Israel

Dear FJECC Families, 

In 2015, I had the opportunity to travel to Israel as a fellow in the third cohort of JECELI - the Jewish Early Childhood Education Leadership Initiative. Making our way across this remarkable place through the lens of early childhood education was a unique, inspiring and memorable experience.

We visited preschools at Moshav Gan Ner, Kibbutz S’de Eliyahu (birthplace of the JunkYard playground), Levinsky College (founded in 1912 and the first teachers college in Israel to teach in Hebrew), Kehilat Kol Haneshama (a reform congregation in Jerusalem) and so many other places that gave us glimpses into Israeli life in general, and to early childhood education specifically.

This trip - the third of three trips I have made to Israel - enhanced my understanding of Israeli culture, of its values, of the experiences of educators, and, of course, the lives of families with young children. As much as I learned about Israel, I learned more about myself. That trip cemented my own connection to Israel - as a place I am curious about, feel connected to, feel responsible for sustaining and to which I long to return.

This week Israel celebrated the 75th anniversary of its establishment as a Jewish State. Israel is a complex conversation, a vibrant and exciting journey, a mosaic of cultures and traditions, a volatile political experience. It is also a place where people live their daily lives much as we do. Parents are working and their children are in school. It was meaningful to visit and to observe the ways in which Israeli society supports that, the ways in which schools value children and their drive to learn, the ways in which teachers both teach and learn. Some things were very different (teacher/child ratios, universal access to state-funded education from age 3) and some things were very similar (the challenge of making learning accessible for diverse learners, managing different approaches to curriculum, etc.).

At FJECC, our learning about Israel is and will continue to be about finding ways to make a connection with the land and the people who live there. We will strive to understand what it looks, sounds, feels, smells and tastes like. In our hallway, we will post our questions about Israel and share what we know about Israel - and we invite you to, as well. 

Shabbat Shalom, 

Amy