A case study of modern Jewish education

In many ways, the Beautiful Captive is a worst case scenario, socially, ethically, and educationally. Socially, because it portrays fractured male-female interactions which persist even into the twenty-first century: a victorious, desirous male with control (at least de facto) over a vanquished female Other. Ethically, because imparity of gender relations continues to take on different forms in different eras. Educationally, because attempts to clarify these issues in schools may be hampered by institutions which themselves endorse inequitable principles or, at another extreme, are so enamored of individualism and autonomy that they avoid nurturing commitment to the communal standards vitally necessary to support individual moral behavior: "Civilized life requires, in addition to humane personal standards, safeguards built into social systems that uphold compassionate behaviour and renounce cruelty.⁷⁹ Surprisingly, to study this text in a Jewish context is at one and the same time to acknowledge the tradition's nobility, its shortcomings, and its struggle to achieve moral clarity and spirituality in complex times. Some educators may try to avoid this challenge, but those who engage it will find sufficient resources in the tradition to support their efforts to advance their students toward maturity-and toward God.