The Jewish Lens program designed to engage students actively in learning about the values that are important in their Jewish communities. It uses the arts as a means to help young people connect intellectually and emotionally with their traditions.
Debbie Friedman – Folk Singer, Aspen, Colorado, 1996
Music is an important part of Jewish life and can be an important tool for Jewish education. From the Aleph-Bet songs of Jewish pre-schools to the chanting of Talmudic passages in yeshivot around the world, music is everywhere in Jewish teaching and learning. Music can reach students and...
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A Teacher with Her Students, Norwood, Massachusetts, 2009
Jewish education is not just about transferring knowledge or teaching students academic skills. It is about relationships, about the respect and caring that exists between student and teacher. As Rabbi Eliezer ben Shamua taught in Pirkei Avot (4:12), “The dignity of your student should be as...
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Tutor, Thane, India, 2001
A Jewish tutor sits with two young students outside a home in the city of Thane, India, near Mumbai. India is home to about 5,000 Jews, and roughly 40% of India’s Jews live in Thane, making it the country’s largest Jewish community. Jews have lived in India for more than 2,000 years and in...
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Science Class, SAR High School, Riverdale, New York, 2008
Faith and science are sometimes depicted as opposites, as competing forces that cannot co-exist peacefully. But all forms of knowledge and learning are valued in Judaism. In fact, some of the world’s greatest Jewish sages were also scholars of secular subjects. The great Rambam, Rabbi Moshe...
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Study Group, Seattle Washington, 2009
Distinguished Jewish educator Rivy Poupko Kletenik is the Head of School at the Seattle Hebrew Academy. She is pictured here leading a group of adults in study. Here is what Kletenik has to say about the process of teaching: “I watch the faces carefully as I teach; the eyes, the mouth,...
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Yeshiva Darchei Torah, Far Rockaway, New York, 2009
When one thinks of a classroom in a yeshiva, he or she may imagine stacks of dusty books piled high on desks and students huddled over open volumes of the Talmud. But these yeshiva students are also engaged with wrenches, pipes, and joints, as they learn the fine points of the plumbing practice....
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Day’s end, Brooklyn, 1996
Torah study is sweet, but sometimes we need a break from even the sweetest things in life. As the end of the day rolls around at a yeshiva in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, these boys start to lose their focus just a bit. But while the topic might not be interesting to the students, the scene remains...
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Teva Learning Center at Surprise Lake Camp, Cold Spring, New York, 2008
Education does not only happen within the four walls of a classroom. In fact, the wonders of nature can inspire inquiry and exploration in ways that an ordinary classroom cannot. In this photograph, young people at Surprise Lake Camp in New York explore nature through the lens of Judaism and...
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A Scholar and Talmudist, Jewish Quarter, Jerusalem, 2010
Surrounded by holy books, a scholar looks up momentarily from his study of traditional Jewish texts. While the Hebrew Bible, of course, serves as the basis for Jewish tradition and law, it is the Mishnah and Talmud that interprets Jewish practice for the post-Biblical era. The Babylonian Talmud...
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Backpack, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel 1991
Jews have lived in Ethiopia for hundreds and hundreds of years. But in the 1970s and 1980s, life became very difficult for them. They were no longer safe. So, in 1984, the Israeli government organized a secret operation—known as Operation Moses—to bring Ethiopia’s Jews to Israel. In six short...
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Tisha B’Av, Jerusalem, Israel 1997
Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the month of Av, marks the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. This event happened almost 2,000 years ago, yet Jews around the world still mourn the loss every year on Tisha B’Av. And what better place to observe this day of mourning and fasting than at...
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The Wall, Jerusalem, Israel 2010
The Kotel Ha-Maaravi, or Western Wall, is considered the holiest spot for Jews today. Located in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Kotel is the only part of the ancient Jewish Temple that remains standing. It was actually part of the retaining wall that held up the Temple Mount, on which the Temple...
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The Secret, Mevaseret Zion Absorption Center, Israel 1990
During the 1980s and 1990s, many Jews came to Israel from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union for religious freedom and a better life. These immigrants often lived in special apartment buildings, called “absorption centers,” until they could find more permanent homes. Absorption centers provide...
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“In Basel I Established the Jewish State”, Basel Square, Tel-Aviv, Israel
The “Basel Parking Garage” is located below trendy Basel Square in Tel-Aviv. The square is named for the city in Switzerland, where the First Zionist Conference was held, where Theodore Herzl presented his idea for a modern Jewish state. Herzl is quoted on the side of the parking entrance: “In...
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Hebrew Class, Israel 1994
Israel is a melting pot for Jews from across the world. New immigrants arrive constantly, speaking many different languages. Israel has created the ulpan, which is a language immersion program created to teach immigrants Hebrew quickly and efficiently. Many ulpan classes are held in absorption...
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Family Origin: Uzbekistan, Kiryat Malachi, Israel 2007.
Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and the...
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Honorable Discharge, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel 1992
Look at the expression on this man’s face. How would you describe it—fear, sadness, confusion, and joy? He has just arrived in Israel from the former Soviet Union. Under communism, Soviet Jews were not allowed to practice their religion openly and were often denied the right to immigrate to the...
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Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, Israel 2010
A Hasidic man stands at a gravesite on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives has been the site of a Jewish cemetery for 3,000 years and holds about 150,000 graves. The rocks atop the gravestone reflect the Jewish tradition of placing stones, rather than...
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Sunrise Shema, Sde Boker, Israel 2003
The people in this photograph are reciting morning prayers in the heart of the Negev Desert, just outside a kibbutz called Sde Boker. Sde Boker is where Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, chose to retire. His vision and hope was that Israelis would move to the Negev and make the...
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Moroccan Rabbi, Be’er Sheva, Israel 2008
Since 1948, nearly a million Jews have come to Israel from Arab and Muslim lands—a large portion in just the first couple of decades of Israel’s existence. They came to escape religious intolerance and poverty, and to start new lives in their historic homeland. In 1948, there were over a quarter...
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Absorption Center, Mevaseret Zion, Israel 2008
The newly arrived Ethiopian immigrants in this photograph are staying at an absorption centers outside of Jerusalem until they find more permanent homes. Absorption centers provide temporary housing and an introduction to Israeli life for many new immigrants. The photographer, Zion Ozeri, explains...
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Old City Alleyway, Jerusalem, Israel 2005
The Old City of Jerusalem is a walled enclave of narrow alleys and stone buildings dating back many centuries. Until the 19th century, the Old City constituted the entire city of Jerusalem, but in modern times, the city has expanded well beyond the Old-City walls. Today, the historic structures of...
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Water Tower, Zichron Ya’akov, Israel 2010
This water tower is located in Zichron Ya’akov, a town on the northern coast of Israel named for Jacob Rothschild. Rothschild’s likeness appears on the water tower below the name of the town. The Rothschilds were a philanthropic French banking family who helped buy and reclaim land before the...
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Established 1930, Kfar Vitkin, Israel 2010
Kfar Vitkin is a village in the center of Israel. It was established in 1930, as a farming Moshav (collective settlement). Over the past 70+ years, Kfar Vitkin has expanded and now offers many amenities. The signs in this image advertise the services of a medical clinic and veterinarian....
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Mother and Son, Ramla, Israel 1986
Jews have lived in Ethiopia for hundreds and hundreds of years. But in the 1970s and 1980s, life became very difficult for them. They were no longer safe. So, in 1984, the Israeli government organized a secret operation—known as Operation Moses—to bring Ethiopia’s Jews to Israel. In six short...
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From the Four Corners of the Earth, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel 1991
Jews have lived in Ethiopia for hundreds and hundreds of years. But in the 1970s and 1980s, life became very difficult for them. They were no longer safe. So, in 1984, the Israeli government organized a secret operation—known as Operation Moses—to bring Ethiopia’s Jews to Israel. In six...
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Operation Solomon, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel 1991
Jews have lived in Ethiopia for hundreds and hundreds of years. But in the 1970s and 1980s, life became very difficult for them. They were no longer safe. So, in 1984, the Israeli government organized a secret operation—known as Operation Moses—to bring Ethiopia’s Jews to Israel. In six...
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A Sign and a Witness, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel 1991
Jews have lived in Ethiopia for hundreds and hundreds of years. But in the 1970s and 1980s, life became very difficult for them. They were no longer safe. So, in 1984, the Israeli government organized a secret operation—known as Operation Moses—to bring Ethiopia’s Jews to Israel. In six short...
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Operation Exodus, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel 1992
In the 1990’s Operation Exodus helped to bring over about 1 million Jews to Israel from the former Soviet Union after the fall of communism, and the opening of the “Iron Curtain”. Many Jews were airlifted to freedom in Israel. Today, Israelis originating from the former Soviet Union make up...
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Family Origin: Ethiopia, Rehovot, Israel 2008
Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and the...
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Family Origin: Germany, Kibbutz Dafna, Israel 2007
Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and the...
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Family Origin: USA, Tel Aviv, Israel 2008
Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and the...
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Family Origin: Dagestan, Hadera, Israel 2007
Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and the...
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Family Origin: Poland & England, Mevaseret Zion, Israel 2008
Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and...
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Family Origin: Yemen, Moshav Yishi, Israel 2007
Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and the...
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Family Origin: India, Moshav Nevatim, Israel 2007
Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and the...
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Family Origin: Ethiopia & Belarus, Haifa, Israel 2008
Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and the...
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Family Origin: Baku (Azerbaijan), Acco, Israel 2007
Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and the...
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Matzah Oven, Bukharia, Uzbekistan, 2000
In this photograph, an elderly woman removes a round piece of freshly baked matzah from a clay oven. Baked the old fashioned way, this handmade matzah is said to be denser and chewier than the crunchy machine-made variety. This photograph was taken after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Under Soviet...
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Flea Market Mincha Time, Yafo, Israel, 2009
In Jaffa, the port neighborhood which is part of the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality, the centrally-located fleamarket (shuk) is like thousands of others across the Middle East, an environment of hustling, hollering and haggling. All of these changes at midday, when the hot Mediterranean sun is at its...
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Adorning the Bride, Yemenite Bride, Yavne, Israel, 1984
In this photo taken in the Yemenite Jewish community in Israel, a bride is helped by an older relative as she puts on the elaborate adornments customarily worn during the wedding celebration. Jewish culture in Yemen had developed largely separate from the rest of the Jewish world, even from the rest...
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Purim’s Gandhi, Mumbai (formerly Bombay) India, 2001
To celebrate the festival of Purim, this boy in India’s capital city Mumbai has dressed up in costume, following the well-known tradition of dressing as heroes and villains from the story of Esther. But rather than a figure from the Megillah, he is wearing the iconic outfit of his country’s...
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Renovation, New York City, NY, U.S.A., 1985
In this image artisans work to restore the stained glass windows in one of New York’s oldest and most majestic synagogues, the Eldridge St. Synagogue. The origins of the Kahal Adath Jeshurun congregation and their temple reflect the Lower-East Side neighborhood’s diverse group of immigrants in...
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Synagogue Soup Kitchen, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2002
A soup kitchen or comedor comunitario hosted by a Chabad synagogue in Buenos Aires, serves more than a hundred people with a hot meal every day. When this photograph of aid recipients waiting outside the synagogue’s entrance was taken in 2002, it was only a year after the country experienced a...
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Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa, 1998
In this photograph, teens at Herzlia High School play basketball on a court near the slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Since the first Jewish school was founded in Cape Town at the end of the 19th century, the community has seen a number of institutions for Jewish education arise...
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Synagogue Key Keeper, Žiežmariai, Lithuania, 2003
Though the late 19th century synagogues in the cities of Central and Eastern Europe are breathtakingly beautiful, with Moorish towers, brightly colored abstract painting, and arches and colonnades that rival many cathedrals, the style certainly did not exist outside the walls of cosmopolitan...
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The New Hurva, Jerusalem, Israel, 2010
The Hurva synagogue now stands in the center of Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter, but its long and dramatic history serves as a reminder of the struggles for control over the city and its neighborhoods. The original synagogue on this site was built in the early 18th century, when a group of European...
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Priestly Blessing Cartagena, Colombia, 2011
In this photograph, a father draws his three sons to his chest during the Birkat Kohanim, the priestly blessing. In the tradition of many Sephardic communities, including this one in Cartagena, Columbia, men cover the heads of their children during the blessing so they can focus on the meaning of...
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Social Justice, Tzfat, Israel, 2008
Tzfat has the highest elevation of any city in Israel and is located north of the Sea of Galilee in a lushly forested and hilly area. Since the 16th century it has been considered one of four holy cities in Israel and has been the capital of the mystical practice of Kabbalah, for which it …...
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Shabbat Welcome, Holon, Israel, 2012
Israeli society is made up of Jewish communities from a variety of backgrounds as well as differing levels of participation in the rituals of Jewish life. It is possible to take the culture and language for granted and neglect the spiritual and religious dimensions of being Jewish in a Jewish state....
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Mt. of Olives, Jerusalem, Israel, 2010
Here is a photograph of The Mount of Olives (Har HaZeitim) with the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City and the rotunda of the Dome of the Rock in the distance. Once covered in olive groves, The Mount of Olives has been used for burials since Biblical times and is referenced in writings from the time...
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Boys in Cartagena, Colombia, 2011
These young students in Cartagena are posed around the bimah after their morning prayers. Most of them have had a bar mitzvah and are wearing tefillin and a tallit, but a few of them are not yet of age. The community is also a relatively young one, primarily made up of recent converts to Judaism....
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Women Praying, Lima, Peru, 2003
At a house on the outskirts of Peru’s capital city, Lima, women pray the afternoon service, mincha. As part of a community of recent converts to Judaism, the congregation lacks some of the basic resources that other groups might take for granted. For instance, they read from a paper Torah scroll...
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Shema Yisrael, Medellín, Colombia, 2011
Prayer is a central focus of any Jewish community, whether it is conducted in the home, a synagogue, a community center, or outdoors. The rituals in this Latin American congregation may look like ones you have seen or participated in. Members of this community adhere to Orthodox traditions, with men...
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A Scribe, Berkeley, California, 2010
From the inscription of a single letter up through the completion of an entire scroll, the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah is a very important commandment as it continues the chain of Jewish tradition and study. Here, Julie Seltzer, one of a handful of female sofers (scribes) worldwide, sits at a...
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Clergy Rehearsal, Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A., 2010
In this Californian synagogue, two musicians from Uganda, a landlocked country in East Africa, join their friend Cantor Mike Stein (right) in song at Temple Aliyah. Rabbi Gershom Sizomu (left) and his son Igaal (center), come from a small but dedicated community known as the Abayudaya (“People of...
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Soldier on Leave, Or Akiva, Israel, 2001
This young Israeli soldier is a member of the Kavkazi community, Jews from the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia and Azerbaijan. The origins of the Kavkazi community are mysterious—some believe their story began more than 2,500 years ago with the Jewish exile to Babylon. But throughout...
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Bar Mitzvah Boy, Mexico City, Mexico, 2004
What does it mean to become a Bar Mitzvah? Among other things, it means being obligated to carry out the mitzvot that apply to all Jewish adults. For the young man in this photograph, it means wearing tallit and tefillin and being called to the Torah. Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t mean...
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Soccer Fan, Kibbutz Mefalsim, Negev, Israel, 2008
The title of this photograph, Soccer Fan, says it all. And if the title doesn’t get the point across, the banner behind this boy does. It reads, “After you I will go…I’m ready to die for you—Maccabi Tel-Aviv.” Maccabi Tel-Aviv is the oldest and most successful soccer team in Israel. In...
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Beth Israel Synagogue, New Orleans, LA, 2006
Months after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Beth Israel synagogue still lay in ruins. It was the hardest hit of the city’s eight synagogues, submerged under 10 feet of water for several weeks. Jews have a long history in the city of New Orleans. Several prominent Jews settled in the city in...
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Jewish Teens from Northern Westchester UJA Federation, New Orleans, LA, 2006
These young people have traveled from Westchester County, New York, to New Orleans, Louisiana, to volunteer in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. In the photo you can see them cleaning a building that was damaged by the floods. Many members of the world Jewish community donated their money...
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B’nei Yisrael Wedding, Mumbai, India, 2008
The rabbi reads from the ketuba as part of this traditional wedding ceremony in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India. A ketuba is a marriage contract that outlines the husband’s responsibilities to his wife. This ancient document not only protects the woman’s rights during the marriage but also in...
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Speak to God, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 2006
Ozeri met this young man in Tel-Aviv, at the entrance to Shuk Ha-Carmel (Carmel Market), a busy, open-air mall. The man is a member of the Bratslav sect of Hasidic Judaism. Bratslavers follow the teachings of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (1772 – 1810), who encouraged followers to cultivate...
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Kabbalat Shabbat, Cold Spring, New York, 2008
The Sabbath candles have been lit. The women and girls cover their eyes as they recite the blessing over the flames. For millennia, this is how the weekly Sabbath has been heralded in Jewish communities across the globe. According to the rabbis of the Talmud, there are two reasons for lighting...
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Basic Training, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1996
These men and women are cadets in the U.S. Air Force. Every day, they get up at the crack of dawn and go through the challenges and rigors of basic training. But these cadets are also Jews. So once a week, on Friday night, they get together for a couple of hours at the synagogue on their …...
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Older Sister, Hong Kong, 2008
Hong Kong may not be the first place most people think of when they think of Jewish communities, but Jews have lived there for at least 150 years. Persian Jewish merchants arrived in Hong Kong in 1842, after China ceded the territory to Great Britain. Hong Kong’s first synagogue opened in...
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Tell Me, What’s Your Name, Rehovot, Israel, 2008
Tell Me, What’s Your Name is the title of the book these girls are reading. It may also have been the first thing they said to each other when they met in their nursery school class in the Israeli city of Rehovot. Rehovot (literally, “wide expanses”) is one of the oldest and most diverse...
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Background, Rehovot, Israel, 2008
A teenager sits on her bed in the Israeli town of Rehovot. Her schoolbook is open on her lap, her shelves strewn with other books and assorted knickknacks. This could be any teenager’s room anywhere in the world. But the poster on the wall above the bed reflects this girl’s unique cultural...
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Headstone, Cimpina, Romania, 2000
“It’s a community where I photographed one couple—that’s all that’s left [of the Jewish community]. They still have one synagogue that nobody visits.” This is what the photographer, Zion Ozeri, has to say about the town of Cimpina, Romania, where he took this picture. When he went with...
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Kindling Holiday Lights, Bombay (Mumbai), India, 2001
Until modern times, Shabbat and holiday lights were usually kindled with oil. In some places, like India, that’s still the custom. The woman in this photograph is lighting hanging oil lamps in honor of the holiday of Purim. Although Jewish law doesn’t require the kindling of lights for Purim,...
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Adamah, Falls Village, Connecticut, 2008
No, this is not a kibbutz or moshav in northern Israel. It’s actually an organic farm in rural Connecticut. This woman is part of a program called ADAMAH (literally, “land”), run by the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, in Falls Village, Connecticut. ADAMAH is a leadership training...
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Floricultores, Camaguey, Cuba, 2003
This family is posed outside their home in the small Cuban village of Camaguey. They are known as “floricultores” because they grow flowers for a living, which they sell in the market. The woman on the right is a Sephardic Jew. Her family originally came from Spain, many generations ago,...
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Backpack, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel, 1991
Jews have lived in Ethiopia for hundreds and hundreds of years. But in the 1970s and 1980s, life became very difficult for them. They were no longer safe. So, in 1984, the Israeli government organized a secret operation—known as Operation Moses—to bring Ethiopia’s Jews to Israel. In six...
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The Secret, M’vaseret Zion, Israel, 1990
During the 1980s and 1990s, many Jews came to Israel from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union for religious freedom and a better life. These immigrants often lived in special apartment buildings, called “absorption centers,” until they could find more permanent homes. Absorption centers...
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Circumcision Ceremony, Bukhara, Uzbekistan, 1993
These Bhukharan women have gathered together to perform a special ceremony for the newborn baby boy you see in the middle of the picture. This is how the photographer, Zion Ozeri, describes it: “It’s a custom—and I didn’t find it in any other community around the world, just there. It is...
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Klezmer Duo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2002
Klezmer is the traditional music of Eastern European Jews. Although many people think of it as oldfashioned music, young Jewish musicians all over the world have started playing klezmer again. The two men in this picture are from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Although this photo was taken at their...
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Honorable Discharge, Ben-Gurion Airport, Israel, 1992
Look at the expression on this man’s face. How would you describe it—fear, sadness, confusion, joy? He has just arrived in Israel from the former Soviet Union. Under communism, Soviet Jews were not allowed to practice their religion openly and were often denied the right to immigrate to the...
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Open Table, (Immigrants from Azerbaijan), Acco, Israel, 2007
Members of the Kavkazi community (Jews from the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia and Azerbaijan) who have immigrated to Israel have strived to retain important aspects of their rich cultural heritage. This photograph reflects one example of this—the value of hospitality that is central to...
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The Shape of Sound, Yemen, 1991
Whether you’re in a cave in Yemen or a yeshiva in Brooklyn, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the words of the Torah remain the same. It is these universal Jewish traditions that keep communities connected across time and space. Why do you think the photographer calls this picture The Shape...
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Kapparot, Kew Garden Hills, Queens, New York, 1995
In this picture, Kew Garden Hills, Queens, is the setting for kapparot, one of the more unusual Jewish folk customs. This boy’s mother holds a prayer book for him as he waves a chicken over his head. Through this act, which is practiced just before Yom Kippur, a person’s sins are symbolically...
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Holocaust Survivor with His Grandchildren, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2002
Here we see a Holocaust survivor surrounded by his grandchildren. He lives in Buenos Aires, where he writes and lectures about the Holocaust. The photographer, Zion Ozeri, explains why he took this picture: “I was concerned about taking a meaningful photograph of him. I could have taken...
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Bet-Levi, Peru, 2003
This family lives in the Amazonian jungle of Peru. You can see the reflection of the rainforest just outside their house. You can also see symbols of Jewish identity on their door. Photographer Zion Ozeri explains the family’s history: “Moroccan Jews came to Peru for the rubber industry...
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Anna Frank School, Budapest, Hungary, 1997
This high school in Budapest, Hungary, is named for Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who, together with her family, hid in an Amsterdam attic for two years during World War II. They were eventually discovered by the Nazis and deported to concentration camps. Anne Frank died in 1945 at the age of 15....
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Let My People Go, New York City, 1987
These people are engaging in the important mitzvah of Pidyon Sh’vuyim (the Redeeming of Captives). At a demonstration in New York City, they push for the release of thousands of Jews from the Soviet Union. Notice what it says on the kids’ signs. Where have you heard these words before? Under...
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Gauchos Reflect, Moisesville, Argentina, 2002
Baron Maurice de Hirsch (1831 – 1896) was a German Jewish businessman and philanthropist. In 1891, he founded the Jewish Colonization Association, or JCA, with the goal of establishing colonies in North and South American for Jews experiencing economic, political, or social oppression in...
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Beit Ha-Hayim, Fez, Morocco, 2004
“Charity preserves from death” is the phrase repeated in Hebrew, English, and French on this charity box at the Jewish cemetery in Fez, Morocco. The phrase comes from the book of Proverbs (10:2). But, it’s not entirely clear who is delivered from death. Is the deceased delivered from a harsh...
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Tisha B’Av, Western Wall, Jerusalem, Israel, 1997
Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the month of Av, marks the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. This event happened almost 2,000 years ago, yet Jews around the world still mourn the loss every year on Tisha B’Av. And what better place to observe this day of mourning and fasting than at...
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Waiting for Seven Jews, Djerba, Tunisia, 1995
This is the El-Ghriba Synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba. Although the current building was constructed in 1929, it is believed that a synagogue has existed on this site for 2,000 years. According to tradition, the first synagogue on the spot was built with a stone from the destroyed...
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Sunrise, Sde Boker, Israel, 2003
The people in this photograph are reciting morning prayers in the heart of the Negev Desert, just outside a kibbutz called Sde Boker. Sde Boker is where Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, chose to retire. His vision and hope was that Israelis would move to the Negev and make the...
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Olive Harvesting, Kibbutz Tzova, Israel, 2006
It’s the season of the olive harvest in Israel, and these young people are helping out on the kibbutz where they live. Since ancient times, olives have been a key crop and an enduring symbol of the Land of Israel. In the Bible, Israel is described as “a land of wheat and barley, of vines,...
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Synagogue Attic, Riga, Latvia, 1991
Before World War II, there were many synagogues in Riga, the capital of Latvia. In fact, until the 20th century, Eastern Europe was a center for Jewish life and learning. But today, only one synagogue still stands in Riga. And just a handful of elderly Jews, like the man in this picture, still...
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Summer Camp, Tumwater, Washington, 2002
It’s time for morning services at Camp Solomon Schechter, in Tumwater, Washington. As the Torah is raised, the kids point with their fingers, symbolically kissing the Torah and lending their support to the Magbiah, who lifts up the scroll. Founded fifty years ago, Camp Solomon Schechter in...
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Cave, Haidan A-Sham, Yemen, 1992
You don’t need to be in a classroom or synagogue to study the Torah. You can do it almost anywhere—even in a cave. The town of Haidan A-Sham is located in a rugged and mountainous part of Yemen, and the Jews there made use of whatever spaces were available. These boys have gathered in a...
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