Abstract
A popular philosophy of Israel education in North America has been predicated on the notion of “connection first, knowledge later.” Some common phrases that epitomize this philosophy are “love before learn” and “connection before complexity.” This thesis seeks to challenge the effectiveness of this approach, problematize its elements, and articulate an alternative coherent and holistic vision for Israel education that engages both in meaningful connections to Israel and deep understandings of Israel’s nuances.\r \r The Makom Matrix is an exceptionally instructive tool developed by Alex Sinclair, Robbie Gringras, Yonatan Ariel, Esti Moskowitz-Kalman, and other colleagues at Makom Israel. The Matrix both helps map the challenges with the sequential connection or love-first approach, and aids in demonstrating a coherent and holistic vision of Israel education through proportional diagonal pedagogy.\r \r The sequential connection or love-first approach is captured by a framework coined the Right Angle Vector approach. Cases of published press pieces written North America Jews reflecting on their Israel Educational experiences illuminate the framework.\r \r TaNaKh education and the role of teaching biblical criticism, through the case studies provided and vision articulated in Susan Tanchel’s work, serve as a powerful comparison and proof of concept. \r \r Finally, an original paradigm of Israel education is presented, of the three C’s: connected, compelling, and complex. This new model is offered as a tool to aid in better achieving proportional diagonal pedagogy as part of a coherent and holistic vision for Israel education.