Israel

Jen Schiffer

ECC Director

The Community Synagogue, Port Washington, New York

As early childhood Jewish educators, the perspective from where we teach about Israel has been forever changed since the events of October 7^th, 2023. Presently, it is impossible to separate Israeli history, the land, and the people, without considering how the current war fits into the puzzle. It is no doubt a complicated puzzle; one that is not easily solvable.

Visiting Israel recently with a delegation of early childhood Jewish educators and directors, I was struck by the layers of complexity that define the country and the current situation. I came away with a feeling of responsibility to share my experience with others. The challenge is how to do this. 

As directors, our educators look to us to lead, to guide, and to inspire. This is a responsibility that I feel has taken on even more significance since October 7^th. In Israel, we visited schools, spoke with early childhood educators and community members, and learned first-hand about how their lives have changed in the last 17 months since the attacks. The overwhelming theme I heard from relatives of fallen soldiers, parents and siblings of hostages, from teachers working in communities where family members are fighting in Gaza is this – the Jewish people have a history of resiliency and hope. The words “We will dance again,” remain present in my mind in the days since I returned home from my trip. I heard and sensed a feeling among the people with whom we spoke; they take care of one another. Strangers become friends and these friends become family. Shabbat continues to come every week, a new week begins, and life moves forward. 

I profoundly understand that returning “home” is a privilege. What many once considered “home” in Israel no longer exists. And yet…Israel and its people continue to act, to share stories, and to live. This is what I believe is a thread that connects Israel’s past to its present, and its future. Israeli history is fraught with conflict and peace, victory and defeat, sadness and fear, and stories and perspectives. 

We need to keep talking, to keep unpacking what we know to be true and to continue asking questions. Our learners depend on us to show them the way. In early childhood education, we have songs & colors, and images to share. We can tell stories, share rituals, and remind our students that as much as we are different, we are connected. Day after day, the flowers still bloom and Israel continues to exist, with hope for better days to come. 

Eli Ilan was a tour guide for many of us during our ECE-RJ trip to Israel in 2018. He recently wrote of a former participant on another trip, and how she had begun posting misinformation, even as the purpose of “…her college trip was geared towards exploring the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”  This misinformation shared more and more posts condemning Israel with absurd accusations.  Eli said, “It hit me hard. She's been here. She knows me and other Israelis. How can she think that way about us?

Here is his response to her, and his request, that “… my message needs to be shared with everyone. Everyone who feels blindsided.  it's time to wake up before it’s too late.”

Eli’s response is hard to read, but necessary for us all. It is in his words, and unedited.

“Hi *****, thanks for thinking of me. It breaks my heart to see the posts and stories showing support for the murderous terrorists of Hamas with abrupt lies (the equivalent of 2 nuclear bombs? What does that even mean?) and complete oversight of the horrific massacre brought upon hundreds of innocent Israelis on October 7. Not to mention the 240 kidnapped men, women, children, and infants!

The attacks in Gaza would cease if only Hamas cared about the innocent Palestinians in Gaza and let the hostages go. They do not do so. On the contrary - they shoot their civilians trying to head to the south of the Gaza strip where Israel (yes, Israel, the attacked side) has organized a safe place for them to go - with food, water, and shelter - because they want this war to keep going. Until when? Until the world, that doesn't realize what's truly happening (or doesn't want to realize, because it's the Jewish state… good old-fashioned antisemitism), will put pressure on Israel to ceasefire leaving the situation unresolved neither for Israelis nor innocent Palestinians, and of course painting a picture showing Israel as the aggressor, the bully that had to be constrained. Not anymore. For the people of Israel and the innocent people of Gaza.

 Nobody likes war but this one is inevitable. Hamas is the bully, and they are using the discourse of human rights to get the liberal West to condemn Israel while denying those rights to their people. The hypocrisy is painful. And it's devastating to see that this tactic works for them. Even with people who have been here, and met Israelis like myself... do you think we, the Israelis, myself included would stand for a merciless bloodhound the way it is presented on media/social media? That makes me so sad.

 Hamas has vowed to destroy the State of Israel. It is on their charter, look it up. They will stop at nothing until they obtain their goal. They took over the Gaza Strip after Israel completely withdrew from there in 2005 and invested all the money that went into the strip in digging tunnels under schools and hospitals to use as underground command centers and getting weapons. Their whole operation is geared toward the annihilation of Israel. How would you act if you had neighbors across the border, 2 miles away, who were set to destroy you and your people at all costs?

Israel is perceived as the representative of the West by the extreme Islamic bodies in the Middle East. They refer to us, Israel, as "the little devil", and to you, the US, as "the big devil" (look it up, very common phrases in the Middle Eastern local media). This is what the West doesn't get - that after Israel, comes Europe, the US, and anyone with a Western set of values like democracy, equality, and (real) human rights.

 Please pray for justice and for the world to wake up and come to its senses. Best of luck to us all. “

Eli Ilan

Tour Guide

Israel Experience

Dale Dides Coomperman

Director of Early Childhood Education

Congregation Albert Early Childhood Center

Albuqerque, NM

A Story About Values, About Israel, and Israeli Early Childhood Centers During the War

This week I went to help create early learning centers for displaced families in Israel with an incredible volunteer organization called Brothers and Sisters for Israel. While there, I shared a Zoom link and went live every hour for several minutes to provide educators from the United States and Canada with a sneak peek to see in real-time what has been happening these days in Israel, and how pop-up schools are being created.
 

The connection between Israel and our nation in the diaspora is very important to me and I feel privileged that my role in Remini continues to enable me to further these connections, as well as to create bridges. It adds a lot of value to what I do, and I feel it is a shlihoot (mission) of mine.
 

Stacey Gabriel, from Temple Beth Avodah in Newton, Massachusetts, joined one of the live sessions I did while creating the pop-up schools. I am honored to be asked to share about it in the ECE-RJ newsletter. I have so many stories to share related to what is happening with preschools in Israel during this time.
 

Before I begin, I want to highlight what I believe is at the core of what is happening in Israel right now, which is centered around the values of accountability, responsibility for one another, solidarity, taking initiative, creativity, and taking control of our destiny (one of the fundamental principles in a democratic culture). As I am writing this, I feel the tears starting to fall.
 

These values are being reflected throughout the country in so many ways. Here are just a few examples:

• I recently had a conversation with Hagit, a preschool teacher in one of the pop-up preschools for displaced families in Tel Aviv. Hagit shared with me that she left her job as a university education professor to be a preschool teacher at the pop-up school. I did not ask, but I am assuming she chose this path without a salary. 
• On the way to the funeral of a soldier who died, I observed residents of the city lined up from the house of the family to the cemetery, with Israeli flags to show solidarity, honor, and respect. 
• I spoke with Reut, a volunteer responsible for a certain area in Israel, where she is taking care of all the displaced families' needs in this area (each area has its own designated volunteer). One of her recent projects was to provide refrigerators and washing machines to them.
• Omri, a person of strength and someone close to me, left his wife and small child to fight in the reserves, after losing his brother only several weeks ago.
• Attending the Shiva of a family that lost a loved one with the understanding that it is a very small family, and they need to feel the love and support all around them.

As you can imagine I can go on and on and on and on….

Those values are also reflected strongly in the early childhood community through the creation of pop-up preschools for displaced families. These pop-up preschools would not be possible without the organization Brothers and Sisters for Israel, established on October 7th, 2023. They are an amazing group of volunteers who support and work to fill all the needs and gaps related to the war. Right now, displaced families face many challenges, one of which is the ability to receive early childhood services. Brothers and Sisters for Israel have created a division under their umbrella whose sole purpose is to create high-quality early childhood services for the displaced communities. This group includes incredible leaders (all volunteers), who have been working from the beginning of the war, to accomplish this goal. This group continues to receive many requests for needed pop-up preschools. I have been honored to join this group as a volunteer to help create these preschools. 
 

The following is a window into what it is like to create one of these pop-up preschools. Before establishing a new preschool, a lot of preparation work is done. This begins with understanding the space inside the hotels that the hotels can offer, and how to make them suitable for the children’s needs. For example, one hotel allocated several regular rooms. In each room, a different learning center was created, and the children would rotate between the different rooms. The next steps include designing what each classroom will look like (volunteer architects and pedagogists are doing this), and understanding what equipment must be ordered for each classroom, age group, etc.
 

Once this is all done, it is time to start doing the physical work of putting the preschools together. These creation days begin with sorting the equipment each preschool location will get and driving in the volunteers by minibus. Volunteers include people of all ages, ranging in age from early 20s through 80s. After the volunteers were assembled, we split up into different locations. Usually, multiple preschools are created at the same time. In each location, the architect who created the design is the head manager, and in each classroom, there is a “manager.” My job includes doing whatever is needed, e.g. carrying equipment, transferring equipment, organizing equipment, or putting together classroom equipment like desks and strollers for the dolls.
 

While volunteering, I get a better understanding of the situation. I have the opportunity to speak with the displaced families and understand where they are from, and where they are currently living. In many cases, an entire family gets one room, which is not easy. Some were moved as a community, and some as individuals. The most rewarding part is seeing their faces when the work is completed! This makes all the difference.

I want to conclude with a children's song that is taught here in early childhood centers and reflects exactly what I wrote about. We are all building Israel together.

My land of Israel is beautiful and flourishing.

Who built and who planted it?

We all did it together!

The song on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2cjj9IRfqg

Raz Wasserstein

Owner of Remini
 

A year ago, when news of the attacks on Israel unfolded, I found myself in disbelief. In the time since, I’ve realized how it’s had a profound impact on families, parents, and educators. Though it’s been a year, I still grapple with the same questions I had on Oct. 7^th; and I wonder, how can we move forward in these uncertain times? 

As a parent, educator and preschool director, I know that children learn by example.  I know that through our actions and words, during this year of war and always, children still take their cues from us.  But some things have changed.

So, what is different? What has changed?

Our love for Israel and the Israeli people has only grown stronger. Through social media feeding us constant reminders of the war and hostages, from colleagues and families sharing updates of loved ones abroad, we are connected to one another in our care and concern.  Regardless of what we hear and see from and about Israel, as educators, we have a job to do. 

In the last year I have come across a myriad of resources and support guiding educators about how to talk to children about the conflict in Israel. At our Jewish preschool, we face the challenge of balancing how we talk about Israel with the realities of the situation at large. We do not talk about Hamas, or the war, or the extent of the violence in the area. Instead, we talk about the beauty of Israel, its customs, people and history. We share stories and pictures. We play “Hatikvah.” We sing “Am Yisrael Chai.” Through our actions and our words, we rise above. We lift each other up in song and in prayer and in meaningful, age-appropriate lessons for our young learners.

Jewish pride: Through values-rich stories, we remind our preschoolers that the Jewish people have deep, remarkable history rich in tradition. 

Connection to Israel: We teach our students about Israeli culture: geography, foods, and traditions through stories, pictures, video, and regular connections with preschools in Israel.  

The Israeli flag: We connect with the Israeli flag, whose identification is made easy with the colors blue and white and the distinctive elements of the flag — the magen David, flanked by two blue stripes.  Just as we draw Jewish stars, hang the Israeli flag in our classrooms and wear blue and white to symbolize our support, taking time to make our own flags is another way to remind one another of our strong Jewish identity. 

Friends helping friends: We remain committed to modeling to children how we all do our part to help. We bring in tzedakah to donate to our friends in Israel, choose which organizations to donate funds that we have raised together, and remind our students that their contributions matter. 

Connection to the global Jewish community: We celebrate Shabbat every Friday as a reminder that no matter what is going on around us and afar, Shabbat connects us to Jewish people all over the world. We add a special prayer for Israel and know we are not alone. 

More than a year later, while so much has changed, our love, commitment and support of the children and Israel has not. It is for us, the educators, to remind us all of what is possible for our future. We are in this together, and we pray for peace.

Jen Schiffer, Director

The Community Synagogue

It has been one year following October 7^th. Israel has yet to calm down. There is still a war in Gaza, threats from Hezbollah and Iran, and we still need our hostages back. 

This time period is filled with so much unknown. The situation here in Israel feels precarious, changing every day, much like the situation with Hezbollah and Iran. 

Life feels differently with each of us. Our experiences are different and we respond in kind to moments of uncertainty. People have family members in the army, fighting in Gaza, and their absence has turned entire families upside down. Personally, I have a close friend who lost their life in Gaza while serving in the Reserves. His family, a wife and three young children, and the extended family is struggling to recuperate and process this loss. He is just one example. There are countless stories affecting families across Israel.  

Many families are still experiencing displacement. As of June 2024, 143,000 people in Israel are still living as evacuees, with 68,500 from the north and 74,500 from the south per government mandate. Many of these families have been living in hotels since the start of the war. There are also many families who were not forced to evacuate, but left voluntarily because they did not feel secure. 

Israeli preschools have been displaced throughout all of this turmoil, as well. Many Israeli communities have come together to create pop-up preschools in hotels and temporary communities, with the help of many volunteer workers. The upcoming weeks are expected to be hectic with volunteer organizations creating additional pop-up preschools in the north and south. 

We await the moment when life is normal. 

I am optimistic.

I recently met a lady from Greece that told me that, with all going on, she feels Israelis are happy, traveling, working. I know it is a generalization, but I agree. I wake up happy, with energy, and with passion to act, create, and enjoy life to its fullest.

I attached the words and music to a joyful Israeli song that is taught in preschools here at Rosh Hashanah.

“Wait and see, wait and see,

How good it will be

Next year, next year.”

Words, Song

By Raz Wasserstein