In my experience as a teacher of Jewish history for young people in the final years of school, I discovered the need to anchor knowledge of facts to the students’ identity. In the absence of this connection, they are left with information that they do not regard as their own and, therefore, find irrelevant. With this purpose in mind, I set out to find a trigger element that could help spark the students’ curiosity and cause the search for answers to strengthen their identity.

To explore the question as a guiding thread in the formation of Jewish identity through education, we can delve into the philosophy of Abraham Joshua Heschel and his concept of radical amazement. Heschel invites us to observe the world not from a position of doubt but rather from a position of wonder: an attitude of profound admiration and reverence that arises from a spiritual connection with reality. To this view, Jewish identity is not built on certainties or skepticism but rather on an openness to mystery and wonder, which leads to essential questions about existence, faith, and one’s purpose in the world.

This radical amazement thus becomes a fundamental starting point for Jewish education. Here, what the question seeks is not necessarily a definitive answer, but rather a deeper connection with the Divine essence of the world. Unlike doubt, which often raises barriers between the mind and the universe, amazement allows us to approach learning with an openness to the unknown and profound respect for the mystery of life.

In the biblical tradition, this attitude is reflected in the teachings of the prophets and the songs of the psalmists, who lived in constant humility and reverence toward God and the world. Their identity was not affirmed by rigid certainties but by an incessant search for meaning. For Heschel, that search—guided by the question and by wonder—is the essence of authentic Jewish identity, an identity unafraid of contradictions or mysteries.

Educating from this perspective involves inviting students to ask questions that go beyond superficial knowledge and leading them into a realm where faith and reason engage in dialogue. Jewish education, then, is not merely the transmission of knowledge but a process of identity formation in which every question is an opportunity to reconnect with the sacred and with the community.

In this vein, both Heschel and Martin Buber understood that Judaism remains relevant in the modern life of the postwar era, offering meaningful answers. Jewish identity, shaped by constant dialogue with fundamental questions, becomes a living response to the challenges of a secular society. Thus, the question not only shapes the individual’s identity but also enables the Jewish people to maintain their relevance and connection to current needs, preserving a tradition which, instead of imposing certainties, fosters in each generation the search for its own meaning.