It’s harder to talk about Israel when we’re living in an increasingly polarized age. Yet the need to embrace the conversation about Israel and wrestle with all its complexities has never been greater. That’s true for tweens and teens as well.
“I had the feeling that we were doing teens a disservice by not giving a meatier, more sophisticated understanding of Israel,” says Rabbi Melissa Buyer-Witman, Director of Lifelong Learning at Temple Israel of the City of New York.
So when Rabbi Buyer-Witman learned about the Qushiyot Israel Education Fellowship, a program of The Jewish Education Project and funded by UJA-Federation, she knew she wanted in.
Qushiyot, Hebrew for “questions,” is a yearlong fellowship for educators who teach preteens and teens in part-time educational settings at congregations and JCCs in Westchester, Long Island, and throughout New York City. The goal? A new approach to learning about Israel through questions that explore the complexities facing the country today.
The question-based method was developed by Makom, an initiative of the Jewish Agency for Israel.
“Qushiyot gives us permission to have conversations about the realities of Israel,” notes Rabbi Buyer-Witman. “And teens understand that questions are invited.”
The yearlong fellowship also includes individual coaching for educators, workshops in New York, guidance on gaining support from lay and professional leadership, and an eight-day workshop in Israel based around Makom’s question-based method.