Beth El Education Director

On April 24, Israelis and the Jews around the world will celebrate Israel’s independence for the 59th time. Today, Israel is a modern country that can be proud of its technological advancements and cultural and social achievements, but still continues with its struggle to accomplish peace with hostile neighbors in the “wild” Middle East. The media makes sure that every child around the world knows about the current conflicts and how Israel is involved in this complex situation.

In studying for my master’s degree in Jewish education and working in Hebrew schools, I have learned that any educator who teaches about Israel in the Diaspora must face and overcome many dilemmas. The most difficult is that of how to teach and connect students to Israel in light of current events. Today, many Hebrew schools in America choose to teach Israel by connecting it with tefillah and Bible studies. Textbooks that focus on teaching Israel as a subject try to expose students to the history of the State of Israel through various topics such as Zionism, wars, the Holocaust, Bible, etc. In general these books reflect the idealized “old and beautiful Eretz Yisrael” that attracts Jewish Zionist idealists. None of these books - even the ones published within the past five years - actually teaches students issues that relate to today’s realities and ways of confronting them.

In considering the Jewish American educational system today, we find that it hasn’t yet reached the point at which it has adjusted itself to the developments of the State of Israel. Since its establishment, the State of Israel has undergone major alterations in a numbers of areas. Israeli society and culture has changed as a result of a numerous influences, including aliyah, wars, politics, conflicts, and even peace. The Jewish world has changed, Israel has changed, and the Israel-Diaspora connection will also have to change. The denial of the “matsav” (the current situation) leaves students confused and left to ponder conflicting messages and unanswered questions presented by the media, parents, and teachers.

Our challenge as Jewish educators is to find the right balance between “Eretz Yisrael Hayeshana VeHatova” (old and good land of Israel) and the modern Israel. On the one hand, we must teach about Israel’s wonderful and important contributions to the Jewish world, its heritage and history and on the other hand we have to make students aware of the situation in the contemporary State of Israel - both its strengths and weaknesses. We can do it only by combining the traditional method of teaching/learning using our textbooks and by utilizing modern technological methods that can make the learning experience more powerful and meaningful. This new method will help in encouraging students to understand movement, processes, and changes in emotions and thought that have occurred with regards to Israel over the last decade.