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Education after October 7: Essays about Teaching and Learning in the Jewish Diaspora is the first book dedicated to exploring how the October 7, 2023, terror attacks affected teaching and learning about Israel in the Jewish diaspora. The first three sections of the edited volume bring together quantitative, qualitative, and ethnographic research conducted at schools and camps by scholars from a diverse set of disciplines. These studies consider the perspectives and experiences of learners, parents, teachers (North American and Israeli), and camp directors and counsellors to reveal how terror and war necessitated changes in teaching and learning. The concluding section of the volume contains three chapters that offer educational models that chart new directions for the future of Jewish and Israel education.
“Much has been written about the effects and aftermath of Oct 7th on Jewish life globally. Far less has been written about the experiences of Jewish educators and Jewish education. Anyone seeking to understand how this world-shaping moment in Jewish and world history has meaning and implications for Jewish education should read this book. Matt Reingold has brought together many of the key Jewish educationalists and thinkers from Israel and the diaspora to grapple with research-based, pedagogical responses to personal and collective trauma. This book helps us to understand teacher and student perspectives, as well as the impact on schools, informal programmes, and community-led initiatives. Reingold and his colleagues explore morally complex narratives with honesty and ethical rigour. This book is an invaluable insight into a hugely challenging time.”
—Dr. Helena Miller, Director of Post-Graduate Degrees; Senior Research Fellow, London School of Jewish Studies
"This timely volume confronts the challenges and explores the opportunities of teaching about Israel, post-October 7, in a variety of Jewish educational settings. While it is impossible to know whether the book's foundational premises will withstand the test of time, there is little doubt that educators, parents, policy-makers, and researchers will find the essays, by turns, thoughtful, insightful, inspiring, and possibly unsettling. In short, a helpful addition to the Jewish education bookshelf."
—Dr. Jonathan Krasner (he/him), Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Associate Professor of Jewish Education Research
“Education after October 7 captures the complexity of a watershed moment in Jewish life. The contributors face the fear, grief, and complexity of teaching after tragedy, and also set out to foreground the creativity and resilience that emerged in Jewish classrooms and camps around the world. At once a snapshot of a turning point and a guide for the future, this collection is essential reading for educators, scholars, and all who care about how Jewish communities teach, learn, and endure after tragedy.”
—Jonah Hassenfeld, Director of Learning and Teaching at Schechter Boston
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Matt Reingold
Section One: Worries and Anxieties: The Voices of Students, Parents, and Children
“A lot of horrible things have happened”: Jewish Children’s Beliefs about October 7 and Its Aftermath
Sivan Zakai and Lauren Applebaum
Trauma Reach and Response: Teacher and Parental Reports of the Impact of October 7 and School Programming on North American Jewish Day School Students
Rona Novick and Jennifer Isaacs
Collective Trauma, Resilience, and Jewish Education: How German Jews Navigate Life after October 7
Maor Shani, Jana Gerber, and Marie Herb
Section Two: Pedagogical Innovations: Teaching Anew after October 7
Rethinking Innocence and Building Resilience: Early Childhood Jewish Educators’ Responses to October 7
Meir Muller, Lyndall Miller, and Alana Rifkin Gelnick
Teaching Palestinian Perspectives and the Pedagogy of “History Empathy”
Benji Davis
Teachers’ Identities in Transition: Hebrew Education in Light of October 7 and the Aftermath
Vardit Ringvald and Sharon Schoenfeld
Section Three: Teaching about Home: Israelis Abroad
The Impact of the October 7 War on Emissary Teachers—Shlichim: A Study of Pedagogical Adaptations, Non-Formal Educational Initiatives, and Community Interactions in North American Jewish Schools in 2024–2025
Michal Shapira Junger
“Can we talk about it?”: Implementing Israel Education during Wartime at Jewish Summer Camps
Tal Vaizman
Testifying to October 7: Israeli Voices and Experiences at North American Jewish Overnight Camps
Matt Reingold
Section Four: After October 7: The Future of Jewish Education
Meeting the Challenges of the Moment: How to Think about the Purposes of American Jewish Education after October 7
Jon A. Levisohn
Solidarity, Criticism, and Complexity: Jewish Educators Responding to Difficult Times
Ezra Kopelowitz
Beyond Tinkering: Adjustments to Israel Education in the Aftermath of October 7
Alex Pomson and Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath
Conclusion
Matt Reingold
Contributors