KKL-JNF leaders from around the world discuss Zionist and Jewish education, and what it means.
Avraham Infeld. Photo: Yoav Devir
When KKL-JNF presidents from various countries were asked what the main subjects that occupy them are, many of them said that Zionist education and strengthening Jewish identity were at the top of their list. Avraham Infeld, an educator whose expertise is Jewish identity, was the speaker at a thought-provoking meeting with conference participants.
“Everywhere in the world, Judaism is defined differently,” Infeld began by saying. “When you define Judaism as a nationality, you distance anyone who doesn’t live in Israel. When you define it as a religion, it’s even more dangerous, because why should a religion need a country? Judaism is a people.”
He noted that KKL-JNF plays a central role in emphasizing the fact that Judaism is a people. “It is impossible to understand what Judaism is about without understanding that we are first and foremost a people. We are the Jewish people, and we have a religion, but if we forget that we are a people, we will tear ourselves away from each other.”
Infeld expanded on the subject of the five legs of the table that ensure the continued survival of the Jewish people: memory, family, Mount Sinai, Israel and the Hebrew language.
He noted that the Jewish people is facing important challenges and declared: “We have to deal with them together, because we are responsible for each other.”
On the connection between Israel and the Diaspora, he said: “The Jewish people does not exist in order to ensure the future of the state of Israel, but the state of Israel was created in order to ensure the future of the Jewish people. For this reason, we expect the Jewish people to be involved in what’s happening here.”
On the topic of the vision of the Jewish people, he said: “There is only one vision for every organization or leader of the Jewish people: how to continue the meaningful renaissance of the Jewish people. This is the mission of the Israeli prime minister, whether he knows it or not, and also of every nursery school teacher who works with children.”
On the connection between the different parts of the Jewish people, he said: “Jews are mishpocho, a family. How do I know this? Because we always argue. It’s impossible to found an organization that’s committed to the future of the Jewish people without this feeling of family. How do you become Jewish? Either you were born one or you adopted Judaism. And how do you leave Judaism? You can’t, just like you can’t leave your family. Even if a Jew converts, they’re still considered a converted Jew.
“Jews don’t have history, they have a memory,” Infeld added. “As a Jew, you function out of your people’s group memory. A Jew’s challenge is to take their people’s collective memory and to make it part of their lives. You can’t have a Jewish family, or build a new Jewish home, without relating to Jewish memory. You can’t create any Jewish creation without referencing the memory of the Jewish people. If history deals with the past, memory deals with how the past affects the present and the future.”
On the topic of Jewish education, he said: “You can’t be an organization committed to the future of the Jewish people without a significant investment in Jewish education. A people with a memory will survive forever. Our roots are planted in the past in order to build our future.”
Regarding the Hebrew language, he said: “The Hebrew language contains the central concepts of essential Jewish living for our present time. Hebrew is important and vital for the Jewish people because it is by means of the language that culture is transmitted from one generation to the next. It makes it possible for us to meet the generations that came before us and to have a conversation with them in order that together we can build a meaningful future for the Jewish people.”
He concluded his lecture by relating to the 70th anniversary of Israeli independence. “Israel is not only a state, it is a phenomenon. We always bore God’s promise that He would return us to our land. When the Messiah didn’t arrive, we implemented the idea of nationality, and that’s how modern Zionism was born. Without the narrative of nationality, we would not have a state, but if not for the idea of the Messiah, we wouldn’t have known where to establish the state.”