Update June 7, 2026; originally posted June 2021. Compiled by Dr. Ken Stein, June 2021 These sources and references unfold the history of the Jewish state through 1949, from state-seeking to state-making to state-keeping.
Teen participants have shown uniform enthusiasm for their interactive engagements with peers at Center for Israel Education programs. See their responses in their own words.
August 10, 2025 Updated August 11, 2025, with follow-up resources. CIE and partners including including Hillels of Georgia, American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s JTeen initiative, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Community…
March 5, 2025 The Center for Israel Education is unique because its work is based on Jewish context and otherwise mostly unavailable content. Providing excellence in Israel education through perspective and via multiple platforms separates…
America’s need for a robust higher education system, where students learn to think deeply, engage respectfully, and disagree constructively, is greater than ever.
Since the June 1967 war, Anti-Israeli sentiment on US campuses has grown to extraordinary proportions merging with previously evolved anti-Zionism into sporadic mention to regular embrace.
Highly esteemed by educators, the CIE/ISMI workshops engaged more than 4,200 pre-collegiate teachers, reaching more than 400,000 Jewish students. “I really appreciate all the examples I can use in class and at school. I learned…
להיות עם חופשי בארצנו Zionism’s two part history, Early History to 1897 and Zionism 1898 to 1948 Where has Zionism succeeded? What remains incomplete or unfinished? Finished or well-shaped results of Zionism Unfinished results…
“We are very grateful for the learning and the PD that the program provides our faculty and look forward to continuing this in the next school year 2022-23.” Sinai Akiba, Los Angeles, CA “For years…
Dr. Tal Grinfas-David, March 1, 2022 When it comes to boosting Israel education, some schools go through transactional changes, and some go through transformative changes. What’s the difference? Transactional schools add units and information, making…
The first version of the Jewish National Library was founded in 1892 in Jerusalem, five years before the First Zionist Congress met; its location evolved to Mount Scopus in Jerusalem during the British Mandate and then after the 1948 war, the library’s books were moved to the Rehavia section of Jerusalem, and then in 1960 to Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University. As a visiting graduate student from The University of Michigan in the summer of 1971, I walked into the mediocrely lit yet vast reading room of the Library.
Newsworthy stories unfold in Israel at breathtaking rates. Repeated elections, COVID-19 responses, path-breaking Supreme Court decisions, the Abraham Accords — all are worthy of community discussion and age-appropriate student exploration. Yet few Jewish students and their parents possess sufficient understanding or discussion skills to explain them beyond a passing headline.
Using original sources and employing perspective are keys to substantive Israel education. Failure to use either, handicaps and prejudices learning about Israel. When documents and texts or a broad overview of the literature in a field are not employed, there is a strong possibility that the educator either has a personal political agenda or, is covering up for their own lack of knowledge of what they are teaching. This premise is true for teaching any country’s history and through the lens of any discipline. I reside in the discipline of history.
June 10, 2020 By Dr. Ken Stein, Founding CIE President The pandemic has had a blistering impact on our lives. When and where will it end? Unexpected and unnecessary deaths. We have learned that some…
In two books written sixty years apart, When Prophecy Fails, 1957 (Festinger, Riecken and Schachter) and The Influential Mind, 2017 (Sharot, an Israeli neuroscientist), the conclusions were the same.
CIE’s focus on Israel engagement with students before they reach college age is strongly endorsed by Gary Rosenblatt, Jewish Week editor.
In teaching history, the most difficult task remains creating context:catapulting students back into a different time frame and having them disregard their contemporary historical perspective. The goal is to witness history as it unfolded, not as it concluded.
Published by JESNA, Jewish Education Service of North America ISSUE #18 WINTER 2004 Israel Education and the College Campus, “Awake ye from ye slumber, the call that is heard, oh my people.” Agenda: Jewish Education,…
* Please note that in July 2008, CIE inherited the Emory Institute for the Study of Modern Israel’s prestigious decade of experience, including its nationally renowned professional development workshops. From 2003 through 2005 the AVI…
