Associate Prof. Elie Holzer
Affiliation
CV
Academic Education
1999 Ph.d. in Jewish philosophy; Hebrew University, Israel
1992 Masters Degree in Jewish philosophy; Hebrew University, Israel
1988 Bachelor Degree in Psychology and Jewish philosophy; Bar Ilan University, Israel
1985 Bachelor Education Degree in Jewish Studies; Herzog College, Israel
Additional Education
1999 Certified philosophical counselor; American Philosophical Practitioners Association, New York, USA
1995-1997 Jerusalem Fellows at The Institute for Jewish Educational Leadership, Mandel Foundation, Israel
1997 Rabbinical ordination, Israel.
1989-1995; 2008 Jewish Studies. Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem. Israel
1982-1985 Har-Etsion Hesder Yeshiva, Alon Shvut, Israel and Ets-Haim Yeshiva, Montreux, Switzerland
Selected list of Academic/ Education Positions
2001- to date Associate Professor, School of Education, Bar Ilan University, Israel
2017- to date Chair of the R. Dr. Ochs Chair for Teaching Jewish Religious Studies at the School of Education, Bar Ilan University.
2015- 2017 Lecturer at the Ono Academic College, Israel
2012- 2014 Lecturer at Lander College, Jerusalem, Israel
2009- 2012 Lecturer at "Melamdim" teacher educator program at the Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem, Israel
2008-2010 Lecturer at Rabbinical School, Neve Schechter Institute, Jerusalem, Israel
2000 Lecturer at Stern College for Jewish Studies, New York, USA
Visiting Professor
Summers 2003-2007 & Fall semester 2006, The Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University, MA, USA.
Summers 2001& 2013 The Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, USA.
Summers 2007, 2009 & 2010 The Center for Jewish Education, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Research Positions
2003 to 2010 Senior Research Associate at the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, Brandeis University, MA, USA.
2009 Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, Israel.
Selected list of Professional Functions
October 2015- to date Chair of the R. Dr. Ochs Chair for Teaching Jewish Religious Studies, Bar Ilan University
2018-2019 Guest Editor for a special issue of Religions
2014- 2016 Editor of International Journal of Jewish Education Research
2009- 2014 Associate Editor of International Journal of Jewish Education Research
2004- 2008 Editorial Board of the Journal of Jewish education
Research Grants and Academic Awards
2016 The Israel Science Foundation
2014 USA National Jewish Book Award Winner for the book A Philosophy of Havruta: Understanding and Teaching the Art of Text Study in Pairs. Academic Studies Press, Boston, 2013
2014 The Israel Science Foundation
2011 Lookstein Center, Bar Ilan University
2004 Gender studies, Bar-Ilan University
1997 Award of excellence granted by the Center of Research on Political Radicalism and Judaism
Conference Chair
Organizer and Chair: In the Wake of Neo-Hasidism :Exploring New Paths for Education, Teaching and Learning, and Practice. An International Conference by the Rabbi Dr. David Ochs Chair for Teaching Jewish Religious Studies - Bar Ilan University. Jerusalem, June 6-8, 2017 at the Van Leer Institute.
Organizer and Chair: Ways of Learning, Ways of Becoming: Neo-Hasidic Teaching of the Hasidic Homily An International Conference by the Rabbi Dr. David Ochs Chair for Teaching Jewish Religious Studies - Bar Ilan University. Jerusalem, December 30, 2018 -January 1, 2019 at the Van Leer Institute.
Papers presented at academic conferences
1. Conceptions of the Study of Jewish Texts in the Professional Development of Teachers. The Second Scientific International Conference of the Association for Research in Jewish Education and Jewish Identity in Diverse Settings, Bar Ilan University, December 2000.
2. Philosophical Hermeneutics and the Professional Development of Bible Teachers. Understanding the Bible in our Time; International Conference at the Melton Center for Jewish Education, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, April 2001.
3. Jewish Thought and Teachers' Professional Development. 13th World Congress of Jewish Studies, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, August 2001.
4. Hermeneutical Knowledge in the Teaching of Texts. 4th International Conference on Teacher Education, Israel, June, 2001.
5. A Critical discussion of Rabbi Soloveitchik's Hermeneutic Theory. Studies Exploring the Influence of Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik on Culture, Education and Jewish Thought. An International Conference Commemorating the Centenary of his Birth, Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem 2003.
6. Prayer, Community and Education through the perspective of Philosophical Hermeneutics. An International Conference on Education, Community and Norms, Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, December 2004.
7. Good Teaching, Good Text Study and Good Hevruta Learning: A Conceptual Educational view. The Network for Research on Jewish Education Conference, Brandeis University, USA, June 2004.
8. The Attitude Toward the Book in the Works of Levinas and Ricoeur: Implications for Jewish Education. An International Conference on French Jewry: Past, Present, and Future. Bar Ilan University, May 2006.
9. Ethical Dispositions in Prayer and in Social Activism according to AJ Heschel: Educational Implications. Social Responsibility and Educational Audacity, An International Conference in Honor of AJ Heschel's Centennial Year, Melton Center for Jewish Education, Hebrew University, December 23-24, 2007.
10. The Design of a Beit Midrash: Ways of Thinking, Ways of Doing. Teaching Rabbinic Literature: Bridging Scholarship and Pedagogy, January 27- 28, 2008, Brandeis University, USA.
11. Beyond Literacy: The Humanizing Art of Conversation with Traditional Texts. An International Conference On Jewish Literacy, University of Maryland. September 2008.
12. The Event and the Practice of Prayer in the Thought of AJ Heschel (Hebrew). Thinking God Anew; A Conference for the Study of AJ Heschel's Writings and Philosophy. The Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem, October 6-7, 2008.
13. With Miriam Raider-Roth, Juggling Multiple Identities: How Hevruta and Text Study Can Challenge Teachers' Personal, Professional and Cultural Worlds. Multiple Identities in Jewish Education, The 5th conference of the Israel Association of Research in Jewish Education, Oranim and Jerusalem, January, 7-8, 2009.
14. Conceptual Foundations of Havruta Text Study as a Form of Professional Development. Challenges in Jewish Education: Cultural Vitality, 6th International Conference of the Israel Association for Research in Jewish Education, Bar Ilan University, 27 – 28, December 2010.
15. Conceptual and Pedagogical Foundations of Havruta Text Study as a Form of Professional Development. The Network for Research in Jewish Education, York University, Canada, June 12-14, 2011.
16. How to Read for Renewal? Hermeneutics and the Literary Genre of Sfat Emet's Homilies. The International Conference on Erudition in Contemporary Judaism, The Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, December 28-29, 2011.
17. The Human Face in Jewish Learning Relationships. The Network for Research in Jewish Education, Hebrew College, Boston, USA. , June 10-12, 2012.
18. Cultivating Jewish Values by Redesigning Ritual: The Case of Welcoming the Mourners into a Community of Prayer. The Transmission of Jewish Culture Outside the Classroom, The Melton Center, Ohio State University,Feb. 10-11, 2013.
19. Prolegomena on the scholarship of the "Hasidic Homily": the case of the Sfat Emet. World Congress for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, July 28, 2013.
20. Between the Oral and the Textual in the "Sfat Emet" Homilies. International Melton Coalition Conference: The Oral and the Textual in Jewish tradition and Jewish education, Hebrew University, December 28-30, 2014.
21. Beit Midrash Learning: Insights into ‘Academic’ Learning, Narcissism and Self-Trust to be Interpreted by the Text . "Multiple Narratives" A Conference on Bible, Education and Gender. Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, 2017.
22. Jews, Non-Jews, and Teaching the Hasidic Homily: Hermeneutic Approaches and Pedagogical Deliberations, Jewish learning and the Non-Jew, The Melton Coalition Conference, New York City, February 12-14, 2017.
23. "Nihilism arises from the desire to find results that would make further thinking unnecessary."- Hannah Arendt. Why this conference? In the Wake of Neo-Hasidism: Exploring New Paths for Education, Teaching and Learning, and Practice. An International Conference: The Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, June 6-8, 2017.
24. "Why this Conference?", Ways of Learning, Ways of Becoming: Neo-Hasidic Teaching of the Hasidic Homily- An International Conference, The Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, December 30, 2018-January 1, 2019.
25. "Hermeneutical Horizons toward a post-critical Jewish religiosity", Contemporary Challenges in Philosophy of Education and Jewish Education, Hebrew University, January 9, 2019.
26. 'Response to a paper on Paolo Freire's philosophy of language', The Third Conference of Graduate Students -The Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies, Bar Ilan University, January 29, 2019.
27. Pedagogies and Theology of Difference in 'Havruta' (Paired) Text Study, REA Annual Meeting, Coexistence in Divided Societies: Pedagogies of the Sacred, of Difference and of Hope, Toronto ON, Canada, November 1-3, 2019.
28. Foundations of a Hermeneutic-Spiritual Pedagogy for the Teaching of Hasidic Homilies, Network Research of Jewish Education, May 20, 2021.
29. Between the Concealed and the Revealed: Desire and Speech in the Sfat Emet’s Work. The 18th World Jewish Congress for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, August 8, 2022. (Hebrew)
30. The Awakening of Theological Thought in Contemporary Hasidism- Educational Implications. Hasidism and Jewish Education, Hebrew University, January 4, 2023.
31. A Hermeneutics of Intimacy: A Phenomenology of the ‘Inner Point’ in the writings of the Sfat Emet. April 24, 2023, Fairfield University, CT, USA.
32. Rethinking Havruta Learning: For Whom? For What? The Korea-Israel Conference, Seoul National University, Seoul, South-Korea, May 30, 2023.
33. The Art of Questioning in Havruta Learning. The Korea-Israel Conference, Seoul National University, Seoul, South-Korea, June 1, 2023.
34. ‘The Soul is an Unprotected Species’- Education for Spiritual Purposes in the Neo-Liberalist Era. Jewish Education as a Philosophical, Theological and Humanistic Challenge, Hebrew University, June 6, 2023.
Awards
2016 The Israel Science Foundation
2014 USA National Jewish Book Award Winner for the book A Philosophy of Havruta: Understanding and Teaching the Art of Text Study in Pairs. Academic Studies Press, Boston, 2013
2014 The Israel Science Foundation
2011 Lookstein Center, Bar Ilan University
2004 Gender studies, Bar-Ilan University
1997 Award of excellence granted by the Center of Research on Political Radicalism and Judaism
Publications
Books (Author)
1. Holzer, E., (2009). A Double Edged Sword: Military Activism in Religious Zionism. "Judaism and Israel" Series, Faculty of Law, Bar Ilan University & The Shalom Hartman Institute, administrated by Keter Publishing House Ltd. (Hebrew)
2. Holzer, E. with Kent, O. (2013). A Philosophy of Havruta: Understanding and Teaching the Art of Text Study in Pairs. Academic Studies Press, Boston.
2a. Holzer, E. with Kent, O. (2018). A Philosophy of Havruta: Understanding and Teaching the Art of Text Study in Pairs. D6 Korean House Publishing, Seoul: South Korea. (Korean).
3. Holzer, E. (2016). Attuned Learning: Rabbinic Texts on Habits of the Heart in Learning Interactions, Academic Studies Press, Boston.
3b. Holzer, E. (2021). Attuned Learning: Rabbinic Texts on Habits of the Heart in Learning Interactions, D6 Korean House Publishing, Seoul: South Korea. (Korean).
Books (Editor)
1. Cohen, J., Holzer, E. and Isaacs, A. (2005-2006). Languages and Literatures in Jewish Education; Studies in Jewish Education Vol. 11, Studies in Honor of Michael Rosenak, Magnes Press, Jerusalem. (2 volumes, Hebrew & English).
2. Cohen, J. & Holzer E. (2008-2009), Modes of Educational Translation; Studies in Jewish Education, Magnes Press, Jerusalem.
3. Holzer, E., Rosenak, A. (forthcoming), Education as Philosophy, Interpretation and Literature – A Festschrift in Honor of Prof. Yonathan Cohen). Magnes Press. Jerusalem.
4. Holzer, E. (Forthcoming), Renewed Hasidic Spirituality- Teaching Hasidic Homilies in a Post-Secular World, Boston: Academic Studies Press.
Articles in refereed journals and peered reviewed books
1. Holzer, E. (2000). Philosophy of Religion and Jewish Teacher Education, Jewish Educational Thought 2, Jerusalem, 53-88. (Hebrew)
2. Holzer, E. (2001). The evolving meaning of the "three oaths" within religious Zionism, DAAT, a Journal of Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah, 47, Bar Ilan University, Israel, 129-145. (Hebrew)
3. Holzer, E. (2002). The Use of Military Force in the Religious-Zionist Ideology of Rabbi Jacob Reines and his Successors, Studies in Contemporary Jewry, 18, Oxford University Press, New York, 74-94.
4. Holzer, E. (2002). Conceptions of The Study of Jewish Texts in Teachers' Professional Development, Religious Education, 97,4, Fall, 377- 403.
5. Holzer, E. (2004). Asynchronous Electronic learning and the Professional Development of Teacher Educators: Preliminary Thoughts towards a University Based Research, Educational Media International, 40, 2,253-261.
6. Holzer, E. (2004). Teachers' Learning and the Investigation of Practice, Mekhkarei Morashtenu 2-3, 291-302. (Hebrew)
7. Holzer, E. (2006). What Connects "Good" Teaching, Text Study and Hevruta Learning? A Conceptual Argument, Journal of Jewish Education, 72, 1-22.
8. Holzer, E. (2006). The concept of Second Naivete by Ernst Simon and Paul Ricoeur, in J. Cohen, E. Holzer & A. Isaacs (eds.), Languages and Literatures in Jewish Education, Studies in Honor of Michael Rosenak, Hebrew University and Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 325-344.
9. Holzer, E. (2007). Attitudes Towards the Use of Military Force in Ideological Currents of Religious Zionism, in L. Schiffman and J.B. Wolowelsky (eds), War and Peace in the Jewish Tradition, Yeshiva University Press, New York, 341- 414.
10. Holzer, E. (2007). Ethical dispositions in Text Study, Journal of Moral Education, 36, 1, 37-49.
11. Holzer, E. (2007). Allowing the Text to do its Pedagogical Work: Connecting Moral Education and Interpretive Activity, Journal of Moral Education, 6,4, 497-514.
12. Holzer, E. (2008-2009). Educational aspects of hermeneutical activity in text study, in J. Cohen and E. Holzer (eds), Modes of Educational Translation, Studies in Jewish Education, Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 205-240.
13. Holzer, E. (2008-2009). Existential vs. Hermeneutical Engagement with the Shoah: A Reply to Ari Burzstein, in J. Cohen and E. Holzer (eds), Modes of Educational Translation, Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 89-96.
14. Holzer, E. (2009). "Either a Hevruta Partner of Death" A Critical view on the Interpersonal Dimensions of Hevruta Learning, The Journal of Jewish Education 75:2, 130-149.
15. Raider-Roth, M. and Holzer, E. (2009). Learning to be Present: How Hevruta Learning Can Activate Teachers' Relationships to Self, Other and Text, The Journal of Jewish Education 75:3, 216-239.
16. Holzer, E. (2010). Rabbi Soloveitchik's hermeneutic theory: a critical discussion, in A. Rosenak and N. Rothenberg (eds.), Rabbi in the New World. The Influence of Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik on Culture, Education and Jewish Thought, Magnes Press, Hebrew University and Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, 23-41. (Hebrew)
17. Holzer, E. and Kent, O. Havruta Learning (2011).What do we know and what can we hope to learn?, in H. Miller, L. Grant and A. Pomson (eds.), International Handbook on Jewish Education, Springer, New York, 407-418.
18. Holzer, E. (2011). Listening to Significant Others in the Process of Text Interpretation: An Instance of Applied Hermeneutics, Gadamer's Hermeneutics and the Art of Conversation, International Studies in Hermeneutics and Phenomenology, 2, Berlin: Lit Verlag, 115-126.
19. Holzer, E. (2015). Welcoming Opposition: Havruta Learning and Montaigne's 'The Art of Discussion', The Journal of Moral Education 44:1, 64-80.
20. Holzer, E. (2015). Choosing to Put Ourselves "at Risk" in the Face of Ancient Texts: Ethical Education through the Hermeneutical Encounter, International Studies in Hermeneutics and Phenomenology 8, Zurich: Lit Verlag, 415-438.
21. Holzer, E. (2016). 'Sfat Emet' Homilies in the light of Paul Ricoeur's 'work of the text', DAAT, a Journal of Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah 81, 321-350. (Hebrew).
22. Book Review of Jane L. Kanarek and Marjorie Lehman (eds.), Learning to Read Talmud: What It Looks Like and How It Happens (Academic Studies Press: Brighton, MA, 2016), Journal of Jewish Education, 2018, 84 (1), 1-3.
23. Holzer, E. (2019). Prolegomenon to an Exegetical-Spiritual Pedagogy for the Study of Sfat Emet's Homilies: The Case of 'Self-Trust', in J. Cohen (Ed.), The Oral and the Textual in Jewish Tradition and Jewish Education, Studies in Jewish Education Series XV, Magnes Press & the Jewish Theological Seminary Press, 139-164.
24. Holzer, E. (2019). 'Poetics of Exegesis in the Sefat Emet's Homilies: Semantic Innovations for Discernment & Disclosure'. In Ariel Evan Mayse and Arthur Green (Editors), Be-Ron Yahad: Studies in Jewish Thought and Theology in Honor of Nehemia Polen, Boston: Academic Studies Press, 280-309.
25. Gold, M., Raider-Roth, M., Holzer, E. (2021). “Teachers Learn and Learners Teach: Enacting Presence in Online Havruta Text Study”, The Journal of Jewish Education., 87:4, 332-364.
26. Holzer, E. (2022). “Reading the Sfat Emet for Religious Consciousness Modulations on Or Haganuz”, in Michael Fishbane, Arthur Green & Jonathan D. Sarna (Editors), Ḥiddushim: Celebrating Hebrew College's Centennial, Boston: Academic Studies Press, 349-368.
27. Ben Menachem, E. and Holzer, E. (2023). “Learning to Learn with a Havruta: Pragmatic and Ethical Facets”, The Journal of Jewish Education Volume 89 Issue 4, 379-397.
28. Holzer, E. (forthcoming). “’Labor of Reading’ in the Learning of the Hasidic Homily as a Theopoetic Literary Genre,” in Avinoam Rosenak and Elie Holzer (eds.), Siftei Cohen Yishmeru Daat: Education as Philosophy, Interpretation and Literature. A Festschrift in the Honor Prof. Jonathan Cohen [Hebrew].
29. Holzer, E. “Renewed Hasidism and The Teaching of Hasidic Homilies- A Programmatic Introduction”, in Elie Holzer (ed.), Renewed Hasidic Spirituality- Teaching Hasidic Homilies in a Post-Secular World, Boston: Academic Studies Press (forthcoming).
Research
Current research project 1:
Attuned Learning
Rabbinic Texts on Learning Interactions
Accepted for Publication by Academic Studies Press
"Real learning gets to the heart of what it means to be human,” writes MIT researcher and educator Peter Senge. In contrast, in today’s predominant educational climate, the definition of successful learning tends to be reduced to a checklist of behaviors, ability to access information, standardized achievements, and measurable outcomes. In this type of environment, texts from the distant past possess unique potential to revitalize our concern with face-to-face relationships and self-refinement within the nexus of teaching and learning dynamics.
This is the first book to utilize classical rabbinic texts to explore aspects of "attuned learning," a mindfulness that fits present-day sensibilities while hearkening back to ancient times. Attuned learning emphasizes the individual’s alertness to his or her mental, emotional, and physical workings, and awareness of others within the complexities of learning interactions. This book offers reflections on transformations that can occur during teaching, the impact of facial expression in teachers-student interactions, disruptions in learning relationships, and moral self-refinement through argumentative and paired learning. Analyses amplify the texts’ subtle refrain regarding the pivotal role of attuned learning in the growth of all teachers, learners, and co-learners. The book culminates in a discussion of the relevance of attuned learning for contemporary educators and for educational thought.
Part One brings intellectual frameworks and methodological foundations to bear on the concept of attuned learning and on contemporary readings of rabbinic texts related to education. Parts Two and Three provide a literary analysis of eight late-antiquity rabbinic texts, supplemented by subsequent interpretations. The analyses reveal various intra- and interpersonal dimensions of learning interactions for teachers, students, and co-learners, which unfold into an expanded conceptualization of attuned learning. Part Four examines potential contributions of attuned learning to contemporary educational thought, both Jewish and beyond.
This book is a complement to my most recent book, A Philosophy of Havruta (Academic Studies Press, 2013). Like its predecessor, it will appeal to both experts and non-experts in rabbinic literature – everyone who teaches Jewish learners of any age, as well as educators in non-Jewish settings. This book makes the intricacies of rabbinic texts accessible to all. The concepts and the examples it discusses will help teachers and educators reflect critically on the cultural contexts of their own practice. The book also will be eye-opening for students and scholars of rabbinics, as it is the first to discuss an unexplored aspect of learning within rabbinic literature. And, finally, it will be compelling for many in the broader public who are interested in rabbinic literature and in the contribution of ancient learning traditions to contemporary educational thinking.
The longstanding cultural grounding will be enlightening for non-specialists and familiar to scholars of rabbinics. Since late antiquity, rabbinic culture has prioritized the study of Torah[1] as a central cultural and religious pursuit, not only for scholars but also, ideally, for every (male) Jew. Learning has been the touchstone of Jewish culture and religion throughout the centuries. This may explain modern scholars' significant interest in the study of education within rabbinic culture. Marc Hirshman (2009) surveys the major 20th-century scholarly works that have used historical and sociocultural methodologies to study the historical shifts, institutional developments, and evolving cultural norms of education in late-antique and medieval rabbinic Judaism. He combines historical, sociocultural, and literary approaches in the analysis of late-antique units of legal and non-legal discussion (sugyot) to bring forth educational ideals such as the value of havruta (paired) learning and the social mechanisms that engendered the establishment of this learning culture. Published anthologies on various aspects of Jewish education have presented collections of relevant sources from different historical periods and various rabbinic works. (Assaf, 2001) Scholars such as Admiel Kosman (2002) and Jeffrey Rubinstein (2010) analyze midrash aggadah (rabbinic legends) as a window into self-reflective and self-critical views of rabbinic learning culture, and Susan Handelman (2011) uses midrash aggadah to study the relationships of master and disciple through the case of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus.
It therefore is surprising that no research to date has focused on uncovering the insights and values this culture has yielded in regard to the cognitive, psychological, and moral aspects of the learning experience. Such studies would explore normative elements of teachers’ and learners’ self-awareness vis-à-vis their modes of interaction during teaching and learning. Attuned Learning seeks to address this void. While existing scholarship has contributed significantly to our understanding of many aspects of Jewish education and of Jewish learning in rabbinic culture, this book is the first to zoom in on rabbinic texts about individuals’ introspection and their attitudes toward each other and toward the subject matter, within the actual learning dynamic. It is in this carefully hewn context that attuned learning can serve as a corrective of the prevailing technological and calculative modalities of contemporary educational thinking.
Inquiry into this experiential aspect of learning defines both this book’s scope and its methodology. Attuned Learning discusses a selection of short midrashic sayings, as well as one legend, that reflect elements of attuned learning. When appropriate, the analysis of these primary texts is supplemented with parallel and/or later midrashic, medieval, and early-modern rabbinic texts that reflect a concern with attuned learning.
The book adopts methodologies developed in the modern scholarship of rabbinic literature. (Fraenkel, 1981; 1991; 2011; Boyarin, 1990; Stern, 1996; Rubinstein, 2010) It uses literary analysis to examine carefully how ideas arise in and through the interpretive, literary, and metaphorical constitution of these texts, or in "the grayish no-man's-land between exegesis and literature" that characterizes midrashic literature, to borrow the words of David Stern, a scholar of rabbinic literature. (Stern, 1996, p. 3)
In this book, I adopt the theoretical framework that best suits my brand of interpretive analysis of rabbinic texts. The authors of exegetical rabbinic literature seem to be aware that earlier texts appeal to the reader and, likewise, that the reader expects these texts to teach him something. (Banon, 1987) Thus, in the texts discussed throughout Attuned Learning, ancient rabbis themselves refer to biblical texts, which are part of their own cultural environment, and through them express an awareness of and encourage the cultivation of norms and standards for interactions among learners and teachers.
The modern theories of interpretation I employ in this book are consistent with these characteristics (Stanley Fish's concept of "reading community") as well as the idea that the way a reader understands texts cannot be separated entirely from his or her Lebenswelt (Paul Ricoeur, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Wolfgang Iser). Thus, in addition to using some of the concepts and tools of the modern scholarship of rabbinics, I consciously approach the selected rabbinic texts from the perspective of an educational researcher. I also read and analyze these texts not only as reflecting educational insights but also, by design, as cultivating heightened awareness by teachers, students, and co-learners to modes of behavior in learning interactions.
This book makes two distinct contributions, to educational thought and to the scholarship of rabbinics. While "attuned learning" is a broad term that has been used in reference to teachers' attention to students' different learning styles and capacities, this work enriches the term as a disposition, the humane dimensions of learning interactions, which apply not only to teachers but also to students and co-learners.
In addition, by incorporating the critical theories of educational philosophers and researchers as an interpretive lens – especially David Hawkins, Carole Rodgers, and Miriam Raider-Roth – it is the first work to demonstrate various aspects of attuned learning within rabbinic texts.
Current project 2
Scientific abstract- Transformative Learning of Hasidic Homilies: Developing an Ethics of Reading Sfat Emet
The current cross-denominational quest for Jewish spirituality is reflected in growing interest in the study of Hasidic homilies throughout both Israeli and American Jewish educational settings, especially for adults. Yet, this nascent phenomenon has not received the scholarly attention accorded to the study of other Jewish literary genres. There is a lack of discussion about an ethics of reading, that is, the spiritual, experiential and pedagogical aspects that might be appropriate to the study of this distinctive hermeneutic, spiritual, and literary genre. New questions arise: What might the study of Hasidic homilies provide for learners? What manner of reading, interpreting, and discussion might contribute to the contemporary learner's spiritual self-cultivation?
The proposed research explores some potential underpinnings for discussing an ethics of reading Sfat Emet as a sample case of the Hasidic homily. Hasidic masters and their followers employed this genre, which is literarily, interpretively, spiritually, and educationally distinctive, to inspire devotional/spiritual consciousness and practice. R. Yehudah Arieh Leib Alter (1847-1905), a leading figure among Polish Jewry and Hasidism, authored and dated the homilies collected in the Sfat Emet. These are characterized by their abbreviated form, their innovative and aphoristic interpretations of traditional sources, a subtle interplay of the hermeneutic work and homiletic structure, and a profound understanding of sacred and religious life.
This research aims to make a seminal contribution to the field of Jewish education with regard to textual study of the Hasidic homily. More specifically, it aims to offer a comprehensive model for an ethics of reading of Sfat Emet, to include practical tools relevant for learners and teachers. As a byproduct, it also intends to contribute to the scholarship of Hasidism by offering a comprehensive analysis of central themes in the Sfat Emet, related to interpretation, learning, and spirituality.
The research breaks new ground from three perspectives: by situating the Sfat Emet's homilies in contemporary theories of interpretation, literature and reading as a self-cultivating spiritual practice; by treating the study of textual homilies as composed of pedagogical, interpretive, and spiritual practices that can be curricularized; and by offering conceptual and practical tools for understanding and advancing the study of this particular spiritual literary genre.
This research will build on my recent work regarding the ethically formative aspects of reading and text-based study. It is informed by three sets of literature: the scholarship on subject-matter knowledge as part of Jewish learning; the existing scholarship on both the Sfat Emet and the Hasidic homily; and literary theory and philosophical hermeneutics. It will use an interpretive methodology grounded in close reading, seeking first to conceptualize the Sfat Emet's own treatment of key concepts and topics relevant to reading and transformative learning. Second, it will provide a conceptualization of the literary, exegetical, and structural characteristics of Sfat Emet and their potential impact on the reader. Third, it will adopt a phenomenological analysis to discuss practices of reading and engagement with the homilies, what these practices hold as potential for ethical and spiritual self-cultivation and to offer practical tools to learners and teachers for the study of textual homilies. The research process will include “consulting conversations” with four Sfat Emet scholars who are deeply interested in the ethically and spiritually formative aspects of text-based learning. These conversations are designed to provide extra depth and grounding to this new research framework, which lies at the intersection of educational research and the scholarship of the Hasidic homily.
[1] "Torah" in the broad sense includes the Bible and the vast, subsequent rabbinic tradition in its wide variety of literary genres.
Courses
Introduction to educational philosophy
In the 'Beit Hamidrah' with The Little Prince
Introduction to Educational Psychology
Learning, Being and Doing: Jewish Wisdoms on Teaching, Learning and Education
Hermeneutic Encounters with Teachers in Literature and Movies
Grants
2016 The Israel Science Foundation
2016 The Israel Science Foundation014 USA National Jewish Book Award Winner for the book A Philosophy of Havruta: Understanding and Teaching the Art of Text Study in Pairs. Academic Studies Press, Boston, 2013
2014 The Israel Science Foundation
2011 Lookstein Center, Bar Ilan University
2004 Gender studies, Bar-Ilan University
1997 Award of excellence granted by the Center of Research on Political Radicalism and Judaism
Fields of Expertise
Elie Holzer is a practice-oriented philosopher of Jewish education. Drawing on a rich traditional and academic background in rabbinics and Jewish thought, his research integrates text-based Jewish studies, philosophical hermeneutics, pedagogy, and ethical-spiritual traditions.
For more than a decade, Dr. Holzer’s academic research and teaching have centered around different modalities of the relationships among teachers, learners, and the oral/textual tradition. Having begun with an exploration of educational ideas in rabbinical and Jewish philosophical texts, he realized with time and experience that, since Jewish learning is highly mediated by the reading and the study of texts, his work as a scholar in Jewish studies and Jewish education was incomplete without also theorizing the educative potential of the textual interpretive activity, which also ties into the exploration of inroads into a post-secular Jewish theology.
Thus, his academic niche is now situated at the crossroads of the scholarship of rabbinics, Hasidic homilies, hermeneutical theories, and Jewish education, and it is from that perspective that he seeks to make a contribution to the scholarship of Jewish learning and education.
His research pertains to both people's learning and teachers' professional development. It has impacted a vast number of professionals in the field of Jewish education, accross the various Jewish denominations in Israel, the United States and Western Europe.
More specifically, his research focuses on the following topics:
• The hermeneutics of Havruta text study
• Contemplative reading and spiritual pedagogies in the learning of Hassidic homilies
• The hermeneutics of prayer and music
Last Updated Date : 07/04/2024
