This article was originally published on Lookstein.
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. Each year, it hosts benot sherut who help American students experience the culture of Israel firsthand. The students study the language, geography, the land’s history in Tanakh, and the culture and holidays of the Jewish people living there now. The school also makes sure to have engaging and enjoyable programming related to Israeli holidays, especially Yom HaAtzmaut.
With such a strong foundation and positive feeling for Israel already ingrained in our students, it was a natural step to continue building on that knowledge. In light of recent events, we found that our students were interested in developing critical knowledge and the ability to respond to modern conflicts. With the rise of social media, our students would be exposed to information and, more often than not, misinformation. It was our responsibility to arm them so that they never feel unprepared to represent Israel in conversation. To accomplish this, I created an Israel Education Club. Our club was optional and open to our 8th-grade students, as we wanted to start this new program with the students who were most eager to learn. The club was designed to answer the biggest questions being posed today: indigeneity, genocide, apartheid, Zionism, and other related issues.
We met weekly and each meeting centered around a single topic. Our first topic addressed the fundamental question: “Do the Jewish people have a claim to the land?” After all, we need to address the core right of Jews to the land in light of the rampant accusation that Jews are colonizers, outsiders stealing land that never belonged to them.
We began by studying how researchers generally determine that a particular group is native to a location. This includes primary texts, a language connection, genetic markers, historical accounts, and artifacts linking a group with a land. When the students demonstrated a real understanding of the idea and the methodology, we asked them to apply those same methods to the Jews and the land of Israel. Divided into working groups, they began to do some digging. The artifacts and archaeology group compiled a list with dates, images, and information about artifacts, including excavated mikvaot and the depiction on the Arch of Titus in Rome. The Judaic texts group examined passages from Tanakh of the connections between the land and the Jewish people, the extended period of Jewish sovereignty over the land, the boundaries of the country, Israel’s enemies, and wars that occurred in or around what is now Israel. The secular texts group found source material from texts authored by non-Jewish sources. They studied the Merneptah Stele, an Egyptian artifact dating back to 1200 BCE that is not particularly favorable to the Israelites, detailing their defeat by the Egyptians. It is considered the earliest textual reference to this group of people and their undeniable connection to the land. The last group, focusing on language, was given a sheet with Paleo-Hebrew, an ancient form of Hebrew, and its modern equivalent. Students were then given images of artifacts dating from as far back as the Bar Kokhba Revolt and were able to translate the lettering into modern Hebrew. There was a communal moment of amazement as letter by letter, the words were uncovered, and one coin even mentioned the capital, Jerusalem. Students saw firsthand that not only was Hebrew used thousands of years ago in that place, but that the words remained nearly identical and continued to be used for generations among its people.
Once we had compiled all of this information, we worked together to create a large-scale timeline that would be displayed in our school’s hallway. When all the information was put together clearly, they were able to make even more connections. Students noted that many of these artifacts, from texts to ancient mikvaot and coins, all put the Jewish people in the location hundreds if not thousands of years before some other religions had even come to be.
With the understanding that there is enough proof to argue that the Jewish people have a claim to the land, we were able to delve into other questions—both ancient and contemporary. Why did the number of Jews in the land decrease dramatically? How and when did the land become known as Palestine? Is Israel an apartheid state? What is the Nakba? What happened at Deir Yassin? What were the relations between the Jews and Arabs in Israel before 1948? What is Zionism and how did it take shape? Is Israel committing a genocide? Each question was the basis of a unit of study. Each lesson began with some frontal instruction, followed by some very open discussion, and usually concluded with further student exploration into the topic. For example, when discussing the statement, “The Arab countries repeatedly rejected peace with Israel,” students chose one historical turning point and presented to the group their own research into the setting, the key players, and the outcome.
As much as our students learned from this process, so did we. We let them guide us on what they needed to discover. We learned from them just how curious and thirsty they are for deep understanding and personal discovery. We learned that they are truth seekers and that they want to be confident in their knowledge. And we learned that they can become valuable communal resources, not merely consumers of information.
