Formative Tensions: Old-New Paradigms in Israel Education

This paper provides a response to B. Davis' and H. Alexander's article "Israel Education: A Philosophical Analysis," published in this same issue of the Journal of Jewish Education. The authors provide a valuable conceptual map of six distinctive, sometimes intersecting and sometimes conflicting ideologies and purposes that different educators and educational institutions take in teaching Israel to Jewish learners outside of Israel. They then argue for an educational approach described as Mature Zionism. While their educational strategy appears laudable, it is rooted in a premise that claims the ethical liberalism of many American Jews is incompatible with instilling a rich conception of Jewish life. This paper challenges Davis and Alexander to begin from a more value neutral premise, rather than claiming the ethical liberalism of American Jews as weakness that needs to be corrected by offering alternative paradigms. This paper offers another approach described as "teaching towards ambivalence. While similar in some ways to the framework of value pluralism proposed by Davis and Alexander and Davis, this approach begins with accepting that a wide range of views, understandings, and relationships with Israel are possible in American Jewish life. It also recognizes that a commitment and connection to Israel in a vision for the "good life" is not a prerequisite for rich cultural vitality in liberal American Jewish life.