The white elephant in the room is that it is very hard to teach something to students that you yourself don't/can't observe. It is the primary reason why Shul Rabbis and Mechanchim do not speak about Aliyah, as how can one inspire others to do, what you yourself are not willing/able to do.
Baruch Hashem the schools and shuls are doing an excellent job in inspiring our children to come visit and learn in Israel and a percentage of these students decide to make Israel their home as a result of this experience.
That being said I believe that there is much more "Israel Education" which can and should be done in our Day School/High School system.
-The same way students learn US geography and are familiar with the map of the USA they should have that same level of familiarity with the geography and map of Israel
-The same way students learn US History they should also be learning Zionist/Israeli History.
-The same way students learn about issues and challenges that face the US they should be learning about issues and challenges that face Israel
In short Israel should be presented as their "Homeland" and we should provide the same level of Israel Education as we provide US education.
With creative use of Distance Learning and other tech, schools can access Israeli educators/guests/peers to become part of their educational community. Students can go on virtual 'tiyulim" and enhance their "Yediat Ha'aretz" and their love for Eretz Yisrael.
Israel education has to move beyond saying Tehillim after piguim and eating blue and white cookies on Yom Haatzmaut. If Israel Education becomes a more integral part of the curriculum our students will be enriched and will undoubtedly discover more love for the land and will be more inclined to call Israel home.
Rabbi Joel Cohn
Principal SAR Academy
1993-2005
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2016 08:22PM by mlb.
