The videos and resources below, from CIE’s day school teacher seminar on Israel education March 20, 2022, offer ways to integrate modern Israel into classrooms with ample sources and activities on the topics of Zionism, Arab-Israel negotiations, climate change and Passover. Through the generous support of Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora affairs and UnitED of Herzog College, we are able to share these videos and resources with you. When using any of these in your educational setting K-12th grade, please share with us your lesson plans so that we can, in turn, further the resources available to educators worldwide.
Session One: Jewish Peoplehood, Zionism and State Building
Belief, rules, community, values and traditions sustained Jewish identity eventually folding into an idea and then a reality of Jewish territorial nationalism. How did Jewish diaspora existence prepare Zionists for state building in post Herzelian period? How did the Zionists succeed in state-making as they interacted with the British and Arab populations down to 1949?
Materials:
Making the State with Prof. Ken Stein powepoint.pdf
Session Recording:
Session One: Jewish Peoplehood, Zionism and State Building
Session Two: Israel’s Environment, Climate and Geography: Historic and Current Challenges and Successes That Impact Our Lives
We will learn how Israel has coped with natural scarcity of water, oil, natural gas and minerals, its clandestine defense and energy history, its innovations for conservation and climate change, national security challenges, and how all these impact its relationships with its Arab neighbors and the world. Then, through Jewish texts, holidays and values, we will explore how to engage in such learning with students, work collaboratively by grade level to design activities and lessons, and view resources for the classroom. Participants will emerge with deeper understanding of the issues, pedagogical tools and approaches, and a wealth of materials to explore further.
Materials:
Climate Change Israel March 2022.pdf (full size powerpoint slides)
Breakout with Tal Grinfas-David:
Climate Change Israel March 2022 Breakout Powerpoint.pdf
Climate Change Israel Breakout Handout with TGD.pdf
Breakout with Rachel Raz:
Climate Change Israel Trip and Innovation Breakout with RR Powerpoint.pdf
Climate Change Israel Trip and Innovation Breakout with RR Handout.pdf
Session Recordings:
Session Two (Main): Israel’s Environment, Climate and Geography: Historic and Current Challenges and Successes That Impact Our Lives
Session Three: Infusing Modern Israel into Passover Education
We will learn how to use historical and cultural artifacts to convey how the Zionist pioneers saw themselves as living the Exodus story, and then explore how the significance of Passover to modern state-keeping found its way into specially named operations in different decades. Finally, we will show how to engage students of all ages with sample activities and lessons. Participants will gain resources and suggestions for classroom and online instruction of modern Israel for the upcoming holiday.
Materials:
Infusing Modern Israel into Passover Education Powerpoint.pdf
Breakout with Tal Grinfas-David:
Infusing Modern Israel into Passover Education with TGD breakout powerpoint.pdf
Breakout with Rachel Raz:
Infusing Modern Israel into Passover Education with RR breakout powerpoint.pdf
Infusing Modern Israel into Passover Education with RR breakout handout 1.pdf
Infusing Modern Israel into Passover Education with RR breakout handout 2.pdf
Infusing Modern Israel into Passover Education with RR breakout handout 3.jpg
Book Resource:
“Yotzim B’Chodesh HaAviv: Passover in the Haggadot of the early Kibutzim”
Edited by Mooki Tzur and Yuval Danieli (2004)
https://www.ybz.org.il/?CategoryID=647&ArticleID=3053#.YjeGkerMJpU
http://bgri-press.bgu.ac.il/cgi-webaxy/item?154
Bought from Yad Yitzhak Ben Tzvi Distributors and Publishers with Machon Ben-Gurion, Yad Tabenkin, and Yad Yaari
P.O. Box 7660 Jerusalem 91076
Phone 02-5398833
Session Recordings:
Session Three: Infusing Modern Israel into Passover Education, Breakout with Rachel Raz
Session Three: Infusing Modern Israel into Passover Education, Breakout with Tal Grinfas-David
Session Three: Infusing Modern Israel into Passover Education
Session Four: Arab-Israeli Negotiations: Why did they work in the 1970s but cannot move forward in 2022 and Conclusion
Egyptian and Israeli leaders found common ground and made political compromises in negotiating and signing a treaty in 1979. What were the factors that made those negotiations successful and are most absent today? What would be needed for negotiations to be ‘ripe’ again for productive movement forward?
Materials:
Why Do Negotiations in the A-I Conflict Work with Prof. Ken Stein powerpoint.pdf
Session Recording:
Other Materials:
A new partnership aims to boost Israel Education in North America
The Center for Israel Education (CIE) and UnitED, a strategic project of Israel Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, are offering professional development opportunities to support the work of Jewish Day schools.
The CIE is the leading US based organization engaged in learning and teaching about Israel, its origins, culture, economy, and its international relations, and has been supporting cohorts of Jewish Day Schools for years. When Rabbi Scot Berman of UnitED at Herzog College approached us, he spoke of the need to inspire transformational change, as opposed to transactional change. Rabbi Berman sought to invest funds in a manner that serves to enhance Jewish identity, connection to the State of Israel and to one’s local Jewish community. As a result, CIE is expanding its professional development offerings to include new topics, new speakers, and new opportunities for school collaboration, all at no cost to participants due to the generous partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.
We know that investing in teachers is the impetus for such transformations. We strive for every offering to accomplish three types of learning: (1) to deepen teacher knowledge for their own adult learning and confidence building; (2) to model best practices in education as a reflection of the latest research; and (3) to help teachers shape the resources available into age-appropriate activities for the classroom. One teacher has the capacity to shift how Israel is taught for their students this year, and for many more classes of students in years to come.
“We are honored to have the recognition, support, and sponsorship of Israel’ Ministry of Diaspora Affairs through UnitED; our goal is to widen our reach to communities with smaller day schools so that they too can benefit from the coaching and professional development we are able to offer larger schools of means.” said Dr. Tal Grinfas-David, CIE’s Vice President of Outreach and Pre-Collegiate School Management Initiatives. “We are excited to kick off our partnership with a March workshop, in which we will work with teachers on ways to integrate modern Israel into their teaching of Passover, into the learning around climate change, and into the understanding of Arab-Israeli negotiations, all on a bedrock of how the State of Israel was founded.” By providing historical context and primary sources, these teachers’ students will be able to say how they know what they know about Israel, not from agenda driven narratives, not from well-intentioned educators, and not from social media, but from the documents and artifacts they will now have as part of their repertoire. As another challenging year comes to a close, teachers will have an exciting learning experience to look forward to, where they share ideas and lesson plans, and collaborate to end the year on a high note for Israel learning for all.
UnitED is a strategic project of Israel Ministry of Diaspora Affairs to support the work of Jewish Day Schools and to invest funds in a manner that serves to enhance Jewish identity, connection to the State of Israel and to one’s local Jewish community.
