More than 300 Jewish educators and students are participating in a five-day conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education which opened here last night at Brown University under the sponsorship of the North American Jewish Students Network. Myra Leysorek conference coordinator, noted that the participants who represent every type of traditional and alternative Jewish schools, were gathered “to discuss current problems and techniques with the goals of creating a working bond among Jewish educators while radically upgrading the quality of Jewish education.”
A spokesman for the sponsoring organization said the conference intended to write a manifesto on Jewish education and conduct an analysis and critique of the establishment’s role in Jewish education.
The two keynote speakers last night were Rabbi Itzchak Greenberg of Riverdale, N.Y., chairman of the department of Jewish studies at City. College, New York and his wife, Blu Greenberg, a lecturer on religious studies at Mt. St. Vincent College, and a leader of the Jewish feminist movement. Rabbi Greenberg, speaking on the theme, “Restructuring of the Philosophy of Jewish Education,” said that “The key reason for the failure of Jewish education is the unresolved problem of modernity. The future of Jewish education lies in a fundamental critique of this process of modernity,” he said.
Blu Greenberg asserted that “If Jewish education strives to make each individual more of a Jew, it should be experiential in inverse ratio to the quality and quantity of Jewish life in the home.” The Student Network is the umbrella and service organization for Jewish student groups throughout North America.
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