The Judaism presented in the new curriculum is real, adult Judaism that asks learners to struggle with the questions that Jews have encountered throughout history. It is Judaism with rough edges, dead ends, contradictions and ambiguities. There are few simple answers. Each generation has wrestled with the definitions of Jewish life, and our literature is a record of those struggles. Our adult students must continue this wrestling or they will not come to treasure the intensity and depth of Judaism.
Spirituality is experienced in wrestling.
Yet another teacher argued that we are too concerned with making students comfortable. He saw his responsibility as making them uncomfortable. Real learning takes place when students are challenged to incorporate conflicting sources within their own Jewish perspective and to live with the tension of contradictions. Mature commitment to Jewish life can exist in a dynamic state while seeking the best answers to difficult questions. Students have to know that throughout history Judaism has embodied ideas that do not coincide exactly with life.