Teaching Jewish History

Book excerpt: Inform your students' lives with the richness of thousands of years of Jewish history, culture, and tradition. Teaching Jewish History tackles separately each of the key Jewish historical periods-Biblical, Rabbinic, Medieval, Early Modern, Enlightenment, and Modern, as well as the North American Jewish experience. The authors shift focus away from rote memorization of dates, names, and places, and instead examine each period through the lens of core historical concepts-the Diaspora, Covenant, acculturation, assimilation, and building community. History comes to life, helping students whether elementary, middle or high school, or adult develop a stronger Jewish identity. Teaching Jewish History gives teachers the tools to: Understand and explain the meaning of key concepts, terms, names, places, and events in each period of history. Identify and examine primary source documents and objects such as artifacts, diaries, sacred texts, photographs, and artwork. Conduct meaningful discussions of how the core concepts of Jewish history recur in and are relevant to each historical period. Develop a variety of activities including field trips, mock trials, oral histories, and role-playing activities. Place historical events on a timeline. Use additional historical and educational resources such as books, articles, videos, and Internet sites. Teaching Jewish History is an invaluable resource for the novice and the expert teacher of religious and day school children and for educators working with adults in synagogues, community centers, and family education programs.