Why We’re Sending Educators to Israel Now

Jewish educators need to be on the ground in Israel, immersing themselves in the situation alongside their Israeli counterparts.

Over the course of only a few months since the start of 2024, our respective organizations—the iCenter and the Jewish Education Project—have facilitated educational travel experiences in Israel for more than 300 North American Jewish educators.

These educator experiences in Israel were led by The iCenter and The Jewish Education Project in partnership with M², UpStart and the Jewish Agency for Israel. Partner organizations included the Foundation for Jewish Camp, Prizmah, Upstart, RootOne and the Reform Jewish Educators’ Mission run by ARJE and the HUC-JIR School of Education. These experiences were generously funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Maimonides Fund, the One8 Foundation and the UJA Federation of NY.

One of the accomplishments of this initiative has been the ability to bring together a diversity of educators who work in a broad range of settings. These include many aspects of the Jewish educational ecosystem: summer camps, day schools, youth movements, synagogues, JCCs, engagement organizations, academic institutions and Israel travel programs.

Read the full piece in Jewish News Syndicate.

Anne Lanski is CEO of The iCenter. David Bryfman is CEO of The Jewish Education Project.