ISRAEL EDUCATION IN A TIME OF CHANGE

Sholom from Jerusalam. I have had the wonderful opportunity to spend the past month researching initiatives in Israel education and interviewing educational leaders and teachers who are determining future efforts to link Israel and the Diaspora.

There are patterns emerging in notes I’ve gathered that will become part of the book I am writing as a result of the generous fellowship from the Avi Chai Foundation. One fact is certain: the relationship between Israel and Jewish communities outside of Israel is changing.

Many of my past experiences in Israel education involved the Melton Centre for Jewish Education in the Diaspora at the Hebrew University: A curriculum for Jewish schools called "Israel: A Course of Study;" a series of booklets on teaching Israel to various age groups and in a variety of settings called “Israel in Our Lives;" the curriculum, professional education, and Israel seminars of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School. My information gathering expanded beyond the Melton Centre to the Jewish Agency and to specific programs like Makom and Masa. I learned about the accomplishments of Birthright Israel that, according to the many banners along streets of Jerusalem, has welcomed more than 220,000 young adults to Israel. The tour educators with whom I met talked about sharing the land, their knowledge and Jewish texts with travelers—both pilgrims and skeptics.

Education leaders, academics and educators have know since the late 1970’s following the Lebanese War that what had served as Israel education, the fulfillment of the Zionist dream in all its manifestations was no longer successfully engaging the younger generations. The victories of the War for Independence, the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War, the successful integration of waves of immigrants, the creation of a prosperous democratic society in the land of the Bible, the successful blending of multiple cultural expressions of Judaism were no longer being celebrated. They had become distant history, and engagement today is rarely based on a romanticized past. More often it evolves from realistic confrontation with challenges of modern life.

For the past three decades, the facts on the ground have not matched the “facts” presented in the great majority classrooms, in leadership forums, and on tours. As a result of my discussions in Israel, however, I believe that is in the process of changing. Strong effort and funding is being applied to develop new language, new philosophy, new strategies and new relationships. Whether it is a continuation--a new dimension--of Zionism or the old Zionism dressed in new clothing or an all-new creation remains to be seen.

Over the next several weeks, I will be blogging about what I have observed and responses of Israelis to one another's efforts. At the same time, I welcome any comments—positive or negative and additional observations from your experiences and reading. Whatever Israel-Diaspora relations and the teaching of Israel are to become, it is based on collaboration, on contributions from all sides of the ocean and from all sides of the arguments surrounding these issues.