Remote trauma: Jewish students worldwide respond to war in Israel - opinion

Leading academics convened in Jerusalem last month to examine the challenges faced by Jewish educators in Israel and Jewish communities worldwide since October 7. The conference, co-sponsored by the Melton Centre for Jewish Education at the Hebrew University and Herzog College, focused on the values that Jewish day schools give their students, since they are usually the main community hub where kids learn to interact with one another.

The conference opened on Tuesday, May 28, with an online Zoom session titled “How American Jewish Children Think About October 7 and its Aftermath.” The opening presentation by Dr. Sivan Zakai and Dr. Lauren Applebaum from the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC) in Los Angeles drew on their current research project, “Learning and Teaching about What Matters.” They described how children in American Jewish schools and their teachers are responding to the events of October 7, the hostage crisis, the war, and rising antisemitism.

The HUC survey was carried out in 10 Jewish day schools and supplementary schools associated with progressive synagogues in California. In response to questions asked in November 2023 and April 2024, the children expressed deep concern about the conflict raging in Israel. They said that they care about what happened on October 7 because they feel that Israel is the home of the Jews and because they have family in Israel.

Experiencing remote trauma

The children, aged 9-11, said they feel scared and worried; they’re interested in the news, although emotionally concerned about its impact. They know about the atrocities carried out on October 7, and they are particularly upset about Hamas’s attacks on civilians because they clearly understand that this is wrong.

Many of those interviewed knew details of the child hostages, and they were upset on both an emotional and an ethical level. They spoke about imagining themselves being kidnapped.

Zakai and Applebaum described the remote trauma that children experienced from watching events unfold on October 7 and since. Witnesses to far-away violence who are physically safe, they nonetheless expressed surprising levels of emotional anxiety.

The morality of war

The American students interviewed expressed strong moral outrage about civilians being kidnapped by Hamas, especially children and elderly people, and some expressed deep concern about the impact of the war on Palestinian civilians and especially on children in Gaza. The researchers noted their views about the morality of war in general and the early development of attitudes to Israel’s right to defend itself. 

Perhaps surprisingly, the children surveyed did not express major concerns about antisemitism closer to home. When asked to list the problems in the world that they worry about, climate change ranked higher than antisemitism in America.

The importance of listening

The study included interviews with teachers who were interested in hearing what their students thought about the war. It was noticeable that teachers reacted differently to the children whose views differed from their own, often dismissing them as repeating what they heard from their parents and what they saw online. Zakai and Applebaum suggested that educators need to make space for their students’ ideas and respond accordingly.

Following their presentation, responses were given by Prof. Rona Novick from the Azrieli Graduate School at Yeshiva University in New York and Dr. Adi Sherzer from the Seymour Fox School of Education at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Balancing school activities

Novick’s research among Orthodox high school students confirms that American Jewish children have been very much impacted by the war. Over 50% of the students she surveyed have first-degree relatives in Israel, so they feel personally connected to what is happening.

She agreed with the HUC conclusion that teachers and schools need to listen more carefully to students. They need to find the right balance between how they provide information and how they promote resilience through discussions and prayer activities, without triggering negative emotional responses, because students have different levels of tolerance and anxiety.

The emerging impact on schools

At the Wednesday conference, speakers from different countries noted that some Jewish schools have seen an increase in registration since October 7 because parents want their children educated in a “safe space.” In addition to the trauma from October 7,  a sizable number of Jewish families are encountering increasing anti-Israel hostility and asking themselves difficult questions about where they belong. Many Israeli expatriates who previously did not connect with Jewish institutions are applying to join Jewish schools, putting pressure on communities to respond to their needs and expand their intake.

In France, the escalation in enrollment among Jewish parents matches the huge increase in antisemitism. Many schools are increasing their Hebrew-language teaching to help families who want to make aliyah. Private Jewish schools are free to do so, but state-funded schools must be circumspect about what they teach.

Another result of the surge in antisemitism is evident in Australia, where schools no longer require the wearing of school uniforms because of the danger of being publicly identified as Jewish when traveling to and from school. This development has been quite significant for the Australian Jewish community, where many of its current leaders are the offspring of Holocaust survivors.

In the UK, the issue of Israel education is further complicated by the presence of non-Jewish children in some Jewish schools and by the close scrutiny by the governmental watchdog Ofsted, which may disapprove of blatant Zionist education in state-funded schools.

The conference also highlighted the needs of Israeli teachers in Jewish schools, who have been particularly distressed by the ongoing war. Jewish schools are doing their best to support their staff during these difficult times, and they would be devastated to lose a significant proportion of their teachers if they decided to return to Israel. The number of Israeli shlichim (emissaries) who were actively involved in school life has already dropped dramatically, since most post-army-age Israelis were called back to serve in the IDF.

Educating on values in the midst of war

Bringing together experts from multiple disciplines and from across the religious spectrum, the conference on Jewish values education was a great example of how Jews around the world and Israelis of all stripes have been working together since October 7.

At the same time, we clearly need to reflect on what has happened to educational values in the world’s elite universities. Perhaps it behooves us to put more emphasis on humanistic values being taught in Jewish schools and to empower our students to cope with the confusion of values that they may encounter in the outside world.

Prof. Yehuda Brandes, president of Herzog College, commented that the values of shared responsibility, social justice, and national pride have been evident among the thousands of young Israelis and overseas citizens who enlisted and volunteered to help, evidencing the excellent education that they had received. His colleague, Dr. Avichai Kellerman, highlighted the educational values of the Israeli army, including its emphasis on civic service and teaching about heroic role models like Roi Klein.

Seeing Israelis as victims or heroes?

Reflecting on the trauma being experienced by Jews around the world, Prof . Avinoam Rosenak from the Melton Centre admitted that Israel is no longer seen as a safe place for Jews, since the promise of “Never Again” was broken on October 7.

His colleague, Dr. Adi Sherzer, identified a tension between Israel’s tragedy narrative and its bravery narrative. Kids are still relating to the story of the tragedy – the murders and the hostages – while teachers want to shift the focus to stories of heroes and helpers.

Sherzer, who studies the relationship between Israeli identity, the Jewish past, and the Diaspora, asked how children’s understanding of what happened on October 7 will impact their attitudes toward Israel as a safe refuge for Jews, as well as its importance to their own identity and the Diaspora-Israel relationship in the future.

The conference explored a wide array of significant social, political, religious, and national issues with serious implications for Jewish education worldwide. By assembling a diverse group of researchers and practitioners who expressed different ideological views and educational positions, the stage has been set to examine emerging strategies that will delve deeper into these complex issues, guiding Jewish schools in the coming months and years. This is clearly a monumental challenge with serious consequences for Jewish students globally.

The writer is a professor at the Seymour Fox School of Education at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and chairs the advisory committee of UnitEd.