CURRICULUM

Overview

Our full curriculum follows Jewish migration around the world, from the days of Sarah and Abraham through modern times. The curriculum can be used in its entirity or as pieces to complement another curriculum. The full curriculum covers the history, culture, religious traditions, and daily life of each Jewish community. Children learn through games, story telling, art projects, theatrical productions, discussions, videos, music, dance, and food. They learn independently and together, as a full class and in small groups. Parents participate by giving presentations about their communities of origin, and families come together for special holiday programs. In addition, parents receive their own adult level training, through parent parallel programs that follow the childrens’ studies

To see samples of student projects, click here.

ANCIENT JEWISH CIVILIZATION

To understand the significance of Sarah and Abraham's choice to stake out their own spiritual path, students learn about the development of Mesopotamian society, discuss peer pressure, and reflect on the risks involved in thinking for oneself. After going with Sarah and Abraham into the Promised Land, this unit traces the genealogy of Sarah and Abraham's descendants, following their migration to Egypt during the time of famine. The unit goes on explore the socio-economic and political forces in the Middle Eastern/North African region. What forces led up to the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt? Students review the events of Exodus, follow the Israelites through the Sinai desert, and return to Canaan. The unit then explores the development of ancient Israel and traces the distribution of tribes throughout the land. After learning about the royal lineage up to King Solomon, this unit ends.

To see samples of student projects, click here.

ETHIOPIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY

For this unit, the class is decorated with Ethiopian Jewish art and ritual objects, including hand-woven baskets; hand-sewn tapestries depicting the stories of Miriam, Noah, and the kes (equivalent of rabbis in Ethiopia); a massa (matza) cover with Amharic inscription; and a prayer book in Hebrew and Amharic. During class, students listen to background music of the kes chanting traditional Shabbath and holiday prayers.

This unit begins by reading a book about Queen Makeda's journey to meet King Solomon and test his reputation of wisdom. The book also tells the story of Makeda's journey back to Sheba - in which she brings hundreds of Israelites, the religion of Israel, and Prince Menelik - Queen Makeda and King Solomon's son. Students do art and writing projects based on this story, and they put on a theatrical presentation, through which they study traditional Ethiopian dress and create their own costumes.

To get a visceral feel for the Ethiopian Jewish community, students watch a video of a young Ethiopian-Israeli soccer player. The video is in Hebrew and Amharic, with English voice-overs and subtitles. For many students, this video is their first experience in hearing Amharic. After a class discussion about the video, students work on art and writing projects reflecting what they have learned and discussed. A scholar visits the classroom to give a talk on Ethiopian Jews, presenting a slide show and speaking about the history, culture, and religious traditions of the community. Students learn traditional Ethiopian dances and eat a traditional Ethiopian Jewish meal, prepared by their parents.

Students go on to read two stories about Jewish children from Ethiopia. One recounts a child's daily life in Ethiopia, as well as his experience with the community's emigration to Israel. Another story gives a detailed account of a typical Friday afternoon in an Ethiopian Jewish village, when all families prepare for Shabbath. Through these books, students learn many Jewish words in Amharic, such as Orit (Torah) and Yigzavar (G-d of Israel). With this new vocabulary, students play Amharic Wheel of Fortune, with sweets awarded to the winning teams. The unit concludes with current events studies, based on newspaper articles from Nagat, the Ethiopian community newspaper in Israel. Translated articles reflect contemporary issues, such as the feminist movement in the Ethiopian community; discrimination Ethiopian children face in the Israeli school system; and poverty Ethiopian families face in the immigrant absorption centers.

To see samples of student projects, click here.

LOST TRIBES: THE LEMBA of ZIMBABWE

This unit studies one of the Lost Tribes, the Lemba of Zimbabwe, through watching a documentary on the community. The video traces the history of the Lemba's dispersion to South Africa and their struggle for recognition by the mainstream South African Jewish community.

Following this video, students have an in-depth discussion about inclusion vs. alienation in the Jewish community, exploring ideas of how to heal tensions between ethnic groups. Students share their thoughts about the video, reflecting on what new knowledge they have gained about the Jewish people, our international connection to each other, and our connection to non-Jews across the globe. Following these discussions, students do writing and art projects, based on what they have learned. This unit is being further developed and will include additional class activities. .

To see samples of student projects, click here.

MIDDLE EASTERN and NORTH AFRICAN JEWS

The class is decorated with pictures of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa; posters of countries in the region; and Jewish ceremonial objects from the community. Students listen to recordings of famous singers like Ofra Haza, as well as to traditional recordings of music for Shabbat and holidays.

Students work in independent learning centers, studying about the history, culture, religious traditions, and daily life of Middle Eastern and North African Jews. Each group focuses on a specific aspect of one country and presents its art and writing projects to the rest of the class, to teach about its particular area of study. Projects include skits, maps, posters, albums, flags, timelines, and mini museum displays.

In addition to working at independent learning centers, students study as a group, watching a video on Yemenite Jewish music; learning Middle Eastern and North African Jewish dances; practicing Purim traditions from the Middle East and North Africa; singing Shabbat and holy day songs from the region (in Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic); and studying the Holocaust as it touched the Jewish communities in that area. Students also participate in family education programs, including a MultiCultural Passover seder, a MultiCultural havdallah ceremony, and an international Jewish feast prepared by parents.

To see samples of student projects, click here.

CENTRAL and EAST ASIAN JEWS

This unit begins with class discussions about Jewish history in Central and East Asia. The class is decorated with posters of Central and East Asian countries, as well as with cultural symbols from the region. Students view slides of Jews from throughout the region and watch a video on the history of Chinese Jews.

The class goes on to read childrens' stories about the Jews of Kaifeng and listen to Shabbat songs from countries such as Afghanistan and India. Students work on independent learning assignments about the Jewish communities of Afghanistan, Bukhara, Burma, China, and India, and they make flags of these and other countries where Jewish communities lived for millenia. This unit is being further developed to include games, theatrical productions, family education programs, presentations by specialists, and additional art projects.

To see samples of student projects, click here.

SOUTHERN EUROPEAN and LATIN AMERICAN JEWS

For this unit, the class is decorated with posters of countries throughout Southern Europe and Latin America. The unit begins with a discusion about Jewish migration to the European continent and the development of the distinct Italian and Spanish-Portuguese Jewish communities. The class learns about the Golden Age of Spain and the tremendous advances the Jewish community made during that time, and students uncover the forces leading up to the Inquisition and Expulsion of 1492. Through independent study, students learn details about Sephardi migration to countries including Greece, Mexico, Brazil, and the Netherlands, and the class makes flags of all the countries where Sephardim have lived over the centuries.

While working on art projects, students listen to Ladino music recordings, and they sing Ladino songs for Shabbat, Hanukkah, and Passover. Students also learn Sephardi dances; watch a video about Sephardi history and heritage; and enjoy family programs where their parents cook traditional Sephardi dishes. During Holocaust Remembrance Week, students learn about the Jewish community of Salonica, and they do a writing project following the class discussion.

This unit is being further developed, and the JMCP plans to coordinate our unit on Sephardim with the Amado Foundation curriculum, Out of Spain.

To see samples of student projects, click here.

CENTRAL and EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS

At this time, Jewish curricula almost exclusively teaches about Ashkenazim. For this reason, the JMCP does not focus our resources on developing materials on the Central and Eastern European Jewish community. Nonetheless, our pilot programs have included a sampling of discussions, religious rituals, and theatrical presentations about Central and Eastern European Jews, to model a fully inclusive Jewish classroom. By combining existing curricula with the JMCP curriculum, Jewish educators will finally have the tools they need to teach the richness and diversity of Jewish communities across the globe.

To see samples of student projects, click here.

JEWS of the UNITED STATES

This unit explores the identities and experiences of Jews of color whose ethnicity and heritage cross between Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi communities. This unit is currently being developed.

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RECENT CONVERTS

This unit will explore the history and heritage of recently converted communities. This unit is currently being developed.

To see samples of student projects, click here.

	©2002 by the Jewish MultiCultural Project™. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be copied without the permission of the Project Director.