Covenant and Community

Michael Rosenak is Mandel Professor Emeritus of Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been teaching and writing on philosophical and theological aspects of Jewish Education for the past fifty years. In recent years, he has focused his attention on the problem of translation from universal knowledge and usage into an idiom that speaks directly to the Jewish tradition and seeks ways of articulating the Jewish tradition – as a faith and a culture.

His books include: Commandments and Concerns: Jewish Religious Education in Secular Society; Teaching Jewish Values: A Conceptual Guide; Roads to the Palace: Jewish Texts and Teaching; On Second Thought (Heb.); Tree of Life, Tree of Knowledge: Conversations with the Torah, as well as numerous articles and studies.

Michael Rosenak was born in Bremen, Germany (1932); he was raised in the United States and has lived in Jerusalem with his family since 1958.

These six elegant and beautifully written essays remind the reader of the power of ideas and the great depth of Michael Rosenak's thinking. Investigating key themes of his long and distinguished career as teacher, scholar, mentor and philosopher, Rosenak touches upon some of the core issues of contemporary Jewish life and teases out the implications for education in our time. As always, he asks the most interesting questions and guides his readers along a path of understanding and exploration.

At a time when religion in general and Judaism in particular has been sliding all too swiftly toward the right, Michael Rosenak presents us with an enlightened and moving series of essays that make belief and Jewish observance plausible, profound and endearing to those who refuse to be pushed to the extremes. He shows there is still a place for religion that can speak to the modern person who resists extremism, exclusivity, and intolerance. Treasure this book.

Michael Rosenak is the premier philosopher of Jewish education. What makes his work so special is his deep grounding in Jewish texts, Jewish thought, educational philosophy and educational theory, and his ability to bring concepts from each of these domains into conversation with one another. Everyone with an interest in Jewish education will find much to think about in this collection of essays.