving that the Jewish fixed calendar is a late post-talmudic convention, an iconoclastic approach which was not welcome in certain rabbinic circles. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

新世纪综合性大学医学教育的发展方向与对策

新世纪综合性大学医学教育如何发展,如何建设,如何利用好多学科的优势是我国一些高等学校在联合、合并后亟需解决的问题。结合我校的实际情况,从这方面做了一些探索,主要论述了新世纪医学教育的发展趋势和走向,以及办好综合性大学医学教育所采取的对策和思路。     

Jewish discourse and the Shtetl

The Shtetl, the small town of Eastern Europe, especially in Poland and Russia, where Jews were the majority in the population and set the tone of life, has not received proper historiographical treatment. The major problem is that the shtetl has been idealized, much like in the play Fiddler on the Roof, to represent people's nostalgia, not reality. Shtetl society was also taken by Zionists and others as representative of an objectionable Jewish role model, the contrary of what Zionist sought to achieve. It is commonly thought that by the time of the Shoah, when the Nazis indeed destroyed it, the shtetl was already moribund. In fact, through the early twentieth century, shtetl population remained steady; in some cases it even grew. This survey of existing literature, whose quantity is less than what might be expected, is a prelude to a comprehensive study on shtetl society, in particular during the twentieth century, which this author is now concluding. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Another Look at Character Education in Christian Schools

A review of the literature and meta-analytic research into the effectiveness of character/moral education programs reveals that Christian educators should be wary of implementing such curricula. A brief history of character education demonstrates how the field has evolved. Problems associated with programming rationale, faulty methodology, and the lack of appropriate research may leave educators questioning the validity of character education interventions. Recommendations for practice in Christian education contexts are provided.     

Knowledge and Attitudes Toward a Free Education and Ashkenazi Jewish Carrier Testing Program

Carrier testing is offered on the basis of Ashkenazi Jewish background in both the prenatal and preconception settings, with the goal of decreasing the prevalence of affected individuals and allowing informed decision-making during childbearing. The purpose of this study was to (1) document the demographic characteristics of individuals who attended a free education and screening program, (2) learn how the education program changed attendees' knowledge and attitudes by learning more about these disorders, and (3) determine how participants perceived their carrier status risk. One hundred seventy-four individuals completed questionnaires at the beginning and end of an educational program about the Ashkenazi Jewish genetic disorders. There was a statistically significant difference in the participant's level of knowledge from the pre- to post education (p < .001). Females reported a significantly higher level of concern about the disorders (p = .004) and their carrier status (p = .006) before the education, as well as about their carrier status post education (p = .05). Finally, having one or more parent affiliated with Orthodox Judaism was related to higher knowledge before the education program (p = .05). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that an educational carrier screening program increased knowledge about the disorders and also produced mild anxiety regarding personal and reproductive risks.