Abstract
This paper is an edited transcript of a conversation between Marc Z. Brettler (professor of Bible at Brandeis
University) and members of the Mandel Center staff. The paper explores Brettler’s understanding of the relationship between the “contextual orientation” to teaching Bible and his own pedagogy in two settings; his thoughts
about the term “critical scholarship”, students’ quest for personal meaning, and the notion of teacher as role model;
and his observations of the evolution of his pedagogy over more than two decades as a teacher of Bible, including the
impact of his own (and others’) investigation of his teaching practice.