More Information on the Theme Eilu V’Eilu

Join colleagues from Cleveland and around the country for this exciting and unique Jewish Education conference!

. . . there was a dispute between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai, the former asserting, “The law is in agreement with our views,” and the latter contending, “The law is in agreement with our views.” Then a bat kol, a voice from heaven, announced, Eilu v’eilu divrei elokim chayim, “These and those are the words of the living God, but the law is in agreement with the rulings of Beit Hillel.”     (Eruvin 13B)

Jewish tradition is rich in threaded, interwoven values and competing interpretations.  Jewish education at all levels – classroom, school, camp, community—confronts the complicated reality of the human condition, challenging us to make wise choices that reflect Jewish traditions and respond to communal needs.

Eilu V’eilu, “these and those,” emphasizes the incompleteness of any single opinion. The “and” is essential, uniting and complementing the two opinions without choosing one or compromising the integrity of either. The debate between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai is a machloket l’shem shamayim—an enduring dispute in the name of heaven.

This year Moreh L’Morim, Siegal College’s Summer Institute, explores this rich complexity through intensive tracks and workshops.

•    Do we want Jewish children and adults who are most deeply steeped in Jewish skills and ritual competencies or is our ultimate goal to equip them with Jewish values that allow for conscious Jewish choices?


•    Should Jewish education find its most essential building block in communally based or synagogue based Jewish education?


•    Should we place in our Jewish classrooms teachers whose primary virtue is the accuracy of their own Jewish learning or those whose strength is their personal dynamism and ability to communicate with children?


•    How many different points of view are developmentally appropriate in order to enact the Jewish value of eilu v’eilu (both these and those)?


The Judaic Studies and Jewish Education faculty of Siegal college, a distinguished set of national scholars,  guest educators from partner communities in Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Akron, and talented Cleveland educators will provide a wide variety of professional development opportunities.   Building on last summer’s success we anticipate a rich mixture of returnees from last year’s Moreh L’Morim along with many newcomers to the conference.