Scholarship & Partners

Our scholarship, and the organizations we have served.

Our approach is developed on the page and in the field. Below is a selection of academic writing and thought leadership, alongside the organizations Founding Director Dr. Benji Davis has taught for, presented to, and consulted with.

Writing

Selected writing and scholarship.

Academic Scholarship

Israel Education: A Philosophical Analysis

Journal of Jewish Education, 89(1) · with Hanan A. Alexander · 2023

The lead piece in a special issue on philosophies of Israel education, mapping the field and the visions of the Jewish good that shape it.

"You Never Told Me": The Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Israel Education

Contemporary Jewry, 44(2) · with Hanan A. Alexander · 2024

How exemplary teachers fold earlier generations' disappointment with an idealized Israel into the knowledge they bring to the classroom.

Liberal Jewish Identity and the Pedagogy of Israel Education

Journal of Religious Education · with Hanan A. Alexander

Israel education as a countercultural form of Jewish education, helping learners embrace distinct visions of the Jewish good beyond the liberal-religious default.

Teaching Palestinian Perspectives and the Pedagogy of Historical Empathy

Education after October 7th · Book Chapter

How teachers at North American Modern Orthodox and community high schools navigate their political and epistemological orientations when teaching about Palestinians after October 7th.

The Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of Ethical Identity Education

Oxford Review of Education · with Hanan A. Alexander · 2026

A framework for the specialized knowledge educators draw on to teach ethical and identity-laden content, developed for Jewish and Israel education.

Thought Leadership

From Immersion to Deliberation: A Model for Hebrew Identity Education

Jewish Educational Leadership, The Lookstein Center, Bar-Ilan University · Spring 2026

A five-dimension model for teaching Hebrew as identity rather than skill, tracing immersion in early childhood to ethical deliberation in adolescence. This Hebrew is yours. What do you want to do with it?

Israel Education in a Post October 7th World

Jewish Educational Leadership, The Lookstein Center · 2024

On the questions Israel educators face after October 7th, and what a mature, deliberative approach asks of the field.

A Klal Yisrael Orientation for Judaic Studies

HaYidion, Prizmah · "On the Cusp" issue

The case for orienting day school Judaic studies around three pillars, Torah, Hebrew, and Israel, so graduates can say in their own words why being Jewish is meaningful to them.

Am Yisrael Chai Education: Belonging to a Living Jewish People

Reimagining Israel Education, The Jewish Education Project

A paradigm for Israel education built on land, language, and culture, moving from "We Stand with Israel" toward "Am Yisrael Chai" as the organizing frame.

Organizations We Have Taught, Presented, and Consulted For

Founding Director Dr. Benji Davis has taught for, presented to, and consulted with organizations across the field of Jewish and Israel education, in North America and Israel.