• (15 points) In your own words, explain the place of learning in Judaism.

(Your
response to this question must be at least 150 words and must contain two speci c
references from the resources.)
I the place of learning in Judaism is the Torah, as you don’t only use the Torah as the
material of study but more importantly as a thing in which you use to argue the deepest
questions of life. The Torah, although not literally a place, facilitates arguments and
learning in a similar fashion as, say, a classroom. For example within a classroom one
may be given a text and you are meant to argue the deeper meaning of that very text, with
the Torah there are text in which you are to argue and nd the deeper meanings. Within a
history classroom, students may study the differences between ancient Athens and
modern democracies; similarly, in Torah a student may use the text as a vessel to speak
about the difference between archaic jewish practices and modern ones, as spoken about
in the Jewish Virtual Library, students ask them selves “how does this text compare with
other Jewish texts, or with the contemporary practice of Judaism?”.

• (15 points) How has an emphasis on learning affected Jews and Judaism
throughout history? Think of how Judaism has been impacted both for good
and bad. (Your response to this question must be at least 150 words and must
contain two speci c references from the resources.)
The emphasis on education that Jews have placed upon themselves has allowed them to
build intergenerational wealth and become the wealthiest religion per-capita* in the
world. In 2010 the GDP per-capita for Jews was around 48,000 dollars whilst the global
GDP per-capita was 9,558 dollars. During the middle ages, Jews began to recreate their
society after the second temple of Jerusalem collapsed. With the high clergy of the second
temple gone, there was only one main pillar of Judaism left: the rabbis and scholars.
These rabbi and scholars made it so that Jewish families had to send their son to school to
learn and read the torah. This literacy and education allowed them to have negotiating
power; they could write contracts, deal with money, ect. This had a snowballing effect,
the Jews grew in wealth, and they could send their kids to even higher education, and
they could further grow in wealth. Their understanding of the Torah also gave them
de ned and unifying principles to create a stronger community, allowing them to petition
and argue for their needs in their country of occupancy.

• (10 points) Do you think learning Torah--or learning in general--is the most
critical value in Judaism? Why or why not? (Your response to this question
must be at least 100 words.)
I believe that learning Torah has created a stronger, tighter, Jewish communities. They
have a real, common, concrete thing to form a bond over, rather than the abstract idea of
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Judaism. Knowledge, in Judaism, allows you to do what is most jewish, to argue over the
Torah’s deeper meanings and to question faith to get a better understanding of it and why
you follow this faith. In short I believe that learning is most important in Judaism for a
litany of reasons but mostly because learning “is great[est], for it leads to action”

*Income inequality and religion globally 1970–2050 Jose Navarrro and Vegard Skirbekk