Section archive - Israel Education

Sixty-five years after its establishment, Israel remains a central feature of Jewish educational programing in North America, perhaps nowhere more ubiquitously and intensively than in Jewish day schools. Anyone visiting such schools cannot but be struck by the omnipresent physical reminders of Israel, daily messages about Israel and the many special programs convened to memorialize or celebrate developments in Israel. Given the omnipresence of Israel in so many Jewish day schools and the self-declared mission of most schools to foster an attachment to Israel, this project has sought to take the measure of Israel education by investigating the so-called inputs, outputs and outcomes of day school Israel education.

The opportunity to exchange ideas with Israeli educators is a core component of a 10-day trip organized by the fledgling Jewish Early Childhood Education Leadership Institute, known as JECELI. Part of a 15-month program, the goal of the Israel visit was to enable educators to explore the role of Israel in Jewish life, think about new ways incorporate Israel education into their curriculum and gain new perspectives on Jewish early childhood education.

On a recent ten-day Tikvah Ramah Israel trip, twelve participants with disabilities, ages 18-40, were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime visit to a 1,000-soldier army base. Admittedly, other tour groups visit army bases; our group spent three hours at the MAZI/Bar-Lev base near Kiryat Milachi, where soldiers – in full uniform – with Down syndrome, autism, and other intellectual disabilities are “just soldiers.”

I had to finally write this article to address what I believe is a significant problem with Israel trips not only today but going back several decades since educational tourism became popular. From synagogue and organization missions to Masa programs, and from high school trips to Birthright, we do a horrendous job of exposing Diaspora Jews to Tel Aviv and everything it stands for: modern Israel, the “start-up nation”, religious pluralism, and Jewish peoplehood.