Many Jewish day schools provide the opportunity for their
eldest class to visit Israel before graduation.
Why do we feel the necessity, perhaps even the obligation, to take our
students on this expensive and time-consuming excursion? Why not instead encourage
our Jewish day-school families to travel to Israel as a family or wait until
their children are 18 and send them on Taglit-Birthright? For The
Shoshana S. Cardin School’s administration and board of trustees, the answer is
simple – for the authentic educational opportunity the Cardin students can only
experience by being in Eretz Yisrael and Medinat Yisrael.
Throughout high school, Cardin students study the history of
Israel from biblical times to the present; together, we celebrate Israel’s holidays,
Yom Hazikaron, Yom Ha’atzmaut, and Yom Yerushalayim as if
they were our own national celebrations; and Cardin students closely
examine the cultures, innovations and
peoples that comprise the country. After
four years of learning about Israel advocacy, Cardin students can now see for
themselves what they are advocating for. Cardin students are taught to look
thoughtfully at current Israeli politics through a pluralistic, non-judgmental
lens, forming personal opinions after studying all of the available facts. Without traveling to Israel, these facts and
figures are just that – facts and figures.
A secondary explanation for traveling to Israel specifically
at the end of senior year is so that students have a potentially transformative
experience prior to departing high school.
The trip is also another
opportunity to create lasting memories for students to take with them after
high school. The Israel trip is a
perfect bridge between high school and college for Jewish day-school students.
Barbie Prince
Head of School
