Israel Education in the Post 10/7 World
Our Role
At Jewish LearningWorks, we believe Jewish education is not optional—it is essential.
Just as math and language are the building blocks of secular learning, Jewish learning builds a foundation of resilience, meaning, belonging, and hope. It connects us to timeless values, equips us to face today’s challenges, and it ensures that future generations inherit both wisdom and courage from our tradition. We know, from more than 125 years serving the Bay Area, that Jewish educational programs — classrooms, youth groups, camps and everything in between — are places where learners of all ages grapple with ideas — ideas that sometimes challenge them, and that help them grow.
What does it mean to grapple with ideas that may be challenging, and/or growth inducing in this time? There is widespread agreement that the events of October 7th have changed our community forever, and we are in dialogue about this with our colleagues every day.
We also believe that education and advocacy are two different things.
While they are sometimes conflated, we believe that education and advocacy are two different things. Our mission is to support educators, and as such we view our role as equipping them to facilitate critical conversations and perspective sharing — both when there are shared views, and perhaps more importantly, when opinions differ.
Our Contribution
We believe that listening deeply to each other’s questions is a critical first step in fostering such conversations and perspective sharing. Since the war began, each of us has asked and answered many questions — our own, our friends, our family members, our neighbors, and of course our students. We have articulated some of these questions for you. Please consider them as you clarify personal beliefs, deepen your understanding, speak across difference, and imagine the future.
The resources we have paired with the questions, while not exhaustive, identify local and national partners that we are confident have invested deeply in pedagogies that address these areas. We encourage you to explore them, keeping your own values, beliefs, and questions in mind. To share your thoughts on these, or on resources you would like us to add, please email dana@jewishlearning.works.
Clarifying your personal beliefs:
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
- How has my experience as a Jew and an American changed since October 7, as an individual? As a communal leader?
- What is my relationship today to the land, people, and state of Israel?
- What if anything has changed or reaffirmed my feelings about the land, people, and state of Israel in the past two years?
- What is my obligation to the global Jewish community?
- How do I view my role as an educator in teaching learners about Israel?
RESOURCES
Deepening your understanding:
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
- What does it mean for Israel to be both a homeland for the Jewish people and a state for all its citizens?
- What does it mean to learn about Israel not only as a place on the map, but as an idea, a promise, and a responsibility?
- In what ways does the history of the Jewish people shape the story of Israel — and how does Israel shape Jewish identity today?
- What role does the Land of Israel play in Jewish texts, rituals, and values — and how does that connect to our lives now?
- How might we use dual narratives to navigate the gap between ideals about Israel and the realities we may encounter?
Speaking across difference:
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
- Knowing that across the political spectrum of Jews, different people use different terms like “greater Israel,” “Judah and Samaria,” “the territories,” “the occupied territories,” Zionism, anti-Zionism, just military action, genocide, and many others, how can I help my students understand and discuss these charged terms?
- Some Jewish educators have a top priority of teaching pride in Israel’s achievements; others are focused right now on the devastation of the war and the occupation. How does one speak to both sets of people?
- What relationship do I want to maintain with those who disagree with me?
- What do I want to teach or model for my students in this regard?
- What tools are available to help a diverse population of learners feel safe in Jewish learning spaces?
Imagining the future:
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
- How do I feel about the potential for a two state solution in Israel/Palestine?
- How might we cultivate hope, resilience, and curiosity in our students as they form their own evolving relationships with Israel?
- In what ways might engaging with Israel deepen our students’ sense of Jewish peoplehood and connection to global Jewry?
- What type of relationship do I hope my students will have with Israel going forward?
