53 Journal of Jewish Education, 71:53–66, 2005 Copyright © Network for Research in Jewish Education ISSN: 0021-6249 DOI: 10.1080/00216240590924033 Journal of Jewish Education 711Taylor & FrancisTaylor and Francis 325 Chestnut StreetPhiladelphiaPA191060021-62491744–0548 UTEH Network for Research in Jewish Education 52603 10.1080/00216240590924033 2005 1 20 In imagining the relaunching of the Journal of Jewish Education, the editors wanted to offer its readers the opportunity to engage in ongoing discussion of significant issues in Jewish educational research and scholar- ship. The conversation would be sustained over time, by diverse participants, producing a polyphonic inquiry, a give and take from issue to issue in the spirit of Mikraot G’dolot. We are delighted to introduce the first such conversations based on Visions of Jewish Education, the impor- tant book edited by Seymour Fox, Israel Scheffler, and Daniel Marom. Jon A. Levisohn opens the discussion here; in coming issues, several academicians and practitioners will offer brief responses to his essay. Although Levisohn will offer the last rejoinder in print, the editors are confident that the conversation will be sustained as readers of he Journal continue to discuss among themselves the role of existential and institutional visions of Jewish education. Journal of Jewish Education Conversation on visions of Jewish Education Ideas and Ideals of Jewish Education: Initiating a Conversation on Visions of Jewish Education JON A. LEVISOHN In this essay, Levisohn reviews Visions of Jewish Education, edited by Seymour Fox, Israel Scheffler, and Daniel Marom, and the larger project of which this publication is a part. He acknowledges its seriousness of purpose and its emphasis on critical reflection on the purposes of Jewish education as a welcome change from much of the rhetoric of Jewish continuity, placing this effort in the context of other efforts at Jewish educational improvement. He then explores some possible limitations of framing an educational vision in terms of the “educated Jew,” including especially its indi- vidualism and its potential elitism. Finally, he considers the identi- ties of the primary contributors to the volume and raises the question of how the discourse of Jewish educational visions might be different in the hands of different contributors. The essay thus serves as a platform for a continuing discussion of the Visions Project as a whole. Jon A. Levisohn is Assistant Professor of Jewish Education in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and Assistant Academic Director of the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University.