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April 1, 2005
An exchange of ideas
Students discuss Jewish ethics with the community.
PAT JOHNSON
Traditionally, the study of classical Jewish texts has taken place
in pairs or through group study. That was the model used by Prof.
Robert Daum and his students, who gathered with members of the larger
community last week at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.
The professor and about 20 of his students presented their research
findings on Jewish ethics to small clusters of the public March
23. Topics ranged from women's roles and homosexuality to intermarriage
and euthanasia. Each of the students presented aspects of a major
research project in which they are engaged and shared discussion
with other students and the public participants.
The event, while based on ancient traditions, considered classical
Jewish texts and applied them to contemporary ethical work. All
the presenters are students in Daum's class, titled Modern Jewish
Ethics in Historical Perspective.
Daum's role in bringing his students off the University of British
Columbia campus and into the public forum of the JCC reflected the
ideal inherent in his role as the first professor to fill the Diamond
Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics. The chair, which was funded by Vancouver's
Diamond Foundation, was begun three years ago as the first endowed
chair in UBC's department of classical, Near Eastern and religious
studies. In addition to the appointment of a professor who specializes
in Jewish law and ethics, an additional aim of the endowment is
to encourage interaction between campus discussion and the broader
community.
"Part of the vision that led to the establishment of the chair
was the commitment on the part of the university and the Diamond
Foundation for pursuing and strengthening the relationship between
the university community and the broader Vancouver community,"
said Daum.
The process, the professor said, was a huge benefit not only to
the participants, but to the students who presented their works-in-progress
and received feedback from members of the public – some Jewish,
some not, some experts in a variety of fields, others curious laypeople.
"The students loved it," Daum said. "The students
found it to be very productive."
The educational experience has parallels in traditional religious
learning not only in the method of engaging with other thinkers,
but also in the diversity of voices, said Daum.
"It's easy to forget how many different voices are reflected
within the texts," he said, noting that the Talmud, for example,
is the embodiment of centuries-long discussions between learned
rabbis across time and geography. Though the JCC session wasn't
quite so grandiose, it did reflect the interactive nature of traditional
Jewish learning, he said.
During a session on marriage and conversion, students compared traditional
Jewish perspectives to ancient perspectives of Greek and Roman traditions.
Jewish tradition, the students noted, was the only one with an explicit
requirement for a formal writ of divorce.
Other issues confronted in the breakout sessions included the complexities
presented by the Talmud on plural marriages.
Polygyny (having more than one wife at one time), student researchers
stated, is both presupposed and prohibited in various parts of the
Talmud. Similarly, the existence and acceptance of a pilegesh,
a concubine recognized and sanctioned by the Torah, was a tenet
of talmudic discussion until the era of Maimonides, who was apparently
the first of the rabbis to declare the pilegesh wrong and decree
that sex is to be limited to marriage.
The diversity of opinion on the role of women in Judaism was addressed
by students who, noting the maze of responsibilities assigned by
dint of gender, concluded that some assignments are due to straightforward
physical realities (issues around childbirth, obviously, pertain
solely to women), while other gender-assigned mitzvot (responsibilities
or obligations) seem unrelated to physical limitation or uniqueness
(for example, the responsibilities of a rabbi do not perforce exclude
the possibility that a woman can fulfil them).
Daum said the experience was an excellent opportunity for his students
and the community.
"The best way to learn, I think, is to teach," he said.
Indeed, both students and participants had a chance to teach. Unfortunately,
in some groups, the line of education was mainly from participants
to students, leaving a few participants feeling that they didn't
really learn anything new.
Pat Johnson is a B.C. journalist and commentator.
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