Education
If you have not read Chaya Herman's book, Prophets and profits, then what have you been doing?! In this magnificent book, Herman presents a critical account of the upheaval surrounding a Jewish day school in South Africa. She records various stakeholders' experiences as the school community navigates the treacherous waters of restructuring, new managerial systems, and a concerted effort by a new powerful individual (and his backers) to shift the school's ethos. Even if you do not agree with her interpretation of the matter at hand, you will come away enriched due to the extensive breadth of the book and the erudition with which the author develops her argument. You will learn to look at Jewish education in South Africa in a new light and you will certainly experience the "shock of recognition" if you are at all familiar with the South African landscape. While this episode turns out to be a bit of a ramble, and I thought of re-doing it in a more precise/coherent way, I decided to leave it be. The book is more important than my comments, and the point of this episode is to introduce you to the book. So why delay? I hope you go read it.