Viewing education through the prism of the Torah, Tree of Life, Tree of Knowledgetakes the reader through the stages of learning, growth, and self-development that characterize human lives. The journey begins with education as it happens in the home, moves on to the institutions of society, especially schools, and then on to the questions of identity and commitment which constitute the hidden agenda of "informal educational networks." The self-education of the individual is explored: When does one "grow up"? What is really worth knowing? How does one cope with memories, illness, and anticipation of what lies ahead? This book examines some of the millennial conversation in an attempt to discover an educational philosophy in the Torah that can be relevant to life in the contemporary world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"A pathbreaking book in Jewish Studies. Etkes is careful to separate the man himself from the mythic role he later came to occupy in the modern Jewish landscape. This emphasis upon 'image,' and not only upon the 'man,' gives the Etkes volume a unique and broad flavor."--David Ellenson, author of Between Tradition and Culture

"Etkes probes the image and reception of the Vilna Gaon in the movements he spawned (Haskalah) and opposed (Hasidism) and provides a sophisticated sense of the dynamism and power of historical images in forging battle lines in the highly fractious world of nineteenth-century Eastern European Jewish culture."--David N. Myers, author of Re-Inventing the Jewish Past