Rabbi Jacob Pressman Academy of Temple Beth Am – To launch an Israel education program, including new curricula, professional development for teachers, and parent engagement, to foster critical thinking, empathy, and strong Jewish identity amongst the entire school community.

What excites you most about the opportunity to create “Israel education for a new generation”?

We believe it’s our responsibility to ensure that our students—starting as early as kindergarten—are equipped not just with facts about Israel, but with the confidence, clarity, connection, and conviction to engage with its story in an honest and meaningful way. 

What excites us most is developing a curriculum that nurtures resilience, nuance, and intellectual courage from the very beginning. We respect a child’s natural curiosity and encourage them to ask hard, honest questions, ensuring they develop a foundational connection to Israel long before they face the pressures of high school. This allows us to weave Eretz Yisrael (the Land), Am Yisrael (the People), and Medinat Yisrael (the State) into the broader arc of identity formation, transforming Israel education into an inseparable thread of their Jewish development.

How does this program shift from a ‘reactive’ or ‘advocacy-based’ model to one that emphasizes institutional permanence and intellectual resilience?

By establishing a dedicated K–8 Israel Education Department, in addition to our Hebrew and Judaic Studies Departments, we are treating this subject with the same academic rigor and staffing support as Mathematics or Humanities. Our goal is to equip students to engage with Israel’s many complexities and diverse perspectives. By utilizing primary sources and historical case studies, we teach students how to navigate ‘constructive disagreement’ in a safe classroom environment. This prepares them to enter the world not just with a list of talking points, but with the nuance and confidence to distinguish between legitimate political criticism and antisemitism. Ultimately, we are building a foundation of Ahavat Yisrael (love of Israel) that is strong enough to withstand the challenges of a complex, modern world.

What is one curricular component or activity that you find particularly rewarding?

One of the most rewarding components is our 7th-grade historical debate program, which focuses on resolving existential dilemmas from the last 150 years of Jewish history. This activity is the living embodiment of our vision to ‘disagree without disengagement.’ By using primary sources to explore events such as the 1903 Uganda Plan or the 1952 German Reparations debate, students practice perspective-taking without the high emotional intensity of current events. This process is deeply rooted in the Jewish value of machloket (constructive disagreement), teaching students that engaging with multiple viewpoints is a catalyst for personal growth and deeper communal connection.