Teacher: This chapter is another chapter that focuses on ideas more than texts. Like the chapter that explores theology, I think a discussion about living in an open society and or about community could be an important conversation. By now, you should have a good sense of the concerns of your students and whether these topics are important to them.

Israel: I wrote this section long before the last election in Israel, which has dramatically changed things. As I said at the beginning of the chapter, I think Israeli Jews also need to refashion Judaism for the 21st Century. American Jews certainly cannot do that for them. Our relationship to Israel remains a critical part of the contemporary story of Jews everywhere. However, I am not sure such a weighted and potentially difficult discussion makes sense at the end of a long course that is focused on Judaism in America.

You could ask learners to make a list of the things that feel like impediments or challenges to participating in the Jewish community and Jewish life. These lists can be shared without being challenged. Learners may say they don’t feel they know enough; it is expensive to be Jewish, or the Jewish community doesn’t welcome people like me (trans, of color, a non-Jew married to a Jew). Here they might want to talk about Israel. What you want here is to have an honest and respectful conversation where people are sharing their thoughts and listening to one another without the need to convince others of their views.