Identifying Jewish for Gen-Z 📄

Identifying Jewish for Gen-Z 📄

The rise of antisemitism challenges educators to respond creatively and provide our students with the tools necessary to prevent them from being influenced or hurt by the distorted narratives often constructed. I would like to suggest that familiarizing our students with the historical method and teaching them how to think historically will help them significantly in this effort.

Don’t Believe Everything You Read 📄

Don’t Believe Everything You Read 📄

The rise of antisemitism challenges educators to respond creatively and provide our students with the tools necessary to prevent them from being influenced or hurt by the distorted narratives often constructed. I would like to suggest that familiarizing our students with the historical method and teaching them how to think historically will help them significantly in this effort.

The Crisis of Identity in an Antisemitic Environment 📄

The Crisis of Identity in an Antisemitic Environment 📄

Antisemitism, the condition of our world, the identity crisis of too many of our young adults and rising leaders, it can be and often is just too much. How do we respond? A young man from a Modern Orthodox Jewish home in a Northeastern community with a sizable Jewish population lives in the western part of the United States outside of any such community. He has blond hair and green eyes, slight muscular build, and is in his twenties. People who see him occasionally greet him with the statement, “You look like a great Aryan.” At other times, he confronts antisemitic remarks if anyone thinks he may be Jewish (due in part to his name).

Careful Consumption of Social Media 📄

Careful Consumption of Social Media 📄

In an age of social media and social justice activism, when it comes to teaching our students about Israel, it can be challenging to find open and healthy discourse. When Ben & Jerry’s pulled selling of ice cream in what they called the “occupied” areas of Israel—my Facebook and Instagram feeds quickly became flooded with competing posts either extolling the company’s morals for taking a stand against Zionism or denouncing it for antisemitism. Perhaps we need to begin with some definitions. Antisemitism is defined as hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people; classical anti-Zionism is opposition to the premise that Jews have a right to self-determination or a state of their own.

Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Jewish Education 📄

Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Jewish Education 📄

Anti-Zionism and anti-Israel sentiment are so prevalent that if students have not encountered them as of yet, whether on social media or in person, they are sure to have to grapple with them when they begin their post-high school experience. It would be a great disservice to them if we do not prepare them adequately, and it is the nature of that preparation which will determine our students’ abilities to feel confident in the face of antisemitic anti-Zionist attacks. The questions are how and in what context to do that preparation.

A Letter From Ma’ayanot 📄

In this letter, the school leadership at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls addresses the distressing events in Israel and the alarming increase in Antisemitism in the United States. Expressing disappointment in some universities’ efforts to ensure the safety of Jewish students, they prioritize the physical and emotional health of their students. Changing their approach to hosting college representatives, they now require detailed safety plans from universities recruiting at their school. The letter underscores the commitment to educating students about campus climates, with the hope that collective efforts will inform wise choices for their future. The leadership thanks families for their partnership and assures them of their readiness to address any questions.

Winter 2024 Journal Credits

JEWISHEDUCATIONALEADERSHIP Jewish Educational Leadership is a publication of The Lookstein Center for Jewish Education of Bar Ilan University. Journal Staff Hyim Brandes | EditorChana German | Executive DirectorZvi Grumet | Editor-in-ChiefLeah Herzog | Editorial...

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