מדרש קהלת רבה א'-ו'

מהדורה ביקורתית על פי כתבי יד וקטעי גניזה עם מבוא, מסורת המדרש, חילופי נוסח ופירוש

מאת מנחם הירשמן

בסיועו של שאול ברוכי

מדרש קהלת רבה הוא מדרש שנערך בארץ ישראל במאה השישית או בראשית המאה השביעית. הוא מכיל את התמודדותם של חז"ל עם אחד הספרים המאתגרים במקרא, והינו אוצר יקר של מחשבת חז"ל על האדם ועל המוות והשמחה. המדרש מופיע כאן לראשונה במהדורה ביקורתית על פי כתבי יד וקטעי גניזה עם מבוא ופירוש יחד עם מדרש קהלת זוטא.

The Halakha is not just a body of literature; it is also a cultural event. It follows then that the philosophy of Halakha must address the happening of the Halakha. Surprisingly, till now philosophers of Halakha have not addressed this dimension of the event or the happening of the Halakha. The articles in this book are an attempt at facing this challenge. But this is not simple because herein lies a paradox. If the event or the happening is something that lies outside the confines of what is captured in the written word, the effort to write about it is one that must take us on a fascinating journey between what is possible and what perhaps is not.
What is the nature of the Halakha as an event? What is the knowledge contained in this dimension of the Halakha that defies conceptualization in the written word? How does the insight that the Halakha is principally an event dramatically affect the philosophy of the Halakha?
As we have said, philosophers of the Halakha have not addressed this question before and the authors in this collection – scholars and researchers from a wide range of fields – are all facing it for the first time bringing to it a wide range of tools from fields as varied as philosophy, Jewish thought, performance, cinema, group dynamics, cognition, gender studies and more. Together they offer us a new discourse and framework for conceptualizing the philosophy of the Halakha.

רוזנק, מ' (2015). הוראת תרבות ישראל: בין הערכי לרלוונטי. ירושלים: מרכז מלטון; תל אביב: מכון מופ"ת.

מטרתו של הספר לעורר דיון מעמיק בדרכי ההוראה של המקורות והמסורת היהודית, ולהעשיר דיון זה בהצגת גישת ההוראה הערכית-רלוונטית למורים ולמחנכים בחינוך היהודי הפורמלי ובחינוך הבלתי פורמלי. גישה זו נועדה לעורר דיאלוג בין התלמידים לבין המקורות והמסורת, בין התלמידים לבין עצמם ובינם לבין המחנכים. אך יותר מכך, הגישה הערכית-רלוונטית מבקשת לעורר דיאלוג בין ציבורים בעלי תפיסות יהודיות שונות, להציע שפה יהודית הולמת, אותנטית ורלוונטית, תחת מכנה משותף תוכני-ערכי ומתוך כבוד והערכה הדדית, בלי שאיש יחוש כאילו הוא ויתר מראש על השקפתו. כל אחד ואחת יחוש כי הוא מוצא עצמו מועשר בהשקפותיהם של האחרים. הספר כולל גם רעיונות ודוגמאות ליישום העקרונות החינוכיים הלכה למעשה.

על המחבר

פרופ' מיכאל רוזנק ז"ל, שלימד שנים רבות במרכז לחינוך יהודי ע"ש מלטון באוניברסיטה העברית, ייסד תחום אקדמי חדש ומוכר כיום בארץ ובעולם כ"פילוסופיה של החינוך היהודי". הספר שמונח לפנינו משמש דוגמה ייחודית ליצירה בתחום זה, המשלבת עומק אקדמי עם אוריינטציה חינוכית מובהקת. בכך הוא משקף נאמנה את מפעל החיים של פרופ' רוזנק, אשר היכרותו האינטימית עם המקורות הקנוניים של המורשת היהודית, ידיעותיו הרבות במחשבת ישראל לדורותיה, וכן התמצאותו בספרות החינוכית על כל ענפיה, שימשו כמשאבים נאמנים בכינון תחום חשוב זה. (פרופ' מנחם בן ששון, נשיא האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים)

האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים – המרכז לחינוך יהודי ע"ש מלטון, מכון מופ"ת והוצאת רכס הוציאה לאור סדרה חדשה "הספרייה לחינוך יהודי ע"ש מיכאל רוזנק". זהו הספר הראשון שיצא בסדרה זו.

This volume of essays presents a compelling and comprehensive analysis of the intriguing issue of the gift of the land of Israel and the fate of the Caananites as presented in diverse biblical sources. Jewish thought has long grappled with the moral and theological implications and challenges of this issue. Innovative interpretive strategies and philosophical reflections were offered, modified, and sometimes rejected over the centuries. Leading contemporary scholars follow these threads of interpretation offered by Jewish thinkers from antiquity to modern times.

These six elegant and beautifully written essays remind the reader of the power of ideas and the great depth of Michael Rosenak's thinking. Investigating key themes of his long and distinguished career as teacher, scholar, mentor and philosopher, Rosenak touches upon some of the core issues of contemporary Jewish life and teases out the implications for education in our time. As always, he asks the most interesting questions and guides his readers along a path of understanding and exploration.

A broad consensus exists among people familiar with Janusz Korczak’s life, work and writings regarding the fact that he was a very gifted, original and exceptional pedagogue – one of the twentieth century’s most outstanding humanist educators. This consensus notwithstanding, Korczak is not usually considered a world-class educational theorist or philosopher. A concentrated attempt to consolidate and formulate his educational positions and practices into a philosophical-educational theory, based on an analysis and interpretation of his literary and pedagogical works, is absent in Hebrew works on Korczak’s educational thought and humanist legacy. This book aspires to fill  this void. Acknowledging and working through the highly narrative style of Korczak’s writings, this book seeks to conceptualise his educational thought. It systematically presents Korczak’s world-view and the educational theory derived from it; it depicts his rich and innovative array of educational practices and endows them with philosophical analysis and interpretation.

Respect for the child as a person, as a full-fledged, ever-growing human being, constitutes the very heart and core of his educational thought. In Korczak’s eyes, the open, direct and sincere demonstration of such respect to children by educators is a precondition for the very possibility to educate children and engender positive changes in their personalities.

The narrative of the book includes the analysis and interpretation of many passages from Korczak’s numerous, rich and diverse writings. Selections from his works for the readers’ exploration are offered at the end of each chapter, accompanied by suggestions of issues for possible discussion.

The book addresses a wide audience including master educators, master teachers, educators, teachers, students and all intelligent, reflective and critical people interested in furthering their knowledge and understanding of decisive cultural-educational issues of our time. The encounter with Korczak’s educational thought and practices is likely to contribute to our current educational thinking and practice and assist us in our quest for compelling responses to central educational questions that concern and challenge us today.

Dr. Marc Silverman is a senior lecturer in the Hebrew University’s School of Education and Melton Centre for Jewish Education. He teaches, researches, writes and publishes articles in two main interrelated educational fields: moral, progressive, radical and Jewish educational thought; and the intellectual history, sociology and ideologies of current Jewish cultural and educational movements and trends.

In troubled societies narratives about the past tend to be partial and explain a conflict from narrow perspectives that justify the national self and condemn, exclude and devalue the 'enemy' and their narrative. Through a detailed analysis, Teaching Contested Narratives reveals the works of identity, historical narratives and memory as these are enacted in classroom dialogues, canonical texts and school ceremonies. Presenting ethnographic data from local contexts in Cyprus and Israel, and demonstrating the relevance to educational settings in countries which suffer from conflicts all over the world, the authors explore the challenges of teaching narratives about the past in such societies, discuss how historical trauma and suffering are dealt with in the context of teaching, and highlight the potential of pedagogical interventions for reconciliation. The book shows how the notions of identity, memory and reconciliation can perpetuate or challenge attachments to essentialized ideas about peace and conflict.

The International Handbook of Jewish Education, a two volume publication, brings together scholars and practitioners engaged in the field of Jewish Education  and its cognate fields world-wide. Their submissions make a significant  contribution to our knowledge of the field of Jewish Education as we start the second decade of the 21st century.  The Handbook is divided broadly into four main sections: Vision and Practice: focusing on issues of philosophy, identity and planning –the big issues of Jewish Education.Teaching and Learning: focusing on areas of curriculum and engagementApplications, focusing on the ways that Jewish Education is transmitted in particular contexts, both formal and informal, for children and adults.Geographical, focusing on historical, demographic, social and other issues that are specific to a region or where an issue or range of issues can be compared and contrasted between two or more locations.This comprehensive collection of articles providing high quality content, constitutes a difinitive statement  on the state of Jewish Education world wide, as well as through a wide variety of lenses and contexts. It is written in a style that is accessible to a global community of academics and professionals.

First international effort which challenges the discourse of culture in minority/migrant educational policy and practice

An important contribution to critical educational theory which focuses on ‘the social’ and ‘the in-between’.

Over 40 theoretical and empirical studies which cover more than 20 locations in Europe, America, Australia and Asia.

Migrants and minorities are always at risk of being caught in essentialized cultural definitions and being denied the right to express their cultural preferences because they are perceived as threats to social cohesion. Migrants and minorities respond to these difficulties in multiple ways — as active agents in the pedagogical, political, social, and scientific processes that position them in this or that cultural sphere. On the one hand, they reject ascribed cultural attributes while striving towards integration in a variety of social spheres, e.g. school and workplace, in order to achieve social mobility. On the other hand, they articulate demands for cultural self-determination. This discursive duality is met with suspicion by the majority culture. For societies with high levels of migration or with substantial minority cultures, questions related to the meaning of cultural heterogeneity and the social and cultural limits of learning and communication (e.g. migration education or critical multiculturalism) are very important. It is precisely here where the chances for new beginnings and new trials become of great importance for educational theorizing, which urgently needs to find answers to current questions about individual freedom, community/cultural affiliations, and social and democratic cohesion. Answers to these questions must account for both ‘political’ and ‘learning’ perspectives at the macro, mezzo, and micro contextual levels. The contributions of this edited volume enhance the knowledge in the field of migrant/minority education, with a special emphasis on the meaning of culture and social learning for educational processes.

Content Level » Research

Keywords » acceptance - adaptation - assimilation - belonging - conflict of cultures - cultural - culture - differences - education - educational research - emancipation - ethnic - exclusion - governance - heterogeneity - immigrants - integration - international - learning - learning process - migration - minorities - minority education - multiculturalism - networks - recognition - school policies - schooling - self-determination - social - social change - social cohesion - social learning - social limits - social mobility - socialisation - transculturality

Related subjects » Education & Language - Population Studies - Social Sciences

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At one time or another every person of faith asks himself questions like these: What must I do to deserve some Divine intervention in my life? Is there anyone really listening to my prayers? When do miracles happen, and when do they not? Where s my miracle? Am I not worthy? Here is a fresh, new, thought-provoking approach to the eternal mystery of the miracle, based on the multiple texts found in Jewish tradition as well as lessons learned from experience. The Al Aksa Intifada and its bloody consequences serve as backdrop for the many important messages about belief contained in this book. The Intifada forced Jews and rabbinic leaders to actively confront the difficult philosophical questions that arose in the wake of continual, random acts of violence in Israel. Having made aliyah just weeks before the onset of the bloody violence, the author took note of the reactions of survivors and spiritual leaders throughout the years of violence and was struck with the pat, simplistic, and often not-well-thought-out reactions and explanations offered by Israeli spiritual leaders to give meaning and purpose to the violence. Rabbi Morey Schwartz, an only child, orphaned by age twenty, has spent more than twenty years searching for a satisfying answer to his personal misfortune. Searching traditional Jewish responses, he never found a response that addressed his need to believe in a benevolent, merciful and all-powerful divine being, while simultaneously honoring what he considers his right to understanding. To believe in a God that was less than all-powerful seemed pointless, and to accept that we just cannot understand seemed to be meaningless. The author, is a graduate of Yeshiva University and Bernard Revel Graduate School, and musmach of the Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan Theological Seminary. During his twelve years in the American rabbinate, helping others to deal with suffering and loss, the author found himself expressing a refreshing theological approach to this question, one which has helped countless individuals work through these difficult issues in their own lives. The book provides a look at the way the sages dealt with the suffering of the innocent throughout the centuries, providing the reader with easy to read rabbinic texts arranged in a text and counter-text format, for the purpose of presenting multiple Jewish approaches to some very difficult questions. In addition, the author provides a new, inspiring way of looking at the whole business of miracles. The age-old idea that miracles arise for those who deserve them is reconsidered, and a whole new perspective on the function and incidence of miracles is proposed. Any person of any faith will want to read these words and ponder the Divine s role in our lives, in the good times and the bad. This book will become a source of great comfort to Jews looking for alternative Jewish approaches to suffering and to God s role in suffering. This book is a must for those who counsel, for they above all need to be sympathetic to the deep sensitivities of those who seek consolation.