By Jessica Shulman and Jenny Glassman
In July 2024, 26 educators from across Canada participated in the first-ever Binat HaLev trip to Israel, a journey of the heart and mind, initiated by UJA Toronto and heavily funded and supported by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. Throughout this incredible five-day program, we engaged with our peers, inspiring speakers, educators, and community members, in reflecting on how we can address and combat antisemitism within the Canadian school system.
The Federation was proud to be able to sponsor four local educators. Jessica Shulman, Jenny Glassman, Rebecca Zuckerbrod, and Ari Lesser were selected through the application and interview process.
The trip participants were touched in deep and meaningful ways and shared their testimonial with the E-Bulletin.
Why did we embark on a journey to a country nine months into a war against a known terrorist regime? As educators, we are constantly seeking opportunities to further our understanding of and access to education in fact-based, impactful ways. We had grown increasingly concerned that Jewish perspectives were somewhat lacking from professional diversity, equity and inclusion activities within the public school system. We were aware that antisemitism was a problem that certainly pre-dated October 7, and we have been shocked to observe it worsen before our eyes in the weeks and months since.
Prior to our Binat HaLev experience, we did not feel adequately prepared to address this extremely complicated and, in some ways novel, situation. Never before had we witnessed anti-Zionist messaging in schools, the acceptance of keffiyehs worn by students, and hateful anti-Israel slogans uttered during protests occurring during school hours. Constant misinformation from news media and social media alike further complicated the situation. Without clear direction or explicit support, we resorted to uncomfortable, conflicted silence. Many of our non-Jewish peers likewise fell silent. Our hearts are hurting.
Throughout the journey, our hearts and minds opened, shifted, and evolved. Our learning was complex, thorough, and challenged us emotionally, philosophically and physically. We were thoroughly exhausted – in a good way – after long days of travel and reflection. And we learned.
From Matti Friedman, former Associated Press journalist, we began to understand processes that had led to a skewed news media perspective. He explained that over time, journalism has shifted from a neutral, fact-based organism, to one infiltrated by those motivated to spin circumstances in favour of a preferred social justice outcome. He likewise stated that news consumers in the Western world prefer a “good guy, bad guy” narrative, and that, Israel and Zionism, represent easy “bad guys.” He reminded us of Moshe Dayan’s influential 1956 eulogy for Ro’i Rothberg, a kibbutz security officer who was killed in an ambush near Gaza. In his eulogy, Dayan admonished those living in southern kibbutzim for having been too idealistic and unprepared for the ambush. According to Friedman, this symbolically foreshadowed October 7.
We learned about the multiple dualities of October 7, in a way that we were unable to from the relative safety of Canada. Once in Israel, we readily saw both the sorrow and the strength, the darkness and the light, the heartbreak and the resiliency that developed both from necessity but also from profound courage, hopefulness, and a love of life.
We observed this in the beautiful memorials built by loved ones for the innocent lives lost too soon at the site of the Nova dance festival. We heard about it from our tour guide at Kibbutz Be’eri, who shared his family’s experience of loss and rebuilding. We witnessed it in the sharing of stories of inconceivable strength and determination shown by Adi Vital Kaploun and Tiferet Lapidot, shared courageously by their family members, Jacqui and Yaron Vital and Galit Goren Lapidot.
We learned about the mandate of the Hostage Centre in Tel Aviv, where volunteers work tirelessly to support the families of those held hostage, emotionally, physically and spiritually. There, they understand that this is a human situation, not a political one. We saw it embodied in the elderly man who lovingly tended to the photographs, candles, mementos, and stuffed animals placed on the edge of the fountain at Dizengoff Square, where he places flowers for the missing and lost, because “they are all of our family.” 
We saw it in the moving and impactful art installations and the devastating clock marking the passage of time from 6:30 a.m. on October 7, 2023. We heard it in the intertwined and interconnected stories of real experiences on that day, including the unbearable “battle for the door handle” that so many endured, and the ‘what ifs’ that so many continue to grapple with.
At Mount Herzl, Israel’s military cemetery, we learned that Israel’s mourning process, and the traumas of October 7, are ongoing. We felt connected to Israeli civilians at hostage marches in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, united in loss and despair, rather than anger.
In Sderot, the most populous city in the Gaza envelope, we connected with educators and students who remain traumatized by the memories of October 7, but also live with the ongoing threats of rocket fire or further attack. We learned that educators struggle to manage in the classroom, as they lack the necessary mental health training to adequately support their students and their families, meanwhile struggling with their own trauma, precarious safety, and constant fear.
In Rahat, a Bedouin community near Sderot, we learned that beauty and hope can grow in response to despair and horror, including people of diverse cultural and religious background coming together to support each other during a time of shared grief. We met with Israeli Arab community leaders who contributed significantly to supporting Israeli Jews in the days and weeks after October 7. We observed their commitment to peaceful co-existence, despite ongoing insecurity in the region.
At the Kotel, we observed archeological evidence of Jewish rituals practiced there more than 2,000 years ago. With our own eyes, we observed evidence allowing us to confidently confirm that Israel is not an apartheid state, and that Israel is undoubtedly not committing a genocide, and that Israel holds the history of the Jewish people.
From Gil Troy, an American historian and Zionist thinker currently residing in Jerusalem, we learned that anti-Zionism is inextricable from antisemitism, and that being proud Jews and Zionists today takes courage. With his wisdom, we realized that there will be minds that we will be unable to change … and that is okay. It is an act of self-preservation to recognize that some people do not want to see anything other than their own perspective, and that in some situations, we must firmly say “this conversation is over.”
We discovered that the complexities and realities of October 7 have been experienced in differing ways in Israel and in Canada and have resulted in different stressors for different people in different ways. We learned that Israelis were not aware of the impact of this war on Canadian Jews, whose physical safety may be less at-risk than Israeli Jews, but whose identities and sense of belonging in their home communities are adversely impacted by exposure to hateful rhetoric.
From our co-participants, we learned that there is strength in community. We now have a phenomenally supportive and active network of educators from across the country with whom our learning journey continues, and we will continue to encourage and support each other. In September, many of us met in Kingston for the Binat HaLev Cohort 1 reunion weekend, the first of many.
Through our trip leaders, we understood that our learning and emotional needs were important and respected. Our facilitators took exceptional care of us, and responded with flexibility and care when we did not understand, when the itinerary needed changing to complement our learning goals, and in ensuring that we were well-fed, hydrated, comfortable, and safe. Our tour guides were inspiring, educated, neutral, fact-based leaders. We learned that without the support of multiple Jewish agencies, both in Israel and Canada working together, including the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, the Jewish Federations of Canada - UIA, Israeli travel agencies, and individual trip leaders, none of this would have been possible.
We discovered that while the trip itself was life-changing and necessary, follow-up actions, thoughtful collaboration, and continued support of the trip organizers is vital, so that we may continue to engage in this important work.
We learned that follow-through is where change really happens, and that sometimes change happens in small, incremental ways. Our post-trip planning includes sharing our learning with non-Jewish peers, so that they too may feel more confident in voicing their allyship; initiating a Jewish educators’ support network, through which educators in Ottawa can receive much-needed support and training in combating antisemitism in schools, and to connect in a supportive environment to find meaningful solutions to difficulties encountered. We plan to use our knowledge of mental health interventions to support the teachers and students locally and in Sderot through partnerships and exchanges.
We learned that non-Jewish allies are essential, particularly those who are equipped with the facts to speak truth to misinformation. Our work will include further developing and enhancing relationships with those in leadership positions through Shabbat and Yom Tov gatherings in our homes. We will support our non-Jewish allies in experiencing their own Binat HaLev in the coming months and years.
While in Israel, we witnessed the aftermath of October 7, in all its brutality. Just like the elderly man who lays flowers upon the memorial at Dizengoff Square, we learned that so many people are sharing their light, hope, and humanity in the ways they know how, in actions both large and small. We learned that the resilience of so many Israelis comes from the hope that this war will result in something bigger and better.
The lessons of courage, resilience and kindness that were gifted to us during our five days in Israel helped to nurture our hearts and minds, and to empower us with the knowledge, skills, resources, and connections that we were previously missing, which ultimately provided us with the freedom to understand that we have it within us to join and move forward the conversation on antisemitism in Canada. As a result of our journey of the heart and soul, we are no longer afraid to speak up.
- Jessica Shulman and Jenny Glassman are Ottawa educators who along with, Rebecca Zuckerbrod, and Ari Lesser, took part in “A Journey of the Heart and Mind,” a Pan-Canadian professional experience in Israel funded by Jewish Federations.