Orientations to the
Teaching of Rabbinic Literature
Jon A. Levisohn
Brandeis University
January 27, 2008
What is a teaching orientation?
[An orientation is] a description not of a
teacher’s “method” in some technical
meaning of the word, but in a deeper sense,
of a teacher’s most powerful conceptions
and beliefs about the field he or she is
teaching. It is the living expression of the
philosophical questions… What is my view of
the aims of education [in this subject], and
how as a teacher do I attain those aims?
Holtz, Textual Knowledge (2003)
Holtz’s Map of Orientations
to the Teaching of Bible
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
The Contextual Orientation
The Literary Orientation
The Reader-Response Orientation
The Jewish Interpretive (Parshanut) Orientation
The Moralistic/Didactic Orientation
The Personalization Orientation
The Ideational Orientation
The Bible Leads to Action Orientation
The Decoding Orientation
A Menu of Orientations to the
Teaching of Rabbinic Literature
1.
2.
3.
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The Torah/Instruction Orientation
The Contextual Orientation
The Literary Orientation
The Cultural Studies Orientation
The Halakhic/Legal Orientation
The Historical Orientation
The Jurisprudential Orientation
The Encounter Orientation
The Interpretive Orientation
The Skills Orientation