Hebrew School
Should American Hebrew Schools be teaching students how to be more critical of Israel, as Dana Goldstein argues in The American Prospect? Or should they spend a lot more time focusing on Hebrew literacy? Avraham Infeld argues that Judaism is “a five-legged stool“, those legs being “the Land of Israel, the Hebrew Language, Jewish values, Jewish religion, Jewish community.” (Saxe 2008 p 57) While the vagueness of the latter the three “legs” makes them both useful for discussion in Hebrew Schools and on Birthright Israel trips, they are, perhaps, not so informative on the vital nature of the Jewish people, but as for Hebrew and the Land of Israel, learning more about both of those things in Hebrew school will certainly go a long way to deepening the students’ understanding of this muddle of history, langauge, religion, and culture that is Judaism. The language is essential to engage with Jewish sacred texts, which, I believe are the most meaningful part of Jewish existence and certainly the ony truly unifying factor, even as their meaning is open for broad debate (actually, because their meaning is open for broad debate. Torah is a Big Tent). As for the Land of Israel, as I’ve learned recently, you can be a Jew for Israel or against Israel, but it is very hard to be a Jew without Israel. We all have to grapple with it at some point if we are to forge Jewish identities, and what better place to start that process critically than in Hebrew school? I would say that vibrant debate is certainly a “Jewish Value” and it’s a shame that so many Hebrew schools choose to ignore that value by only presenting one view of “the Jewish State”.
- Saxe, L., & Chazan, B. (2008). Ten Days of Birthright Israel: a Journey in Young Adult Identity. City: Brandeis.
