For the past 3 years, prior to coming to Rosenblatt High School, I had the privilege of teaching courses on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, the History of Israel and the History of Zionism and Zionist Thinkers to adults throughout Atlanta. While some of the courses and classes were taught at what I would consider to be a high-level, I realized early on that many of the courses and classes NEEDED to be taught at the intro level. This had nothing to do with my student’s ability to grasp the material...just the fact even though many were involved in the Jewish community and had been to Israel before, they were not particularly knowledgeable about Israel in most of these areas and had never studied in detail these topics. And, when it came to current events, although most were very supportive of Israel and its people, almost all of them got their Israel news from CNN, Fox News or other American media outlets.
I realized that one way to expose them to the Israeli side of the story in an easy way was to share, and suggest, that they visit Israeli news sites with regularity alongside their daily doses of CNN and the like.
Given that we are witnessing an escalation of violence in Israel, with attacks by everyday people against Israeli civilians and soldiers, I think now is yet again a time that American teenagers and adult become more familiar with the news and the stories coming out of Israel by familiarizing themselves with Israeli sites and outlets.
Some recommendations include:
www.mako.co.il (in Hebrew)
Yesterday, we held an Israel Update meeting during lunch, which was attended by about 40 students and faculty members. Rabbi Plotkin, Mr. Carmi and I spoke about different issues - what has led up to this situation most recently and what is actually happening, how we can be supportive and make our voices heard, what is life like for Israelis now - with the goal of education, understanding and empowerment. At the meeting I also shared that one was to become more engaged and knowledgeable is to begin looking at Israeli sites on the internet which provide ongoing news coverage.
If you have ever found yourself in a position where you said, “I Want to Know More About Israel and the Situation Over There But I Don’t Know Where to Start,” I hope now you can begin the journey.
Rabbi Lesack
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