Values in Tension: Israel Education at a U.S. Jewish Day School

Abstract

Values in Tension: Israel Education at a U.S. Jewish Day School SIVAN ZAKAIThe Naphtali Herz Imber Jewish Day School proudly proclaimed its commitment to Israel, yet many of its students experienced profound ambivalence toward the Jewish State. Why? The school was committed to a series of contradictory values which surfaced in its approach to Israel education. This article outlines three distinct yet interrelated tensions: tensions between an open exchange of ideas and a non-debatable loyalty to Israel; between pluralism and Zionism; and between inclusivity and expertise. It demonstrates how American Jewish students-when confronted with values in tension-struggled to make sense of Israel and their relationship to it.

From the Mouths of Children: Widening the Scope and Shifting the Focus of Understanding the Relationships Between American Jews and Israel

“…Like their teenage counterparts (Rosov Consulting 2013), they understand that Israeli society is imperfect and yet they nonetheless view themselves as personally responsible for participating in its repair . However, while American Jewish teenagers often believe that there is little room in the organized Jewish community to grapple with complex or conflicted emotions about Israel (Zakai 2011;Pomson 2012), American Jewish children readily express both feelings of pride or joy and feelings of anxiety or frustration with contemporary Israel and its role in American Jewish life (Zakai and Cohen 2016).…”

“…On trips to Israel (e.g., Saxe and Chazan 2008;Kelner 2010;Ezrachi 2011) and on college campuses in the United States (e.g., Sales and Saxe 2006;Kopelowitz and Chesir-Teran 2012), teenagers and young adults engage with Israel. Children and teens learn about Israel in Jewish day and supplementary school classrooms (e.g., Grant 2007;Pomson et al 2009;Pomson et al 2011;Zakai 2011;Pomson et al 2014) and in Jewish summer camps (e.g., Sinclair 2009;Kopelowitz and Wess 2014).…”