Education: The Key to a Lasting Peace

American soldiers in classrooms in Germany after second world war

These days, complex and deeply emotional questions are being debated, sparking thoughts and dilemmas. What is the right course of action? What moral, security, and humanitarian considerations must be taken into account? In such a sensitive reality, there are no simple answers, and every decision comes with significant challenges.

Yet beyond any specific discussion, there is a deeper, more fundamental issue that cannot be ignored—education. For generations, children in Gaza have been raised on an education that fosters hatred, conflict, and the glorification of death, instead of values of respect, hope, and cooperation. When a child is taught from a young age to see the other as an enemy, an endless cycle of conflict is created, and there is no real way to break free from it as long as the next generation is educated within the same framework of thought.

History has proven that wars alone do not bring about a shift in consciousness. After World War II, the Americans understood that to prevent the resurgence of extremist regimes, they first had to change the education system. In Germany and Japan, they required the removal of all messages of hatred, militarism, and racist propaganda from school textbooks before investing in rebuilding these nations. They recognized that if the next generation continued to be raised on the same radical ideologies, there would be no real chance for peace or stable recovery.

If we understand how profoundly education shapes nations and cultures, it compels us to look inward as well. It is often easy to point out the problems elsewhere, but the more important question is: What are we doing to ensure that the education we provide to our own children leads to a better reality?

In Judaism, education is the foundation of everything. It is no coincidence that one of the central texts in our tradition is found in both the tefillin and the mezuzah: “And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them.” Passing the right message to the next generation is our most sacred responsibility. When we invest in values-based education, we do not just create a safer future—we build a society founded on morality, justice, and responsibility.

If we want a better world, we must demand and invest in proper education—not just in places where hatred is ingrained but also within our own homes, communities, and the values we pass down. True change does not begin with government policies but with daily education, family discussions, and the principles we instill in the next generation.

Do not wait for the world to educate your children. Do it yourselves, with all your strength, in every way possible. Invest in your children, your grandchildren, your students, and the next generation around you.

Because this is the future. And it is the only future that will truly endure.