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A History of Impact: MCSJE Faculty Offer Current Perspectives on Their Scholarship
In this new series, we’ve asked MCSJE faculty to reflect back on impactful pieces from their body of scholarship. Here, Ziva Hassenfeld reflects on her 2022 article, "Why Jewish Day School":
"I have now been teaching Hebrew Bible full- or part- time for 15 years, and I have been conducting research on Hebrew Bible classrooms for almost ten years. I have, since age 23, seen the Hebrew Bible as an occasion to engage in a traditional Jewish scriptural practice, a literacy practice that, to my mind, can train students to appreciate multiple and conflicting interpretations. Going back through my writing from my first year of teaching to today, I am amazed at how my reasons for teaching Hebrew Bible have remained remarkably consistent.
In my article 'Why Jewish Day School,' I explain that my fascination with, and love of, the Hebrew Bible has always focused on the elasticity of meaning in its texts and their ability to hold many different interpretations. In this and other pieces, I write about the power of Jewish scriptural literacy practices. This task of learning how to hold multiple interpretations is at the heart of Jewish learning and is the skill I value most in Jewish education. This skill, to listen carefully to what others say, to ground your own beliefs in close reading and evidence, and to remember that there are limitations to any position or worldview transfers 'off' the page. As we enter an era of increased polarization, where more and more people, regardless of their views, have retreated into calcified positions that allow for no empathy, curiosity, or mutual meaning-making, and where refusing to engage with those who hold different beliefs has become a source of pride and a litmus test for authentic belonging, I am more convinced than ever of the importance of teaching students the power of Jewish scriptural literacy practices."
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