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Why Israel Matters: A Question Every Jewish Educator Should Be Asking This Year
Illustrative photo of a university classroom. Photo: Public domain.
Disorderly classrooms, tarps, and paint buckets gave the school that unmistakable neglected look of summer. While the building itself lay dormant, I was there to train a group of educators who were fully awake: animated, thoughtful, and already immersed in planning for the coming year.
Their minds weren’t just on class schedules or supplies. They were wrestling with something far more complex: how their work will intersect with the painful social and cultural realities unfolding both inside and outside the walls of their institutions, and how to navigate the responsibility of mediating between those forces and the needs of their learners. Among the most urgent of those questions was how — or even whether — to talk about Israel.
It happened that this particular training session took place in Jerusalem, but it has become clear to me that Israeli educators are asking the same questions as their Diaspora colleagues in schools, youth groups, synagogues, and college campuses around the world:
How do we help our learners grapple with the challenges unfolding in and around Israel?
How much should we allow the outside world to shape the internal curriculum of our institutions?
What if we say the wrong thing?
What if we’re not even sure what we believe anymore?
As Jewish educators, we know how charged these questions have become. In today’s polarized climate, it often feels easier to say nothing than to risk saying something that could be seen as divisive or controversial. But that silence comes at a cost. For our learners, who are navigating their own swirling questions about identity, belonging, and what Israel means to them, our avoidance doesn’t feel neutral. It feels like confusion — or worse, fear.
The problem is that in a time of war, division, and rising fear, it is neither possible nor sustainable to ignore the realities of our current moment. That’s why I believe this is exactly the moment for us, as Jewish educators, to start talking — openly and personally — about what Israel means to us. I am not talking about analyzing geopolitics, or giving a learned exposition of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, or knowing the ins and outs of what all sides in the conflict are claiming.
Rather, I am talking about exploring and articulating our own personal relationships with Israel — however uncertain or evolving they may be, so that we can model passion, embrace multiple voices, and demonstrate commitment for our learners. Only then can we help them engage with their own questions, build understanding, and develop a meaningful, lasting connection of their own.
This process starts with answering a deceptively simple question: Why does Israel matter to me? What was the emotional memory, the inherited connection, or the Israel story that stirred something in you — even if it was pain, anger or despair?
For some of us, the answer comes easily. For others, it’s tangled, unclear, or still taking shape. Sometimes, the answer is simply, “I don’t know yet.” But asking the question — honestly and without judgment — is the first step toward clarity. And that clarity is what gives educators the grounding we need to support our learners through their own journeys.
I recently saw this approach in action at a conference attended by prominent, deeply experienced Jewish educators and communal leaders. One session brought together five thoughtful, diverse, and inspiring voices — each offering a unique perspective on why Israel matters to them.
One spoke about how her connection to Israel was rooted in the power of family; another reflected on the way his dual identity — as an Israeli and an American — has shaped his understanding of responsibility and power. A third described seeing Judaism and Israel as irrevocably intertwined. Then his colleague shared a powerful story about visiting Israel as a Black Jew by choice, with children who speak fluent Hebrew.
The final panelist shared the story of her Israel activism, which has taken her on a long journey both to and from Israel. Each story was powerful in itself, and — when heard together — they modeled how Israel can actually be a vessel that brings us together in understanding and human empathy, rather than driving us apart through polarization and alienation.
One educator in the audience, Ariele Mortkowitz from Washington, D.C., and the founder of Svivah, a diverse, grass-roots community of Jewish women, reflected on how listening to all of these voices could serve as a powerful tool in her own teaching.
She learned how receiving something authentic and emotional, even when it feels risky, can open up a different kind of environment for connection. “The personal space allows people to listen better — with more curiosity and empathy — when it’s a story filled with emotion,” she said, adding: “Even if our politics differ, the mutual caring about Israel creates a place of sharing and makes it possible to find similarity.”
When educators go through this kind of process — when we explore what Israel means to us, in our own words and on our own terms — we create a foundation strong enough to hold others. We become role models for how to stay in the conversation, even when it’s uncomfortable.
For example, Yakir Englander, one of the presenters, and an expert in Jewish philosophy who focuses on leadership development for the Israeli American Council, described how the exercise pushed him to confront his own truth.
“There was something about the time pressure that forced me to be honest and authentic with myself — asking what I dare to say in wartime, and what is inappropriate to say,” he explained. “But knowing that beside me were speakers who are each beloved members of the community — people who know how to speak from love — was critical.”
This process isn’t about reaching consensus or arriving at neat conclusions. It’s about creating the conditions for honest, values-based engagement — first within ourselves, and then within our classrooms and communities. The point isn’t to agree on language or politics, but to practice showing up and expressing ourselves and listening to others with integrity, curiosity, and care.
That’s what allows us to support our learners as they begin their own journeys of questioning and connection. Once we better understand our own convictions — even if those convictions are evolving — we’re better equipped to hold space for others.
This coming year will not be an easy one. Jewish students will continue to face scrutiny, pressure, and painful questions about who they are and what they believe — from themselves, fellow Jews, and non-Jews. Our job as educators is not to hand them answers, but to model what it looks like as we search for our own truths with courage and humility.
So let’s start by asking ourselves: Why does Israel matter to me? Let’s make space for the answers that arise — and get prepared to share them.
Clare Goldwater is the Chief Strategy Officer of M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education.
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Lebanon Cabinet Welcomes Army Plan to Disarm Hezbollah, No Timeline Given
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and members of the Lebanese cabinet meet to discuss efforts to bring all weapons in the country under the control of the state, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Aug. 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Emilie Madi
Lebanon’s cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarm Hezbollah and said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities.
A national divide over Hezbollah’s disarmament has taken center stage in Lebanon since last year’s devastating war with Israel, which upended a power balance long dominated by the Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim terrorist group.
The US and Saudi Arabia, along with Hezbollah’s primarily Christian and Sunni opponents in Lebanon, have ramped up calls for the group to give up arms.
But Hezbollah has pushed back, saying it would be a serious misstep to even discuss disarmament while Israel continues its air strikes on Lebanon and occupies swathes of territory in the south. Four people were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday.
On Friday, Lebanon’s cabinet met for three hours, which included the plan’s presentation by army commander Rodolphe Haykal.
All five Shi’ite cabinet ministers left the session in protest once Haykal entered the room.
Lebanese information minister Paul Morcos told reporters after the session that the government welcomed the plan but stopped short of saying the cabinet had formally passed it.
He said the army would begin implementing the plan according to its logistical, material and personnel capabilities, which might require “additional time [and’ additional effort.”
Morcos said the plan’s details would remain secret.
Hezbollah-aligned Labor Minister Mohammad Haidar told local media before the cabinet’s session had concluded that any decision taken in the absence of Shi’ite ministers would be null and void as it would be considered in contravention of Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.
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UK Museum Criticized for Postponing Jewish Heritage Exhibit Due to Concerns of ‘Incidences of Hate Crime’
The front of the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum in Bournemouth, Dorset. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
An art gallery and museum in Bournemouth, England, has been accused of cowering to threats from an “antisemitic mob” following its decision to postpone an exhibition on Jewish heritage.
The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum was scheduled to host an exhibit from Nov. 25-March 15, 2026, about the history of the city’s Jewish community as part of a project funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund and researched by the Jewish Communities in Bournemouth, according to the BBC.
The museum recently announced that it will reschedule the exhibit for a later, unconfirmed date because of the “potential risks at a sensitive time.”
“Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum is an important heritage asset housing culturally significant art,” a spokesperson for the museum said in a statement cited by The Telegraph. “In planning all exhibitions, we carefully assess any potential risks. We recognize this is a sensitive time and due to requirements related to this event, the museum has decided to postpone the exhibition and is working with the organizers to reschedule it for a later date.”
In a statement, the museum also referred to concerns it has regarding unspecified “incidences of hate crime” in the area, according to the BBC.
In Bournemouth’s East Cliff area last month, a Jewish man was shot with an air rifle and there were several reports of swastika graffiti, including one painted on the side of a house owned by a rabbi.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), a British charity, called the museum’s decision to postpone the exhibit “utterly shameful” and accused the institution of choosing to “extinguish Jewish culture in the face of threats from an antisemitic mob.”
“At a time when British Jews are facing unprecedented levels of antisemitism and families are hiding their identity for fear of abuse or even violence, British institutions should be standing firm in support of Jewish life, not silencing it,” the organization said.
Britain has experienced a historic surge in antisemitism in the wake of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza. Last month, the Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism and an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
“When British Jews cannot celebrate and share their history in peace, what does that say about Britain today?” CAA added. “When British institutions cower to threats from a mob over the rights of law-abiding communities to share their stories and celebrate their positive contribution to British life, what has happened to British values?”
The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum did not respond to The Algemeiner‘s request for comment about CAA’s accusations and the museum’s decision to postpone the exhibit.
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Another College President Falls With Resignation of Michael Schill From Northwestern University
Former Northwestern University president Michael Schill on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, May 23, 2024. Photo: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades via Reuters Connect
Northwestern University president Michael Schill resigned on Thursday, just days before the start of fall semester, following nearly two years of a surge in antisemitic discrimination and extreme anti-Zionism on the Evanston, Illinois, campus, as well as blistering criticism of his response to it.
“I have decided, in consultation with the leadership of the Board of Trustees, that I will step down as president,” Schill said in a statement announcing the decision. “I will remain in my role until an interim president is in place, and I will assist in his or her transition. After a brief sabbatical, I will return to Northwestern Pritzker School of Law to teach and conduct research, my first and enduring passion.”
He added, “I appreciate our students, who I am confident will go on to change the world for the better.”
The embattled executive testified last May before the US House Committee on Education and Workforce, where he faced a firing line of conservative lawmakers, such as Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Burgess Owens (R-UT), who placed him in their crosshairs after identifying him as one of the dozens of college presidents who allegedly did far too little to combat the nationwide surge in campus antisemitism following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel.
Schill’s gravest transgression, lawmakers charged, was the Deering Meadow Agreement, reached after a pro-Hamas group commandeered a section of campus and established what they called the “Northwestern Liberated Zone” on April 25, 2024. For five days, over 1,000 students, professors, and non-Northwestern-affiliated persons fulminated against the world’s lone Jewish state, trafficked antisemitic tropes, and intimidated Jewish students.
By the morning of April 29, Schill and the group finalized the infamous deal — a first of its kind accord which became a model for 42 other schools who emulated it. It committed Northwestern University to establishing a scholarship for Palestinian undergraduates, contacting potential employers of students who caused recent campus disruptions to insist on their being hired, hiring two Palestinian professors, and creating a segregated dormitory hall to be occupied exclusively by Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Muslim students. The university — after days of hearing the activists shout phrases such as “Kill the Jews!” — also agreed to form a new investment committee in which anti-Zionist students and faculty wield an outsized voice.
In February of this year, the nascent second Trump administration’s newly staffed US Department of Education named Northwestern as one five schools to be investigated by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for antisemitism and evidence that school officials violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Then in April, US President Donald Trump, riding a wave of populist antagonism against higher education, froze $790 million in federal research grants and contracts previously appropriated to Northwestern. The move came days after the university issued a report on its enactment of a checklist of policies it said meaningfully addressed campus antisemitism, which, by that time, had exploded into a full-blown crisis.
“The university administration took this criticism to heart and spent much of last summer revising our rules and policies to make our university safe for all of our students, regardless of their religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, or political viewpoint,” the university said. “Among the updated policies is our Demonstration Policy, which includes new requirements and guidance on how, when, and where members of the community may protest or otherwise engage in expressive activity.”
The university added that it had adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, a reference tool which aids officials in determining what constitutes antisemitism, and begun holding “mandatory antisemitism training” sessions which “all students, faculty, and staff” must attend.
Parents of students attending Northwestern University rejected the report as an attempt to manufacture positive headlines and mislead the public, most of all the Jewish community.
“The problems at Northwestern are deep. Deep and institutional,” Lisa Fields, founder of Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN), told The Algemeiner during an interview in May.
On Friday, she said Schill’s resignation should be the first of major changes at the university.
“As both a parent and CAAN’s national chair, I know the fear and frustration Jewish families have felt watching Northwestern fail to protect its students,” Fields said. “President Schill’s resignation is a necessary first step, but it cannot be the last. The board’s catastrophic governance shows how far Northwestern has drifted. Chair Barris should step aside, and the board must be restructured. Only sustained federal oversight, dedicated civil rights enforcement, structural reform, and a president with integrity and vision will restore accountability and integrity at Northwestern.”
She added, “CAAN will continue pressing, and partnering, until Jewish students are safe, the university is in full compliance with Title VI, and Northwestern again reflects the accountability and integrity its community, and the nation, deserve.”
CAAN member Geri Cohen, another Northwestern parent, told The Algemeiner that Schill should not be rewarded with another job at the university, arguing that his allowing the maltreatment of Jewish students, not conservative politics, was the primary reason for the disintegration of his administration.
“New leadership is absolutely a step in the right direction of accountability and true leadership at Northwestern,” Cohen said. “However, I’m disappointed in his transition to his faculty position at the law school. I’m also alarmed but not surprised at the media’s response and portrayal that this is due to Trump, the Republicans, and not at all to his epic failure of protecting Jewish students.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.