An American Orthodox Dreamer: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Boston's Maimonides SchoolRabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, born in 1903 and scion of a preeminent Lithuanian Orthodox family, was one of the most towering intellectual figures of American Orthodoxy in the twentieth century. After receiving rabbinic ordination and completing his studies toward a Ph.D., he immigrated to America where he served as the Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. As the leader of centrist Orthodoxy in America for more than fifty years, his many accomplishments included his founding of the Maimonides School in Boston in 1937. Rabbi Soloveitchik served as the intellectual and spiritual force behind the Maimonides School from its founding and was responsible for its innovative curriculum. Synthesizing American educational methodologies and European Orthodox approaches to education, the Maimonides School became a prototype for an American Orthodox educational institution. Unique among contemporary Orthodox day schools, the coeducational nature of the classes at Maimonides, and to some extent the curriculum, was groundbreaking. Characterized by academic excellence in both Judaic studies and other subjects, the school offered boys and girls exactly the same education. Rabbi Soloveitchik’s school was particularly innovative by offering Talmud classes to girls on the same level as boys. The Maimonides School became a paradigm for the fledgling Orthodox Jewish day school movement nationwide. The character of the education there influenced later developments in the Orthodox community, such as the emphasis on higher level Torah study for women. By articulating a philosophy that advocated both traditional Orthodoxy as well as modernism and Americanism, the school gradually affected Boston’s Orthodox community, which came to be guided by its principles. As Seth Farber points out, the school, once rejected by the Jewish establishment in Boston, was eventually embraced by it. A community that saw no contradiction between democratic values and traditional Orthodox lifestyle emerged in Boston. This modern Orthodox community ultimately represented a significant voice in Boston’s Jewish and America's Orthodox cultures. |
Contents
| 10 | |
| 28 | |
| 46 | |
| 68 | |
The Development of Other Orthodox Schools | 88 |
The Evolution of the Maimonides School 19501961 | 106 |
From the Maimonides School to the Maimonides Community | 135 |
Epilogue | 149 |
Bibliography | 181 |
Index | 195 |
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activities all-day schools American Jewish American Orthodox Associated Synagogues attended BJE schools Boston Jewry Boston Yeshiva Academy boys and girls Brookline cheders Chevra Shas classroom coeducation College created culture curriculum December Dorchester early Education in Boston European Orthodox faculty Freiderman grade graduates Greater Boston ha-Chinuch Halakhah halakhic Heichal high school Hurwich immigrants Jerusalem Jewish Advocate Jewish day school Jewish education Jewish schools Joseph Soloveitchik Judaism kashrut Lubavitch Lubavitch school Maimonides Educational Institute Maimonides School Minutes Book modern Orthodox modern Orthodox community monides School munity organized Orthodox day schools Orthodox education Orthodox Jews parents parochial school public schools Rabbi Cohn Rabbi Joseph Rabbi Moshe Rabbi Soloveitchik Rakeffet-Rothkoff Ramaz Rashi religious role rosh yeshiva Rubenovitz Sarna and Smith secular supplementary schools synagogue Talmud Torahs teaching Torah U'Mesorah traditional Jewish Twersky United Hebrew Schools Vaad women Ya'akov Yeshiva University Yeshivat Torat Israel York Young Israel Zichronot Zionism
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References to this book
Historicizing "tradition" in the Study of Religion Steven Engler,Gregory Price Grieve Limited preview - 2005 |