Suchergebnisse

Here's a secret, the kind we hardly acknowledge to ourselves. But first, you may be wondering who this "we" is, on whose behalf I am writing. In truth, I am not sure. Maybe it is the Jews. But the problem with "Jews" is—well, not all Jews are in on the secret. Or maybe it is the Zionists. But the problem with "Zionists" is that the word has come to seem musty, at best, and in these last several decades it has been appropriated by exclusivist fanatics. So let me spell it out: the "we" here means old-fashioned liberal Zionists, people who intuitively endorse the idea of a Jewish state, people who acknowledge that to secure the safety of that state and to ennoble its character are the compelling Jewish projects of our time, hence people who these days suffer considerable anxiety and are not strangers to disappointment. Things are not going very well, or even just average well.

Jewish attitudes toward US policy toward Israel & the idea of a Jewish state alternatively appear hawkish & dovish, a phenomenon linked to the deep apprehension currently experienced by the Zionist Left. The complexities of the "pro-Israel" camp are described, demonstrating that it does not automatically imply "anti-Palestinian." The arguments put forth by John Mearsheimer & Stephen Walt in their controversial book, The Israel Lobby and U. S. Foreign Policy are challenged & the true purpose & power of the Israel lobby in the US are examined. K. Hyatt Stewart

Since we have hardly any criteria for measuring good teaching, we have hardly any instructions on how to be a good teacher; so much so, that the issue itself is generally treated with some embarrassment in academic circles. Except as one is truly an extaordinary teacher, in which case we defer to his gift, sustained interest in teaching is viewed as something of a gaucherie. This shocks our friends and distresses our students, but it makes perfectly good sense, since we conventionally assume that good teachers are born, not made. (If they were made, then we should be able to make them; since we do not profess to know how to make them, yet they continue to turn up here and there, they must be born.)The logic is somewhat circular, and quite like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Having established that good teaching, when it happens, is essentially accidental, and hence not scientifically reproducible, we snicker at the "educationists" who profess to have identified "rules" for our work. There does exist, for example, a body of literature which employs scientific standards to identify the best methods for presenting various kinds of knowledge to students. Yet this is a literature which is almost totally unknown to anyone who is likely to make use of it. Thus its validity has not been tested, except experimentally.Although random efforts to improve the quality of teaching, and perhaps to apply the same standards in our analysis of teaching that we apply in our research, seem to be increasing, it is, on the whole, unlikely that they will grow substantially. For the most part, such efforts are directed at curricular revision, or at restructuring of course contents; they rarely deal with the nature of the relationship between the teacher and his students. And, even when they do, they must overcome an ethic of futility which is firmly established in our graduate schools.

Until roughly 1967, the dominant theme of American Jewish history was integration. Could the Jews find here in America the safety that had eluded them everywhere else in their wanderings? And, if so, at what cost to their Jewish beliefs and behaviors? From 1967 onward the theme has shifted. Greater concern is now focused on the maintenance of Jewish identity and commitment. With the shift from the integration of Jews to the survival of Judaism has come a renewal of interest in the meanings and implications of the Jewish experience.

Until 1967, the dominant theme of US Jewish history was integration. Could the Jews find in the US the safety that had eluded them everywhere else in their wanderings &, if so, at what cost to their beliefs & behaviors? Since 1967, however, the theme has shifted; greater concern is now focused on the maintenance of Jewish identity & commitment. With the shift of the integration of Jews to the survival of Judaism has come a renewal of interest in the meanings & implications of the Jewish experience. HA