Education in Synagogue

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3.2. Jewish model of education

In according with the Encyclopedia of Christian Education: “Jewish education began with close of the Hebrew period of Old Testament history, when Solomon’s Temple was destroyed in 586 B.C. the culture of Judaism different drastically from that of the Hebrews and fostered a new educational model. Education in Judaism is an expansion of Hebrew education, with an adaption and additional instructional initiatives to respond to the cultural tradition within the community of faith. The Jewish model was developed in response to new question raised by the Jewish community as it encountered its non-Jewish context. How does one preserve Jewish faith and identity in a non-Jewish setting?”[10] So they had four educational institutions that deal with keeping alive their roots: the synagogue, secondary school, elementary school and college who was also called rabbinical academy.

They established three levels of formal education: the first level is from age five to

nine years where the school was called Beth Hassepher (house of the book) and the subjects were Torah, Nebhim and Kethbuim and the focus was on elementary education, reading and written; the second level is in age from 10 to 14 years, the school was called Beth ha-Midrash (house of study) was the subject of study Mishnah (oral law) and the accent was placed on secondary education, topics of discussion; the third level is from age 15 upwards, the school was called Scribe\rabbinic school, the subject of study was Talmud. And the focus was on higher education[11]. Here older and more outstanding student were eventually enrolled in yeshivot (academies of learning) and were supported by the community[12]

3.3. The influence of Jewish education in Christian education

Judaism was the religious context out of which Jesus, the twelve apostle and most of the earliest Christians came. From here we have many important habits and many rules. A good example borrowed from the Jewish culture is what we call Sunday school. Here are approached things very similar to those which are approached in Jewish school. Young students need to learn the foundation of their faith, to become familiar with Biblical texts and must learn how to approach these texts. They also need to develop a personal relationship with God that will sustain wherever they go and whatever they do. Like in the Jewish education in Sunday school education start at a small age, then the teachers begin to develop the base of Christian faith.

With as they age they have to develop skills like prayer, service, self-understanding, leadership, and the practice of love.

Luther is one of the pioneers of modern Christian education and he is one of the first Christian scholar who say: “the purpose of education is to promote a useful man who can to fulfil his\her task at home, the church, and the state. It was the task of education to make into a useful and happy member at home, a pious and sincere server in the church, and a responsible civilian in the state. Luther looked at the home as the beginning of education, and the most influential and weighty place for education”.[13] Here we see that Luther's theory that expose Christian education is not that different than the Jewish theory of education. He says that first environment where children should be educated is the family. Here they should receive the foundation of Christianity, then once they grow older they accumulate more and more knowledge that will prepare them to have and to live an authentic Christian life. Luther’s educational purpose was very similar with Jewish purpose, and he say that Christian education has the goal to promote the man who can serve God and to produce the leaders who can serve society. Christian education system is based at the same things like Jewish system: home school and church. So there is no doubt that the roots of today’s Christian education find its origins in Jewish education. Furthermore, the source for true Christian education is the Bible, the Word of God.

chapter 4

conclusion

The synagogue is the Jewish equivalent of a church. It is the center of the Jewish religious community: a place of prayer, study and education, social and charitable work, as well as a social center. The synagogue is the Jewish place of worship, it’s a place where the goal is to make God's Presence noticeable. Here Hebrew children come to be taught by rabbi who are the teachers of the synagogue the Low of God. Here the student have a good environment for study and they are teaching by very highly trained teachers. They have to learn Jewish history, to become familiar with Jewish customs and ceremonies. Jewish education system is the roots of Christian education, because Jesus was a Jew and the first Christians they were Jews. If Jesus is the master teacher for Christianity that means his own child education must be very important for us as Christians.

CHAPTER 5

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Thomas, George and Lamport, A. Mark Encyclopedia of Christian Education, Volume 3. Lanham: Rowman&Littlefield, 2015

Hecht, Mendy. What is a Shul?. http://www.askmoses.com/en/article/287,87/What-is-a-shul.html. Accessed 29 November 2016.

Urman, Dan and Flesher, V.M. Paul Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis and Arheological Discovery. Leiden: Brill, 1998.

Levine, Lee I. The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years. London: Yale University Press. 2005. https://books.google.com, Accessed 22 November 2016.

Morgan, Howard. The Beit Midrash, learning how to learn together. (Unknown update). http://howardmorganministries.org/Teachings/beit.html Accessed 29 November 2016.

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1912609/jewish/Bar-Mitzvah-101.htm Accessed 29 November 2016.

Schreiber, Modercai. The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia. London: Taylor Trade Publisher, 2011. https://books.google.com. Accessed 22.November 2016.

Thomas, George and Lamport, A. Mark Encyclopedia of Christian Education, Volume 1. Lanham: Rowman&Littlefield, 2015

Cully, V. Iris and Cully, Kending Bruaker. Harper’s Encyclopedia of Religious Education. San Francisco: Harper&Row Publisher, 1990.

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