Safe Schools for Jewish Students: From Blog Posts to Book
The purpose of these blog posts is to combine them into a published book entitled Safe Schools for Jewish Students: An Educator’s Guide to Preventing Antisemitism and Strengthening Belonging.
As the title suggests, the goal of the book is to help educators and administrators understand how to provide safe schools for Jewish students. Return to this page frequently to find direct links to the newer posts.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: JEWISH IDENTITY AND JEWISH CONTRIBUTIONS
This chapter covers:
- The Aspects of Jewish Identity
- The Land
- The Language
- The Religion
- The Moral Code
- Jewish Contributions Throughout History
- From the Diaspora
- From Israel
CHAPTER 2: A SHORT HISTORY OF JUDAISM – HOW JUDAISM AND ISRAEL ARE INTERTWINED
This chapter covers:
- Why This History Matters in Today’s Schools
- Definition of Antisemitism
- Ancient and Pre-Christian Antisemitism
- Christian Antisemitism: Religious Hatred Becomes Institutional
- Medieval to Premodern Antisemitism: Prejudice Meets Opportunity
- The Holocaust: Race, Nation, and Conspiracy
- Contemporary Antisemitism
- Reflection and Takeaways
CHAPTER 3: DELEGITIMIZATION VS. IDENTITY AND INTERSECTIONALITY
Choosing diversity by avoiding discrimination against Israelis or challenges to Jewish self-determination in school settings
This chapter covers:
- Definition of Delegitimization and Zionism
- Myth 1: Jews are not Indigenous to Israel
- Myth 2: Jews and Arabs Lived Peacefully Before the Creation of the State of Israel
- Myth 3: Jews Stole the Land from the Palestinians as Expressed by the Nakba
- Myth 4: Jews are Occupying/Colonizing Palestinian land
- Myth 5: Jews are White Oppressors with White Supremacy and White Privilege
- Delegitimization by Map
- How to Respond in the Classroom
- Reflection and Takeaways
CHAPTER 4: DOUBLE STANDARDS VS. EQUITY
Choosing equity by avoiding the application of double standards to Israel that are not applied to other nations
This chapter covers:
- Definition of Double Standards
- Human Rights
- Treatment of Palestinians
- Citizenship
- War Fatalities
- Addressing Double Standards with a Colleague
- How to Respond in the Classroom
- Reflection and Takeaways
CHAPTER 5: DEMONIZATION VS. INCLUSIVENESS
Choosing inclusion by recognizing and addressing discourse that demonizes Israel in ways that function as identity-based harm to Jewish students
This chapter covers:
- Definition of Demonization
- Blood Libel Modernized
- Greed Modernized
- Global Domination
- How to Respond in the Classroom
- Reflection and Takeaways
CHAPTER 6: ANTI-ZIONIST ORGANIZATIONS
Choosing fact-based sources of information to avoid identity-based harm to Jewish students
This chapter covers:
- Definition of Anti-Zionism
- Unreliable Sources – UN Organizations
- Unreliable Sources – Press
- Unreliable Sources – NGOs
- Funding Hate
- Antisemitic Lesson Plans
- How to Respond in the Classroom
- Reflection and Takeaways
CHAPTER 7: CORRECTING COURSE: A PATH FORWARD
This chapter covers:
- Creating a Lesson Plan Without Bias
- Auditing Your Lessons for Bias
- Tools for framing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict neutrally
- Checklist: “First steps to a bias-free curriculum”
Appendix A: Resources for Schools
- Sample Classroom Language
- Reading List for Educators
- Antisemitism Incident Checklist
- Reflection Questions
- How to Respond to Students
- How to Stay in Compliance with the Law
- “Slide Deck Starter” for Staff Trainings (provided with QR codes)
- Educator Resources (provided with QR codes)
Appendix B: Glossary of Commonly Misused Terms
References
Index
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Author Biography of Safe Schools for Jewish Students
Ezra Barany loves riveting readers with Jewish thrillers. His first two books in The Torah Codes series were award-winning international bestsellers. In his free time, he has eye-opening discussions on the art of writing novels with his wife and book coach Beth Barany. A high school physics teacher, Ezra lives in Oakland with his beloved wife and two cats working on the next book. Ezra, not the cats.
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