Towards a Joint Agenda for Applied Research A Research Brief for the Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education

Questions surrounding the roles of Hebrew and Israel in Jewish education are not new to American Jewry, and are most compelling at those historical junctures in which Jewish educators and their institutions have reflected on the precepts and purposes of the Jewish educational enterprise. This research brief takes a closer look at the relationship between the fields of Hebrew language education and Israel education, and offers preliminary ideas for a joint research agenda that informs the work of researchers, practitioners, and philanthropists committed to improving teaching and learning of and about Hebrew and Israel. We begin this process by asking, “Why does Hebrew education matter for Israel education?” Many educators and scholars view Hebrew and Israel as “intimately and inextricably intertwined ” (Katzew, 2011), yet opinions on how that is or should be so in Jewish education run the gamut from hope to despair (e.g., Chazan, 2004; ; Sagarin, 2011). On the whole, educators tend to view Hebrew as a “significant piece of the puzzle ” of how to improve Israel education in North America (Horowitz, 2012); ; however, what that puzzle should look like and how it should be pieced together is not yet clear. In schools, camps, and afterschool programs, many educators use Hebrew to reinforce or promote learning about Israel (Grant and Kopelowitz, 2012, p. 37). Hebrew thus becomes a vehicle for teaching not only how to speak or read, but also how to understand Israeli literature, politics, history, and culture. In fact, in man