Diane Tickton Schuster

Adult Jewish Learning: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?

This article describes the emergence of the field of adult Jewish learning and the need for research in this burgeoning aspect of contemporary Jewish life. The authors describe the context in which the upsurge of adult Jewish learning has occurred, drawing attention to the absence of systematic data collection about programs, funding structures, or long-term impacts. They review existing research about adult Jewish learners, learning experiences, and teachers, and identify three categories (and numerous questions) for future research: (1) the purposes of adult Jewish learning; (2) adult Jewish learning settings, subject matter, and methods of instruction; and (3) underrepresented groups in adult Jewish learning programs.

EXTENDING THE CHAIN OF TRADITION: Reflections on the Goals of Adult Text Study

1The authors would like to thank Bill Cutter for sharing his wisdom and experience so generously and for his helpful suggestions. We would also like to thank the following colleagues for their comments and critiques of a prior draft: Marc Bregman, Lesley Chapman, Norman Cohen, Laura Geller, Deborah Kerdeman, and Noam Zion.

Adult Jewish Learning: The Landscape

In a retrospective review of the research literature, Schuster and Grant (2005) described the evolution of the field of adult Jewish learning, situating the blossoming of adult Jewish learning in the historical and social contexts of the late twentieth century. Here they ask how contemporary social forces have led to new developments in the field and what changes and priorities appear to be shaping the vision and decisions of adult education planners and policy makers today. Using Schwab’s four commonplaces as an organizing frame, they describe the increasingly diverse constituencies who now participate in adult Jewish learning activities; assess the impact of various contemporary social and historical factors on the learning needs of these groups; suggest a new conceptual framework for situating the “where, when, and what” of different types of learners and the learning programs that attract them; and offer suggestions for future planning and research in the field of adult Jewish learning.

Betsy Dolgin Katz, Reinventing Adult Jewish Learning (KTAV Publishing House, Jersey City, NJ, 2012)

In the early 1990s, I attended a conference on the lives of Jewish women titled “The Half-Empty Bookcase.” Consistent with the feminist sensibilities of the era, the participants were invited to share their personal Jewish stories and to talk about how their insights might be taken seriously in a world of Jewish commentary that was dominated by men. The workshop was a gratifying experience in which I had multiple opportunities for conversation with women from diverse Jewish communities and backgrounds. My own aspiration at the time was to write a book about adult Jewish growth and change, so the idea of my possibly helping to “fill the bookcase” in a budding field was quite appealing. One of the things I discovered when I later started to interview Jewish women and men about their experiences as learners was that little scholarship about Jewish adult education existed in which to ground my research. Today, despite nearly three decades of explosive growth in adult Jewish learning activity worldwide, it is startling that the “bookcase” on this topic remains relatively empty. Indeed, at annual meetings of Jewish researchers, presentations of papers about adult learners and their teachers are few and far between. Aside from occasional popular magazine articles about innovative learning initiatives or adult b’nei mitzvah experiences, most print and Internet resources focus on program offerings— study retreats and classes—rather than provide insight to the nuts and bolts of what makes these programs succeed and thrive. And so, gratefully, we now have Betsy Dolgin Katz’s book about her extensive experiences in the field of adult Jewish education. It is to the credit

Developing Musically, Spiritually, and Jewishly All at One Time: Jewish Choral Activity as Adult Jewish Education

Research about Jewish choral singers provides insight to a previously unstudied population of adult Jewish learners. Drawing on over 2,000 responses to the First-Ever Survey of Jewish Choral Activity, this article describes how Jewish choral experiences enable adults to deepen their involvement in Jewish life and learning. Survey results suggest that participants in Jewish choral groups resemble secular singers in terms of social, identity, and skill development, but derive additional benefits in terms of Jewish Peoplehood, Jewish Competence, Spirituality, and Jewish Community. Jewish choral activities particularly benefit singers under 45 by providing them opportunities to integrate their Jewish and musical lives.