<HTML>In response to the thread about teaching Israeli politics, while this may not cover so much of the current state of affairs (which Dr. Sokolow notes is difficult enough for Israelis to do), there is an article in Ten Da'at volume X, number 1 by Yotav Eliach about teaching Religious Zionism in a Yeshiva High School. He lays out a year-long curriculum from the Biblical roots down to issues being faced today in Israel.
While this is not exactly what Mr. Tesler was looking for, I wonder how feasible it is for American students to really keep up with the inner workings of a foreign political system, even if that system is Israel. If "all politics are local," then a certain amount of them are lost by the distance, and even more is lost if we are dealing with high school students who have yet to have a year in Israel and thus more often than not do not have such strong inner feeling towards the State. As such, perhaps a curriculum such as that laid out by Eliach, in some form or another, may have merit - perhaps creating an overall interest in the topic and culminating with a strong focus on the current state of affairs
in Israel and close monitoring of what is happening in current elections.
Just my midnight musings - I look forward to the comments of those far more experienced than myself.
Aaron Ross
YU Semicha and NYU Rabbinic Literature
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