Education after October 7

Matt Reingold is Senior Project Lead at Rosov Consulting. An experienced researcher with over sixteen years of experience teaching in Jewish day schools, Matt is also the author of four books about Jewish and Israeli comics and graphic novels. This includes The Comics of Asaf Hanuka (Academic Studies Press, 2024). He is also the co-editor of Teaching Israel (with Sivan Zakai, Brandeis University Press, 2024). Matt also regularly posts about Israeli cartoons on Instagram @CartooningIsrael.

“Much has been written about the effects and aftermath of Oct 7th on Jewish life globally. Far less has been written about the experiences of Jewish educators and Jewish education. Anyone seeking to understand how this world-shaping moment in Jewish and world history has meaning and implications for Jewish education should read this book. Matt Reingold has brought together many of the key Jewish educationalists and thinkers from Israel and the diaspora to grapple with research-based, pedagogical responses to personal and collective trauma. This book helps us to understand teacher and student perspectives, as well as the impact on schools, informal programmes, and community-led initiatives. Reingold and his colleagues explore morally complex narratives with honesty and ethical rigour. This book is an invaluable insight into a hugely challenging time.” — Dr. Helena Miller, Director of Post-Graduate Degrees; Senior Research Fellow, London School of Jewish Studies"This timely volume confronts the challenges and explores the opportunities of teaching about Israel, post-October 7, in a variety of Jewish educational settings. While it is impossible to know whether the book's foundational premises will withstand the test of time, there is little doubt that educators, parents, policy-makers, and researchers will find the essays, by turns, thoughtful, insightful, inspiring, and possibly unsettling. In short, a helpful addition to the Jewish education bookshelf." — Dr. Jonathan Krasner (he/him), Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Associate Professor of Jewish Education Research“Education after October 7 captures the complexity of a watershed moment in Jewish life. The contributors face the fear, grief, and complexity of teaching after tragedy, and also set out to foreground the creativity and resilience that emerged in Jewish classrooms and camps around the world. At once a snapshot of a turning point and a guide for the future, this collection is essential reading for educators, scholars, and all who care about how Jewish communities teach, learn, and endure after tragedy.” —Jonah Hassenfeld, Director of Learning and Teaching at Schechter Boston

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionMatt ReingoldSection One: Worries and Anxieties: The Voices of Students, Parents, and Children“A lot of horrible things have happened”: Jewish Children’s Beliefs about October 7 and Its AftermathSivan Zakai and Lauren ApplebaumTrauma Reach and Response: Teacher and Parental Reports of the Impact of October 7 and School Programming on North American Jewish Day School StudentsRona Novick and Jennifer IsaacsCollective Trauma, Resilience, and Jewish Education: How German Jews Navigate Life after October 7Maor Shani, Jana Gerber, and Marie HerbSection Two: Pedagogical Innovations: Teaching Anew after October 7Rethinking Innocence and Building Resilience: Early Childhood Jewish Educators’ Responses to October 7Meir Muller, Lyndall Miller, and Alana Rifkin GelnickTeaching Palestinian Perspectives and the Pedagogy of “History Empathy”Benji DavisTeachers’ Identities in Transition: Hebrew Education in Light of October 7 and the AftermathVardit Ringvald and Sharon SchoenfeldSection Three: Teaching about Home: Israelis AbroadThe Impact of the October 7 War on Emissary Teachers—Shlichim: A Study of Pedagogical Adaptations, Non-Formal Educational Initiatives, and Community Interactions in North American Jewish Schools in 2024–2025Michal Shapira Junger“Can we talk about it?”: Implementing Israel Education during Wartime at Jewish Summer CampsTal VaizmanTestifying to October 7: Israeli Voices and Experiences at North American Jewish Overnight CampsMatt ReingoldSection Four: After October 7: The Future of Jewish EducationMeeting the Challenges of the Moment: How to Think about the Purposes of American Jewish Education after October 7Jon A. LevisohnSolidarity, Criticism, and Complexity: Jewish Educators Responding to Difficult TimesEzra KopelowitzBeyond Tinkering: Adjustments to Israel Education in the Aftermath of October 7Alex Pomson and Samantha Vinokor-MeinrathConclusionMatt ReingoldContributors