“Who Wrote the Bible?” Challenged My Conservative Jewish Education

This essay is adapted from my research paper, “Jewish Education in a Different Time and Place: A Personal History Self-study of a Jewish Educator” (George Washington University, 2023).

While the concept of Jewish identity emerged in the post-war era as Jews were endeavoring to integrate and assimilate into American society, the language of “continuity crisis” did not become part of public discourse until the 1980s and reached its peak in the 1990s (see Jon A. Levisohn, “Jewish Education as Initiation into the Practices of Jewishness,” in Beyond Jewish Identity, ed. Jon Levisohn and Ari Kelman [Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019], 216–240; Ari Krasner, “On the Origins and Persistence of the Jewish Identity Industry in Jewish Education,” Journal of Jewish Education 82:2, 2016: 132–158). In his 2016 article on the “Jewish identity industry” within Jewish education, Krasner cited the former as being widely considered the “holy grail” and “raison d’etre” of the latter at that time (pp. 132, 133).

See Tali Zelkowicz, “Jewish Educators Don’t Make Jews: A Sociological Reality Check About Jewish Identity Work,” in Beyond Jewish Identity, 167–192; Bethamie Horowitz, “Reframing the Study of Contemporary American Jewish Identity,” Contemporary Jewry 23(1), 2002: 14–34; Rena Dorph and Christian D. Schunn, “Activating Jewish Learners: Positioning Youth for Persistent Success in Jewish Learning and Living,” in Advancing the Learning Agenda in Jewish Education, ed. Jon A. Levisohn and Jeffrey S. Kress [Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2018], 11-28).

It is remarkable to note that although many peers who graduated from Schechter around the same time have tenuous relationships with their Jewish identities as adults, a statistically significant number have pursued careers in Jewish educational leadership as adults.

This quote is taken from her research article about teaching the documentary hypothesis to her 12th grade Jewish studies class at a pluralistic Jewish high school. See Susie S. Tanchel, “‘A Judaism That Does Not Hide’: Teaching the Documentary Hypothesis in a Pluralistic Jewish High School,” Journal of Jewish Education 74:1 (2008): 29–52.