Israel Program for Middle School Students

"Israel Program for Middle School Students held at Yavneh Acdemy"

Yavneh Academy’s seventh graders recently participated in an interactive program, entitled “The Situation that Israel Faces: How Media Portrays Israel in Contrast to What Jewish Tradition and Israeli Leadership Teaches” in which they grappled with Israel’s ongoing situation from Gaza through the lens of a variety of identities. Those identities included the Israeli government; IDF leadership; U.S. Jewish leadership; Egyptian leadership; people in Sderot; the U.S. Congress; and a Gazan family. Yavneh faculty members, Morah Kedmi, Rabbi Schrieber, Mr. Sanders, Mrs. Frankel, Dr. Frohlich and Rabbi Penn led the students in exploring the reactions and decisions that these various identity groups needed to deal with during crises in Israel. In each of the groups, the students uploaded their ideas onto IPads, and then shared their ideas when the whole group reassembled. The program closed with the recitation of “Tefilat Shlom Medinat Yisrael’ and the “Misheberach for Chayalei Tzahal.”

This program was made possible by Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey. It was facilitated by Community Shaliach, Avinoam Segal-Elad, who is also the Director of Federation’s Center for Israel Engagement. The program was designed by Avinoam Segal-Elad along with Minna Heilpern, who is the Director of Teacher Education in Federation’s Jewish Educational Services, in collaboration with Rabbi David Kaminetsky of the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, Rabbi Tavi Koslowe of Yeshivat Noam, Rabbi Steven Penn of Yavneh Academy and Rabbi Akiva Wolk of The Moriah School.

To book this program for your students, contact Avinoam Segal-Elad, avinoams@jfnnj.org or 201-820-3909.

JES Partners with The Lookstein Center for Jewish Education

Four local elementary day schools are part of the Lookstein LIVE project. Minna Heilpern, Director of Teacher Education, learned of the project and brought it to northern New Jersey.  Read more.