This year, there is a strong sense of mission and responsibility among educators in Israel. Many of us are dealing with the question of how we generate strength and certainty in a world that was torn apart in an instant on October 7, 2023.
On the background of this war, one of the longest and most difficult in the history of modern Israel, we have now – this week – marked 29 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, an event that rocked Israeli society a generation ago, shaking it to its core.
In the aftermath of the assassination, the question also arose of the public school system’s role in educating for peace and democracy.
One of the most heated debates rested on the question of one’s prerogative or even obligation to express a political viewpoint and invite the students to participate in a critical discussion about what had happened in our society.
In my opinion, the mission of the educational system is to facilitate children’s ability to grow into independent people, with values and critical thinking skills; knowledgeable people, who form opinions based on narratives and culture, and not those who believe in ones that people of great wealth and authority formed for them.
My personal and professional choice in the Israeli public school system was based on Jewish culture and the Zionist idea embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the public school system law, which put before us the challenge and ideal of being an exemplary society based on the values and principles of pluralism, such as “Elu v’elu divrei Elohim hayim,” “These and those are the words of the living God” (Talmud Bavli, Tractate Eruvin 13b); “Torah has seventy facets” (Bamidbar Rabbah 13:15); “the State of Israel will uphold equal cultural and civilian rights for all its citizens regardless of religion, race, gender” (Israel’s Declaration of Independence), and more.
We must not be afraid
WE MUST not be frightened by the trap of distinction between worthy, balanced political education and education on behalf of a particular ideology.
Expression of an opinion or stand that expresses support for the values of human rights and social justice is mandatory, as is a clear expression against the glorification of a racist comment.
However, speaking against the whole political party or community in which the person who made the unacceptable comment lives is unworthy of a place in the educational dialogue.
We must give our students an example of taking a societal stand, and be present and active everywhere that societal injustices or racism occur, or are glorified.
A major challenge in education in general, and in the education of Jewish renewal in our country specifically, is for our students to feel safe and sure in the world view they have formed to the best of their understanding as young adults.
Therefore, we must respect their political views, and their religious and gender choices, and teach them to grow and enjoy the discussions and disagreements, whose basis is in the differences and varieties among us.
The main principles of the Declaration of Independence, which expressed the vision of the people who founded our country, for “peace with the neighboring countries,” must serve as an inspiration and a moral call for all educators:
“The nation shall be open to the immigration of all Jews and the ingathering of the exiles, and will develop the country for all its citizens.”
We, as a nation, cannot ignore this moral, Zionist and Jewish directive.Living together in Israel are Jews, Arabs, Druze, Circassians, Bedouin, and other minorities.
This is a constant challenge, delicate and complicated, and not to be taken for granted. It is a reality known to us all; our fate is bound together.
OUR TASK as educators is to cultivate sensitivity and create a reality of bonds and joint efforts, fostering tolerance and patience.
These positive bonds are an experience which is both exciting and empowering to all who participate in them. We must teach our students that it is not only worthy to get along with others, but that they should celebrate the differences, and grow and flower from the dissimilarities and commonalities between us.
Teaching students of the future
We must teach our students that the most meaningful understanding in their Jewish identity is not how a Jew feels among us, but how the non-Jews feel. In the words of the Torah: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself” (Leviticus 19:34).
Not for nothing did the Torah command us to love the foreigners and treat them with respect, more than any other commandment – it appears 36 times. The reason for this is that “you were foreigners in Egypt.”
This is a sensitive and deep Jewish consciousness. Men and women of the Jewish nation know very well what it feels like to be a minority. We were there.
Now, 29 years after that horrid assassination of an Israeli prime minister – and in the midst of a battle for the Jewish democratic image of Israeli society – our obligation as educators is to be an example for our students regarding the question of what is a model society, and how we fight for important values to preserve the existence of Israel as a Jewish democracy.
This will be the worthy educational answer to that unforgivable assassination.
The writer, a rabbi, is the managing director and headmaster of the Leo Baeck Education Center.
