Tag: innovation

Our Jewish and Israel Education has failed

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

The last few days I have seen both a friend of mine and a celebrity who are both very publicly Jewish and pro-Israel take a tremendous amount of abuse online for being Zionists. In both instances, it was clarified that being a Zionist means that you support there being a Jewish state of Israel. In both instances, the antisemites decided to change that to something that fit their narrative instead. Being a Zionist meant you were a baby killer. To them it means you are hateful and discriminatory. They define it meaning that you believe in apartheid and murder of civilians. In their definition, Zionism is not racisim, it is Genocide. While being disgusted by the outpouring of public hate, I have become incredibly sad. Sad because our Jewish and Israel education has failed. We have not educated our own youth (and now young adults) about Israel, antisemitism, and Judaism. They don’t know enough to fight back and for many, this lack of knowledge has resulted in them agreeing with those who hate Jews. We have not bothered to make and build partnerships based on education and knowledge. We have failed and the resulting explosion of antisemitism and antizionism is the result.

The saddest part to me is that our Jewish leaders, for the most part, refuse to admit we have failed. They refuse to understand that what we have done for 50 plus years has not worked. The requirement to truly innovate, to bring both Israel and Jewish education into the 21st century isn’t something they are willing to do. They want to put a band-aid on it. Reduce education from 3 days a week when I grew up to 1 day a week because maybe then, parents will send their children and children will be willing to come. They aren’t willing to examine the reason WHY parents don’t want to send their children or the reason WHY children don’t want to attend. The lack of meaningful content. The lack of being challenged. The boring nature of the experience. In a TikTok world, many of our Israel and Jewish educators are living in dialup world.

I intentionally used the words “for the most part” and “many” because there is real innovation happening on a grass roots level. But it needs to be on an institutional level. It needs the backing of the major funders. It needs to be systemic because we are losing far too many people to the lies being told and to the lack of understanding what being Jewish means.

I grew up in a very Zionistic family. Unlike most American Jews, all four of my grandparents went to Israel. My parents and my in-laws have been to Israel. My wife and I have been to Israel. My sister and her husband have been to Israel. My brother and his wife have been to Israel. My aunt and uncle have been to Israel. A number of my cousins have been to Israel. The connection is strong and deep. Growing up, I didn’t think anything of that. It was normal. I have learned over the years that is not normal, that is not common. Yet it should be. We have failed.

Our Jewish schools, both the day schools and religious schools don’t do real Israel studies. They don’t teach the history of Zionism, the history of the modern state of Israel. Students learn Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebeccah, Rachel and Leah. They don’t learn about Herzl, Ben Gurion, Jabotinsky, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, Begin, Sharon or Rabin. They learn about Judah Macabee rebelling against the Hasmonians, but not about how in 1948, a ragtag Israeli army defeated 7 Arab countries who attacked them instead of accepting the partition plan which would have created an Arab state next to the Jewish state of Israel. They learn about Joshua and the walls of Jerico but they don’t learn about Ariel Sharon and the 6 day war or how Israel asked Jordan not to enter the war but they did anyway and lost Judea and Samaria. They teach Torah stories but not Torah learning. Memorizing the stories without understanding how to debate Torah and apply it to their daily lives. The get bored instead of excited. When they get older, they don’t know what it means to be Jewish or have any real information about Israel, other than the Hasbarah talking points they are given.

We don’t teach our children about how Israel left Gaza, removed every Jew from Gaza, relocating entire towns, to give the people of Gaza the opportunity to govern themselves. How the people of Gaza elected Hamas who promptly executed the leaders from Fatah (the PA) and turned Gaza into a terrorist haven. How Hamas took billions of dollars of aid and instead of building a country, built terror tunnels underground to terrorize and attack Israel. They aren’t taught how Hezbollah took over Lebanon from the Christian Lebanese government and turned it from “Paris of the middle east” into a terrorist haven.

It’s time for our legacy organizations to take the lead in changing this. The Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist movement can invest in an engaging curriculum that teaches how to engage with Torah and what it means to be Jewish in a fun and interesting manner. They can ensure there is real Israel content in this curriculum. The Day School movement can ensure that they are including real Israel education in their curriculum and challenging their students to learn how to debate Torah and make sure it is a living lesson, not a dusty scroll.

The TikTok generation gets all their news on social media. Unfortunately, the pro-Israel messages get lost because they aren’t creative, they share too much information to a generation that wants to watch a 30 second video. The piece below is amazing and I hope you read it. It is filled with details and information that most people don’t know. Yet it’s too long and too much reading for the TikTok generation. Until we invest in creative ways to engage them on their terms, we will lose. I can’t imagine my children spending the time to read this post. I wish they would but unless I pushed it, they wouldn’t. They’d watch a series of videos that engaged them though. These type of posts speak to my generation. We have nothing that speaks to the TikTok generation and we are losing them to the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, antisemetic groups because they are more creative and are reaching them, even with lies and distortions.

I’ve had the privilege of seeing all sorts of organizations doing amazing work in bringing Judaism and arguing with Torah to life. Those who teach real Israel education in a compelling manner. The major institutional support isn’t behind them. They are more invested in continuing the status quo than truly innovating and solving the problem. Perhaps the first step is admitting we (and they) have a problem. Fighting antisemitism, Jew hatred, has to start at home. I hope our Jewish legacy organizations wake up before it is too late. The clock is ticking

Creativity throughout Israel

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

I spent this week in Israel with one of my clients, Dror Israel. Dror works with youth in schools, afterschool programs, youth group, and summer camps. It was an amazing four days that both inspired me further with the work they do and also challenged me to ask why we can’t replicate it here in the US. At a time when it’s clear that we have lousy leadership throughout our organizations, local, state, and federal governments, and internationally, why can’t we look to a different model that not only inspires leadership but teaches it. That not only values the individual but also the group. That has proven to work across diverse groups of people. What stops us from actually doing better?

Gary (Dror Israel), me, Irit, Marc, and Michael. My partners and I had an incredible experience with Dror Israel last week.

Here is a great example of what we saw in Israel with a Dror school in Ravid. The students wanted to have a music room. There were two challenges to adding a music room. There was no existing room that could be repurposed for a music room and while there was plenty of room to build a music room, there was no money to build a new music room. Simple, right? In America, this would mean there would simply be no music room. Two good reasons, a lack of creativity to figure out a solution, so the answer is simply ‘no’. Not with a Dror school!

The students wanted the music room so they had to figure out a solution. And figure it out they did! They learned that there were old shuttle buses that used to take people from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion airport that no longer worked. They learned that if they could get one of the shuttle buses to the school, they could have the bus for free. The school has a maker space where they use 3D printing and computer software to design things build in a mdoern ‘wood shop’. What did the students do? They used their technology and what they had available to them to make their own drum set! Problem solved. Solution achieved. There is now an amazing music room, housed in the old shuttle bus, that students use all the time. Imagine if our students, leaders, government, etc. used this type of thinking. Imagine if they were empowered to find solutions to our problems

The old shuttle bus that is now a music room. Pretty ingenious.
Inside the music room/old shuttle bus
The drum set was made by students on campus using their technology. What a great space!

I would love to do something like this at my house to make an art studio for my wife. Put in some air conditioning and she’d have exactly what she wants without having to lose a bedroom in the house, without having to convert our garage and lose that space. Without having to deal with permits and zoning. If you ever see an old bus in my driveway, you will know that I was inspired by the High School students of Ravid and that it is an art studio, not a bus!!

We have so many children struggling in school in the United States and no solutions for them. This was before Covid closed schools for up to 2 years and made it even worse. I was proud when my younger son decided to stay home and go to Community College where he could learn to wake up, do homework, study, and get back into the learning mode without the stress of going away to college. He graduated with his AA Magna Cum Laude and now that he is at a traditional 4-year University, he is doing outstanding academically. He was the minority who made that non-traditional decision. Our education system doesn’t encourage creative thinking or solutions. It doesn’t encourage learning, it is based on test scores.

The Dror schools are based on a different philosophy. Teachers are encouraged to engage students where they are. They are required to listen and learn from their students. They get to know their students as people, not just as test scores. While everybody at Dror is an educator, they play different roles. Listening to those in the classroom talk about their students was enlightening. They knew about their home life. Those who struggled to get to school regularly would get phone calls from their educators every morning to make sure they were awake and coming to school. They call them educators instead of teachers because that’s what they are doing. Educating. Not teaching to a test. Not teaching things to regurgitate on a test when you can simply find the information on your phone when you need it. They are educating them for life. Showing them how to treat people, how to invest in people and relationships. How to succeed in life, not on an exam.

At the school in Ravid, we saw some incredible, creative ways to encourage learning. They have a stable for horses and teach riding. It’s not just riding though. The students are required to do everything for the stables. They get up early to feed the horses. They clean the stables. They rub down the horses. It’s not just a class on horseback riding. It’s a class on life, responsibility, and committment. They teach that joy comes with work. We met Tamar, a wonderful 16 year old young woman there, 16 year. She shared her story with us. She was struggling at a regular school. Nobody paid attention to her. She was lost. She spent too much time out late doing things she ‘shouldn’t have been doing.’ At the Dror school in Ravid, the teachers paid attention to her. She said, “when I need to, I can get up, leave class, smoke a cigarette, and then come back.” Hearing her love for the school and for learning was exciting. She loved the horses but that wasn’t what she wanted to focus on. She told us her goal was to get her certificate in dog training. The school doesn’t just have stables and horses. They have a kennel and an entire dog training curriculum. For those who love animals, they can get a real education in this school and leave with a trade to ensure they have a successful life. Imagine education focused on that instead of test scores to get you into college to get a degree that you can’t find a job with.

Horses in the stables
More horses in the stables

We see this type of thinking in Israel all the time. Tel Aviv was an empty beach 115 years ago. Now it’s a thriving city and one of the world centers of technology and innovation.

A picture of the founding to Tel Aviv. That sand is now a bustling city.

Israel, an agricultural country just 40 years ago, became known as start-up nation in the 2000s. Computer chips, instant messaging and SMS technology, along with medical innovations and much more all come from Israel. Massive use of desalinization to create drinkable water and water for irrigation is Israel. Drip irrigation is Israel.

Warren Buffet famously said, “If you are looking for brains, energy and dynamism in the Middle East, Israel is the only place you need to go.”

He also said, “In industries ranging from software to textiles, Israelis have shown that they have a special genius for devising creative solutions to problems.”

My final Warren Buffet quote is, “Israel has created a miracle in the desert. It is a miracle of creativity and innovation.

Each of these quotes reinforces what the Dror educational model in Israel does. Creative. Innovation. Solutions. Genius. Brains. Energy. Dynamism. Inspired to use their minds to find solutions. To analyze the situation and be creative to find a resolution.

Faced with 150,000 rockets in the north with the Iran proxy Hezbollah threatening, Israel had a real issue to deal with. This was not Hamas with far fewer rockets and far inferior weapons. This was an existential threat. How did Israel address this? On September 17th, the beepers that Hezbollah was using went off and then exploded, killing, injuring, and maiming thousands of terrorists. The next day, the walkie talkies they switched to exploded, killing, injuring and maiming even more terrorists. Their communications network destroyed, their leaders injured, Hezbollah was weakened. Israel targeted their leadership and eliminated them.

Truly weakened, Israel moved in. They began bombing the Hezbollah military sites where these rockets and the rocket launchers were kept. They destroyed rockets and rocket launchers, limiting what Hezbollah can do to attack them.

This doesn’t mean that Hezbollah can’t attack Israel, they can and have. The area around Haifa is under attack tonight however as big as it is, it could have been worse. They still have plenty of rockets. They are now limited. Hezbollah’s main target tonight was the Ramat David air base, where most of the Israeli jets flying into Lebanon have been based. Half of the rockets were intercepted, some direct hits in Nazareth, but no injuries reported thus far. Ramat David air base was not harmed. Israel used creativity, innovation, genius, and boldness to find a solution to the massive amount of rockets on her northern border.

Rockets launched at Israel late Saturday night, early Sunday morning on September 21-22.

To give you context, I was in Acre (Akko), Karmiel, and that area just a few days ago. I was in Nazareth, where this video was taken. Israel isn’t a big country and needs to use their creativity and innovation to stay alive.

Nazareth after Hezbollah rocket attacks tonight

I started by writing about the creative way students got a music room and ended with the creative way that Israel reduced the threat. It is all about creativity and encouraging the use of minds to find solutions. Despite the rockets falling in Israel tonight, Israelis remain undeterred. They know there is a solution for everything when they put their mind to it. This video was from Nazareth, the same place as the fire above, after the rockets fell.

Am Yisrael Chai