Chapter 15 - Schools and Education

Summary

Opening with a discussion of the available sources, the myths of success, and the meager place for women, this essay traces the structure, goals and location of Jewish education in Christian Europe. Elementary and higher education in Spain appears to have been relatively organized and supported, even as it did not always lead to the desired results. Some communities aimed to strengthen the impact of their educational systems by organizing collectives (havurot) that would manage the funds available for education. Heads of more advanced academies in Spain often received generous stipends and mature scholars were supported as well, perhaps as a legacy from the Geonic period. Indeed, there was extensive discussion about the parameters of the support that should be made available for accomplished scholars (with Maimonides, among others, taking a somewhat dim view of certain practices). Nonetheless, all major communities boasted a significant higher academy, that often appeared to have large numbers of students and these institutions were supported by their host communities. The situation was similar in southern France in terms of formal educational structures, stipends and communal involvement. The loyalties of Provencal rabbinic scholarship to the south (Sefarad) and to the north (Ashkenaz) have been discussed quite a bit in recent scholarship, and it is difficult to establish hard and fast patterns. This issue impacted both the curriculum and the methods of the academies. Although the basic contours of elementary education in Ashkenaz were similar to the other areas, the lack of formal structures and supervision is apparent. Sefer Hasidim, among other works, sought to deal with this less than ideal situation on both the elementary and more advanced levels. And yet, despite the relative lack of organization and support, the advanced academies in Ashkenaz, which were much smaller than their counterparts to the south, produced quite a number of prominent students who ultimately became involved in the writing of Tosafot and related materials. The advanced academies in northern France and Germany (including those dedicated to producing the Tosafist oeuvre) were small, but they were academically quite powerful. Here too, mature students were not funded in the way that they were in Spain and Provence; it would seem that the lack of organization and support within the Ashkenazic orbit remained as it did precisely because at the end of the day, the results in terms of productive scholarship were outstanding. A unique document that talks about a system of elite schools from the elementary through advanced levels, Sefer Huqqei ha-Torah, perhaps reflects a utopian situation that was never actually in existence. Scholars have debated its provenance, with southern France and Germany emerging as the two most likely locales. Part of this result is due to the fact that the document does reflect a system that is marked by asceticism, which may reflect Provencal mystical conventicles or the circle of the German Pietists (if not some kind of monastic influence more broadly), but it is quite difficult to ascertain whether any of its provisions were ever in effect. Nonetheless, this text can be used to probe the nature of the Jewish educational institutions, and educational theory more broadly, within Christian Europe.