When I think about the two years I spent doing field research with Jewish educators across North America on the value of conflict education-an educational practice focused on engaging with and educating about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict-I think about one memorable educator whom I'll call Maya.
A teacher at a Jewish day school in California, Maya was unwavering in her dedication to teaching about the conflict. She was also committed to respecting its complexity.
"If we are trying to build an affinity of a connection between Diaspora American Jews and Israel… it does a disservice to teach a narrative that is one-sided, or rosy, or covers up some of the more controversial aspects of the conflict. To give students context and information they can use, so they can make meaning out of it, is hugely important," she said.
And yet, when I asked Maya to describe on a scale of one to ten-with one being uncomfortable and ten being very comfortable-her own comfort level with engaging in conflict education, she hesitatingly gave it a three. Her response illustrates the paradox at the heart of teaching about the conflict today. Despite an overwhelming commitment to conflict education, and a belief in its importance and urgency for their learners, many Jewish educators still expressed significant reticence about teaching it.
It is precisely this puzzle that motivated me to identify the barriers preventing educators from fully engaging with one of the most important topics impacting the Jewish community. I discovered-through speaking with educators from across North America representing a range of backgrounds and roles, everywhere from day schools and synagogues to Federations and Hillels-is that they are all facing similar barriers to entry.
In fact, I have identified four distinct, yet interrelated, areas of reticence that Jewish educators encounter in this field. Each barrier presents unique challenges for educators, and, in turn, requires a different kind of preparation to enable educators to confidently enter this politicized area of conflict education.
The first three are: feeling ill-equipped to teach the conflict itself; feeling unprepared to handle the intense conversations or the big emotions the subject elicits; and feeling uncertain how to teach the complexities of Israel while still transmitting love and respect for it.
As for the fourth, all of the educators I interviewed expressed concern about their community members' reactions to engaging in conflict education altogether. They mentioned feeling unsupported by their institutions, under pressure by parents or community leaders, or both.
The bottom line is that Jewish educators-otherwise so rich in knowledge, experience, and expertise-feel so lacking when it comes to engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet, the need to understand and discuss the conflict is even more crucial in a post-10/7 world with significant attention given to Israel.
While the challenges are indeed formidable, they are not insurmountable. Through robust educational offerings, educators can feel more prepared to understand, and convey, the ever-evolving complexities of Israel. These trainings can better prepare educators to navigate emotions in the classroom and facilitate difficult conversations.
Such education can effectively address the first three barriers to engaging with the conflict: knowledge, pedagogy, and emotions.
These interventions are necessary, but insufficient without addressing the fourth barrier-communal pressures and institutional support. We must create a system, and environment, that allows Jewish educators to have difficult, and at times uncomfortable conversations with their students, and to know that they are supported in this work by their institutions and the broader community.
This is hard work, and sacred work. Especially in this moment, Jewish educators need to know that we have their backs, and we need to foster a system that supports this kind of deep, open, and meaningful discussion.
Dr. Keren E. Fraiman is Dean/Chief Academic Officer and Professor of Israel Studies at Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago. Her article, "Barriers to Entry: Exploring Educator Reticence for Engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," upon which this article is based, earned her the 2025 Ilia Salita Excellence in Research Award, presented by the Jewish Funders Network.
