Israel/Palestine

We will be a community of justice-seeking families who share an understanding that no one is free until everyone is free, who believe that the pursuit of justice, dignity, and thriving for all people is a Jewish moral imperative. We intend for this philosophy to permeate everything we do at our school, but especially in our approach to Israel/Palestine. 

Our community’s relationships to Israel/Palestine will inevitably vary in terms of our familial connections and histories, our knowledge of and involvement in solidarity work, and our different orientations around strategies for paths forward for Israelis and Palestinians. We commit to creating a learning environment that inspires our students to become informed and invested change-makers for collective liberation at home, globally, and in Israel/Palestine.

People

We aim to live by our ancestral teaching of the inalienable dignity of all humankind, as the Mishnah in Sanhedrin teaches, ‘Adam was created alone so that no creature can claim “my father is better than your father”’לְפִיכָךְ נִבְרָא אָדָם יְחִידִי... מִפְּנֵי שְׁלוֹם הַבְּרִיּוֹת, שֶׁלֹּא יֹאמַר אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ אַבָּא גָדוֹל מֵאָבִיךָ (Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5). We work to dismantle all forms of colonialism, racism, ethno-nationalism, and other forms of systemic violence that harmed our ancestors, that continue to harm us today, and that we perpetuate, including in Israel/Palestine. This includes an age-appropriate, honest confrontation with Zionism and the ongoing Nakba against the Palestinian people. In considering accountability, we consider the role of the State of Israel, antisemitism, Western colonialism, Christian imperialism, and the complicity and support of the US government and Diaspora Jews. 

While many in our community have been marginalized by mainstream Jewish life for their political values around Israel/Palestine, our approach to Jewish peoplehood and to Israel/Palestine will not be one that cuts us off from our histories, our people, or the land. On the contrary, we hold true to our ancestral teaching, kol Yisrael arevim/ot zeh ba[zo] (bTalmud Sh’vuot 39a), which enlists us to share in the collective responsibility for the dignity and actions of the Jewish people, including the forty-six percent who live in Israel/Palestine. 

  • Example: One diasporist approach to Yom Ha’atz’ma’ut (Israeli “Independence” Day) might be to act as if it is not happening and treat it like any other week day. Our approach emphasizes the importance of understanding ourselves in relation to the rest of world Jewry. Our students will learn about Yom Ha’atz’ma’ut and other Zionist Israeli holidays, including how they are understood by Israelis and Palestinians, how we understand them as a justice-driven community that stands against colonialism and nationalism, why our school will not celebrate them from a values-perspective, and age-appropriate opportunities to take alternative action toward justice and repair on that day. 

Land

We affirm the profound and unending spiritual and historical significance of the Land of Israel/Palestine, or Eretz Yisrael as it is referred to in our religious contexts, as a holy place to our people across time and space. We also celebrate the deep and rich history of other peoples who have lived there throughout the millennia, and lament that our unique relationship has been used as justification for colonialism and ethnic cleansing. Our Tanakh*curriculum will carefully, critically, and authentically engage with our textual tradition’s orientation to this sacred land, including the morally troubling Tanakh texts about destroying other peoples in order to conquer and settle it.

*canonical collection of Hebrew texts, comprising the Torah, the Nevi’im (Prophets), and the Ketuvim (“Writings”).

  • Example: Some Jewish holidays such as Hoshanah Rabbah and Shemini Atzeret emphasize the biblical, ecological, and profound spiritual significance of rain in Eretz Yisrael. Our students will practice the traditional prayers and rituals associated with those holidays, while also exploring the intersections of water and (in)justice in modern day Israel/Palestine and in our own community of Greater Boston.

Language

Our school will approach the Hebrew language with complexity, thoughtfulness, and intention. Students will learn Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew in order to unlock the ancestral wisdom in our religious texts in their original languages. 

The Hebrew language has continued to develop over millenia through the publication of numerous critical Jewish works, and is recognized as the language that has tethered our people to one another across time and space. 

We also recognize that Modern Hebrew was standardized through the project of Zionism, which harmfully elevated it as the singular and most “authentic” Jewish language, and used to marginalize other Jewish languages, pronunciations, and vernacular. Modern Hebrew will have a right-sized place in our curriculum, in order that our students can still engage with Jews all over the world.  

In addition, our curriculum will expose our students to Modern Hebrew’s ethically complicated history, explore multi-ethnic pronunciations, and experiment with the growing body of work around nonbinary Hebrew conjugations. Students will be exposed to diasporic Jewish languages such as Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic.

  • Example: Diasporic Jewish languages will be integrated into school signage and celebrations of Jewish holidays. They may also be offered as middle school electives. 

Evolving Thinking
As is true with any component of our nascent school, our thinking around this is ever-evolving, with consultation and input from various communities across an array of lived experiences.