הוראת ההיסטוריה של יהדות ספרד ויהדות ארצות המזרח במערכת החינוך

The question of teaching the heritage of the Jews of Spain and Muslim countries has been of much concern to Israeli society in the past generation.The discourse on the matter is accompanied by the claim that the Israeli education system allots disproportionate space to this field.The article by Dr. Yoel Merciano discusses first the complexity of teaching the topic of Jewish communities generally and the heritage of the Jews of Spain and Muslim countries particularly,the difficulties that arise in encompassing and assimilating the material, and additional didactic aspects. In the second part, the article proposes a new direction toward teaching the topic. The main idea of the proposed educational program is to address the issue within a multidisciplinary frame work, which includes history, folklore,language, spiritual and material creation and so on. In order to maintain a realistic program within the constraints of the education system,the program offers appropriate represent ationto all Jewish communities in the world through a division into eight geographical, cultural, and linguistic spheres.