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Sept. 27, 2013
Language and core values
Dan Avnon speaks at Stretch Your Mind on Oct. 6.
LAUREN KRAMER
Prof. Dan Avnon, the Grafstein Visiting Professor in Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Jewish Studies, will give two lectures in Vancouver on Oct. 6.
Part of the Stretch Your Mind series presented by Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University, the lecture topics have a lot in common, even though they may sound like they cover vastly different ground. The first is titled Intersections of Biblical Concepts and Modern Politics in Israel, while the second is Seeking Consensus: The “Core Values Controversy” in Israeli Society.
“Both presentations address issues of language, culture, values and education from different perspectives,” said Avnon, a seventh-generation Israeli from Jerusalem who received his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a faculty member at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “For the past 15 years, I’ve been focused on research, graduate programs and curriculum development for educators in civic education. In Israel we have a political culture that is in continual change, and one of the things being contested is the core values of that culture. Consequently, I’ve been experimenting with ways to enable Hebrew and Arabic, religious and secular Israelis to speak the same civic language when it comes to interacting in the shared public space.”
In his presentation on biblical concepts, Avnon told the Independent that he will discuss tensions within the Jewish majority of Israel. “Some [Jewish Israelis] have Hebrew that is shaped by classical, traditional Hebrew connotations coming from the Bible, while others have no background in that kind of Hebrew,” he explained. “Theirs is shaped by translations from non-Hebrew languages like French and English. My presentation will deal with the way that Hebrew-speaking Israelis don’t understand one another, even though they apparently speak the same language.”
One example he offered is the Hebrew word for citizen, ezrach, which connotes identity and equal status in modern Hebrew, but otherness, difference and distinction when used in its biblical sense. “My talk will discuss key concepts in our conventional, ordinary, everyday politics that are in conflict with their classical, biblical tradition,” said Avnon. “I try to show the problem through real-life examples and situations, and then share thoughts about ways to avoid misunderstandings caused by falling into these kinds of conceptual trap holes.”
In his talk on the “core values controversy,” Avnon will delve into the subject of multiculturalism in Israel, and how it can become a political problem when diverse cultures promote different ethical frameworks. “The problem is when plurality of cultures creates a plurality of ethics without a shared, authoritative ethic that over-arches the plurality,” he reflected. “For example, put Jewish – religious and non-religious – and Arab kids in one class and try to teach them civics using the same textbooks, to give them a common, shared civic language. The values each group brings from its core culture makes it really difficult to create a shared system of values. I’ll talk about the different values of the communities in Israel and what the implications are of those different ethics. I’ll draw on our experience with a number of such three-year classes that we taught at Hebrew U.”
Based on his personal life experience, Avnon has hope for the future of relationships between people of different cultures. “I believe that if you put into ongoing contact kids whose initial point of meeting does not share resemblance on any grounds, and do not impose on them any external standards regarding what they should be thinking, at the end of the day, they may generate shared values based on mutual respect,” he said. “So, for me, the issue of core values is not just for academics or politicians to squabble over. It’s for ordinary citizens to get to know one another and realize their basic humanity and worth. From there, over time, they can create a shared public space with shared values. We applied this approach to real classroom settings with mixed results.”
Stretch Your Mind will consist of morning and afternoon sessions with five visiting Hebrew University academics covering various topics on Oct. 6, at King David High School, 5718 Willow St. Tickets, $99 each or $180 per pair, are available online at cc.cfhu.org or by calling 604-257-5133.
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond, B.C. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.
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