March is upon us after a grueling winter observing and analyzing the Israel-Hamas war. Vast divisions have broken open among American Jews that have generational, political and religious dimensions. Unlike any prior war that I can remember, this conflict since October 7 has unleashed a truly existential crisis for world Jewry — a crisis which will take years to understand and a series of ruptures which will take at least a generation to heal.
The rifts that have been exposed are tearing at families, friendships, political alliances, the workplace and campus quads in new, unprecedented ways.
The current crisis and humanitarian disaster is a race against time that has many starting blocks, none of which it seems can be agreed upon by those so deeply divided in their assessment and analysis of this intractable war.
Let’s say one begins with the origins of antisemitism and the rise of Zionism; the response of Arab leaders and governments to the introduction of Jewish aspirations to build a national home in the land of Israel; diplomatic engagement with the Ottoman Empire, Arab and European nations and the United States — all comprise a vast sea of contention among even the most reputable and sober academics and observers.
Or perhaps one begins at any point along the way — from 1947 and 1948 with the War of Independence and the Nakba; or the Suez Crisis, the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the Lebanon War; Intifada I and Intifada II; Oslo and the Rabin Assassination; Camp David; the Gaza Disengagement and Hamas Wars that followed; increased and unchecked Israeli settlement of the West Bank; an increasingly extreme Israeli government coupled with a corrupt Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and a vile, racist and by charter genocidal Hamas government in Gaza; persistent Palestinian hopelessness and a divided and distracted Israeli populace furious with its government. And then October 7, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, followed by a relentless and brutal campaign to eradicate Hamas which has created mass death, famine conditions and the desperate need to reach a ceasefire, return hostages and against all odds, create the space to rebuild conditions for peace.
The tallest of orders for any diplomat or reputable, seasoned veteran of politics in the past century, no doubt.
Now let’s say you’re a Jewish summer camp director and you have anywhere from one to eight weeks to address this conflict amidst the educational challenges and goals you set for yourself in this vital arena for Jewish identity development. It ain’t easy.
Which is perhaps why I was so annoyed recently by the Forward’s decision to print an nameless oped by Jewish parents to their nameless summer camp regarding their concern over how Israel would be taught to their child this coming summer.
Before sending our daughter to camp, we talked about whether or not she and the worldview with which we have raised her would be welcomed. We worried that she would hear messages we believed to be harmful and one-sided.
As former campers and staff members, we learned at camp that Israel was quintessential to Jewish identity and peoplehood; that it was a safe haven for Jews and the ultimate place to experience Jewish history, language and culture. We learned that it was a place of delicious food and fun dancing.
We never learned, until after our time at camp, that in the process of creating the state of Israel, Jews killed many thousands of Palestinians and displaced at least 700,000 from their homes.
We never learned that while Jews fly flags and sing HaTikvah on Yom HaAtzmaut — Israel’s independence day — millions of Palestinians mourn the day as a tragedy in their people’s history.
We never learned that since the founding of Israel, the nation has created and sustained oppressive and untenable conditions for Palestinians; both for Palestinian citizens of Israel who face systemic discrimination, and for Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza whose prospects for living out their dreams are limited in ways we can barely begin to fathom.
Read the full oped HERE.
There is this propensity among some observers to blame Jewish education in the United States for the ills that have befallen Palestinians as the result of Jewish self-determination and wag a finger of self-righteousness at educators, day school principals and camp directors for not folding in to their curricula an analysis of and solution for this agonizingly unresolved conflict.
But despite the good intentions of these parents in raising their kids, their cowardice in not identifying themselves or their kid’s camp helps no one and turns a genuine desire to support sound learning into a generalized screed against the Jewish establishment — as if a unified Jewish establishment actually exists — and namelessly puts forward its own pious virtue signaling when actual educators are making complex, highly developed plans for camp this summer.
My response, written crankily, is below:
To the editor:
As a rabbi who has served Jewish communities for nearly 30 years and who raised three children in Hebrew school, youth group and Jewish camping — and most importantly, a Jewish home — I was appalled to read the facile oped by Anonymous entitled “Dear Jewish summer camps: It’s time to tell our children the truth about Israel and Palestine.”
Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.
While written without attribution purportedly to protect the identity of the authors’ Jewish child, the piece addresses no particular camp, no particular movement and no particular ideology, but rather traffics in platitudes and accusations which belie the complicated work that innumerable Jewish summer camps actually engage in while teaching about Jewish identity, language, history, religion culture — and yes, Zionism, Israel and Palestine.
Why didn’t the opinion writer interview camp directors, counselors and campers? This opinion piece traffics in generalities, lacks critical self-examination and assumes, without evidence, that the author’s own Jewish camp experience — which lacked a balanced view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — was the same across the board for anyone sending their kid to camp.
A brief and honest survey of the major movements’ camp curricula, along with camps on the Zionist left, center and right, would reveal a nuanced and complex educational landscape when it comes to teaching children about the intractable, violent and as yet unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Thousands of innocent Israelis and Palestinians have been brutally killed in this horrific war. The maddening hubris of Anonymous to hide behind their righteous hopes belies their own failure to simply leave the comfort of their bubble, talk to their kid’s camp director and take responsibility for their own child’s education. What does it say in the Torah? “You shall teach them to your children.” (Deuteronomy 6:7)
That mitzvah is personal, not Anonymous.
I hope to convene a round table of camp directors and educators in the coming weeks and host a conversation around this question in later posts. Stay tuned.
Yes !!!
well stated Andy ...