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Jewish Identity and Jewish Education: The Jewish Identity Space and Its Contribution to Research and Practice

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Book cover International Handbook of Jewish Education

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Religion and Education ((IHRE,volume 5))

Abstract

Jewish education is widely perceived as one of the major means for strengthening Jewish identity and identification. We examine this basic assumption and propose a conceptualization and mapping of the Jewish Identity Space as a tool for better understanding, exploring, and applying aspects related to the relationship between Jewish education and Jewish identity. The Jewish Identity Space defines the various aspects and manifestations of identity and behavior in terms of five levels of inclusiveness (personal, family, community, local, and global) and of three components of identity and its expressions (affective, cognitive, and behavioral). We suggest that a multifaceted and context-sensitive approach to the mapping of Jewish attitudes and behavior can provide research—and also other domains of Jewish-identity discourse—with these necessary tools. We also believe that such a conceptually diverse and pluralistic approach can help to better define the goals of Jewish education—not uniform goals for all kinds of Jewish educational interventions or programs, but rather specific, focused, and achievable objectives.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Synchronic diversity” refers to the multiple forms of Jewish identities that comprise the “Jewish community” at any particular moment. “Diachronic diversity” looks at the phenomenon of Jewish identity as a journey over time (Charmé et al., 2008).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

    Gabriel Horenczyk & Hagit Hacohen Wolf

Authors
  1. Gabriel Horenczyk
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  2. Hagit Hacohen Wolf
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Correspondence to Gabriel Horenczyk .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), Kentish Town Road 37, London, NW1 8NX, United Kingdom

    Helena Miller

  2. Jewish Inst. Religion, Brookdale Center, Hebrew Union College, West 4th St. 1, New York, 10012, New York, USA

    Lisa Grant

  3. Melton Centre for Jewish Education, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91905, Israel

    Alex Pomson

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Horenczyk, G., Hacohen Wolf, H. (2011). Jewish Identity and Jewish Education: The Jewish Identity Space and Its Contribution to Research and Practice. In: Miller, H., Grant, L., Pomson, A. (eds) International Handbook of Jewish Education. International Handbooks of Religion and Education, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0354-4_11

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