Teaching Israel at Camp Webinar Series

Join Max Pivo of the iCenter for a highly experiential session dedicated to discovering the iCenter’s valuable resources for camp. This conversation will provide you with the tools, strategies, and raw materials to create immersive experiences for counselors and campers alike. But we won’t just discuss how to use different cultural media to open the door to thoughtful, nuanced conversation—we’ll live it! Come connect with others in the field, share ideas, and leave with a wealth of practical resources to make this summer unforgettable for your camp community.

Max Pivo works at The iCenter between the worlds of content and facilitation. He creates new educational resources, imagines creative opportunities for their use in real-world, in-person settings, and strives to bridge the two areas. After graduating from Dartmouth College, where he focused his studies on the Middle East, religion, and linguistics, Max got his MA at Harvard University in Middle Eastern Studies. Before joining The iCenter team, he spent his summers working at Ramah Wisconsin as a counselor and Rosh Eidah.

Please register for only one of the following sessions:

12:00 –1:15 ET

7:00 – 8:15 ET

In this session, a conversation between Shalom Orzach and FJC Senior Director Julie Finkelstein, we will discuss best practices to be employed during orientation/staff week for successfully integrating shlichim and Israeli campers this summer. Participants will also gain tools to further bolster the way Israel education/programming can support and further enhance the educational goals of their camp that inspire and galvanize Jewish pride. Focus will be given both to the moments when your camp convenes as a whole community, Shabbat, flag pole, prayer, meals etc, as well as rituals and program ideas for on-going engagement with Israel and Israelis.

Shalom Orzach is a senior educator and consultant for the iCenter and serves on faculty for the Foundation for Jewish Camp. Prior, he served as the AVI CHAI Project Director and Director of Education in the Shlichut and Israel Fellows unit for the Jewish Agency. Shalom was the Central Shaliach for USY. He was also a scholar on the prestigious Jerusalem Fellows Program, following which he was the Executive Director for Jewish Renewal at the UJIA in England. Shalom is an acclaimed public speaker on contemporary Israel who brings extensive knowledge, humor and passion. He has published articles on Israel and Jewish education in The Times of Israel and eJewishPhilanthropy. For the anniversary of October 7th, his book Telling Times, a weekly exploration of the Torah Portion in the context of its modern day echoes, was released. His ELI talk can be accessed here.

Hebrew isn’t just a language—it’s a bridge to Jewish identity, Israel, and the unique magic of camp. In this interactive webinar with Amy Ben-Dov from Hebrew at the Center, we’ll explore what Hebrew infusion really means (hint: it’s not about a limmud or a shiur or memorization!). You’ll walk away with concrete, easy-to-implement ideas to seamlessly weave Hebrew into daily camp life—whether through games, creative programming, or upgrading the classic “Hebrew word of the day” into something meaningful and fun.

We’ll also tackle common challenges, like engaging staff who aren’t fluent in Hebrew and ensuring that campers of all backgrounds feel included. And yes, we’ll play together—because Hebrew at camp should be joyful, and fun.

Join us for a session packed with energy, ideas, and practical tools to make Hebrew an integral (and exciting!) part of your camp’s culture.

Amy Ben-Dov loves bringing Israel to life in creative and unexpected ways! As an educator, mentor, and tour guide, she has spent years helping people connect with Israel through language, culture, and immersive experiences. She works with camps, schools, and educators to make Israel education dynamic, relevant, and fun—whether through Hebrew infusion, street art, or hands-on storytelling. Amy enjoys working with Jewish camp professionals, helping them find new ways to spark meaningful conversations and inspire campers and staff. When she’s not teaching or mentoring, you can probably find her exploring the Machaneh Yehuda market, searching for hidden graffiti, or planning her next great Israel adventure.

In our broader Jewish communities, and specifically when it comes to conversations around Israel, we are living in a moment in which the old comedic truism: when there are 2 Jews in a room, there are 3 opinions; could arguably be replaced with a more tragic one: when there are 2 Jews in a room, there are 2 rooms. Our capacity for holding multiple perspectives has diminished, our muscles for engaging in conversations across difference have atrophied. In this interactive learning experience we are going to explore the practice of Machloket (argument for the sake of heaven) as a way to rebuild those muscles so that we can grow our capacity for navigating relationships in which we do not agree and seeing value in perspectives that are not our own. This session will include light text study, story sharing, and opportunities to practice using a framework designed to support our engagement in difficult conversations.

Jonah Canner is an ambassador from the world we have not yet built. He believes in people, community, and the sacred obligation we have to make positive change in the world around us. Jonah’s primary areas of focus include racial equity, restorative justice, experiential education, and working through conflict. He has worked as a classroom teacher, a summer camp director, and a consultant offering mentoring, training, and support for individuals and organizations. Jonah has a Masters in Education from the New School University and is currently on the faculty of the Avodah institute for Social Change, the Institute for Democratic Education in America, and the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Cornerstone Fellowship. He is also the Education Fellow in the Religion and Public Life program at the Harvard Divinity School. In his free time Jonah is writing a collection of memoir essays that explore questions of grief, identity, ancestry, and place.

This session will explore how Jewish camps might approach educating about the Israeli-Palestinian reality in all its complexity, from a place of deep loyalty and in-group care for Israel and the Jewish people, alongside a commitment to dignity and security for all. Encounter believes that Jewish education must embrace, not avoid, the most pressing and contentious discussions shaping Jewish society today. Instead of ceding these conversations to activists and extremists, Jewish educators should support young people to explore multiple perspectives, analyze competing claims, and grapple with difficult realities — and offer them structured opportunities to think through their own conclusions.

Yona Shem-Tov is CEO of Encounter Programs. Yona has worked as a Jewish educator for over 20 years. Prior to joining Encounter in 2011, Yona pursued graduate studies at The Hebrew University and doctoral research in Education and Jewish Studies at New York University as a Wexner Graduate Fellow. While at NYU, she co-founded a national program linking scholars and practitioners of Jewish History Education, and helped launch the Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship — an initiative of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation linking Muslim and Jewish social entrepreneurs from France, the U.K. and the U.S.

Leah Solomon is Chief Education Officer at Encounter. She has worked since 1997 in the field of experiential pluralistic Jewish education, including as Associate Director of the Nesiya Institute and prior to that at Gann Academy in Boston. Leah holds a degree from Harvard University, completed advanced studies at the Conservative Yeshiva, Pardes, and the Hartman Institute, and is a Schusterman Senior Fellow. She serves as Chair of the Board of Zion: An Eretz Yisraeli Community. Leah writes about the Israeli-Palestinian reality for outlets such as the Times of Israel, JTA, and Sources Journal, and is editor and publisher of the Anim Zemirot bencher. An L.A native, she moved to Jerusalem in 1999 where she lives with her family.

About Encounter:
Encounter is a nonpartisan, educational organization cultivating more informed and resilient Jewish leadership on the Israeli-Palestinian reality. Founded in 2005, we seek to foster a widespread culture shift recognizing that the Israeli-Palestinian reality is one of, if not the most, consequential issues facing Israel and the Jewish people in our lifetimes, and as such it cannot and should not be ignored or “managed” indefinitely. Our programs invite leaders and decision makers to reassess long-held beliefs and attitudes, to integrate new and sometimes challenging data points, and to reorder their leadership priorities to more fully contend with these urgent realities in service of a better future.