Behind extraordinary Jewish accomplishments: Judaism is learning-based, not rite-based, Books and Documents, NewAgeIslam.com

Books and Documents

Behind extraordinary Jewish accomplishments: Judaism is learning-based, not rite-based

The Tel Aviv Cluster

By David Brooks

Jan 13 2010

Jews are a famously accomplished group. They make up 0.2 per cent of the world population, but 54 per cent of the world chess champions, 27 per cent of the Nobel physics laureates and 31 per cent of the medicine laureates.

Jews make up two per cent of the US population, but 21 per cent of the Ivy League student bodies, 26 per cent of the Kennedy Centre honourees, 37 per cent of the Academy Award-winning directors, 38 per cent of those on a recent Business Week list of leading philanthropists, 51 per cent of the Pulitzer Prize winners for non-fiction.

In his book, The Golden Age of Jewish Achievement, Steven L. Pease lists some of the explanations people have given for this record of achievement. The Jewish faith encourages a belief in progress and personal accountability. It is learning-based, not rite-based.

Most Jews gave up or were forced to give up farming in the Middle Ages; their descendents have been living off of their wits ever since. They have often migrated, with a migrant’s ambition and drive. They have congregated around global crossroads and have benefited from the creative tension endemic in such places.

No single explanation can account for the record of Jewish achievements. The odd thing is that Israel has not traditionally been strongest where the Jews in the diaspora were strongest. Instead of research and commerce, Israelis were forced to devote their energies to fighting and politics.

http://newageislam.com/behind-extraordinary-jewish-accomplishments--judaism-is-learning-based,-not-rite-based/books-and-documents/d/2378

Kolkata: The schools are Jewish, its students Muslim, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Kolkata: The schools are Jewish, its students Muslim

Attired in a modest salwar-kameez , hijab firmly in place, Shaista Fatima leaves her home in Kolkata's Rippon Street and heads for school. Friends Farida and Shehnaz Jahan join her on the way and the three demurely make their way through the conservative Muslim neighbourhood.

But once they hit Royd Street, their gait acquires a quick confidence. Once inside Jewish Girls School, they slip off both hijab and salwarkameez and slip on the skirt-and-blouse uniform just in time for assembly.

The idea of Muslim students in a Jewish school may be blasphemous anywhere else on the planet, but here in Kolkata, it's a reality. In fact, doors to the two Jewish schools in the city were opened to other communities, including Muslims, around the same time that Israel was carved out of Palestine six decades ago, triggering a bloody conflict that still rages today.

It's a study in contrast really. Palestinian mothers let their children join the uprising or intifada against Israeli occupation even as Muslim mothers in Kolkata send their wards to schools run by Jews. The former is about death - it's an honour if the child kills a Jew and brings martyrdom if he is killed in the attempt. The latter is about the hope of a better future.

For most middle-class Muslims in Kolkata, getting their children into a good English medium school is a dream. "Either the fees are too high or kids are refused admission because the parents aren't educated enough," says M H Iqbal, whose daughters Zeb and Uzma go to the Jewish Girls School. "The two Jewish schools, on the other hand, are affordable and encourage children from humble backgrounds. For people like me, it means a decent education for my daughters that will open up a world of opportunity."

http://newageislam.com/kolkata--the-schools-are-jewish,-its-students-muslim/islamic-world-news/d/1842