The Clash of Narratives: Zionism Beyond Politics in Jewish Education

In an era where Zionism is increasingly framed as a political ideology, its role as a modern expression of Jewish peoplehood can become less visible. When Zionism is taught as partisan politics, students and communities cannot recognize antizionism for what it truly represents, an attack on Jewish identity and legitimacy. In this interview, Dr. Naya Lekht will explore how Jewish education can move beyond the political framing of Zionism to its foundational story of belonging, history, and agency. Join us for a conversation about how Jewish education can restore Zionism as a historical and civilizational story, taught with accuracy and intellectual rigor.

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Dr. Naya Lekht is a scholar, educator, and writer known for bringing urgency and clarity to the study of anti-Jewish hatred. She earned her PhD in Russian Literature from UCLA, where her dissertation examined Holocaust literature with a focus on Babi Yar as a site of collective memory for Russian-speakers. Her research on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union informs her work on Soviet antizionism, linking historical patterns of repression to contemporary forms of anti-Jewish hatred.

Today, Dr. Lekht partners with Jewish and non-Jewish private schools to develop rigorous, historically grounded curricula on Israel, the Middle East, and Jewish identity, empowering students to think critically and engage confidently with one of the defining issues of our time. In 2024, she was named one of the Jerusalem Post and JNF’s Top 25 Zionist “ViZionaries.” She is the co-founder of Stop Antizionism, an educational initiative addressing the realities students face in K–12 and higher education through a declaration that names antizionism as today’s antisemitism. Her writing has appeared in the Jerusalem Post, Tablet, Jewish Journal, Algemeiner, and Times of Israel, and she regularly lectures in schools, community institutions, and public forums on the history of anti-Jewish movements and how to teach this material with clarity and moral courage.