Abstract
What is Jewish educational philosophy? The adjective Jewish, like Christian, Hindu, or Muslim, is particular, suggesting a basis in or relevance to a particular ethnic or religious community and its traditions of thought and practice. Philosophy, on the other hand, is universal, suggesting a field of inquiry with universal applicability. So the term Jewish educational philosophy may seem as confused as “Jewish philosophy of physics.” But there are a number of defensible conceptions of the field, which can be thought of as distinct modes of Jewish educational philosophy. First, some scholars pursue an excavation of the educational ideas within the Jewish literary and legal tradition. Second, somewhat more narrowly, scholars excavate those educational ideas from within the tradition of Jewish philosophy, in particular. Both of these efforts to identify and examine ideas about education are descriptive or expository in nature, rather than normative. That is, they ask, “What does this idea mean?” and “What would education look like if we took this idea seriously?” rather than asking, “Should one follow or try to implement this idea?” In a third mode of Jewish educational philosophy, scholars pursue a kind of normatively oriented dialogue with sources from within the Jewish tradition. The fourth mode is the scholarly effort to articulate and examine the aims or purposes of Jewish education. Finally, in a fifth mode, Jewish educational philosophy strives to illuminate and even provide guidance regarding problems of Jewish educational practice. This entry will discuss each of these modes in turn, providing examples from Jewish tradition, philosophy, and educational practice as the discussion proceeds. An added benefit of framing the entry in terms of these five modes is that no claims need to be made about what all Jewish educational theorists believe. Philosophers are not generally known for their ability to reach agreement, and scholars in this field are no exception.