TRADITION’s recent Fall 2020 issue was largely dedicated to a symposium on Mahashevet Yisrael – the educational challenges and goals of Jewish thought, ably guest edited by Mali Brofsky. Among the 11 essays in the symposium, we published a piece by R. Dov Singer, “Service of God as a Unique Discipline.” Rav Dov is the Rosh Yeshiva of the Makor Chaim high school in Gush Etzion and the founder of the Beit Midrash Lehithadshut and its Lifnim educator training program.

In his essay Singer laid out a theory of how to educate toward spiritual connection and meaning. In this podcast, Mali Brofsky talks with Yehuda Chanales and Rick Schindelheim, who have been working closely with Singer in applying this process to the classroom in the Fuchs Mizrachi School, in Cleveland, as part of a groundbreaking partnership with Yeshivat Makor Chaim to enhance the culture of personal and religious growth in schools. In the episode they discuss the program outlined in Singer’s article, what the program really looks like in practice, the strengths and challenges of the suggested process, and how it is transforming the culture among both teachers and students alike.

R. Rick Schindelheim has taught Judaic studies at the Fuchs Mizrachi School since 2013. His informal educational experience includes over a decade of work at Camp Stone in a variety of capacities. He is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and holds a Masters and Education Specialist degrees. 

R. Yehuda Chanales is Director of Educational Advancement and a member of the Judaic Faculty at Fuchs Mizrachi. He was former a faculty member at the TABC and MTA high schools, and is a three-time graduate of Yeshiva University, and most recently completed a Certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership from Harvard University.

Watch the Zoom video recording of the conversation: https://youtu.be/D1upPSbWv0k

TRADITION joins with the Jewish world, and with lovers of wisdom everywhere, in mourning the untimely loss of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who passed away on Shabbat. Rabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013, and was made a Life Peer in House of Lords in 2009. For many worldwide, his influence was felt through his dozens of books, countless essays, as well as his translations and commentaries on the Hebrew Bible and prayer-books, alongside his public speaking and presence on the world stage. Rabbi Sacks spent a distinguished life and career as a profoundly eloquent teacher and spokesman for Torah values within the Jewish community and throughout the world.

R. Sacks served as a member of TRADITION’s editorial board, and, in fact, his very first scholarly essay, titled “Alienation and Faith,” was published in our pages in 1973. Written as a 25 year-old, it was a response – and respectful critique – of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s “The Lonely Man of Faith,” which we had published only eight years earlier. Re-reading the essay now we can identify themes and concerns which would occupy him as his mind matured and his eloquence flourished over the next half-century.

To help us absorb the shock of his loss, and begin to assess R. Sacks’ legacy, TRADITION’s editor, Jeffrey Saks, spoke with Daniel Rynhold, professor of Jewish philosophy and Dean at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University. Together, they surveyed R. Sacks’ interests and achievements as a thinker in his native Britain and worldwide. Rynhold outlines how R. Sacks functioned as both a particularistic Jewish writer and a universalistic member of the western philosophical tradition; they discuss his role and impact as a public intellectual; and consider how his legacy will impact generations to come. Rynhold, a London native, enjoyed a personal relationship with R. Sacks, and shares memories of the great man’s impact on himself – personally, professionally, and spiritually.

The story of Akedat Yitzhak, the binding of Isaac (Gen. 22), read in synagogues this Shabbat, has posed significant philosophical challenges throughout the history of Jewish and religious thought. In his newest book, "Unbinding Isaac: The Significance of the Akedah for Modern Jewish Thought" (JPS), Aaron Koller leads his readers on a trek of discovery into this most challenging biblical story — from Soren Kierkegaard’s understanding of the Akeda as teaching suspension of ethics for the sake of faith, through the role the story plays in the thought of Rabbi Soloveitchik.

TRADITION’s Fall 2020 issue featured an extensive review of Unbinding Isaac by Alex S. Ozar (open-access here). We thought it would be interesting to bring the reviewer and his subject together for a discussion about this provocative book. As you’re about to hear, they had a lot to talk about. In this wide-ranging, dynamic conversation, Koller and Ozar discuss and debate the meaning of the Akeda for contemporary Jewish practice and life; how R. Soloveitchik’s philosophical outlook was shaped by world-historical trauma and the radical intellectual environment in which the Rav received his academic training; whether contemporary society really has moved beyond human sacrifice; and how, in light of Koller’s ambitious reading of the Akeda narrative, we might follow Abraham’s lead in achieving a more just world.

Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern Studies at Yeshiva University. His previous book was "Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought" (Cambridge University Press, 2014). Aaron has served as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and held research fellowships at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research and the Hartman Institute.

Alex S. Ozar serves as a rabbi with OU-JLIC and the Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale University, where he is also pursuing a Ph.D. in philosophy and religious studies. He received a BA, MA, and semikha from Yeshiva University. His writing has appeared (or is forthcoming) in such publications as Harvard Theological Review, Journal of Religious Ethics, Torah u-Madda Journal, Dine Israel, and Jewish Quarterly Review.

Click here for the Zoom video recording of this discussion.

TRADITION’s  recent Fall 2020 issue features a fascinating symposium on “Jewish Thought in the Contemporary World: Educational Challenges and Goals,” guest edited by Mrs. Mali Brofsky who writes by way of introduction: "Meaning and complexity are the two essential values that lie at the heart of learning Jewish thought. These two concepts are central to an individual’s living a purposeful life, as well as to our creating a thriving culture and society. The search for truth and meaning shapes the discipline, as well as the attempt to cut to the core ideas upon which we build our values, our interpersonal interactions, our communities, and our culture. But this endeavor cannot be achieved without the second principle, complexity, which serves as the tool enabling this discovery of truth and meaning through intellectual excavation and thoughtful sharpening of ideas. Now, more than ever, the serious study of Jewish thought, both for its content – the serious exploration of intellectual, ethical, religious, and spiritual values and ideas – and for the critical skills it engenders is invaluable. It is inspiring to see that so many contemporary teachers are considering these issues with thoughtfulness, dedication, and commitment."

The eleven, wide-ranging entries in the symposium were authored by some of today’s leading thinkers, educators, and academics in North America and Israel. TRADITION thanks Mali Brofsky, herself a distinguished pedagogue in the field of Jewish thought, faculty member at MMY and a social worker in private practice. In this podcast Mali meets with 2 of the authors:

R. David Bashevkin is the director of education for NCSY and an instructor at Yeshiva University. He recently published "Sin·a·gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought."

Dr. Daniel Rynhold is Professor of Jewish philosophy and Dean at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University. His most recent book, coauthored with Michael Harris, is "Nietzsche, Soloveitchik, and Contemporary Jewish Philosophy," which was reviewed in our Summer 2019 issue.

Click here to access the Fall 2020 symposium.

Click here to watch the Zoom video recording of this conversation.

 

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