Religious Education in the Pre- and Post-Exilic Periods

Religious Education in the Pre- and Post-Exilic Periods

WONG Fook Kong

This article is a survey of children's religious education in Israel in the pre-exilic period and among the Jews of the post-exilic period up till the completion of the Talmud (500 CE). Religious education was carried out at home in both the pre - and post-exilic periods. In the pre-exilic period, there was no compulsory school education in Israel. A limited number of schools were available to train scribes for the court. These schools preserved the wisdom tradition in written form. Late in the post-exilic period, we have clear evidence of formal schooling among the Jews. Compulsory education began some time later. Apart from a formal school setting, religious education was also woven into the fabric of the Israelite/Jewish culture. Their customs (eg, dietary laws, circumcision) and festivals (eg, Passover, Feast of Tabernacle) have pedagogical purposes. By observing them the Israelites and Jews, of later time, were reminded of their salvation history and their covenant with God.