The significance of the analytical models in traditional Islamic studies is that they contribute in sharpening the intellectual capacity of the students of Islamic studies. Research literature in Islamic studies has descriptive side predominantly; the information is gathered and compiled and rarely analyzed properly. This weakness is because of…

The Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools, Accreditation Commission (AARTS) accredits advanced rabbinical and Talmudic institutions that grant postsecondary degrees such as the baccalaureate, master's, doctorate, first rabbinic, and first Talmudic degrees. AARTS-accredited schools offer a program of Talmud and related studies.…

David Schoem reflects on his research study from 30-plus years ago, published as "Ethnic Survival in America: An Ethnography of a Jewish Afternoon School" (1979, 1989). Schoem points to the continuing importance of giving greater focus to meaning-making, relational identity, and deep community. Schoem argues that through a renewed focus on…

Stuart Schoenfeld's (1987) essay "Folk Judaism, Elite Judaism and the Role of Bar Mitzvah in the Development of the Synagogue and Jewish School in America" recounts how, in the 1930s and 40s, rabbis and Jewish educators banded together to impose attendance requirements on families that wanted to celebrate their sons' b'nei mitzvah in synagogues.…

The transmission model of religious socialization was tested using a sample of American Jewish parents and adolescents. The authors expected that measures of religiousness among parents would be associated with those among their children. Interaction effects of denominational membership were also tested. Data were collected from a sample of 233…

Many Bible scholars have become aware of the fact that the results we produce are dependent on the particular approaches that we choose to employ, and have become more self-conscious about the methods we use and the reasons we use them. Each approach to the analysis and interpretation of a text will yield its own type of meaning or understanding.…

This article builds on Greenstein's advocacy of a "pragmatic pedagogy of Bible" by pursuing four issues. First, do we select among methodological approaches to Bible according to our desired interpretive outcome but not according to any internal criteria? Is it merely a matter of "choice"? Second, in what sense are interpretive approaches usefully…

This article presents a pedagogical framework for interpreting and discussing texts with others, ""havruta" inspired pedagogy." The framework is comprised of three overlapping domains: structures, stance and practices. We illustrate each domain through teachers' words and classroom practices, depicting how teachers in one context work within these…

Long before the author answered the call to become a rabbi, he brought his passion to teach to the waterfront--that special place where the waters of a river or lake meet the dry land. Today, the author still imagines himself learning and teaching others how to swim, not in the water, but in the flows of global culture, to use the language of this…

The paper examines religious conversion to Judaism among young "Russian" immigrant girls in Israel. Looking into the process of conversion in religious boarding schools for girls only ("Ulpana") and in the broader context of the Israeli nation-state, we examine the strategies the educators contrive in inculcating religiosity…

This paper explores the concept of "community engagement," a central theme within a British research project examining the issues of cultural sustainability among faith-based schools. Discussion is informed by the views of Muslim and Jewish school community stakeholders at the time when the policy of social cohesion was being legally…

The study aimed to trace teachers' role behaviors that religious teachers "perceive" as mandatory versus discretionary and non-prescribed at work. Based on interviews with 15 teachers working in the Israeli religious state education, it was found that teaching the subject matter, preparing students for national exams, encouraging…

Jewish day schools offer many experiences meant to foster the Jewish development of students. However, these experiences are at risk of being disconnected from one another, complicating a comprehensive approach to addressing issues of identity. This article uses a constructivist approach to identity development to frame the challenges posed by…

This article mingles stories and concepts of young Jewish Israeli children about God, with reflections on the roles of faith, memory, imagination, and cognitive development in children's Religious Education. The stories are meant to illustrate, among other things, the purity and innocence of young children's faith, which is largely untroubled by…

This article presents the attitudes of students and teachers to prayer at an American Modern Orthodox Jewish high school. Relevant data, based on observation and interviews, emerged from a larger study of the school's Jewish and secular worlds. A significant gap in responses became apparent. Students viewed prayer as a challenge to their autonomy,…