Our Approach

The "Aleph-Bet" of Israel Education

Effective Israel education is holistic and touches all parts of a child’s being: the intellectual, the spiritual, the emotional, and the behavioral, interwoven in such a way as to tie the child to Israel and the Jewish people in the deepest of ways.

Israel education should:

• BE A CENTRAL COMPONENT OF JEWISH IDENTITY. Israel education is a critical dimension of the overall identity development and education of our young as Jews and as citizens of the world.

• BE INFORMED BY THE INTERESTS OF OUR YOUNG AND GUIDED BY THEIR ONGOING PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. Israel education should be both child-centered, as well as Israel-centered, and it should be guided by the best principles of how young people develop.

• FOCUS ON MEDINAT YISRAEL, AM YISRAEL, AND ERETZ YISRAEL. Israel education should focus on contemporary Israel and contemporary Jewish peoplehood, while remaining rooted in the Jewish people’s historic connection to the land of Israel.

• FOLLOW A CURRICULARIZED PROCESS. Israel education should move forward through the thoughtful selection of topics, themes, subjects, and values that are shaped in an intelligible and sequential curricular framework.

• PRESENT ISRAEL THROUGH DIVERSE THEMES THAT SPEAK TO CONTEMPORARY YOUNG PEOPLE. Israel education should use diverse lenses - including sports, environment, social action, pop culture, technology, health, science, and business – to establish a connection with contemporary Israel.

• HIGHLIGHT CONTEMPORARY ISRAELI ARTS AND CULTURE BECAUSE OF THEIR POWER AND POTENTIAL TO INFLUENCE PEOPLE. Israel education should devote particular attention to contemporary music, film, literature, visual, and plastic arts because they strikingly reflect the vibrancy of Israel and speak to many of our young.

• BE COMMITTED TO MODERN HEBREW AS A CRUCIAL FORCE IN PERSONAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT. Israel education should reflect the understanding that the Hebrew language is a seminal factor in shaping Jewish identity.

• INTEGRATE ISRAEL INTO THE ENTIRE CULTURE OF SCHOOLS, CAMPS, AND ALL EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS. Israel should be taught as a unique subject, as well as an integral dimension of all aspects of the Jewish educational settings in which it takes place.

• INCLUDE THE FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE OF VISTING ISRAEL AND RELATING TO ISRAELI PEERS. Israel education must include an Israel trip and personal peer-to-peer relations with young Israelis.

• BE IMPLEMENTED BY EDUCATORS WITH A COMBINATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND PASSION AND EDUCATIONAL SKILL AND ARTISTRY. Israel education requires educators who are both well-trained and deeply committed, so as to be able to transmit a love of Israel to the next generation.

Click here to view the principles and values upon which these aleph-bets were developed.