Section archive - Israel Education

At the risk of stating the obvious, there is one proven solution to creating a solid foundation for a lifetime of engagement: spending months living, studying and working in Israel. Over the course of 12 years leading the field of top immersive international experiences in Israel, we have learned some important lessons. Namely, that the firsthand encounter with day-to-day life in Israel, which can only be attained by being on the ground for a sustained, continuous amount of time, makes all the difference to MASA's 120,000 alumni around the world.

Yedida Bessemer asked eJP readers to think about what excellent Israel education looks like and called for field-wide standards and benchmarks to determine whether efforts are effective. We at the iCenter want to share our experience from seven years of building this field and working closely with schools, camps, synagogues, Israel travel experiences, and other educational and communal settings to help learners, in any environment, develop meaningful relationships with Israel, the land, and its people. While much work lies ahead, we offer a range of approaches, resources, specific programs, and more from which educators can draw so that all kinds of learners – regardless of personal interests, level of previous knowledge, Hebrew language skills, travel in Israel, or other factors – will engage in outstanding Israel learning experiences.

What does it mean to educate towards Jewish peoplehood? How can Jewish educational tourism achieve this goal? This paper traces the historical development of Jewish educational tourism and explores the paradigm of Jewish peoplehood that emerges from it. This is accomplished through a close analysis of the different stages of programmatic activity at the Department of Jewish Peoplehood – Oren throughout its 25 years. The paper describes three stages of educational programming at the Department of Jewish Peoplehood – Oren: (1) the Israel experience, which focuses on bringing Diaspora Jews to Israel and having Israel impact them; (2) the mifgash (facilitated encounter), where Israeli and Diaspora Jews come together to learn from one another; and (3) building an ongoing relationship between Jewish communities in the Diaspora and in Israel.

By looking at the different youth trips as part of the educational system and organizational order of Jewish life, this article sheds light on the significance that factors such as institutional density, social capital and communal legacy have on the nature and scope of these trips, their character, time extent and goals. It incorporates a regional perspective in order to examine the varying array of youth trips amidst an increasingly interconnected Jewish world. For this purpose, several characteristics of Jewish life in Latin America are underscored in a comparative perspective; highlighting the role Zionism and Israel have played as identity referents and community builders, in order to approach the differentiated nature of the trips. The related cognitive and existential dimension s associated with the trips’ experiences are central factors in the socializing process of youth. Israel becomes the territorial and symbolic space in which strong and durable collective bonds are expected to develop, though the goals and natures of the various trips themselves may vary.