Jews, Judaism and Israel: A Teachers Guide

Published on November 2, 2011 by Hilary Stiss

On October 27th, the JCRC of Greater Boston organized a booth at the New Hampshire Social Studies Conference to distribute curricular materials about Jews, Judaism, and Israel. Collaborating with leaders of the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire Federation, JCRC distributed only 100 copies of the materials.  JCRC will travel to Portland, Maine on November 4 to participate in a similar conference with the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine.

The teachers who received the curricula were thrilled with their sophisticated, balanced, and accurate presentation of these important topics. Sandra Krumholz of the JCRC reported that as one teacher perused the booth, “She initially felt that the materials were not relevant since she teaches in a Catholic school. But when I showed her the lesson plan addressing the question if Jews are a religious or an ethnic group, she told me she was teaching a course about world religions and that the materials would be very helpful.”

Conference attendees were able to meet Ore Ayah Dagan, the Israeli Shlicha in New Hampshire, who speaks to school groups throughout the state about her experience growing up in Israel. Ore reflected on the conference, “It was a really good experience that allowed me to meet interesting people and make important connections that will be very helpful for the future. I’ve already received emails from some teachers asking me to go to their schools to talk about Israel,” including the Catholic School teacher mentioned above.

JCRC’s presence at these conferences is part of a larger project spearheaded by the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco and its Institute for Curriculum Services (ICS), which disseminates accurate and unbiased instructional materials about Jews, Judaism, and Israel for Grades 5-12. These materials strive to allow teachers to meet state standards. In addition, ICS has noted that some 50% of Jewish children learn about Jews, Judaism, and Israel in public schools rather than through any formal Jewish education.

ICS has partnered with 11 JCRCs representing 15 states or federal districts to disseminate their curricula at state social studies conferences and to build a mailing list of teachers.  Currently, over 1,600 educators across the country have joined the ICS mailing list.  Ben Chalka, ICS Director of Curriculum, says, “Every educator works with many students over many years, so each educator represents many hundreds of students.” 

Rabbi Jim Morgan, Director of Israel and International Partnerships for the JCRC of Greater Boston, said, “We are excited to collaborate with our national and regional partners on this important work.  Teachers have tremendous influence over the attitudes of their students, so providing them with accurate and unbiased materials about Jews, Judaism, and Israel is an effective way to combat antisemitism and misconceptions about Israel.”