Knowledge and Identity: An Interview with Natan Kapustin
Natan Kapustin was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, moved to the United States to attend Yeshiva University where he earned his semikha and graduate degrees. Rabbi Kapustin is a Limudei Kodesh teacher and administrator at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in Manhattan. Natan is a member of the Advisory Board of Jewish Educational Leadership.
Jewish Educational Leadership: Tell us about Israel education at Heschel.
Natan Kapustin: I would identify two very different kinds of Israel education that we do. The one that I will not speak about much is what I might call the reactive component. When things happen in or related to Israel, we need to address them. And we do that in a variety of ways. We have speakers come in, debriefing sessions with our students, Town Halls dedicated to open discussions about Israel, special tefillot, etc. This past year, post-October 7th, we were particularly intense in the reactive programming, and it is hard to know what this next year will bring. But none of this has affected what we have been doing in our core Israel education programming.
What does that look like?
Our Israel education begins in nursery, both in curriculum and in programming. For the purposes of this conversation, I will limit the discussion to the high school, and specifically the 12th grade, which is my area of focus. The 12th grade program is the culmination of those years of programming, and as such it is multi-faceted and fairly intense. We basically have three curricular pieces. One is our model Knesset, which has a number of core goals. First, we want students to get a sense of how the legislative system in Israel works, and how it is different from the system and the process in America. Second, it opens a window to real issues in Israeli society, and by that, I mean the internal issues, not the geopolitical issues related to “the conflict.” It is a way for students to get a chance to understand Israel from the inside out and to see that there is much more to Israel than the conflict. Moreover, these issues get to the heart of the struggle to be Jewish and democratic, the issues that we need to grapple with as a people. The topics we focus on are the same as those dealt with in the Knesset. For example, freedoms or lack thereof related to “kosher” cell phones for the Haredi community, setting the threshold for parties to get seats in the Knesset, judicial reform, whether public swimming areas can be segregated for men and women, Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount—all these were/are hot societal issues in Israel and we dealt with them.
How do you structure that?
Every senior is assigned to be a member of the Knesset, as in, a current sitting MK (member of Knesset). They learn about the MK, their party, and their platform. Some of the information—the parties and their platforms—we provide, but they also have to research on their own, especially about the MK they are playing. That can get tricky, as some MKs do not have a significant digital footprint and sometimes the material is available only in Hebrew, but they do the best they can, including reaching out to their MK through email or social media. Sometimes they even respond! Either way, the student has to inhabit the character they represent, and that gives them a whole new way of thinking about and identifying with Israel. They approach the issues from the perspective of their MK and their party and then figure out how to apply what they know to the bills being crafted.
There are two major areas of focus. One is the political parties and the second is the Knesset committees where legislation is crafted. For the political parties, they have to learn their party’s platform and agendas and priorities. In the committees they have to work on bills—so the Religious Affairs Committee discussed legislation concerning public transportation on Shabbat, an Internal Affairs Committee focused on the spiraling violence inside the Israeli Arab communities and Bedouin land grabs, a Foreign Affairs Committee raised Israel’s pivoting of trade deals from the West to China, India, and Russia. We don’t avoid the conflict, but only one of six committees will deal with that, in whatever form the conflict is taking at that time. That is a conscious decision and a key part of our program because we are trying to reinforce the idea that there is much more to Israel than the conflict.
How much time is devoted to this?
One period a week of in-school class time is devoted to this. We also have a dedicated website for this program, and students have to work outside of school through the website between classes. Work tends to focus on practical deliverables: a two-minute speech for a committee, a bio for your MK, a draft of a bill, etc. This runs for an entire semester. Several times per semester we meet as a full Knesset—as opposed to in committees—either for introductory speeches or to vote on bills. Those sessions are the most intense, complete with cheering, booing, and inflammatory statements, just like in the real Knesset. And for sure things won’t work exactly as they do in the real Knesset, but the students get a deep understanding of Israel’s systems and internal challenges, the balances of power—and instability—of a parliamentary system with so many parties, and the constant negotiating that this engenders. And that’s what this is designed for.
What are the other two main components of your Israel education programming?
A second piece is formal coursework. We offer five options for social studies classes in the fall semester of senior year, and students have to choose one. Those options include the dual narratives, the Israel-America-Iran triangle, Israel as a Jewish-democratic country, Israel and the Holocaust, and of course, the selections change over time. With five courses running in parallel and the work that students are doing for the model Knesset, it turns out that the content classes deepen the Knesset work—bringing information into the discussions—and the experiential enriches the course work. There is a lot of cross-pollination.
The third piece of our senior programming is our Israel seminar in the second half of the year. The goal is for students to reflect on and articulate their own personal relationships vis-à-vis the Jewish state. I call it putting the “I” in Israel. We frame it with the question of, “Why do I need the Jewish state?” and we mean it when we say that all answers are on the table. There’s a real focus on getting the students to articulate a personal statement, one that reflects their core values.
This takes the students far beyond statements like, “I am pro-Israel.” That’s a political statement. But we push the students to formulate an ideological position. Why is the Jewish state important to you? What does Israel have to do with you? Is it for religious reasons or historical reasons or cultural reasons or messianic reasons or practical reasons to escape antisemitism or none of the above? This pushes students to go beyond sermons that they hear or dinner-table political discussions or the clichéd one-liners that are so popular but too often are just too shallow to be meaningful. And if a student wants to articulate that it is not important, they need to formulate that too as an ideological statement. Most importantly, they need to be able to articulate it, and this program provides them the space to do just that.
One of the powerful things we did this past year was that we had teachers model this for the students. Every so often a faculty member would present their own personal statement/narrative, and then field questions from students as they probed deeper. It was very compelling, especially when they heard nuanced different positions from a variety of teachers who may outwardly be “the same” in politics or ideology, but talk about their own relationship with the State in very different ways, using completely different language and frameworks. This underscores the reality that none of us are the same, and our identity vis-à-vis the Jewish state is personal. Ideally, we would have wanted the students to do the same, but time was a big factor. There were about ten students who ultimately presented, and it was very personal, very individual, and built on their own life stories. That was very impactful for many of the students.
This sounds like a very rich program. What happens in Israel education before the 12th grade?
As you can see, there is a concentration of programming in our students’ final year at the school. This is partially so that it will be fresh in their mind as they move on from high school, but also because this is when students can approach the issues with a greater level of sophistication, nuance, and complexity. That being said, there is plenty that goes on during every year of high school. 11th grade Social Studies includes an entire unit on the history of Israel within the context of 20th-century history. There are also Hebrew classes in all four years of high school in which students are getting not just language but also literature, modern Israeli culture, as well as an overall understanding of society. And then there are the town hall meetings, the speakers who come in, all the things that I mentioned at the beginning of our discussion.
During the year of judicial reform we had many speakers come in, and post-October 7th we had people presenting from a wide range of perspectives—military and civilian, American and Israeli. Students have a real chance to process those meetings and the speakers who come in. Students hear and process from a diverse range of speakers who share many different facets. We recently introduced pre-Shabbat programming. This year it included some public singing, like “Aheinu,” a featured speaker, and the faculty blessing the students. It was communal, experiential, and often emotional, especially as we were dealing with the post-October 7th reality. But in a different year, the programming will look different. All those pieces help to provide content and context for the real capstone which happens in the 12th grade.
What would you say are the core principles driving your approach to Israel education?
I would say that there are three core ideas that drive this:
- Programming has to be diverse; it’s not all about the conflict. It’s also not all from one perspective.
- It has to be ideological; it can’t be reduced to talking points or politically charged soundbites.
- It has to be personal; it has to push the students to connect in a way that is authentic and individual to each of them.
The reason we teach about Israel is because we think it’s important to learn about Israel. Full stop. It’s not—for example—because we’re worried about students defending themselves intellectually and emotionally on campus. It is because we think it’s important to be a Jew who loves Israel, and who believes in the State of Israel. And that feeling needs to be grounded in content knowledge. They have to know. They should know about the complexities of Deir Yassin—not because of what some professor might say in college—but because it was an important chapter in the founding of the State of Israel, it’s an important touchstone of things that happened, of understanding that things are not always simple and smooth. They simply need to know. Full stop. Will that provide them with tools for campus and beyond—of course. And we have speakers and seminars preparing them for campus. That’s incredibly important. But it shouldn’t be confused with the reason for learning about Israel. Even if they never step foot on a college campus they would need to learn about Israel simply because it is a core piece of our identity.
The real preparation for campus life is not about learning how to debate; it’s about building a strong core. And that is our primary focus: preparing them for life as 21st century Jews. Israel has to be a significant part of that.
Natan Kapustin was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, moved to the United States to attend Yeshiva University where he earned his semikha and graduate degrees. Rabbi Kapustin is a Limudei Kodesh teacher and administrator at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in Manhattan. Natan is a member of the Advisory Board of Jewish Educational Leadership.
FROM THE EDITOR: Fall 2024
It feels pretentious and premature to be talking about retooling education about Israel. The war is not over, the wounds are still fresh, barely a year has passed since that awful day, there are thousands of children-parents-loved ones still in active combat and separated from their families for months at a time, many of the hostages are still in captivity, the campuses are reeling, the internal divisions in Israel are deepening rather than abating, and the landscape of the Jewish world is muddled at best as the aftershocks of the earthquake still rattle us. And yet, we dare to think that we have something meaningful to contribute as to how to teach about Israel. It is fair to say that everything written in this journal is written with the awareness that when the dust settles, we may need to re-examine everything all over again.
The Story of the Ever-Living People
As a preface, I believe that we are all experiencing a revolutionary moment in the evolution of the Jewish people. By that, I mean that while the evolution of the Jewish people remains a constant, we are nonetheless at the forefront of a moment of awareness—of what in Judaism is known as she’at ratzon—a moment of willingness among Jews that is unprecedented in modern Jewish history. That, in and of itself, should raise for us a great call for action as educators and as people who work on behalf of the Jewish community in charting a path for our envisioned trajectory.
The Times They Are A’changin…
When I began my work in Jewish education at the Park Avenue Synagogue High School in September of 1967 it was, as some will remember, a tumultuous time. In the Jewish world, the Six-Day War gave a sense of elation (albeit very temporary as we have seen for many decades) and America was filled with social and political crises. Our afterschool and weekend program quickly became a magnet for Jewish and even non-Jewish teenagers from across the Upper East and West sides of Manhattan. Feeling the absence of the “international” (Jewish and beyond) in my own education and seeking to emphasize and expand it in that of my students, we quickly added international travel during summer and mid-year vacations as a key part of our curriculum, and within a decade we were traveling into the Arab world. We began with Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt, and in the summer of 1978, our students had a historic private audience with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat even before Camp David.
Developing Students’ Capacity to Engage in Productive Dialog about Israel
In April 2023, David Bryfman and Barry Chazan wrote: “Today the issues of identity and Jewish identity not only have lots to do with Israel, but also the connection between Israel and Jewish identity may be one of the most significant developments for Jewish identity, life, and education that we have known.” In other words, Jewish identity is intertwined with Israel in ways that have never before been true. This sentiment and understanding have shaped and guided our school’s recent thinking about Israel education.
Israel Front and Center: Developing a Curriculum on Am and Medinat Yisrael
Sitting in my 12th grade Modern Israel class, one of my students raised her hand and asked “why haven’t we learned anything about Israel in History classes since 10th grade?” While I began to explain the sequence of the History curriculum, where students learn Zionism and the history of Israel in 10th and 12th grade, I realized that students learn about Israel in multiple subjects and in co-curricular activities throughout their four years of high school. I pointed out that the 11th grade Hebrew curriculum offers a range of readings and discussions on early Zionist thinkers and Israeli literary figures, many of whom students engaged with, albeit from a historical perspective, in their 10th grade History classes.
Learning from Children’s Ideas about October 7th and the Israel-Hamas War
Day school teacher Mr. Berkman is a proud long-time Jewish educator, but only recently has he also come to see himself as an Israel educator. “In October,” he explains, “I joined every other Jewish educator in the world in realizing, wait, I have to teach Israel now. But how?” Ms. Baghai, a general studies teacher at a different Jewish day school, has also had to rethink her teaching in the wake of October 7th. “How much do we talk about it and learn about it? How deep do we go? How much do I share?” she wonders.
Finding the Balance: The Synergy of Nuance, Critical Thinking, and Ahavat Yisrael
We get off the bus for a quick stop on our first day of Derech l’Lev, our 8th-grade Israel experience. There is an electric energy as our two busloads of students and chaperones embark on this much-anticipated, two-week journey to Israel. I turn to one of my students: “So Sarah, what do you think? What are your first impressions of Israel?” Her face lights up. “I can’t explain it,” she says. “It’s all so familiar even though it’s my first time here. I just feel like I belong, like I’m home. I love this country!”
Teaching about Israel’s Many Complexities with Confidence, Competence, and Courage
Jewish educators have long been successful at instilling a love of Israel in their learners by providing opportunities to engage with the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and vibrancy of the country and its people in an ongoing way. Many settings culminate their Israel educational programs by visiting Israel, an experience designed to further deepen learners’ relationships with the people, land, and State of Israel. These varied modalities and content areas all are critical tools for achieving our collective goal of fostering a deep connection and commitment to Israel and the Jewish people.
“History of Israel” as History
As the years continue, Israel education now necessarily includes the history of Medinat Yisrael as a larger component than it has in the past. Young students have no memories of the major events in the history of the state, and as time passes, more information, stories, and significant events must be learned in order for students to be able to understand deeply what Israel represents and how its past informs its present. Language, culture, and geography are no longer sufficient for a well-crafted Israel education program.
Israel Education in a Post October 7th World
Is being pro-Israel the same as being Zionist? Is the call of the hour advocacy training or education? As Israel educators with decades of experience between us, October 7th forced us to take a hard look at what we teach, and how we teach it. We’ve taught American high school students, Masa gap year and Yeshiva/Seminary students, and visiting college students. We certainly weren’t prepared for this traumatic war, but we will argue that an authentic, classic Zionist approach to Israel education makes more sense now than ever.
Cultivating Respect in Teaching the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Being a Jewish History teacher in a pluralistic Jewish day school, I often find myself up against the question of how we apply the principles of pluralism to the teaching of Israel, and especially the teaching of the “Conflict.” Given that Jewish identity and religious expression are tied to Israel, it is important to help guide students through the fraught path of figuring out the relationship between their emotional connections and the political and social responses to the academic study of Israel. But, just as we set out guideposts for the limits of pluralism, it is important to craft boundaries of what is acceptable within our classroom environment. Key to this challenge is helping students understand their identities and how this sense of self shapes the way that student views the historical realities behind these conflicts.
Israel Education For Today’s Generation
For many educators, teaching about Israel has never been so challenging. The emotionally charged nature of the discussion, attitudes on Israel dovetailing with political affiliations, and educators’ fears of facing backlash from parents and the community, are all reasons for why teachers are reluctant to address Israel in the classroom. This is further complicated when considering the generational gap surrounding Israel in our communities. While previous generations saw Israel as the country of miracles and the underdog in the Arab-Israeli conflict, many in the younger generation see Israel as the aggressor in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and feel conflicted over support for Israel.
Middle School Israel Advocacy
Yavneh Academy, in Paramus, New Jersey, is a Modern Orthodox, staunchly Zionist, preK-8 Jewish day school. Its mission statement includes: “Establishing the centrality of the State of Israel in the life of our school and in the lives of our children and imbuing each child with a connection to the State of Israel as an essential part of his/her identity.” Yavneh has always held true to its mission statement. It has seamlessly woven the study of Israel into much of its curriculum. Students learn Hebrew in every grade, including pre-K. They are exposed to Judaic texts and maps to connect history to the present-day land.
A Shared Student and Teacher Approach at Learning About Israel
The first aspect of helping my students this year was to create a safe, open, and accepting environment in the classroom to allow students to share their fears, questions, and thoughts. I have learned over many years of teaching that students desire to be heard and validated. They are seeking to be heard, much more than they are seeking actual answers to their thoughts and (philosophical) questions. I have learned over the years to listen and understand them.
Preparing Students For Their Encounter With Broader Society
Long before October 7th, as a teacher with a Social Studies background, I have been working with my administration team and the Center for Israel Education to revamp our Israel curriculum. My instinct was to bring Israel education from a place of chronological progression of events to finding touch points with other historical events outside of our people and land, helping to anchor historical periods in students’ minds. This approach mixed with modern culture and current events, should give students a broad and basic foundation of understanding that culminates in our annual 8th grade trip to Israel.
Reach 10,000 Jewish educational professionals. Advertise in the upcoming issue of Jewish Educational Leadership.