Facts, Faces and Facets of Israel-Part 6-Israel and Us

LESSON 1 – ISRAEL IN OUR LIVES

Goal

The goal of the lesson is to encourage the students to think seriously about the role Israel should occupy in our lives.

Materials

Included in the Student Reader

The 3 texts of the lesson

Needed

6 packages of colored paper (each package should have as many pages as there are students in the class), an ample supply of scotch tape and scissors.

Suggested Lesson Plan

Step 1 (10 minutes)

We recommend opening the lesson in 1 of the following 2 ways:

1. The teacher should place piles of different colored paper on the floor, with each color representing different values in the lives of the students. The top page on the pile of one color should say “Family”, the top page on the pile of another color should say “Friends”, of another “School”, of another “Judaism”, of another “Israel” and of another “Other”. Students should then be handed a blank sheet of white paper which is meant to represent themselves, i.e. the sum total of their values, and they should be told to take one page from each colored pile from which they should cut a piece and then paste it on their blank white sheet. The size of each piece of colored paper should correspond to the importance of that value (symbolized by the color) in their lives. The more significant that value in their lives the larger the cutout should be. Thus, by the time is exercise is over the students will have all the colors pasted to their blank white pages but in very different proportions.

Since the goal of this exercise is to examine the role of Israel in their lives the teacher should then show the class some examples of the relative importance of Israel among the students and ask the class to comment. After this brief discussion the teacher should tell the students that in this lesson we will explore different perspectives on the role that Israel should occupy in our lives.

2. Prior to class, words describing different kinds of relationships should be written in large print on pages on the floor: mother, father, sister, brother, boss, friend, lover, commander, teacher, counselor, and competitor. The students should be asked to look at these words and to choose the one that most aptly captures the way that they feel about Israel. The teacher should then call on a few students to explain their choice to the class.

Afterwards the teacher should explain that in this lesson we will explore different perspectives on the role that Israel should occupy in our lives.

Step 2 (10 minutes)

Read (all of or at least the underlined parts) and analyze text 1 guided by the following questions:

1. At times the Jewish life outside of the Land of Israel is referred to as “Exile” and at times as “Diaspora”. What is the difference between these two terms? Which has more negative connotations?
2. Which view of Jewish life outside of the Land of Israel does Schweid adopt? Why?
3. What does Schweid believe should be the focus of the tie between the Jews living outside the land and the State of Israel?
4. What is his attitude toward Jewish education and Jewish self-organization in the Diaspora?

Ask the students to comment freely on any of the ideas that were raised in this text.

Step 3 (10 minutes)

Read (all of or at least the underlined parts) and analyze text 2 guided by the following questions:

1. What does Neusner say about Jewish life in America?
2. Which country is better for the Jews in his view, Israel or America? Why?
3. What does he say about those who advocate aliyah for all of American Jewry?
4. What is the fundamental difference between Neusner and Schweid on the role that Israel should occupy in the lives of American Jews?

Ask the students to comment freely on any of the ideas raised in this text.

Step 4 (10 minutes)

Read (all of or at least the underlined parts) and analyze text 3 guided by the following questions:

1. How does Cohen view the relationship between American Jewry and the State of Israel?
2. What, in Cohen’s view, should be the central concerns of American Jews and Jews wherever they may be?
3. Cohen maintains: “My spiritual home is Jewland”. What does he mean by this?
4. How does Cohen’s view differ from both that of Schweid and Neusner?

Step 5 (5- 10 minutes)

Have a summary discussion guided by some or all of the following questions: Which view did they identify with the most? Why? Which view corresponds the most with the view or attitude that they expressed in the opening trigger of this lesson? To what extent are their personal views based on ideals and to what extent are they based on convenience? Do they think they would feel differently if they were living in Israel?

Texts   

Text 1

Eliezer Schweid, Is there a Case for the Diaspora?

[Israeli philosopher noted for his insights into contemporary issues in Jewish existence and Zionist thought. Awarded the distinguished Israel Prize in 1994.]

We must, at the outset, deal with a semantic question: “Exile”, or “Diaspora”? The correct term, in my view, is “Exile”, despite the fact that many Jews, living with perspectives of the present moment only, are utterly pleased with their lives there… Exile is the condition of a people which has been uprooted from its land and owns no national property for settlement. Exile is the condition of dispersion in countries which are the national property of other peoples. A people in exile resides among other peoples in minority groups, representing a majority in no part of the countries of residence. It is, furthermore, unable to bring to bear on its environment its scale of values, symbols and modes of living, its language and institutions. It is unable to consolidate economic, social or political power of its own… Exile is a fundamental condition of national weakness and blurred self-image… If this is the definition of exile, then the Jewish people is in a state of Exile everywhere except in its State… If the Jewish people wishes to continue to exist as a nation, it must base its existence on a foundation of country and state, exactly as other nations do…

The most frequently-heard argument on this subject is: although the Jewish people need, in our era, their own State, it is impractical to assume that the majority of the people will gather in the State in the foreseeable future. For that reason, we must weave a tight web of reciprocal ties between Jews who live in the State and those of the Diaspora. The State will serve as a focus of Jewish identity for the Diaspora Jews, who will, in turn, offer the State economic and political assistance…What actually lies behind this theory, however, is that it is comfortable for those who espouse it to continue, as individuals, to reside in the Diaspora, which enables them to assist their brethren in the homeland… The focus of the tie between Israel and the Diaspora must… be aliyah – aliyah as an ongoing phenomenon, embodying the drive for national activity… The foundations of settlement, economy, and society must be continually built and expanded – but this is impossible without the immigrants themselves… Our negation of the Diaspora is not intended as negation of the Jews who live there, nor of their communities and organizations. The negation is only of the state of long-term residence of the Jews in the Diaspora… Since this is the case, Jewish self-organization in the Diaspora and Jewish education in particular must, in the meantime, be strengthened.

[Schweid, Eliezer, Is there a Case for the Diaspora? Jerusalem: WZO, 1984]

Text 2

Jacob Neusner, “Is America the Promised Land for Jews?”

[Judaic studies scholar in America; the most published humanities scholar in the world with more than 735 books to his credit.]

It’s time to say that America is a better place to be a Jew than Jerusalem. If there ever was a Promised Land, we Jewish Americans are living in it. Here Jews have flourished, not alone in politics and the economy, but in matters of art, culture, and learning. Jews feel safe and secure here in ways that they do not and cannot in the State of Israel. And they have found an authentically Jewish voice – their own voice – for their vision of themselves.

That is not to say that long centuries of wandering have ended. God alone knows future. But for here, now and for whatever future anyone can foresee, America has turned out to be our Promised Land.

And that creates a problem because American Jews – now, really, having become Jewish Americans – are supposed to feel a bit guilty about living here. They’re expected to fear for their future and take for granted that a full Jewish life is to be lived only in Jerusalem- that is, in the State of Israel. …The message is that we are not supposed to feel secure because anti-Semitism will catch up to us, as it has to Jews everywhere throughout history. Meanwhile the story goes, we’re all “assimilating”; we’ve stopped being Jewish… The truth is that Jews can make it in freedom. America, the freest and most open society Jews have ever known, is not only good for the Jews, but better, for the Jews, than the State of Israel- and not because we prefer the fleshpots or even like singing “Silent Night”… when Israelis tell us that we have to emigrate and “make aliyah” – meaning, ascent to live in the holy land, lest we assimilate and die (both) – they appeal to an evil nightmare, one that gives little sign of coming true…

Here in the diaspora we can be what we want, when we want – from nothing to everything, all the time or once in a while. Freedom is nice, too. And this really has become a free country for us Jews. It wasn’t always that way. It may not always be that way. But let’s stop denying what- at least – it is.

For American Jews – now Jewish Americans – the American dream has come true. I wonder how many Israelis think the Zionist one has come true, too.  

[Neusner, Jacob “Is America the Promised Land for Jews?” The Washington Post, March 8, 1987]

Text 3

Gerson Cohen, “From Altneuland to Altneuvolk – Toward an Agenda for Interaction between Israel and American Jewry”

[Rabbi and historian; former chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary; established the first Conservative rabbinical program in Israel]

To debate the place of Israel in the Jewish situation is to concede the possibility that it may not be a central, that is indispensable, unexpended vital part (in the physiological sense of the term) of the Jewish people. I refuse to consider that possibility… for better or worse, I am incapable of thinking about any policy or program for Jewish life anywhere in the world without taking into account, as an element of crucial importance, the effect or implications of that policy or program on and for the State of Israel… On the other hand, I also find the alternative of exclusive or even predominant concern for any one of my vital parts an absurdity. I do not know which is more central to my body – my heart, my liver, my kidneys, or my nervous system… To insist on, or even to give lip service to, the centrality of the State of Israel in the life of the Jewish people is to me an absurd shibboleth in terms of the practical implications of such a principle. Does it mean that a healthy and creative diaspora is less important than a healthy Israel? If so, I find the phrase repugnant and unspeakable. In this sense, it is a relic from the days when Zionism was fighting to gain recognition as a vital component of Jewish life… That day is long gone…

Israel can occupy an indispensable place in Jewish life only if it becomes and remains part of an inseverable dimension of greater centrality – the centrality of the Jewish people. To this I hasten to add that even the Jewish people can only perpetuate its centrality if it, in turn, is a consequence of a higher mandate- and that is the destiny that made the Jews, sustained the Jews, motivated the Jews as Jews until very recent times – namely, the Torah… As a Jew, indeed, I am at home to varying degrees in any Jewish community… Accordingly, my spiritual home is Jewlandand my life is forever being oriented – consciously and unconsciously – by my Jewish identity, by the covenant into which I was formally ushered shortly after my birth. The Jewish people is my family, for its God is my God, its land is my land, its Torah is mine, its destiny is mine. In short, I am obliged to be concerned for the quality, shape, and content of Jewish life everywhere.

[Cohen, Gerson, “From Altneuland to Altneuvolk – Toward an Agenda for Interaction Between Israel and American Jewry”, World Jewry and the State of Israel. Moshe David (ed.). New York: Arno Press, 1977.]

LESSON 2- THE STORY OF ALEX

Goal

The goal of this lesson is for the students to be both inspired and challenged by the story of Alex Singer, an American who made Aliyah, served in the Israeli army and was killed during his military service.

Materials

Included in the kit: A page with pictures of Alex and his friends, 3 of Alex’s letters

Suggested Lesson Plan

Step 1 (5 minutes)

Ask the students to think about where they imagine themselves living in 5 years, 10 years and where they think they might want to retire. After a few students have had a chance to share their thoughts ask them what are the roles of family, profession, standard of living, convenience, community and religion in considering this question? If they had to list these in the order of importance in their lives, which would be the most, which would be the second… and which the least?

Explain that in this lesson we are going to tell the story of a very exceptional young Jewish man named Alex Singer who was born and raised in the U.S. but who decided to move to Israel and make his future there.

Step 2 (3 minutes)

Provide a brief sketch of his biography as outlined below:

• Alex Singer was born in White Plains, New York on September 15^th, 1962.
• His parents were Max and Suzanne Singer and he had an older brother named Saul and two younger brothers named Daniel and Benjy.
• In 1973, when Alex was in 6^th grade, his family went to Israel intending to spend one year there but stayed there for four years instead.
• In 1977 the family returned to the Washington D.C. area where Alex attended high-school for 3 more years.
• In the fall of 1980 Alex began his studies at Cornell University
• In 1982-83 Alex spent his junior year of college at the London School of Economics in England.
• On the last day of 1984, having graduated from Cornell, Alex moved to Israel on his own.
• One month later he enlisted in the Israeli army and joined the paratroopers where he could be in the most “active” service and where he could be with his younger brother Daniel.
• In May of 1986 after completing his basic army service Alex decided to sign on for more time and go to military officers’ school.   
• After finishing officers’ school in September of 1986 Alex tried to get an assignment as commander of a regular combat platoon. In the spring of 1987 he was finally assigned to Givati, an infantry brigade.

In this lesson we are going to read 3 letters that he wrote between the summer of 1986 and the winter of 1987. 

Step 3 (7 minutes)

Read the first letter and address the following questions:

1. What are his reasons for moving to Israel?
2. What are his reasons for joining the Israeli army?
3. Why does he not feel the distance between himself and his grandparents even though he loves them?

Step 4 (15 minutes)

Read the second and third letters and address the following:

1. Why does Alex feel that Israel is his home “religiously”?
2. Why doesn’t he leave Israel given the fact that there are many things about Israel that he hates?
3. What do you think about his definition of Zionism?
4. Compare Alex’s considerations about where to live with the considerations that your own. What do you think of his considerations? What do you think he might say to you about yours? 

Step 5 (15 minutes)

Now tell them the tragic story of his death and then proceed with the discussion questions:

On his 25^th birthday, September 15^th, 1987, Alex and his four men from the Givati Brigade, along with eight others, were landed by helicopter onto a boulder-strewn ridge in the rugged foothills of Mount Hermon. The ridge, called the Christofani, is a mile from Israel’s borders, within what was then Israel’s security zone in southern Lebanon. The zone was patrolled by the IDF to prevent terrorist incursions across the border into Israeli settlements. A few days earlier another Israeli patrol had discovered signs on the Christofani ridge that people had passed that way. The battalion commander decided that on September 15 twelve men would take hidden positions on the ridge to surprise the terrorists in the event that they would pass by on their way to infiltrate Israel. As it turns out, around 30 terrorists were hidden among the rocks. Minutes after the first helicopter landed, Alex’s company commander, Ronen, obscured by boulders from the rest of his men, was shot and killed. Before Alex’s helicopter landed, the pilot gave him the option to land or turn back until it became safer. Alex chose to land under fire. Alex learned that Ronen was not answering the radio. Not knowing what had happened to Ronen, Alex, who was deputy commander of the action, took a medic with him and they ran forward to find and help Ronen. As Alex reached him, he too was shot and killed. Now under heavy fire with both their officers dead and two soldiers wounded, the remainder of the small Israeli force held their positions, eventually following commands issued by radio from a helicopter overhead. No one could see Alex or Ronen, and their fate was unknown. The machine gunman went to help them and he too was killed at the same spot. The terrorists continued firing for several hours, but after Israeli reinforcements arrived they eventually retreated, leaving behind documents indicating that their target had been a settlement inside Israel.

Now discuss any or all of the following questions: From the limited amount of information that you have about Alex what do you think of him? Would you have wanted to meet him? What would you have wanted to ask him? Do you think he sacrificed too much for his ideals? How much should we be expected to sacrifice for our ideals? Would you be surprised to know that in the summer of 2004 over 1500 Jews from North America decided to make aliyah to Israel? Why? How can you explain it?

Alex’s Letters

LESSON 3- WHAT CAN I DO FOR ISRAEL?

Goal

The goal of this lesson is to inculcate the value and importance of doing something concrete on behalf of Israel.

Materials

Included in the kit: 5 scenario sheets

Included in the Student Reader: information about volunteering in Israel

Needed: paper and pens

Suggested Lesson Plan

Step 1 (10 minutes)

Before the lesson the teacher should place the 5 Israel scenario sheets (included) around the classroom. When the students are seated the teacher should ask them to describe any kind of volunteer work they have been involved in recently. Why did they choose that specific type of volunteer work? After several students have spoken the teacher should then tell them that this lesson is about volunteering for Israel. For that purpose 5 Israel scenarios have been placed around the room. They must choose the 1 in which they would feel the most comfortable volunteering.

Note: It is important to emphasize that every student must choose 1 scenario. It is also important to emphasize that these scenarios are “realistic” in the sense that they were real in the not so distant past or that they can become real in the not so distant future. Nevertheless, the scenarios are “realistic” as of the time of the preparation of this curriculum. Obviously, these scenarios will have to be changed to reflect the changing circumstances. Furthermore, they may need to be changed to reflect more accurately the age and background of the students.

Step 2 (8 minutes)

Once they have decided on the scenario in which to volunteer they should go back to their seats and write down the reasons for choosing that particular scenario and not the others. It is important that the students should not write their names on the page since the teacher will soon be reading some of their responses.

Step 3 (25 minutes)

The teacher should collect the unnamed pages from the students and begin reading some of the responses of students, as time permits. As certain issues of interest and themes come up, the teacher should engage the class in a discussion around these issues and themes. To the extent that the tension between volunteering for Israel and career, sports, fun, dating and parents come up, the teacher should try to broaden the discussion by asking questions such as: How much of our lives should be about “us” and how much about the “other”? How important should Jewish causes be in our lives? Is there a way of determining which cause is more important? How far should we go in abiding by the will of our parents?

Step 4 (2 minutes)

To conclude, the teacher should refer the students to the very last page of the Student Reader which lists websites where they can find more information about volunteering for Israel right now.

SCENARIO 1

The university you are attending has a very strong and well organized Arab community. They use every opportunity and every university billboard to support the Palestinian cause and to condemn Israel for what they consider the “atrocities” the state is committing against the Palestinian people. You have become increasingly aware of the power and impact of this Israel bashing on campus, as students in increasing numbers are attending such functions and are becoming increasingly hostile to you because you are a Jew known for your sympathies for Israel.

The local Hillel is seeking volunteers to “fight back” by organizing a campaign of its own in which Israel’s perspective will be presented and defended. However, doing this properly will take up a lot of your time and you are pre-med and must do well at university if you are to stand a chance of getting into a good medical school.

SCENARIO 2

The situation in Israel has become particularly grave lately. The Hezbolla has bombarded northern Israel with katyusha rockets with Syria’s open endorsement and the various terrorist organizations from the West Bank and Gaza are launching the most intensive terrorist campaign yet against Israel in order to prevent the construction of what they refer to as the “Wall”. Since the United Nations has adopted the Arab stance on the security fence and has utterly condemned it, they are not particularly sympathetic to the wave of terror that has now plaguing Israel. Given the fact that terror is now coming from all directions Tzahal (IDF) is stretched thinner than ever.

You recently heard that your Federation is organizing a summer trip to Israel for teenagers to volunteer in the Israeli army by doing a range of non-combat tasks such as packing food and medical supplies for soldiers, organizing emergency storage rooms, and fixing faulty equipment. You had originally planned on touring Europe during the summer and you have been looking forward to this trip for a very long time.

SCENARIO 3

The Intifada has virtually destroyed the tourist industry. About 25% of the hotels in most areas of the country have been forced to close down and most of the ones that remained open are working at under 20% occupancy which means they are running at a loss. Furthermore, the lack of tourism has ruined the careers of thousands of tour guides, restaurants and shopkeepers who depend for their livelihood on tourism. The collapse of the tourism industry has led to a general recession and unemployment is now rampant as never before. Furthermore, even Israelis not affected directly by the dramatic drop in tourism, are feeling isolated and depressed because hardly anyone is coming to visit and everything just seems dead.

You just heard of a semester program in Israel for high-school graduates which combines touring Israel, study of Torah and Zionist history, and volunteering in the community. You know that your very presence in Israel just when hardly anybody is coming will be a source of encouragement and strength for Israelis and you also know that each dollar spent in Israel helps the Israeli economy. You were also told that you can receive college credits for some of the courses in this program. Nevertheless, you have been planning on starting university as soon as you finish high-school and it is especially important to you since you are planning on going to law school which is another 3 years after college. Also, you are dating someone who is scheduled to be with you at university next year.

SCENARIO 4

The Hague has issued a ruling condemning what it considers the “wall” which Israel is constructing between itself and the Palestinians. Furthermore, the United Nations has adopted the Hague’s recommendation to insist that Israel knock it down. Israel refuses adamantly claiming that it is not a “wall” but a “security fence” aimed at protecting Israel from ongoing terror attacks. Furthermore, you have seen the information gathered by Israel’s security personnel showing the major drop in the number of terrorist attacks since the construction of the fence. The U.S., Israel’s key strategic ally, has always supported Israel in its war against terror. Nevertheless, the pressure is mounting to force Israel to either knock down the wall or force Israel to make radical changes in the route of the fence.

Your local Federation wants to join a nationwide campaign by the Jewish community to organize students to lobby senators and congressmen on behalf of Israel through ongoing letter writing, phone calls, visits to local leaders and other related activities. They have turned to you to help organize this campaign on a local level and to help recruit more volunteers. This would mean giving up a lot of your free time and your spot on the basketball time which you have worked hard to earn over the past year.

SCENARIO 5

The situation in Israel has become particularly grave lately. The Hezbolla has bombarded northern Israel with katyusha rockets with Syria’s open endorsement and the various terrorist organizations from the West Bank and Gaza are launching the most intensive terrorist campaign yet against Israel in order to prevent the construction of what they refer to as the “Wall” and Israel has referred to as the “security fence”. Since the United Nations has adopted the Arab stance on the wall and has utterly condemned it they are not particularly sympathetic to the wave of terror that has now plaguing Israel. The emergency medical services in Israel are on constant alert and there are simply not enough personnel to meet all the medical demands. Furthermore, because of the wave of terror there are not enough medics to deal with the “regular” emergencies.

You recently heard of a 2 month program volunteering with Magen David Adom – Israel’s ambulance service – giving first-aid and emergency care and assisting MDA teams of medics and paramedics. You would love to volunteer in this program except your parents strongly object because of their fear that something might happen to you while helping victims of terror in areas that may be rigged with explosives.

CONCLUDING LESSON – MY ISRAEL

Goal

Now that we have reached the conclusion of the course, it will be enlightening for students to compare their feelings, impressions and views of Israel at the beginning of the year to the feelings, impressions and views that they have now, and to encourage them to analyze and discuss the changes (to the extent that there were changes), and their causes. This exercise allows them both to review what they have learned, but more importantly to discuss the impact of what they learned on their lives.

Materials

Included in the kit: the selection of pictures of different facts, faces and facets of Israel from the introductory lesson.

Needed: the bottle in which the “I chose” cards were stored during the introductory lesson.

Suggested Lesson Plan

Step 1

Open the bottle and distribute the “I chose” cards to the appropriate students. Ask the students to think about whether they would choose the same object now. If not, what would they choose? Why the change?

Step 2

Ask the students to reflect on the course as a whole by asking some or all of the following questions:

Describe some of your thoughts and feelings during the course? What had the most impact on you? What made you think the most? In what way, if at all, has your attitude toward Israel changed? To what extent do you attribute the change to the class, to the teacher or the curriculum? Would you recommend any changes in this course? What are they?