Stand-Alone Lessons and Activities

Peoplehood: What Is Jewish Peoplehood?



Jewish Peoplehood (20-40 minutes)

The following activity can be used to introduce or augment a larger study of Jewish peoplehood, Jewish community, or Jewish diversity (adapted from the complete Jewish Lens curriculum, Unit 4, Lesson 5)

What is Jewish Peoplehood? (15 minutes):

1. Put up several photographs by Zion Ozeri around the room. For example:

Honorable Discharge
Circumcision Ceremony
The Secret
Backpack
Oil Pressers
Synagogue Attic
Barefoot Passages coming soon
Nuptials
Tisha B’Av
Scribe
Jewish Teens from Northern Westchester
Soldier on Leave

2.  Ask students to look around at all the photographs and then stand next to the one that they feel best reflects “Jewish Peoplehood.”

3. Once everyone has chosen a photograph, students can sit down in their groups. Ask several students (at least one from each group) to explain to the rest of the class why they chose their particular photographs. What about the photograph says, “Jewish Peoplehood” to you?

Text Study (15 minutes):

  1. In their groups, have students read the texts on Peoplehood Worksheet 5A. Several of these quotes were taken from a series of interviews by Moment Magazine on the question: “Is there such a things as the Jewish People?” (See Is There Such a Thing as the Jewish People?.)

  2. Ask students to discuss the following questions after they have read the quotes:

  • What defines “the Jewish People”? Is it religion? History? Values? Israel? Something else?

  • Is there really such a thing as “The Jewish People”? Why does it matter?

  • Is it important to you to be part of the Jewish people? Why?

Wrap Up (5 minutes):

  1. Have some students share their thoughts with the larger group on the texts and questions.

  2. Ask students if any of them have changed their minds about which photograph best reflects “Jewish Peoplehood.” If any students have changed their minds, they should move places accordingly and share their reasons.



PHOTOS

 

 

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 U.S. or Israel. But after Gorbachev (the Soviet president) opened the doors to emigration in 1989, hundreds of thousands of Jews from the former Soviet Union fl‰ocked to Israel, with the help of Jews around the world.

These immigrants often arrived with very little and faced many challenges in their new homes. But the man in this picture has brought something very precious with him: the military medals he wears with pride. They serve as a reminder of his previous life, of the risks he took Œfighting for his country.

Here is what the photographer, Zion Ozeri, has to say about this picture: “I call it honorable discharge. He was obviously discharged from the Russian army. And many Jews, by the way, either sacriŒficed their lives or fought heroically during World War II…. I always look for the image that would defiŒne the moment, so to speak. So I sort of saw it in his face…. You see the ‰flag, you see El-Al, and that look.”

 

Sample Texts:

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Gray hair is a crown of glory;
It is attained by the way of righteousness.
– Proverbs (Mishlei) 16:31


 

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Bring us in peace from the four corners of the earth and lead us with upright pride to our Land.
– from shacharit (the morning service)


 

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Assuredly, a time is coming—declares the Lord—when it shall no more be said, “As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt,” but rather, “As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites out of the northland, and out of all the lands to which He had banished them.” For I will bring them back to their land, which I gave to their fathers.
– Jeremiah (Yirmiyahu) 16:14-15


 

 

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 fiŒnd it in any other community around the world, just there. It is right before a circumcision. You see the baby’s feet protrude here, and this one with the kettle, she’s actually pouring water on this matriarch who’s seated. The water fiŒrst washes the baby’s feet and then her hands, and she makes a bracha [blessing]. And then they take the baby to be circumcised. What I like about it is that it’s women actually participating in this tradition—that they’re not just spectators, but they’re also participants.”

Although Jewish boys everywhere are circumcised when they’re eight days old, this hand- and footwashing custom is unique to the Jewish community of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Jews have lived in Central Asia for centuries and have developed many distinctive traditions. Although some Jews still live in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, many have moved to Israel or to Queens, New York, where there are now large communities of Central Asian Jews.

 

Sample Texts:

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God said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring to come throughout the ages shall keep My covenant. Such shall be the covenant between Me and you and your offspring to follow which you shall keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.
– Genesis (Bereshit) 17:9-10


 

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.
– Yiddish saying



 

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 Œfind more permanent homes. Absorption centers provide temporary housing and an introduction to Israeli life for many new immigrants. The photographer, Zion Ozeri, explains how important these centers are: “The Œfirst few steps of any immigrant are very diffiŒcult—not knowing the language, not knowing where to buy things, where to go. The Absorption Center helps the new immigrant. It’s something I don’t know if they have anywhere else in the world. It’s a place where you can ease yourself into it. For the fiŒrst few months at least, they give them some money to buy food, and there is an ulpan(Hebrew class) for teaching the language. They kind of initiate them into new life in Israel, and how to deal with everyday things from the very, very simple things—like shopping in the supermarket—to Œfinding a job.”

The two boys in this picture are in a kindergarten class at an absorption center near Jerusalem. One boy is from Ethiopia; the other is from the former Soviet Union.

 

Sample Texts:

When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them. 
– Martin Buber


 

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One day, [Honi] was walking along the road, and he saw a man planting a carob tree. He asked him, “How long does it take [for this tree] to bear fruit? The man replied, “Seventy years.” He asked him further, “Are you certain you will live another seventy years?” The man replied, “I found the world provided with carob trees because my forefathers planted them for me. I am planting them now for my children.”
– Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 23a


 

 

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 diffiŒcult 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 weeks, almost 8,000 Ethiopian Jews were rescued through the Sudan. It was a diffiŒcult journey, and many suffered or died along the way. When the operation ended, about 15,000 Jews still remained in Ethiopia.

In 1990, Israel and Ethiopia reached an agreement that would allow Ethiopia’s remaining Jews to move to Israel. But before anything could be done, rebel forces threatened to topple the Ethiopian government. So in May 1991, as the rebels seized control of Ethiopia’s capital, the Israeli government organized an unprecedented rescue operation, called Operation Solomon. Beginning on Friday, May 24, and continuing non-stop for a day and a half, 36 El-Al jumbo jets and military transport planes carried more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to freedom in Israel.

The people in this photograph were part of Operation Solomon. The man carries his mother on his back as they enter the land of Israel for the Œfirst time. Look at the expression on their faces. How do you think they feel?

Here’s what the photographer, Zion Ozeri, had to say about the experience: “I was here [in the United States] at the time. Reading carefully through the Israeli newspapers and the New York Times, I felt that something was going to happen—some kind of an airlift. I smelled it in the air. So I called someone I knew at the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem, and I said, ‘What’s happening? Is it what I think is going to happen? Is there going to be an airlift?’ He said, ‘Are you crazy? I can’t talk to you about this over the phone.’ I said, ‘I understand. But tell me, should I just buy a ticket to come to Israel right now?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ I bought a ticket and I got there Friday afternoon. I put my luggage down at my parents’ house, took my camera, and said, ‘Goodbye, I’m going back to the airport.’ They said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘I can’t tell you now, but you’ll know in a couple of days.’ And it was the most amazing thing. An hour or two after I got to the airport, they started landing. And you’d see babies who were being born on the planes. It was just amazing.”

 

Sample Texts:

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All people, in every generation, must regard themselves as having been personally freed from Egypt.
– from the Passover Haggadah


 

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My son, heed the discipline of your father,
And do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
For they are a graceful wreath upon your head,
A necklace about your throat.
– Proverbs (Mishlei) 1:8


 

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And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You dealt ill with Your servant, and why have I not enjoyed Your favor, that You have laid the burden of all this people upon me? Did I conceive all this people, did I bear them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You have promised on oath to their fathers?”
– Numbers (Bemidbar) 11:11-12



 

Oil Pressers, Alibag, India, 2001

This Jewish family lives in Alibag, India, a small village outside of Mumbai. Many of the Jews from the towns and villages around Mumbai have worked as oil pressers for generations. In fact, they were sometimes known among their non-Jewish neighbors as Shanwar Telis, or “Saturday Oil Pressers,” because they didn’t work on Shabbat. In this picture, you can see some symbols of Jewish life—like the Magen David (Jewish star) and Hamsa (good luck sign in the shape of a hand)—alongside the traditional tools of the oil pressers’ trade.

Jews have lived in India for 2,000 years. Unfortunately, the country’s Jewish community is shrinking. Most of India’s Jews have immigrated to Israel, and only a few thousand are left in the entire country.

 

Sample Texts:

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Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children.
Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.

– Deuteronomy (Devarim) 6:6-7


 

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A song of Ascents.

Happy are all who fear the Lord,
who follow His ways.
You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors;
you shall be happy and you shall prosper.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house;
your sons, like olive saplings around your table.
So shall the man who fears the Lord be blessed.
– Pslams (Tehilim) 128:1-4



 

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 attend services. During the communist period, young people were intimidated by the police to keep them from going to synagogue. But if you climb up to the synagogue’s attic, you will discover stacks and stacks of ancient Jewish books. These books remind us that there once was a large and active Jewish community there.

According to Jewish law, sacred books can’t be thrown away. They must either be set aside in a special storage area called a genizah or buried in the ground.

The photographer, Zion Ozeri, explains how he came to take this picture: “When we came, there were only a few elderly men in the synagogue. This one [in the picture] is the gabbai, actually. And I asked the translator to ask him—I found it strange that in a big synagogue there were only a few prayerbooks. So I asked him to ask about that. And the man kind of got a little insulted, because he thought I was questioning their Jewishness. So he said to the translator, ‘Does he want to see books? I’ll show him books.’ So he took us to the attic. It turns out they had put all of their books in the attic, because the communists didn’t want to see that richness of Jewish life. Because when you see so many books, what does that mean? It means that this culture and tradition is very rich. So they put everything in the attic. He was actually reaching for his glasses to show me a book, to show me how ancient these books were. At that moment I saw this image and I took a photograph of it.”

 

Sample Texts:

Ben Bag-Bag taught:
Study it [Torah] and review it; you will find everything in it. 
Scrutinize it, grow old and gray in it, do not depart from it. There is no better portion in life than this.
– Pirkei Avot 5:24



Barefoot Passages


 

 

Nuptials, Libertad Synagogue, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2002

In this photo, a bride and groom stand under a chupah (wedding canopy) in the Libertad (Liberty) Synagogue in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The rabbi looks on as the groom signs a large book in which all the important events of the community are recorded. He will also sign the ketubah—the traditional Jewish marriage contract. Notice the bride standing behind him. What do you think she’s thinking or feeling?

Argentina has the largest Jewish community in all of Latin America. Because they are the biggest, they have taken on the responsibility of helping smaller communities. As photographer Zion Ozeri points out, “Buenos Aires has the only rabbinical and cantorial seminary in all of South America. And if you go to other countries in South America, the rabbis are always imported from Argentina. You have to remember, it’s the largest [Jewish] community [in Latin America], numbering about 200,000 people. I was in Aruba, for example, and the rabbi was from Argentina, and I was in Cuba and they had sent people from Argentina as well.”

 

Sample Texts:

 

…may there be heard again in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem glad and joyous voices, the voices of groom and bride…
– from the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony


 

A joyful heart makes for good health;
Despondency dries up the bones.
– Proverbs (Mishlei) 17:22


 

 

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 the Kotel Ha-Maaravi—the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.

In this picture, people have come from all over Israel to attend services at the Wall. In the foreground, you can see men reading from a Torah scroll that’s kept in a wooden case. Sephardic Jews traditionally use this type of container to hold the Torah, rather than the cloth coverings common among Ashkenazi Jews.

 

Sample Texts:

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Pray for the well-being of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be at peace.
May there be well-being within your ramparts,
Peace in your citadels.”
– Psalms (Tehilim) 122:6-7

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If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand wither;
Let my tongue stick to my palate
If I cease to think of you,
If I do not keep Jerusalem in memory
Even at my happiest hour.
– Psalms (Tehilim) 137:5-6

 

What then is Torah? It is a coat of many colors, a spiritual garb of infiŒnite variety. Torah is the embodiment of Jewish thought and vision; the repository of Israel’s historic experiences; the vehicle of its communion with the InfiŒnite; the medium of divine speech and human love; the authoritarian voice: Thou Shalt, Thou Shalt Not; the alternating currents of divine, thunderous wrath and the warmth of Messianic hopes and dreams for Israel and mankind. Torah is the distillation of the soul of Israel into the written word of its classic literature, in the Institutions in which it has taken shelter. But the Torah in the ideal cannot be chained to the written word nor contained wholly in the institutions designed for human beings. It is the indwelling of the divine spirit in living souls as expressed in the genius of Israel.
– Abraham A. Neuman, Landmarks and Goals: Historical Studies and Addresses


 

 

Scribe, Marseille, France, 2006

This sofer (scribe) in Marseille, France, is writing a Torah scroll. A kosher Torah scroll must be written by hand by a trained scribe, using quill pens, special ink, and parchment made from animal skin. The scribe cannot simply write the Torah from memory; he must carefully copy every word from an existing Torah. It can take as long as one year to write a single Torah scroll.

Marseille is the second largest city in France, and it’s home to the third largest Jewish community on the European continent. Jews lived there as early as the 6th century. During the Middle Ages, Jewish merchants settled in the lower part of the city near the port, trading with Jews and Christians from around the Mediterranean region. The Jews were granted the status of citizens and in the 14th century even given special consideration—for example, they were exempted from having to sweep in front of their houses on Saturday and from having to carry a lantern after curfew on Jewish holidays. In the 15th – 17th centuries, however, the Jews of Marseille faced a number of persecutions. The Jewish population dropped considerably by the 18th century but began to grow again in the 19th century. During the Holocaust, the city was in the unoccupied part of France. Jews from other parts of Europe and North Africa took refuge there and helped rebuild the community after the war. Since the Holocaust, the Jewish community of Marseille has continued to grow, with the arrival of many Jewish immigrants from North Africa.

 

Sample Texts:

Have a beautiful scroll of the Law prepared, copied by an able scribe with fiŒne ink and Œfine calamus; and wrapped in beautiful silk.
– Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 133b


 

The Torah and all its commandments in their minutest details, as expressed in thought and deed, for a great and mighty Divine poem, a poem of confiŒdent trust and love. Every commandment and law has a unique musical quality that the congregation of Israel perceives and appreciates. It evokes the blossoms of reverent joy and song within us. It is for us to remove the warts from the ears of our sons, “the thorns and thistles that surround the noble fl‰ower,” so that the waves of song will echo in their hearts as well, uplifting their souls with the same natural exaltation that is common to all in whom the spirit of Judaism is properly developed.
– Abraham Isaac Kook, quoted in Banner of Jerusalem by Jacob B. Agus


 

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 fl‰oods. Many members of the world Jewish community donated their money and time to help those affected by the disaster. Adam Bronstone, of the New Orleans Jewish Federation, commented on the contributions of such volunteers: “They can’t fiŒx levees. They can’t put people in FEMA trailers. But they can help brighten up someone’s day. Things are pretty dark now, and volunteers of all ages are continuing to give to this city” (New York Jewish Week, February 24, 2006).

 

Sample Texts:

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It is to share your bread with the hungry, and to take the wretched poor into your home; when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to ignore your own kin.
-Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 58:7


 

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We support Jewish and non-Jewish poor; we visit Jewish and non-Jewish sick and bury Jewish and non-Jewish dead, to promote the ways of peace.
– Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 61a


 

Do not be wise in words – be wise in deeds.
– Yiddish saying


 

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Shun evil and do good,
Seek peace and pursue it.
– Psalms (Tehilim) 34:15


 

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 their history, the Kavkazi Jews always longed to return to Eretz Yisrael.  In recent decades, their dream has become reality; there are more than 100,000 Kavkazi Jews living in Israel today.

Like young Israelis of all backgrounds, most Kavkazi youths enter the army at age 18. Men usually serve for three years; women for two. Typically, men are also called up for reserve duty every year until about age 40.

 

Sample Texts:

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For instruction shall come forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Thus He will judge among the nations and arbitrate for the many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war.
– Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 2:3-4


 

It is true we have won all our wars, but we have paid for them. We don’t want victories anymore.
– Golda Meir

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