In both the halakhic tradition and in pedagogical practice, learning and teaching are symbiotically connected. The teacher’s own learning reaches its full potential when it is transmitted to students, and, in turn, the teaching of those students forms the basis for the teacher’s own wisdom. Wisdom From All My Teachers offers insightful reflections of leading Jewish educators from Israel and the Diaspora on the pressing issues facing the field of Jewish education today.The body of thinking represented in Wisdom From All My Teachers has the potential to both enlighten and ennoble the work of Jewish education, and may also serve as a springboard for the type of deliberation that will foster educational improvement in a variety of settings. These essays will stimulate all who feel strongly about the future of Torah teaching. Regardless of one’s window into the world of Jewish education - be it from within the home, school, or synagogue - Wisdom From All My Teachers will aid the community of Jewish educators, parents, and policy-makers in our collective efforts on behalf of both Jewish children and the Jewish people as a whole.
Rabbi Jeffrey Saks is the founding director of ATID. He received ordination and an M.A. from Yeshiva University, NY, and was previously the director of Yeshivat HaMivtar in Efrat.
Prof. Susan Handelman, a member of ATID’s faculty and academic board, is Professor of English Literature at Bar-Ilan University, and taught literature and Jewish studies at the University of Maryland for many years.
ATID - the Academy for Torah Initiatives and Directions in Jerusalem, was founded in 1998 by Rabbi Chaim Brovender and Rabbi Jeffrey Saks as a center for professional training, resource development, and policy planning for Torah education.