Responding to Educators: Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath
Since October 7, thousands of educators have benefited from webinars, resources, and articles from the office of Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath, senior director of knowledge, ideas, and learning at the Jewish Education Project. Vinokor-Meinrath received an MA from the William Davidson Graduate School for Jewish Education in 2014. During her MA studies, she participated in Vision and Voices of Israel and spent a semester in Israel on Kesher Hadash, a William Davidson School program based in Jerusalem dedicated to the Israel education. In early November, she shared her impressions of what this moment means for those devoted to Israel, Jewish education, and Jewish peoplehood.
Timeliness/Timelessness
Vinokor-Meinrath describes how the days after the Hamas attack placed totally new demands on educators. “We have been expected to respond in ‘real-time’ to the war and live-streamed images on social media. At the same time, we have faced age-old questions about antisemitism like, ‘Why do people hate us?’ “Never before have educators had to teach so quickly, which is really difficult, especially those who teach part-time. There was no training for ‘how to make meaning out of unfathomable horror.’”
In these past months, Vinokor-Meinrath has observed the confluence of timeliness (responding in real time to immediate concerns) and timelessness (understanding connections to a shared Jewish past and traditional texts). “We need to hold both of these together,” she said, “even though that can seem incongruous and destabilizing and is not how educators have been trained.”
To illustrate this, Vinokor-Meinrath shared her recent eJewishPhilanthropy article, which opened with Hayyim Nahman Bialik’s poem, “In the City of Slaughter,” an epic written after the 1903 Kishinev pogrom. “This is a poem that we have always studied as part of history, but the events on October 7 forced educators to turn on a dime. Bialik was never meant to be relevant to contemporary experiences, yet here we are,” she said.
For many, the war has changed the way educators—and many in the Jewish community—think, talk, and teach. “I am hearing over and over the use of ‘we,’ not only from educators but everywhere. “North Americans and Jews worldwide are seeing ourselves as part of Am Yisrael, part of the same family.”
As a professional whose portfolio includes Jewish peoplehood alongside Israel education, Vinokor-Meinrath’s acknowledged that this unity presents a true “peoplehood moment.” “There’s beauty in that, but the challenge looking ahead is that we need to find a sense of unity without a moment of extreme adversity such as we are experiencing now,” she said. “How can we continue that sense of belonging? Once you’ve taken a breath, what lasts?” she asked.
What Educators Need
Through the various services that Vinokor-Meinrath and the Jewish Education Project have offered Jewish educators, she has heard many educators ask for specific content, like the Hamas charter or detailed maps of the region. Some educators are looking to fill gaps in their knowledge or tools to assist in their classrooms, and resources are readily shared. “Really, though, what they need is the confidence to know that their authentic voice is enough,” said Vinokor-Meinrath.
“More than ‘facts and figures,’ educators are reaching out for pedagogical approaches,” she said. “We hear questions like ‘how do I make sense of senseless hatred,’ and to respond to these, educators need to trust their own identity and methodology as an educator.”
At the same time, Vinokor-Meinrath knows that educators are also charged with fostering Jewish joy and “regular” tasks like teaching the parashah. “Life is going on,” said Vinokor-Meinrath, “this week might also be someone’s bar mitzvah and we have to celebrate.” Switching gears like this puts strain on even the most talented of educators.
“Educators do not want to be defined by hate,” said Vinokor-Meinrath. “I still believe in the power of Jewish identity that comes from joy, not victimhood or defiance of victimhood. Everything I believed before October 7 is still there.”
A Forward-Looking Perspective
Vinokor-Meinrath sees this time as a “pivot point but not a defining moment” for those dedicated to Jewish education. “We can ask ourselves and our learners how our Jewish journey may have changed, and my hope is that what remains will be the connection to Jewish peoplehood,” she said.
Moderating a webinar on October 22 that featured nearly a dozen educational leaders from across the field and drew hundreds of participants, Vinokor-Meinrath resonated with the words of Zohar Raviv from Taglit/Birthright. “He said that October 7 was not a Jewish moment, it was a horror that happened to Jews. The Jewish moment is how we respond.”
For educators tasked with working with young people and maintaining a future-facing focus, Vinokor-Meinrath believes that the response to these horrific times stems from the same core objective of all Jewish education. “We have to figure out what all this tells us in a long-term way, to figure out the next step in our own learning and meaning-making.”
Resources for Educators
ISRAEL IN CRISIS: RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS AND FAMILIES (from the Jewish Education Project)
RESOURCES FOR SCHOOLS ON VIOLENCE AND TERRORIST ATTACKS IN ISRAEL (from Prizmah)
EDUCATING IN A TIME OF CRISIS (from The iCenter)
