The curriculum “To Israel and Back: A Journey to Our Future” utilizes the months before and after a teen trip to Israel to enhance the Jewish identity of participating teens. Designed as nine 1.5-hour learning sessions, it is most effective when implemented in its entirety. The curriculum is intended both for students who participate in a singular community trip as well as for students who embark on different kinds of Israel trips.

In preparing for the trip, students will engage in discussions about Israel today and how the state and its people work to provide a viable, thriving society in a land fraught with opportunities and obstacles.  This section of the curriculum is organized around the five ideas that give Israel its P.O.W.E.R. as a state: its efforts in the areas of People, Organizations, Water and oil, Economy, and Recognition.  The curriculum covers the period from 1880 until today and briefly investigates the Jewish people’s connection to the land over time. For this purpose CIE has created a Pre-Trip Student Workbook and Teacher Guide.

During the trip itself, students will bring with them the Student Journal, in which they will reflect on their experiences.  In their journals, students will also investigate many of the ideas presented in pre-trip sessions in order to explore how Israel came to be the country that it is today.

When students return from their trip, they will grapple with a critical question: “How did the trip to Israel affect me?” Students will examine the relationship between Israel and the United States and between the existence of the State of Israel and their American Jewish identity. This can be found in the Post-Trip Student Workbook and the Teacher Guide.

Explicit provisions are made throughout the curriculum to maximize the experience for the entire family. Two of the nine sessions are family nights, and individual Learning Reports are provided for each lesson so that parents can participate in parallel learning and engage their teens in discussion.

The overall focus of these learning sessions is to help students become better informed, so that when they consider their connections to Israel, they will be able to critically determine the factors that shape each of them as individuals and link their identities to Israel and the Jewish people.  From there, the curriculum introduces to students avenues for developing and expressing these connections, in local communities and beyond.

Testimonials

The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta graciously commissioned our first curriculum to Israel and Back: A Journey to Our Future. In March 2008, Federation President Steve Rakitt provided this assessment.