Education

In a tradition built on questions rather than conclusions, Jewish education becomes an encounter—between generations, between texts, and between the human being and the Divine.

  • Rabbi Cardozo, guest presenter on The Philosophical Jew

    In Education, Halacha and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    In this thought-provoking interview on the Philosophical Jew podcast, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo, delves into the dynamic nature of Halakha and the importance of spiritual authenticity in modern Judaism. Drawing from his work Jewish Law as Rebellion, Rabbi Cardozo challenges us to view Torah not as a static legal code but as a living, breathing call to moral and spiritual revolution.

  • The Unorthodox Education of Moshe Rabbenu

    In Defense of Heresy

    In Converting to Judaism, Education, Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Moses and Parashat Shemot by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Judaism was born out of opposition, rebellion and protest. It overthrew and outlived mighty empires and gave the world a radically new understanding of itself. Judaism has nothing to fear. It has prevailed over all those who criticized it but has also learned much about itself by listening to opposing voices. Through these voices, it has been able to sharpen its own claims and if necessary change its mind when the inadequacy of these claims has become clear. Only in this way will it continue to play a central role in the future of mankind.

  • The Hardship and Privilege of Honest Teaching: The Baal Teshuva Movement Impasse

    In Education, Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Rav Kook by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    I strongly believe that new ideas, ideologies and movements are God-given and have great religious meaning. This means that we are religiously obligated to incorporate them into Judaism—sometimes by just accepting them and other times by reworking them.

  • Why I am Controversial: Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo – Question 1

    In Education and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    I was recently asked by Rav Ari Ze’ev Schwartz of the Society of Independent Spirituality: Can you say a little about the educational and spiritual goals of your weekly articles? What do you want your readers to experience when they read these articles? How do you yourself experience these goals and articles? Here is my response.

  • The Need to Think Big about Judaism

    The ideology of the Cardozo Academy

    In Education by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Judaism is not suffering from a lack of knowledge—but from a lack of courage. In an age overflowing with information, we have forgotten how to think, to question, to dare. We need to break the chains of conformity and rediscover a Judaism that lives, struggles, and breathes through bold, unsettling ideas.

  • The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu

    In Education by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    When teaching, our rabbis’ and teachers’ personal conduct must be a reflection of what they impart in the classroom, as there is truly no better education than by example. Thought and practice must illuminate each other.

  • The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu: On Being Controversial and the Art of Teaching

    In Education by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Nobody can deny that Judaism today finds itself in a crisis that threatens to have devastating consequences. Instead of Judaism growing upward, vertically, it is becoming corpulent, growing horizontally. The growth of adherence to Halacha in the last few decades has clearly not been accompanied by a true religious revival. Genuine religiosity has nothing to do with the Yiddish expression of frumkeit, an untranslatable expression of routine religious observance.

  • The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu – Lectures and the Academy

    In Education and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    To live a life of faith is to be prepared to live a committed religious life according to an inner belief of the heart and not because there is absolute empirical certainty. There is a constant need for questioning and rethinking one’s beliefs. In many ways, religion must be warfare—a fight against the indolence and callousness that stifles inquiry.

  • Open Think Tank meeting - March 2017

    Survey of 5777 Activities at the DCA Think Tank

    In Education and Halacha by Yael Shahar

    We're delighted to share with you a full-color bulletin with photos detailing what the David Cardozo Academy Think Tank has been up to this year - our regular activities plus an Open Think Tank for the public in March. There are also questions for you to ponder - it wouldn't be the DCA Think Tank without them! 

  • The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu

    In Education by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    There are two schools of thought in Judaism, two types of batei midrash: the Bet Midrash of Moshe Rabbeinu and the Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu. Although both of them are integral parts of Judaism, the difference between them is critical. Judaism began as an existential movement in which all that humankind does, thinks, feels, and says is touched by the spirit of God. The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu aims to teach in order to inspire a re-awakening and transformation of the soul. It is here that we find the roots of Judaism in their most central form.

  • Handicapping Students and Secular Indoctrination

    Judaism in the Israeli Classroom

    In Education by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Israeli teachers should create tension in the classroom by presenting their own ideas about Judaism and Jewishness, and then wage war on them, asking the students to fight them with knives between their teeth and come up with new ideas. In that way, the students will begin to appreciate and love what Judaism is all about. And only then should the teachers introduce biblical, Talmudic and midrashic texts as part of the discussion.

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