My question to R. Grebenau in light of his essay, “Rabbi and General Studies Principal,†is whether his Jewish studies and math backgrounds truly coalesced, with one informing the other, or did they exist side-by-side, but in pristine isolation from one another? In other words, were Jewish studies and mathematics two skill sets in which he developed expertise, and would engage in one and then the other, in a figuratively “schizoid†manner, with the common denominator being himself, or were these two manifestations of his total persona, with neither dimension able to fully exist without the other? (I have often said in the past that in a Jewish day school, the only people who are usually required to deal with reconciling both Judaic and general studies are the students, since teachers and administrators usually reflect mono-dimensional approaches to their subject matter. R. Grebenau is obviously one of the happy exceptions to this truism.)
As for why many Jewish communal leaders do not share the value of having someone proficient in both Jewish and secular disciplines to lead a school, it is my view that this is a manifestation of the proliferation of a belief in specialization and compartmentalization that has dominated the Modern Orthodox world for many decades. I would recommend everyone read Dr. Bernard Revel’s statement of aims for Yeshiva College shortly before it opened in 1928 (see Zev Eleff’s recently published excellent compendium, Modern Orthodox Judaism: A Documentary History (JPS, pp. 118-21), and compare it with Dr. Belkin’s 1944 inaugural address (Ibid. pp. 207-9). Whether a school should attempt to portray strategies for harmonizing Judaic and general studies, or should attempts for such reconciliations be left to the individual student, lies at the heart of the debate between these two educational titans. In my view, the second perspective has unfortunately dominated, resulting in Modern Orthodox day schools and synagogues following a pattern of deliberately avoiding publicly addressing philosophical and theological tensions that exist between the religious life and broad participation within secular society. Consequently, students and congregants for the most part are not challenged to think through the implications of the many subjects and experiences to which they are exposed. Whereas I believe that exploring such dialectics lies at the heart of the Modern Orthodox endeavor, many apparently either disagree, or fear that such thinking and discussions would constitute opening a “Pandora’s Box†that could lead to having to confront frustrating, difficult conundrums. Needless to say that I believe that it is in these areas that Rabbis and day school teachers and administrators should focus a good deal of attention in order to properly teach their students and lead their communities.
R. Grebenau declares that he was originally drawn to the idea of “modeling and supporting excellence in Judaic and general studies.†I think that it would be helpful if he articulated more clearly how he believes such “modeling†and “support†would ideally manifest themselves within an educational context. Personally, just because a single individual happens to participate on “both sides of the curriculum,†at best is a subtle indicator that an individual should strive to be well-rounded. Of greater interest to me is how these two sides of the curriculum impact upon one another during interactions with students inside and outside the classroom.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2016 11:59AM by mlb.
