Teaching the teachers
EDUCATORS can be more instrumental than parents in inspiring students to return to their Jewish roots. That was the message from Rabbi Benjamin Lau, the host of a weekly TV program in Israel, Haaretz columnist, and founder of a number of higher-learning institutions in Israel, when he addressed the Zionist Federation of Australia’s Educators’ Conference this week.
EDUCATORS can be more instrumental than parents in inspiring students to return to their Jewish roots. That was the message from Rabbi Benjamin Lau, the host of a weekly TV program in Israel, Haaretz columnist, and founder of a number of higher-learning institutions in Israel, when he addressed the Zionist Federation of Australia’s Educators’ Conference this week.
Rabbi Lau, who is a vocal campaigner for human rights, told the 350 teachers from across Australia and New Zealand, “More often than not, the key is in the hand of the teacher. A good teacher is the one who sees the right moment, waits for the right situation and uses their skills to guide the student without patronising them or forcing anything on them. A real leader, a true teacher, can change the lives of young students.”
The rabbi, who believes that human rights are core to understanding and practising Jewish faith, founded a beit midrash for religious women in 2000 and another in 2007, which focused on imbuing issues of social justice and current affairs into Torah learning. “My message is that social justice is a central Jewish value, and we should try to return to that focus and share it with the whole society, and that could be achieved through education.”
Another visitor to the conference held at Bialik College, deputy director general of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) Shay Felber, saluted the collaboration of teachers for the “effort, energy and resources” invested in local Jewish education.
Felber unveiled a new program, jointly coordinated by JAFI and ZFA, that will foster partnerships between Australian Jewish schools and Israeli schools.
An ardent supporter of informal education at schools, Felber said the new program will see Australian students team up with Israeli students to learn about their respective lives.
“School twinning will see that the students’ relationship with Israel will be more alive and more personal. It’s one thing to see Israel on a slide show, and it’s another to have a friend in Israel,” he said, citing the success of the shlichut program – through which Israeli representatives come to Australia to help with Jewish education in schools – as evidence for the program’s potential.
ZFA executive director Ginette Searle said the conference, which happens every two years, yields a “collegial” atmosphere among teachers driven by shared goals.
“At the end of the day, the schools have different approaches, they operate for different target markets, but they believe in what they are doing, they believe in imparting Jewish values to Jewish kids and are looking for better ways to do it.”
Issues covered at the conference included Jewish values, Hebrew language, the Shoah, teaching Israel, informal education and technology.
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