Dec 9, 2009 By: yunews
YU Faculty and Staff Bring Focus on Education to Discussions at Symposium on Jewish Values
91黑料 staff and faculty had much to contribute to a two-day symposium on Jewish values co-sponsored by the University and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach鈥檚 organization, This World: The Values Network, at UJA headquarters on Nov. 17-18.
The conference was entitled 鈥淒.R.E.A.M.S.,鈥 an acronym for the seven most important Jewish values that Boteach said Jews must share with the outside world: destiny, redemption, enlightenment, action, meritocracy, struggle and sacred time and space.
In a spirited debate with philanthropist Michael Steinhardt, President Richard M. Joel spoke about the importance of knowledge in creating a passionate Jewish people. Quoting from Genesis, he said the first words that God speaks are 鈥淟et there be light鈥濃斺渁s in enlightenment, as in knowledge,鈥 President Joel noted.
鈥淭here is no choice but to see that every Jewish child gets an education that will be knowledge, not bromides,鈥 President Joel said. 鈥淚 want to make sure that our students know who they are and are not blindly ritualistic.鈥
Steinhardt agreed although, a self-proclaimed atheist, he did argue definitions. 鈥淭here are Orthodox Jews and there are secular Jews,鈥 said Steinhardt, who in 1999 founded Taglit-Birthright Israel, which has sent thousands of Jewish young adults on first-time educational trips to Israel. 鈥淣o matter what we call them, if they are not Orthodox they are secular. It is the secular Jews I focus on. The question is how you create a Jewish future for those people,鈥 he said.
Some of YU鈥檚 top faculty spoke at the two-day event, including: Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought and Senior Scholar at the Center for the Jewish Future; Dr. Rona Novick, director of the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Doctoral Program at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration; Dr. David Pelcovitz, the Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Professor of Jewish Education at Azrieli; Dr. Adrienne Asch, the Edward and Robin Milstein Professor of Bioethics and director of YU鈥檚 Center for Ethics; and Rabbi Yona Reiss, the Max and Marion Grill Dean of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
They were joined by a diverse roster of speakers, such as lawyer Alan Dershowitz, renowned scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, playwright Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Newark, NJ, Mayor Corey Booker and Marianne Williamson, author of The Age of Miracles.
At the Monday evening discussion on 鈥淐an Judaism Provide Direction for Non-Jewish America?鈥, Boteach suggested that perhaps committed Jews should proselytize to increase our numbers. 鈥淭he numbers of Jews are plummeting,鈥 he said. 鈥淚s proselytizing the way to solve this dilemma?鈥
Not surprisingly, rabbis participating in the panel were opposed to the idea of actively seeking converts to Judaism, suggesting that the quality effected by better Jewish education rather than the quantity of seeking numbers is the best way to assure the survival of the Jewish people. Williamson agreed. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we should reach out; I think we should reach in,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that the answer is to get more people to be Jews. I think that the answer is to teach our children.鈥
