Beyond Tolerance – A Guide to Anti Bias Education in the Jewish Preschool
Am Yisrael – the People of Israel. We Jews come in so many varieties. We believe different things, we live our lives in different ways, we speak many languages, we dwell in many lands. It requires an incredible amount of tolerance and understanding,more than we have been able to achieve so far across the board, to get along with each other, and appreciate and value all of the differences that make up Am Yisrael. Not only must we “get along” in the Jewish world, but we live immersed in a greater world filled with differences which we must navigate every day. The tools to do this successfully should be nurtured even in our youngest children. As teachers, we may not only teach our children what it is to be a Jew, as separate from other peoples. We are called upon to teach our children about their responsibility to the stranger, their obligation to tikkun olam, their legacy to learn from all people. While young children do not need to be taught to notice .differences, they do need to be shown how differences are beneficial to their world. More than just learning to tolerate differences, our children need to recognize stereotypes, to question them, and to correct them. Our children need the tools to fight injustice in their world, to be able to act. Only then will our children be able to become fulfilled as people and worthy as Jews; when they have been empowered to act, and to do mitzvot
by Maxine Segal Handelman