UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Joodse traditie als permanent leren Abram, I.B.H. Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Abram, I. B. H. (1980). Joodse traditie als permanent leren General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (http://dare.uva.nl) Download date: 11 Sep 2017 JEWISH TRADITION AS PERMANENT EDUCATION Translated by: Christine E. Thirlway The Hague CIP-GEGEVENS KONINKLIJKE BIBLIOTHEEK, DEN HAAG Abram,I.B.H. Jewish tradition as permanent education / I.B.H. Abram; [transl. from the Dutch] - Den Haag: Stichting voor Onderzoek van het Onderwijs. - (Selecta reeks) Vert. van: Joodse traditie als permanent leren. - proefschrift van de Universiteit van Amsterdam, 1980. - Nederlandse uitg. eerder verschenen: [Arnhem]: B. Folkertsma-Stichting voorTalmudica, 1980. - Handboek voor de studie van de Rabbijnse literatuur; [2]. - Met lit. opg. ISBN 90-6472-072-X SISO 213 UDC [37.03+374] : 2% Trefw.: permanente educatie; Joodse godsdienst. © Stichting voor Onderzoek van het Onderwijs S. V.O. 's-Gravenhage 1986 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form: by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means without written permission of the Foundation. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd en/of openbaar gemaakt door middel van druk, fotocopie, microfilm of op welke wijze dan ook, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de Stichting. JEWISH TRADITION AS PERMANENT EDUCATION dr. I. B. H. Abram svo Contents Page _ Introduction to the theme of Jewish tradition as permanent education 1 1.1 Permanent education and lifelong leaming 1 1.2 Maimonides' religious code 3 1.3 Interview 5 1.4 Leaming to be or not to be 10 2 Paradigm for lifelong leaming 19 2.1 The words 'leaming' and 'education1 and their usage 19 2.2 Permanent education (PE) 20 2.3 Lifelong leaming (LL) 21 2.4 The catch-phrase 'life is lifelong leaming1 22 2.5 The leaming process 24 2.6 LL Paradigm 24 3 Interpretation of the keywords of the LL paradigm 28 3.1 Tradition (1.1 of the LL paradigm) 28 3.2 Authority (1.2 of the LL paradigm) 29 3.3 Image of the world 32 3.4 Image of man (II.2 of the LL paradigm) 33 3.5 Pupil (III.1 of the LL paradigm) 34 3.6 Leaming goals (III.2 of the LL paradigm) 34 3.7 Evaluation (III.3 of the LL paradigm) 49 3.8 Teacher (III.4 of the LL paradigm) 57 4 Individual leaming as a daily habit (category IV of the LL paradigm) 63 5 Summary of part 1: the question to be answered 67 a. Permanent Education (PE) 67 b. Leaming 67 c. Lifelong Leaming (LL) 67 d. 'Knowing that', competence and knowledge 68 e. The pupil-teacher relationship 69 f. Evaluation 69 g. The leaming person/the pupil's path 70 h. LL paradigm 71 i. Jewish tradition 72 j. The question to be answered 73 k. How the question is tackled in Part 1 and Part 2 73 PART II I Tradition 75 1.1.1 Jewish tradition (Torah) 75 1.1.2 The written and the oral Torah 76 1.1.3 The oral Torah as an open-ended system 78 1.1.4 The interplay of halakhah and aggadah 80 1.1.5 Torah study and LL (Lifelong learning) 82 1.2 Authority 90 1.2.1 God, Moses, the sages 90 1.2.2 Development of the halakhah 92 1.2.3 Epistemic and deontic authority 95 1.2.4 Epistemic authority and the aggadah 97 1.2.5 Deontic authority and the halakhah 99 1.2.6 LL hermeneutics and heuristics ' 101 1.3 Propositions 105 11.1 World image 107 11.1.1 The struggle against idolatry 107 11.1.2 Keeping the world in existence and learning 108 11.2 The human image 112 11.2.1 Human ability to learn lifelong 112 11.2.2 All human beings resemble each other but never in every way 114 11.2.3 God's partner 119 11.2.4 Human freedom and responsibility 121 11.2.5 The two springs of action 123 11.2.6 The search for truth and the pursuit of peace 127 11.3 Propositions • 136 III. 1 Pupil and learning method 138 III. 1.1 Learning for wonen and girls 138 111.1.2 Man as lifelong learner 142 111.1.3 Rule of study 1: learn lifelong 145 111.1.4 Rule of study 2: Repetitian 147 111.1.5 Rule of study 3: learn both individually and collectively 149 111.1.6 Rule of study 4: learn by putting into practice 152 III. 1.7 Rule of study 5: plan your own leaming 156 111.2 Learning objectives 214 111.2.1 To becctne a complete persen 214 111.2.2 Learning 'li-Shema'and functional autonomy 217 111.3 Evaluation 224 111.3.1 Evaluation and lifelong learning 224 111.3.2 Evaluation and Torah-learning which is also lifelong 227 111.4 Teacher and teaching method 239 111.4.1 People as teachers 239 111.4.2 The relationship between teacher and pupil 240 111.5 Propositions 251 IV Individual learning as a daily habit 256 II a. (Lifelong) learning: traditional, personal, social 256 b. LL-hermeneutics and heuristics 257 c. Individual learning effects: a neglected educational aim 258 d. 'Learning1 as alternative to school learning 259 e. How old is the lifelong pupil? 260 f. 'Lemen' as alternative to school instructicn 261 g. And to end 261 Glossary 265 Annotations and abbreviations 267 Bibliography 2 71 III 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE THEME OF JEWISH TRADITION AS LIFELONG LEARNING 1.1 Permanent education and lifelong learning It is important first of all to consider the meaning of the four words that make up these two expressions 'permanent education1 and 'lifelong learning'. Both concepts function exclusively in a human context so that 'permanent' means the same as 'lifelong', in other words, for the whole of a human life. 'Education' and '.learning1 can be taken in two ways, either as result or assignment. In the sense of result they are used to describe the outcome of upbringing, training and formal education - we can speak of someone as having received a good education or being a person of learning - while education as assignment is the task of bringing up, training, giving and receiving instruction and studying; and learning in the same context has the same sense of process, but from the pupil's point of view. In combination with either of the words 'permanent' or 'lifelong', education and learning in the sense of result are virtually irrelevant because, by definition, the process described does not reach a conclusion within the life of the individual (see 2.3 and 2.4). Various theorists concerned with permanent education are at present attempting to develop general concepts that can be applied to all forms of education and upbringing. Ideally, such concepts would be applicable to all cultures throughout the world. This would require international as well as interdisciplinary cooperation, for no single expert can possibly be versed in very form of education and upbringing, let alone every culture. In 'Lifelong Education and School Curriculum' (Hamburg 1973) R.H. Dave expresses concern for the "quality of life of all people, no matter which part of the globe they inhabit," and this brings me to the mainspring of my thesis: if such concern for the quality of life is a matter of real importance to educational theorists, and particularly if, as Dave claims, permanent education is seen primarily as a means of attaining the highest form of self-realisation, then it is the personal contribution made by each individual to his own learning that must be given pride of place. In the pages that follow, the accent will be placed not on what is done by the teacher, nor yet on the education itself, but on what is done by the pupil. The theme is lifelong learning and once again it should be mentioned that it is first and foremost learning in the sense of task that is relevant. J The present analysis of Jewish tradition and lifelong learning is concerned not only with utopian aspirations but also with facts in a historical context. What, in the past, have individuals wished to achieve and how far have they succeeded? What did they learn? The logical consequence of having before us the ideal of personal self-realisation is to emphasize the individual himself rather than the institutions where he learns, such as schools or universities. Throughout the following discussion the accent will always be on learning as something the pupil does, supported and stimulated by the teacher only if there happens to be one. Both pupil and teacher (if there is one) are responsible for the process of study and its continuation and renewal: together they must see to it that it is both shaped and stimulated.