iCENTER CEO ANNE LANSKI ON ISRAEL EDUCATION BEYOND THE ‘ENCOUNTER’

Anne Lanski is the founding CEO of The iCenter, launched in 2008 to create the field of Israel education, complete with curriculum, professional development and pedagogical theories. She’s long been known as “the mother of mifgash,” or “encounter,” as a metaphor for the lifelong process of helping North American children connect with Israel. These days, however, Lanski’s vision is slightly different, she told eJewishPhilanthropy in a conversation about the Chicago-based iCenter’s beginnings, accomplishments and new dream to extend its portfolio of academic credentials.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Helen Chernikoff: Can you give us a little origin story of Israel education?

Anne Lanski: There was a time when ‘Israel education’ wasn’t even a phrase. I used to say I was an “Israel experience educator,” because that was the terminology for Israel trips. One of the people who worked with me came in one morning, and said to me, “I was out last night, and someone asked me what I do, and I didn’t know what [to] say.” Israel education not only wasn’t a field; it wasn’t a term. So what we did, from the very beginning, is that we understood Israel education, first of all, to be integral to Jewish education and Jewish identity. And secondly, we understood that excellent Israel education had to be grounded in excellent education. If we miss that step, it almost doesn’t matter what we’re teaching. And so we convened thought leadership from around North America and Israel, and we worked for months to develop a language and a framework and standards. And now there’s a whole community of people who are actually academically credentialed Israel educators.

HC: The iCenter and The George Washington University created a master’s degree in Israel education. What are the other credential programs?

AL: The first program we created, which is our cornerstone program, [is] The iCenter fellows. This is a master’s concentration in Israel education; it’s a consortium of 14 academic institutions. That includes all of the different denominations, all of the seminaries, all of the major programs and schools of Jewish education, of Jewish communal leadership. And this is the one thing that all of them collaborate on. They send five students to participate in this program, in addition to academic studies at their institution, [and] they do a concentration in Israel education. They’re doing it not because they want to become Israel educators, they’re doing it because they’re going to be Jewish leaders. Then we have the master’s degree in Israel education, which is a two-year program. It’s grounded in education, and in Israel studies. It brings theory and practice together. And we have a long list of graduates waiting to enter a Ph.D. program in Israel education. This is a professional pathway, and it’s here to stay. We also have a certificate program in experiential education for educators from any organization, people who work in camps and schools, youth organizations, Israel trips. It runs the gamut. And then we have an ongoing relationship with Birthright Israel, where there is a cadre every year of 100 Birthright Israel trip leaders who participate in an intensive four-day training. We also do what we call “a taste of The iCenter.” Maybe they do a four-day certificate or a six-week certificate. We see this as a professional credentialing pipeline.

HC: There are so many people who think that everybody knows how to teach, or that you can’t teach someone how to teach. But what you’re doing is very different.

AL: That’s exactly what most people miss. You don’t teach Israel, you teach children. You teach students — about Israel. We’re not about ‘the teacher walks in, and looks at their information and says, “I’m going to give this to you.”’ We’re about the teacher who sees the people in front of them, and engages those people. They don’t teach, they facilitate. It’s the relational approach. Our focus isn’t on Israel. It’s on the relationship. I don’t want to prescribe what kind of relationship it is. It’s part of me and part of my story. The relationship gives context and meaning. Otherwise, it’s more like learning about one country, and then another, and then going onto a new class. It’s more than that.

HC: What about your biography? Are you Israeli?

AL: Technically. I did make aliyah. I do have an Israeli passport. I can get into the country during COVID. But my heart has always been very bicultural. I grew up in Chicago in a family that had no connection whatsoever to Israel. And when I was in high school, for absolutely no serious reason, I ended up in a Zionist youth movement. That’s where I learned, by living, the importance of education, and person-centered education. My first focus was Israel travel. I founded an organization called Shorashim [which translates to roots]. It was based in Chicago, and committed to bringing together North American and Israeli peers. And so we would travel for six weeks to Israel, and the group would be one-third Israeli and two-thirds American, and it changed the lives of both sides. And that’s where I learned the importance of the relationship between Israelis and North Americans.

HC: You were saying that your focus is on the relationship, not on the content knowledge of Israel.

AL: Yes, and also the understanding that we change each other’s lives when you put us together. We say that it’s important to “put a face to the other.” For a lot of North American Jews, the ‘other’ are Israeli Jews. For 20 years, we called this “mifgash,” but I don’t like that term.

HC: Yet it’s so widely associated with you and The iCenter!

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