The date is the best title because it's been ages since the last blog post.
I am now in Israel, a member of the Pardes Educators Program, living with the wife and kids in a two bedroom apartment in Talpiot.
Last night the pipe under the sink calcified and broke and I awoke this morning to a flooded floor and hours of spoon-jeh.
But this year has been a blessing, as I have become re-acquainted with the learning of my youth to enjoy it and aim to comprehend it in a pedagogic conception.
I want to get a few thoughts out quickly. I will try to come back to them later and write more (although, historically...)
"Where I See Myself in Five Years"
My hope is to move forward in the circles of Jewish education.
I aim to employ 21st century pedagogy to the texts and traditions of Judaism in the hopes of uniting the Jewish people in conversation regarding them.
Whilst text study has been divisive at certain points in our history, it has always been a constant. I believe that it is our most assured safeguard for moving forward into the future as a people.
"Orthodox Zionism"
I recently spoke to a Canadian-Israeli friend and I mentioned this concept to him.
Today in Jewish Ed., Israel-Zionism is a sacred cow, largely because it is perceived as the sole uniting factor of the community.
S0 we educate to an ideal when teaching about Israel. We avoid issues that exist with and within Israel, choosing instead to focus on a narrative that too often presents Israel-Zionism as the Jews it came to rescue: brilliant - sure - but victims, desperate for our assistance in fending off wave after wave of attack. We stick to the same narrative of our parents, seemingly beginning with the Holocaust and ending in 1967.
But we need to start educating to a reality. We need to recognize that our kids are graduating day schools with a limited scope of reality-Israel, going to a high school or college campus and being confronted with an Israel that is at odds with their American values. More and more students are becoming apathetic regarding Israel and a vocal minority are turning away completely.
We need to give our kids access to these issues before they hear about them elsewhere, and we need to let them judge for themselves. We cannot create and enforce dogmatic concepts regarding Israel because blind faith is not what was Zionism is all about.
And, anyway, our kids are not buying it.
"Reverse Shlichut"
I think that Israel and the US are growing apart, and that Jews are following suit. I fear that, eventually, we're all going to have to choose.
And I think one solution is to employ a type of shlichut in which American Jews come to Israel to present a legiitmate American Judaism to the Israeli people.
Because while the Sochnut sends its envoys to the Diaspora to present Israeli Jewishness, there is never a thought of reciprocation. One-way relationships are not healthy.
That's all for now.
I am now in Israel, a member of the Pardes Educators Program, living with the wife and kids in a two bedroom apartment in Talpiot.
Last night the pipe under the sink calcified and broke and I awoke this morning to a flooded floor and hours of spoon-jeh.
But this year has been a blessing, as I have become re-acquainted with the learning of my youth to enjoy it and aim to comprehend it in a pedagogic conception.
I want to get a few thoughts out quickly. I will try to come back to them later and write more (although, historically...)
"Where I See Myself in Five Years"
My hope is to move forward in the circles of Jewish education.
I aim to employ 21st century pedagogy to the texts and traditions of Judaism in the hopes of uniting the Jewish people in conversation regarding them.
Whilst text study has been divisive at certain points in our history, it has always been a constant. I believe that it is our most assured safeguard for moving forward into the future as a people.
"Orthodox Zionism"
I recently spoke to a Canadian-Israeli friend and I mentioned this concept to him.
Today in Jewish Ed., Israel-Zionism is a sacred cow, largely because it is perceived as the sole uniting factor of the community.
S0 we educate to an ideal when teaching about Israel. We avoid issues that exist with and within Israel, choosing instead to focus on a narrative that too often presents Israel-Zionism as the Jews it came to rescue: brilliant - sure - but victims, desperate for our assistance in fending off wave after wave of attack. We stick to the same narrative of our parents, seemingly beginning with the Holocaust and ending in 1967.
But we need to start educating to a reality. We need to recognize that our kids are graduating day schools with a limited scope of reality-Israel, going to a high school or college campus and being confronted with an Israel that is at odds with their American values. More and more students are becoming apathetic regarding Israel and a vocal minority are turning away completely.
We need to give our kids access to these issues before they hear about them elsewhere, and we need to let them judge for themselves. We cannot create and enforce dogmatic concepts regarding Israel because blind faith is not what was Zionism is all about.
And, anyway, our kids are not buying it.
"Reverse Shlichut"
I think that Israel and the US are growing apart, and that Jews are following suit. I fear that, eventually, we're all going to have to choose.
And I think one solution is to employ a type of shlichut in which American Jews come to Israel to present a legiitmate American Judaism to the Israeli people.
Because while the Sochnut sends its envoys to the Diaspora to present Israeli Jewishness, there is never a thought of reciprocation. One-way relationships are not healthy.
That's all for now.
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