The Holocaust as a Source for Religious Education and Reflection Among Adolescents in Israel

The purpose of this study is to examine how students attending a religious Zionist girls’ high school in Israel decipher and interpret—in religious terms—the Holocaust, an event that constitutes a Jewish national trauma. The study will focus on how an examination of aspects of the Holocaust as a Jewish historical event, which constitutes a reality-changing event, can form a basis of religious education. The study will propose to examine the issue through the implementation and use of an innovative six-stage structured pedagogical technique called a reflective culture of Holocaust remembrance (RCoHR), which shall be analyzed below. We will begin by explaining the theoretical background of the topic, then describe the research process and findings and conclude with an analysis of the pedagogical implications of the method for religious education and how Holocaust education could constitute a reflective means of enrichment for religious education.