Roads to the Palace Jewish Texts and Teaching [Hardcover]

Is Jewish education simply an ancient and archaic type of socialization into customs and ceremonies or a sophisticated practice, based on rich cultural conceptions of the educated individual, the decent society and the relationship of knowledge and virtue? This author, rather than offering a dry analysis, takes the reader on a leisurely yet careful excursion into the world of Jewish tradition in order to discover models of the educated human being within it. In the process, the reader discovers dialogues between Western philosophy and Talmudic Midrash and is offered a fresh view of culture, faith and identity.

& [an] impeccably researched and intelligently written volume.? ??Choice

Michael Rosenak is the world's preeminent philosopher of Jewish education. His new book is a deep and imaginative exploration of the relationship between the great texts of the Jewish pastand the most profound issues of contemporary Jewish education. It is a marvelous accomplishment. ???? Berry W. Holtz, Jewish Theological Seminary of America

Michael Rosenak has written a beautiful, wise and knowing book ... Jewish educators of diverse commitments will all find themselves addressed in the book, and enlightened by it. Non-Jewish educators will learn that for them, too, the sources of Judaism carry urgent lessons for moral and religious education at the start of the twenty-first century. A truly important book. ???? Arnold Eisen, Stanford University

Chapter 1.Education, Language and Literature
Chapter 2.A Philosopher of Judaism for Jewish Education
Chapter 3.The Fear of Heaven : God's Treasure
Chapter 4.Jewish Values: The Evil Inclination and Beyond
Chapter 5.Becoming an Insider: Initiation and Commitment
Chapter 6.The Jewish Educator and Jewish Sources