For many parents, the return to classrooms earlier this month carried the usual blend of excitement and trepidation; yet beneath the normal rhythms of back-to-school lies a troubling reality. Ideological currents once confined to the fringes of academia have moved into mainstream K–12 education. These currents are reshaping how our children learn about history, justice and identity — and too often, Jews and Judaism are being cast in a distorted, even hostile, light.

We write as leaders of the North American Values Institute and the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition to sound the alarm. We recently sent a joint letter to American rabbis alerting them to the danger of politicized curriculum in grades K–12 and called for them to engage with their congregants to confront this disturbing trend. We believe these developments present not only an educational challenge, but a profound moral and communal one. Left unaddressed, they threaten to weaken the civic principles that have allowed Jewish life to flourish in America and imperil the sense of safety and belonging our children deserve.

When Jews become the ’privileged’

Across the country, Jewish identity is being racialized and marginalized. In exercises such as “identity maps” or “power and privilege charts,” Jewish students are routinely classified as “white” and “privileged.” This framing erases our history of persecution and resilience, obscures our faith and traditions and reduces Jewish life to a caricature.

At the same time, Israel and Zionism are often presented through a one-sided lens of “settler colonialism.” Students who express support for Israel risk intimidation, peer shaming or subtle pressure to recant. The rich complexity of Jewish history and the legitimate diversity of opinion among Jews themselves are flattened to fit into the simplistic binaries of “oppressors” and “oppressed.”

These frameworks, rooted in ideologies of decolonization and “critical consciousness,” have gained remarkable traction in recent years. But by categorizing people along rigid lines of power, they erase nuance and cast Jews as moral suspects. The result is not education but indoctrination.

Why the Jewish community cannot afford silence

We have heard from Jewish families who raise concerns about politicized curricula only to be dismissed, ignored or even shamed. Their legitimate discomfort is too often brushed aside. Teachers and administrators who object face intimidation, leaving them reluctant to speak up. The result is a chilling silence: classrooms that discourage honest debate and communities that prize conformity over inquiry.

This narrowing of discourse is not merely an inconvenience. It is an assault on the very principles that have enabled Jews and other minorities to thrive in America: freedom of conscience, thought and expression. Jewish tradition has always embraced makhloket l’shem shamayim, argument for the sake of heaven; we believe in teaching children how to think, not what to think. To see this principle discarded in favor of ideological orthodoxy should concern us all.

Some might dismiss these developments as merely culture-war skirmishes. The reality is that what happens in classrooms shapes how the next generation of Americans will perceive Jews, Zionism and Israel. It shapes whether Jewish children will feel proud of their heritage, or ashamed of it. 

When silence prevails, these ideas take root and spread. If we fail to confront them, we will have ceded the narrative not only about Jews but about the very civic fabric of America.

A call for Jewish leadership

Rabbis and Jewish leaders are uniquely positioned to help communities meet this moment with courage and clarity. The dignity of the individual, the pursuit of justice with humility and the embrace of open debate are values that flow directly from our tradition. They also happen to be the very antidote to ideological conformity.

We urge rabbis, educators and communal leaders to:

• Raise awareness. Speak openly from the pulpit, in newsletters and in parent meetings about what is happening in schools. Many parents are unaware of the scope of these changes.
• Encourage curiosity. Invite families to ask probing questions: What frameworks underlie my child’s lessons? What assumptions about identity and justice are being taught?
• Uplift Jewish values. Remind children and parents alike that Judaism celebrates complexity, moral courage and the ability to wrestle with difficult questions.
• Support those who speak up. Parents who object often feel isolated. Rabbis and leaders can offer them legitimacy and encouragement.

Silence, we must remember, is not neutrality. It is acquiescence.

The stakes for the next generation

This is not just about curriculum. It is about the future of Jewish identity and security in America. We want our children to grow up thinking independently, proud of their heritage and of Israel and prepared to contribute to the open society that has been so hospitable to Jewish life. We want non-Jewish Americans to see Jews not as oppressors but as partners in the ongoing project of building a just, pluralistic nation.

The High Holy Days call us to introspection, renewal and courage. This year, let us extend that courage to the realm of education. Let us commit to ensuring that our children encounter classrooms that reflect the best of Jewish and American values: freedom, inquiry and respect for human dignity. 

To do otherwise — to allow ideological distortion to harden unchecked — would be to imperil the next generation of Jews in America. We cannot and must not abdicate this responsibility.

Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt is the president of the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition.

David L. Bernstein is the founder and CEO of the North American Values Institute.