"ישראל יהיה שמך"
"Yisrael shall be your name"
(Genesis 35:10 בראשית)

QUESTIONS
1. The commandment / blessing "Be fruitful and multiply" appears six times in the Torah but only once in the singular form (פרה ורבה / "pehreih urveih"). What are we meant to learn from this unique singular usage?
2. How has our dispersion — the Diaspora — impacted our understanding of the nature and purpose of education? Do any of our current approaches to education constitute a comprehensive and coherent whole? If we reflect on the entirety of what it means to be Yisrael, could that help us identify what might be lacking in a particular institution's or organization's framework and pedagogy?

CONCEPTS: Our Story — Our Mission — Our Vision — Our Approach

Our Story
In the beginning, our education was inherently comprehensive and integrated. With the Diaspora came the need to distinguish and specify — hence, Jewish education — and through the influence of academia over the last hundred years, we have increasingly begun to think in terms of "Jewish Education," with the capital "E" signifying a discrete discipline. Or we may frame the divide in terms of "limudei kodesh and limudei chol" ("holy studies and secular studies"), or "Torah u'madda" ("Torah and science"), or "Judaic Studies and General Studies."
Regardless of terminology, as a result of having developed in response to historical processes of displacement and dis-integration, Jewish Education — including Hebrew and Israel Education, and to a significant extent even in the most traditional communities — exists in a state of constant reinvention.  Wherever we learn and teach, from schools to camps to synagogues to experiential and outreach and engagement programs and indeed throughout the communal arena, one observes the same frenetic cycle. We lament the current state of affairs and go looking for the next transformational idea, reports and proposals and initiatives abound, extraordinary analytical abilities are deployed, tremendous energies and enormous sums are spent, and new curricula and programs are developed. Yet soon enough we find ourselves in familiar terrain, once again seeking the big idea that will change everything — and all the while, ricocheting between "continuity" and "innovation," we are unsure about exactly what it is that we are trying to accomplish. These are big-picture, fundamental problems — and as such, they are also the underlying cause of many of the challenges that we encounter on a daily basis in student/participant motivation and success, faculty and staff development, institutional/organizational advancement, community engagement, and other domains.
As Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) reminds us, "there is nothing new under the sun."  What if the solution has been right in front of us all along, only to have been lost in translation and obscured through time and distance?  What if the answer to our questions "Jewish Education — for What?"* and "Hebrew for What?"** and "Israel Education for What?"*** is to be found in our forefather and namesake Yisrael?  What if there is something unique about Yisrael that is essential to our identity, and thus to our education — and, thus, to our future?
*  Ackerman, Walter I.  "Jewish Education — for What?"  The American Jewish Year Book 70 (1969): 3-36.
**  Pomson, Alex and Jack Wertheimer.  "Hebrew for What?"  The AVI CHAI Foundation and Rosov Consulting.  2017.
***  Grant, Lisa D., Daniel Marom, and Yehudit Werchow.  "Israel Education for What?"  The Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education.  2012.

Our Mission
We partner with schools, camps, synagogues, and other organizations throughout the global Jewish community to customize and integrate the holistic Yisrael Bishlaymuto ("Yisrael in Its Entirety") model into their curricula and programming. We serve as professional-development consultants to administrators, faculty, and staff and as visiting instructors/facilitators who work with students/participants for a single session, a unit or module, or an entire course or program.
* Please note that in order to facilitate our work with clients in various countries, we are an all-remote organization.

Our Vision
We envision a clarified, stabilized, and coherent approach to education, one grounded in first principles and aimed at developing an understanding of what it means to be Yisrael and of how to build an individual and communal future upon that foundation.  We see a Jewish future animated and empowered by our restored understanding of the essential unity and wholeness of Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, Torat Yisrael, Medinat Yisrael, and Machshevet Yisrael (the Jewish People, the Land of Israel, Hashem and Torah, the State of Israel, and Jewish Thought).

Our Approach
For an example of what the Yisrael Bishlaymuto model might look like in practice, consider the Shalosh Regalim (the three pilgrimage festivals of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot). These holidays are instituted by the Torah and, accordingly, are viewed primarily through the lens of Torat Yisrael. In order to thoroughly understand them, however, the other components of Yisrael must also be considered: the geographic contours and boundaries of Eretz Yisrael (these are pilgrimage festivals, held in the mountainous heart of the country), the security and economy of Medinat Yisrael (even border guards are obligated to make the journey to Jerusalem, and the pilgrimage cycle requires complex trade networks and financial, agricultural, and physical infrastructure), the diversity and oneness of Am Yisrael (as the nation gathers together, it engages in cultural exchange and reinforces its internal bonds and its communal identity), and the ongoing development and evolution of Machshevet Yisrael (the inquiry-driven Pesach Seder and the tradition of holding all-night learning sessions on Shavuot are prime examples of the Jewish mind at work). Encountering these holidays — or any topic that appears in our curricula or programming — through the lenses of Torat, Eretz, Medinat, Am, and Machshevet Yisrael provides the context, clarity, and coherence that foster true understanding and sense of purpose, student/participant motivation and success, and institutional/organizational harmony and impact.