Full Curriculum

Unit III: Jewish Peoplehood and Community

Lesson 3: World Jewish Communities


Each local Jewish community is but one of thousands of local Jewish communities around the world. Each has its own customs, traditions, and unique institutions.

Time: 50 minutes
Materials: World map or Google Maps projected for the class
Thumb tacks or sticky notes
Printed copies of a wide variety of photographs by Zion Ozeri
Peoplehood Worksheet 3A: Diverse Jewish Communities
Research materials and/or Internet access 
Preparation: Have a world map available as well as printed copies of photographs by Zion Ozeri (they can be printed on regular paper). Make copies of Peoplehood Worksheet 3A (one for each student). Arrange ahead of time to bring students to the school library or have research materials available in the classroom.
Overview: In this lesson, students examine images of diverse Jewish communities as shown in Zion Ozeri’s photographs and begin to conduct research to learn more about them.
Big Idea: Each local Jewish community is but one of thousands of local Jewish communities around the world. Each has its own customs, traditions, and unique institutions.

Introduction (5 minutes):

  1. Remind students that their local Jewish community is just one of thousands of Jewish communities around the world. Ask students:
    Where are some other Jewish communities you know of?
  2. List students’ answers on the board.
  3. Ask students to come up to the map of the world and find the locations of these communities on the map. Mark the spots with tacks or sticky notes. Alternatively, have students find the locations on a projected image of Google Maps.

  

Exploring Communities (20 minutes):

  1. Explain to students that they will be examining in greater depth some of the world’s diverse Jewish communities reflected in Zion Ozeri’s photographs.
  2. Make all of the photographs by Zion Ozeri available to students. You might hang them around the walls of the room with tape or tacks, or spread them out on a central table for students to peruse.  Give students time to examine the photos; then have each student choose one that he or she would like to know more about. It could be a photograph that the student has already seen or one with which the student is unfamiliar.
  3. Once each student has chosen a photograph, hand out copies of Peoplehood Worksheet 3A and have students work on it individually.
  4. Circulate among students and offer assistance and guidance as needed.

 

Researching Communities (25 minutes):

  1. Students will conduct research and prepare presentations about the communities depicted in the photographs they have selected. Student research should be guided by the questions listed on Peoplehood Worksheet 3A. Students can also explore such questions as:
    1.  How is this community similar to or different from your community?
    2. How do people in this community connect with Jewish life and practice?
    3. What unique traditions, customs, clothing, music, etc., do they have?
    4. How are Jewish values reflected in the activities and customs of the community?
    5. How is the community influenced by the cultures around it?
  2. Have students go to the library or look online to begin collecting resources for further research.
  3. Student presentations ultimately can include not only photographs and information about the communities but also food, clothing, customs, music, etc. If students have family or friends who come from the countries they are researching, the students might conduct interviews with these people as part of their research and take pictures of them or objects from their culture.

For further information on some of the communities depicted in Ozeri’s photographs, see the World Jewish Communities file as well as the suggested books and websites.

Homework:

Students will need to finish their research projects for homework and/or during additional class periods.


If your students have not yet done the Introductory Lesson, we recommend beginning with that lesson before progressing through the lessons in this unit.

 

 

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