Teaching Jews about the “Other” and Teaching the “Other” about Jews

By :  Sarah Tauber (z”l) Posted On Feb 13, 2017 | Jewish Learning and the Non-Jew | Interreligious

Sarah Tauber: “A Jewish Professor and Christian Students Meet: Teaching and Learning in an Introduction to Judaism Course at a Christian Seminary”

Michael Gillis: “Teaching About Other Religions in Jewish Education”

Chair: Ofra Backenroth

This session was part of “Jewish Learning and the Non-Jew,” the 2017 Melton Coalition for Creative Interaction conference, hosted by JTS’s William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education. The Melton Coalition for Creative Interaction is a collaboration of the three centers endowed by Samuel M. Melton z”l at JTS, the Hebrew University, and The Ohio State University.

Sarah Tauber is an assistant professor of Jewish Education at the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at JTS. Sarah’s recently published book, Open Minds, Devoted Hearts: Portraits of Adult Religious Educators, explores the role of clergy as teachers of adults in congregational settings. Sarah’s scholarly research on rabbis as teachers has taken on an interfaith dimension through her teaching at Union Theological Seminary and her leadership and participation in the Religious Education Association, an interfaith professional association of scholars of religious education.

Michael Gillis is a member of the faculty at The Melton Centre for Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is also currently the Academic Director of the Department of Teacher Education at the Seymour Fox School of Education at the Hebrew University.

Ofra Arieli Backenroth is the associate dean of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education of The Jewish Theological Seminary and an adjunct assistant professor of Jewish education. Her interests reflect an integration of the arts in Jewish education, Hebrew language, Israeli literature, and teaching Israel. Dr. Backenroth earned an MFA in dance education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a BA in comparative literature and an education diploma from Tel Aviv University. She is a fellow at the Institute for Israel Studies at Brandeis University