Shira was born and raised in Northern Israel. She is the head of the World Language Department (of which Hebrew is one language) at the Jewish Academy of San Diego (SDJA) in California. Shira has worked as an educator since her teen years. Today, she teaches Hebrew on a daily basis to middle and high-school students at SDJA, as well as to adults in an ulpan setting through the SDJA.
Shira left for North America many years ago, but like thousands of other Israelis worldwide, being an Israeli still comprises a big part of her Jewish identity. Studying at the M.A in Melton Centre served as a platform for rethinking and processing the hybrid Jewish American-Israeli identity complex, while becoming a better Jewish educator.
What has changed after you took your studies? How does the M.A affect your professional life?
I find that I have more resources. I look at things from a different perspective, and I have widened my horizons. I learned so much, and I can bring more to my classes. In addition to teaching, I also work with the Israel American Council (IAC) and facilitate the Gvanim program, which is a group of leaders in the Community.
So much of what I learned has become integral to the materials that I use in both classes and Gvanim groups.
Which course influensed you the most?
Dr. Howard Deitcher’s course -” Curriculum and teaching Bible”. He is such an inspiration!
Another course that I really liked was “The Revival of Spoken Hebrew” with Miri bar Ziv. This topic is near and dear to me and although I have always used songs and poems in my teaching, I now use even more!
I also liked courses that which were dealing with Jewish identity.
Why?
My children were all born in the United States and my husband is from South Africa. We also live in an area with one of the highest rates of assimilation and intermarriage. There are obvious challenges keeping traditions and religion.
Learning about the different ways to be Jewish and having discussions with my colleagues, who share the same struggles, was very meaningful and strong. We found that we all share similar thoughts and challenges. It was good to see that we are okay with the hybrid identity. As an Israeli who left Israel 21 years ago, I'm doing much better now - thanks to what I learned. I feel more confident now. This is thanks to the program and the Israel American Council.
What Shira describes seems to resonate with an essay written by Dr. Ruth Calderon, published on Shalom Hartman Institute's blog less than a year ago. According to Calderon, a Jewish thought scholar, Israelis in the USA are starting to compose their own distinct and hybrid form of Jewish culture and identity, transforming from mere "Israelis abroad" to an "American Israeli community." The fact is that Israeli immigrants are no longer a small minority, constituting about 10% of the Jewry in North America.
It seems like more Jews in America are dealing now with questions regarding Israel and their Jewish identity.
Yes, there are lots of complexities. For example, I've been the Israel club coordinator in our school for many years. This year, my supervisor said, "We have to redesign the Israel club." He called everybody to brainstorm. There was criticism that we didn't invest enough in teaching the complexity in Israel - as if we only showed the beautiful side of it.
I have always presented the complexities of Israel. When I talk about Israel, I speak about the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly. We even discuss what we think needs to be changed about Israel. I always tell the students, "You're the new generation. There are things that need to be fixed, and I know you can do it."
Dr. Yakir Englander describes in his blog the characteristics of the new Israeli-American communities as the ability to "take community responsibilities… in everything related to the needs of the Israeli-American Community". A few of the Israeli American Community initiatives support Holocaust survivors and families with low income and invest in Tikun Olam. Moreover, as Englander highlights, "the community is at the forefront when it comes to fighting hatred of Israel and trying to change the discourse around these issues in the United States.". It seems that Shira definitely shares the Israeli-American group's ambitions for changing the public discourse around issues like Israel. She is also full of ideas for initiatives regarding antisemitism and Jewish education.
How do you see the current responsibilities of Jewish educators in America nowadays?
Unfortunately, Antisemitism and Jew-Hatred are on the rise... again. We see it here, in San Diego and it can be seen in many cities around the US. We have never had such a high number of antisemitic events at public schools. I think that we need to address it. We should bring the Jewish educators together and brainstorm on what we can do. We could create sessions about what hate crimes are and what antisemitism and Jew-hatred are. We could go to the public schools and explain why it's not okay.
I believe that education is the key... and that's our responsibility.
sources: