Loving the Real Israel: An Interview with Dr. Alex Sinclairf (from e-RAVSAK newsletter)
“Ultimately, we need to have faith in the subject matter: Israel. We need to have faith that if we teach Israel’s beguiling, intricate complexities, being honest about its flaws as well as its wonders, our students will love it.”
In his forthcoming book, Loving the Real Israel, Dr. Alex Sinclair addresses the very real challenges that arise when confronting the modern state of Israel. Day schools are places that celebrate Israel, teach about our historical and contemporary connections to the land and people of Israel, and often bring our students to visit Israel to make those teachings come to life. But Israel today is a complicated, messy country, and it can evoke feelings in all of us that go beyond love, pride and awe. How do we teach students about the many sides of Israel? How do we acknowledge the more troubling aspects of Israeli society while preserving our students’ feelings of deep connection to our ancient-modern homeland?
Click here for an interview with Dr. Sinclair that conveys some of the book’s main arguments and offers some suggestions for how day schools can create an environment to develop a love and appreciation for Israel and its complexities.
Towards A Theory of Practice for Conducting Services
Resources to learn about Conservative Judaism
1 – Rabbi Bradley Shavit-Artson, “Conservative Judaism: Covenant and Commitment”
A “tri-fold pamphlet”
http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/story/conservative-judaism-covenant-and-commitment?tp=178
2 – Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Conservative Judaism: Our Ancestors to Our Descendants
Publisher: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; Revised Edition. edition (1998)
3 – Rabbi David Golinkin, “Halakhah for Our Time: A Conservative Approach to Jewish Law”
Publisher: United Synagogue Book Service (March 1992)
http://www.amazon.com/Halakha-For-Our-Time-Conservative/dp/0838131131
4 – Neil Gillman, Conservative Judaism
Publisher: Behrman House (July 1, 1993)
MaToK Bible Curriculum
MaToK is the Torah Curriculum of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Department of Education and the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Melton Research Center. Read more »
E-Newsletter Archive
The Schechter Day School Network sends out e-newsletters occasionally. See archive »
Mekor Hayyim
The Schechter Day School Network has published source book on water and Judaism, Mekor Hayyim, (the Source of Life) developed and compiled by Rabbi Lawrence Troster. This book contains biblical, rabbinic and modern texts and citations that can be used in diverse ways for teaching and learning, and applied in a wide variety of settings, such as day school classrooms, student environmental initiatives, Shabbatonim, youth groups and summer camps.
Read more »
School Documents
Member schools of the Schechter Day School Network often find it useful to consult documents that appear in the Parent and Student Handbooks or Faculty Resource Guides and Board of Trustees Handbooks of other schools in the Schechter network. We post samples from schools that have generously sent their statements in the spirit of collegial and collaborative sharing.
Read more »