Across the field of Jewish education, conversations about Israel have become increasingly complex. Educators and learners alike are searching for language and confidence to navigate a topic that can feel emotionally charged and polarizing. How do we teach pride without ignoring pain? How do we model solidarity that comforts and also changes lives? How can love and critique coexist?

This half-day training gathers educators and Jewish communal professionals together to explore these questions. Drawing on M²’s Conflict Pedagogy, participants will learn how to transform tension and disagreement into meaningful educational opportunities. Rather than avoiding conflict, they will practice how to hold multiple truths, guide students through values-based reflection and design learning experiences that invite curiosity, empathy and conviction.

At the center of the workshop are Crossroads: The Israel Edition cards: a set of forty beautifully designed, values-driven scenarios that mirror the full scope of the student experience. Each scenario presents a real-world dilemma involving competing values such as belonging and integrity, pride and safety or empathy and responsibility. Each participant will receive a full deck to bring back to their school or organization, enabling them to use the cards in classrooms, retreats or informal settings to spark nuanced dialogue and deepen connection.

The Crossroads training helps educators and Jewish communal professionals to move beyond fear or paralysis toward confidence and creativity, empowering them to model for their learners that wrestling with Israel is not a sign of division, but a pathway to deeper understanding and stronger Jewish identity.

A kosher lunch will be provided.