Milk and Honey in the Snow: Teaching Learning and Knowing Israel in a Toronto Jewish High School

This reflexive ethnographic thesis explores the construction of identity through the teaching and learning of Israel in a Toronto Jewish high school. The author examines how grade twelve students understand and express the discourse surrounding Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This thesis aims to communicate what the implications of diaspora Jewish students' relationships with Israel are on their identities as Jews living outside of Israel. Antflick uses personal journals and reflexive vignettes from childhood through the present to infuse the text with a nuanced and honest authorial voice. These reflections, and data collected from observations and interviews with staff and students, demonstrate an imbalance in the cognitive and affective dimensions of Jewish identification with Israel. The author suggests that in today's socio-political climate, Jewish diaspora schools must teach critically about Israeli issues, providing students with a solid intellectual backing to support their already strong emotional connection to Israel.