- HOME
- Table of Contents
- Resume
- Philosophy Statement
- 1. History of Jewish/General Education
- 2. Assessment
- 3. Curriculum
- 4. Language Development/Hebrew
- 5. Personal Development of Teachers
- 6. Collaboration/Community
- 7. Technology
- 8. Learning and Cognition
- 9. Evidence-Based Practice
- 10. Child Development
- 11. Content Knowledge
- 12. Ethics and Values
- 13. Instructional Methods
- Inspiration/Chizuk
- Post-Observation Reflections
Jewish History is a subject sorely neglected in many Jewish schools. I think the best way to ensure our collective future is by being aware of our collective past. Without knowing where we came from, we do not have a vision of where we are going. Even Jewish students raised in Observant lifestyles lack major gaps in understanding of the way we have become the nation we are today, and therefore, why we observe Judaism the way we do. Secular Jews, who once touted history as a modern and enlightened subject, would do well to be reminded of the greatness of our traditions, and thereby have better chances of ensuring that they and their children remain part of it.
Yeshiva students, young AND old, often harbor major confusion and misconception about the chronology of the stories in TaNaCh and their relationship with our holidays. For example, when reading Parshat Bo in January, children will ask, “Why are we reading about Pesach now?”. Or, they do not realize that there was a Menorah in the Beit HaMikdash hundreds of years before the Chanukiyah in memory of the Chanukah story, centuries later.
As an interactive activity to try to straighten out some bumps in their understanding, we created a Human Timeline of Jewish History (idea inspired by a teacher I previously assisted). In groups of 5, I gave each of 25 students 1 card with the title of a major event or figure in Jewish History, beginning from Creation and ending with this year. They drew pictures of the event or person, and then in their groups, needed to arrange themselves in chronological order. I used this as a pre-assessment to our unit of Chanukah to gauge their awareness of the period, and thereby showed them themselves how confused they were! With everyone lined-up around the room, we checked the order out-loud together, explaining the flow of time. We tied together the links in the chain, and explained how WE are the next links in the eternal chain of Am Yisrael, and must keep it going!