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Unit #1: Background Activity – The People of
Israel and the Land of Israel
1. Opening – What does the Land of
Israel mean to me?
The participants are presented with various pictures
symbolizing the relationship to the State of Israel / Land
of Israel. They have to pick the picture they identify with
most and explain why they chose it and how it expresses
their relationship to Israel. (Appendix 1)
2. The Tower of the Generations
Every participant receives four slips of paper –
- Grandfather / grandmother
- Father / mother
- Me
- My son / daughter
First stage: Each participant writes down how each of the
family members would define their relationship to the Land
of Israel.
Second stage: The participants present the comments they
wrote.
3. Study
Each participant receives the page of sources (designed to
look like a page of Gemara) discussing the attitude of the
Jewish people to the Land of Israel over the generations
(Appendix 2), as well as a list of questions to guide their
study (Appendix 3).
The study can be organized in various ways:
- Study in “Hevruta” (groups of two or three participants) –
each Hevruta studies a different section on the page, guided
by the questions. Then the whole group comes together to
discuss their study.
- Study in Hevruta – each Hevruta studies the whole page.
The group comes together and each Hevruta discusses the
questions they had about the texts / a section they found
particularly meaningful or less so, etc.
- Guided joint learning – the participants study the page
together and discuss the various sections.
Conclusion
Each participant chooses one sentence or word they would
like to take along with them as they move forward.
In a circle: Each participant says their sentence. We will
go round the circle twice so that each participant can say
their sentence in a different way.
Appendix 1 – Pictures of the Land
of Israel 1- 9
Appendix 2 – page of
Gemara
(In the printed version, this section will look
like a page of Gemara) Why did we choose the Land of Israel? The reply to this
should be that even raising this question is based on a
false approach that casts a misleading light on our
movement. The Zionists did not invent Zion; rather, it was
Zion and the longing for Zion that created the Z page of
Gemara ionists. Look at Jewish history and you will
recognize that the longing for the land from which the
people was disconnected for thousands of years runs like a
thread through all our history. In every period this
aspiration was manifested in different ways, but it is still
easily recognizable in every incarnation and form (…)
Yet the Land of Israel left its mark not only on the
feelings of the people, but also on its psychology. The deep
awareness was formed and took root in the psyche of a close
and unbreakable bond between the Land of Israel and Jewish
culture (…)
Immigration to the Land of Israel. With this is connected
the living, vital, clearly felt need to change the entire
world view, all the previous foundations and habits.
“Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the
land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great
nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and
be thou a blessing". (1) Genesis chapter 12
And He said unto him: 'I am the LORD that brought thee out
of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit
It.' (7)
And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither;
for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.' And it
came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and there was
thick darkness, behold a smoking furnace, and a flaming
torch that passed between these pieces. In that day the LORD
made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'Unto thy seed have I
Given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great
river, the river Euphrate…
The Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite… and the
Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, and the
Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the
Jebusite.' {S} (16-21) Genesis
Now in the first year of Cyrus
king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of
Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the
spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation
throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing,
saying: 'Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms
of the earth hath the LORD, the God of heaven, given me; and
He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which
is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His
people--his God be with him--let him go up to Jerusalem,
which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD, the God
of Israel, He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And whosoever
is left, in any place where he sojourned, let the men of his
place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods,
and with beasts, beside the freewill-offering for the house
of God which is in Jerusalem.' (1-4) Ezra chapter 1
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept,
when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst
thereof we hanged up our harps. For there they that led us
captive asked of us words of song, and our tormentors asked
of us mirth: 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'How shall we
sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land? If I forget thee, O
Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember
thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chief’s joy.
(1-6) Psalms chapter 137 “We
never forgot the Land of Israel. For two thousand years the
Jews carried the Land of Israel in their hearts and minds
wherever they went, and this was manifested in their customs
and prayers (‘Next year in rebuilt Jerusalem.’)” (Chaim
Weizmann, first President of the State of Israel)
We Sing to You / Yaacov Orland
We sing to you, homeland and mother,
The Song of Songs to labor.
As long as the fire burns inside our hearts,
We shall not cease to sing of you.
We fled from the alien land impoverished and empty-handed.
We glorified you alone.
We are children only of mother, or mother
We are all yours.
Remember that we have sworn to keep moving forward,
Our heart will reveal the secret to you.
We want to love you, mother.
We want to live in you.
Look at your azure skies, mother,
The cherubs of the dream still fly.
You will not believe for we shall place you as
Homeland, labor, and peace. The
convoy song – by Eli mohar
We spoke in many different languages
and we didn't know each other
we left many different places
and only wanted and loved one place
we came to this country
The convoy keeps on coming since last century
Farmers and pioneers who worked very hard
not seeing the end of the road
Now we come we will not rest
we will participate this is our life's adventure
We came from ghettos and camps
to the desert and swamps
From the Arab countries Russia and Poland
we put a light in Dimona and Dgania
And from all the other places
we created a land a nation in spite of all the problems
and a language that was dormant started
to wake up and be spoken
Big storms difficulties and sorrow are surrounding us
But there is reasons to be happy
there is still courage and strength
The course of the wanderings we have traveled in the name of
the Land of Israel; this course was from the first step to
the last nothing but a sacred act of worship of the Land of
Israel. This course can reach its conclusion only in the
Land of Israel. If we deviate from this course we shall
descend from the tracks of history. We shall digress and
drift, never to return. For as long as we lived history
passively, we were not responsible for our steps and we went
wherever we were pushed by the will of strangers. But from
that moment in which the new era of independent action
began, we can no longer move as we are pushed by strangers –
we must create our history with our own hands, totally and
ultimately, since we do not and cannot have any other
solution.(Z. Jabotinsky, Early Zionist Writings)
All the commandment which I command thee this day shall ye
observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and
possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers.
(1)For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a
land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing
forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and
vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees
and honey (7-8) And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and
bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given
thee. Beware lest thou forget the LORD thy God, in not
keeping His commandments, and His ordinances, and His
statutes, which I command thee this day; (10-11) And it
shall be, if thou shalt forget the LORD thy God, and walk
after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I
forewarn you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the
nations that the LORD maketh to perish before you, so shall
ye perish; because ye would not hearken unto the voice of
the LORD your God. (19-20)Deuteronomy chapter 8
Appendix 3 – Guiding questions for
studying the page of sources about the people of Israel
and
the Land of Israel
By
the rivers of Babylon – Psalm 137
- What is the event that has led the authors of the psalm to
weep?
- What vow did the exiles make while they were in the
strange land?
- Today, where do we use the verse “If I forget you,
Jerusalem?” Now that the people of Israel lives in the Land
of Israel, why do we still mention this verse?
Genesis 15 – The “Covenant between the Pieces” (Brit ben
HaBetarim)
- As the descendants of Abraham how do you feel when you
read this promise?
- How do you think God wanted Abraham and his descendants to
feel about the Land?
- God promises the Land to Abraham and his descendants
without asking for anything in return. Try to think of other
examples of “covenants” that bind only one side.
Deuteronomy 8
- In these sources (unlike the Covenant between the Pieces),
an “agreement” is presented between God and the people of
Israel. What is the content of the agreement in the Book of
Deuteronomy?
- The source in Deuteronomy mentions the covenant from
Genesis. If you had to choose just one of the two promises
about the Land to be left in the Torah, which one would you
choose? Why?
- How would you feel if someone very important was
constantly worrying about you and watching your every step?
- When do we not deserve the “prize” of Israel? When does
the condition state that we will not be able to live in the
Land of Israel?
Z. Jabotinsky, Early Zionist Writings, and Yechiel
Chlenov
- These quotes were taken from the Zionist Congress
regarding the decision between Israel and Uganda.
- What are the arguments for insisting on the Land of
Israel?
- Can you think of any arguments why not to choose the Land
of Israel – then and now?
- Many people today say “Why shouldn’t we choose Uganda /
Why shouldn’t we choose the United States?” If all the
Israelis received Green Cards and the State of Israel was
abolished, wouldn’t this solve a lot of problems? Would you
support this move?
We Sing to You / Yaacov Orland
- Why does Y. Orland refer to Israel as “mother?” Who do we
call mother?
- Would you refer to the Land of Israel as “mother?”
- What does the Land of Israel give to its children?
- Do children have any obligations to their mother? If so –
what?
- So what are our obligations to the Land of Israel? What
hope is expressed here about “Mother Earth?”
The Song of the Convoy / Ali Mohar
- What “convoy” is the song referring to?
- Is the convoy still moving today?
- Is this “ingathering of the exiles” a good thing?
- Do you want to be part of this convoy?
- Is Israel “stronger than all our faults?”
Unit #2: The Past – The Declaration of
Independence
Goals
1. To become acquainted with the text, sources, and values
of Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
2. To discuss the main themes reflected in the Declaration
of Independence, with an emphasis on equality and social
justice.
Process
1. Reading and listening to the declaration (10 minutes)
2. Studying the declaration – work in pairs (15 mins.)
3. Picture charades (20 mins.)
4. "Value-based election advertisements" (20 mins.)
5. Conclusion (5 mins.)
Materials
- Tape recorder + recording of the declaration
(Appendix 4)
- Copies of the Declaration of Independence in English (one
for each participant)
(Appendix 5)
Course of activity
1. Listen to David Ben Gurion reading the Declaration of
Independence. (Appendix 4)
2. Divide into pairs – learning the declaration.
A. Each pair is given an English translation of the
Declaration of Independence
(Appendix 5). The task: you have
to divide the declaration into its main ideas and themes and
give each one a title.
B. The whole group comes back together. Each pair presents
its division and the group discusses the different views.
Questions for discussion relating to the content of the
declaration:
- What historical right is announced in the declaration?
- What are the founding principles of the state according to
the declaration?
- The declaration emphasizes that the State of Israel is a
Jewish state – what does it mean by this?
- What does the declaration have to say to the Arabs of
Israel and the Arabs in the neighboring states? Why does it
distinguish between these two groups?
- What demand is presented to the Jewish world?
- How did the Jews in the Diaspora maintain their historical
and traditional connection with Israel? How was this
connection manifested in physical terms during the recent
generations?
- The facilitator draws the participants’ attentions to one
of the key sentences in the declaration that refers to
equality and justice: it will be based on freedom, justice
and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will
ensure complete equality of social and political rights to
all its citizens
irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee
freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and
culture
3. Charades / picture charades:
Divide the participants into two groups. One representative
from each group comes forward in turn. The facilitator gives
each representative a different sentence from the
Declaration of Independence. The representative must try to
convey the sense of the sentence to the group by pantomime
or by drawing (the group still have their copies of the
Declaration of Independence with them from the previous
activity).
Use the following sentences:
- The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration
and for the Ingathering of the Exiles.
- The State of Israel will foster the development of the
country for the benefit of all its inhabitants;
- The State of Israel will be based on freedom, justice and
peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel;
- The State of Israel will ensure complete equality of
social and political rights to all its inhabitants
irrespective of religion, race or sex;
- The State of Israel will guarantee freedom of religion,
conscience, language, education and culture;
- The State of Israel will safeguard the Holy Places of all
religions.
4. "Value-based election advertisements"
A. Divide the participants into groups of four.
Task: Select a key theme from the Declaration of
Independence that you believe is the most important (e.g.
complete equality of social and political rights
irrespective of religion, race or sex; peace with the
neighboring countries; Jewish immigration, etc.) Prepare an
advertisement / presentation / radio jingle explaining why
this is the idea that should be emphasized.
B. The group comes together and each group of four presents
its ideas (advertisements).
Conclusion: In today's session we have heard, read,
and learned about Israel's Declaration of Independence.
Israel does not yet have a constitution. Instead, it has a
collection of laws based on the themes in the Declaration of
Independence. We have noted the founding values of the State
of Israel, and we have seen that putting these values into
practice in daily life is far from easy. In the next session
you will have to decide which area most urgently needs to be
addressed in Israel. We will also discuss in greater depth
the challenges facing Israel.
Appendix 4: Declaration of
Independence – audio
http://halachayomit.com/elbaavia/hachraza.wav
Appendix 5: Declaration of
Independence The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people.
Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was
shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created
cultural values of national and universal significance and
gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.
After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept
faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased
to pray and hope for their return to it and for the
restoration in it of their political freedom.
Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews
strove in every successive generation to re-establish
themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they
returned in their masses. Pioneers, defiant returnees, and
defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew
language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving
community controlling its own economy and culture, loving
peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the
blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and
aspiring towards independent nationhood.
In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual
father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First
Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the
Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country.
This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the
2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the
League of Nations which, in particular, gave international
sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish
people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish
people to rebuild its National Home.
The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people -
the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe - was another
clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of
its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the
Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland
wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the
status of a fully privileged member of the community of
nations.
Survivors of the Nazi holocaust in Europe, as well as Jews
from other parts of the world, continued to migrate to Eretz-Israel,
undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers, and
never ceased to assert their right to a life of dignity,
freedom and honest toil in their national homeland.
In the Second World War, the Jewish community of this
country contributed its full share to the struggle of the
freedom- and peace-loving nations against the forces of Nazi
wickedness and, by the blood of its soldiers and its war
effort, gained the right to be reckoned among the peoples
who founded the United Nations.
On the 29th November, 1947, the United Nations General
Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment
of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General Assembly
required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps
as were necessary on their part for the implementation of
that resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of
the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is
irrevocable.
This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be
masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their
own sovereign State.
Thus members and representatives of the Jews of Palestine
and of the Zionist movement are here assembled on the day is
the termination of the British Mandate over the Land of
Israel and, by virtue of our natural and historic right and
on the strength of the resolution of the United Nations
General Assembly, HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A
JEWISH STATE IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE
OF ISRAEL.
WE DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the
termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of
Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the
establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the
State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be
adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than
the 1st October 1948, the People's Council shall act as a
Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ, the
People's Administration, shall be the Provisional Government
of the Jewish State, to be called "The State of Israel".
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration
and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster
the development of the country for the benefit of all its
inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace
as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure
complete equality of social and political rights to all its
inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will
guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language,
education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of
all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of
the Charter of the United Nations.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL is prepared to cooperate with the
agencies and representatives of the United Nations in
implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of the
29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the
economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.
WE APPEAL to the United Nations to assist the Jewish
people in the building-up of its State and to receive the
State of Israel into the comity of nations.
WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched
against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the
State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the
upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal
citizenship and due representation in all its provisional
and permanent institutions.
WE EXTEND our hand to all neighboring states and their
peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and
appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual
help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own
land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in
a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle
East.
WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to
rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of
immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great
struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the
redemption of Israel.
PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE STRENGTH OF ISRAEL*, WE AFFIX OUR
SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE
PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND,
IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF
IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY, 1948).
Unit #3: The Declaration of
Independence and Israeli Reality
Goals
1. To expose the participants to Israel’s achievements and
to the challenges the state faces.
2 To encourage a deeper understanding of the challenges and
problems facing the State of Israel today.
3. To expose the participants to the activities of IRAC.
Process
1. Introduction – “sun of associations” (5 mins.)
2. Watching the video + task (15 mins.)
3. "Dilemma Café" (40 mins.) (another
option: adults
activity unit#3)
4. Discussion in the whole group (15 mins)
5. Conclusion (5 mins)
Materials
- Blank poster
- Video film.
(Appendix 6)+ Projector, pink slips,
pens
- For the Dilemma Café:
1. Set up the room to resemble a café – tables, chairs,
tablecloths, cups, light refreshments.
2. Menus.
(Appendix 7)
3. Dilemma file cards.
(Appendix 8)
4. Articles
(Appendix 9) + paper + pens.
Course of activity
1A. Introduction to the activity
1. “Sun of associations:” The facilitators draws a circle
and writes “Good things about Israel” inside it. Then the
facilitator writes down the participants’ associations
around the circle. Each participant in turn says the first
association that comes into their mind when they hear the
phrase “What's good about Israel?” The facilitator writes
down all the associations on the poster.
2 Everyone watches the short video summarizing the story of
the establishment of Israel, the country’s achievements, the
wars, etc.
(Appendix 6)
3. While watching the video, each participant is given two
pink slips of paper headed "Israel's Successes." As they
watch the video, each participant must write down good
things about Israel on the slips of paper. At the end the
participants share what they have written and stick the
slips on the sun of associations.
4. Dilemma Café
The main part of this session is the Dilemma Café. Set up
the room with round tables, with light refreshment on plates
(ask the participants to bring the refreshments) and soft
drinks.
Invite the participants to sit around the tables in a café
format.
- Each table receives a menu
(Appendix 7). The menu
includes various “dishes” that are actually various dilemmas
or subjects. The “dish” cards are designed attractively on
colored card (Appendix 8). Note that the dilemmas we present
are just examples – the facilitator can choose others.
5. What are we going to do? Something!
Each group is given a paragraph describing an activity of
the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, IRAC, or Keren
B’Kavod (Appendix 9). The group must think together
and write down what problem the activities relate to, and
what other solutions they could suggest (the suggestions can
be posted on the website as a present for Israel’s 60th
birthday).
Conclusion – all the group together
Each group presents the article it received and the
additional solutions it thought about.
At the beginning of today’s session we discussed the main
events and achievements of the State of Israel over the
sixty years since it was established. Then we focused on
some of the main problems Israel faces that present a
challenge for modern-day Israel. You all chose the challenge
you believe is the most important. We saw how IRAC is trying
to cope with these challenges, and you raised other ideas of
your own. In the next session we will try to define our
vision for Israel.
Appendix 7: Menu
Welcome to the Dilemma Café!
Our café is proud to offer a wide choice of dilemmas.
Please ask the waiter for your preferred dilemma – and don’t
forget to leave a tip!
Selection of appetizers
First course served all day
Today’s soup served with freshly-baked bread and
butter
Main course
Salad with thousand island dressing
Crackers from our neighborhood bakery
House cocktail – the sale and serving of alcoholic
beverages to persons under the age of 18 are prohibited by
law
Dessert – hot chocolate cake
Hot drinks – real Israeli black coffee
BeTe’avon!
Appendix 8: Dilemmas
Appetizer
Michal is a school principal. She is an idealistic educator
and in her work she tries to emphasize the absorption and
integration of immigrants. In recent years her school has
taken in a large proportion of new immigrant students. As a
result the standard of education and academic achievements
has fallen. The school does not have a very good reputation
any more, and many of the parents of the “native Israeli”
students have decided to move their children to other
schools. Should Michal consider limiting the percentage of
immigrant children in her school?
Today’s soup
Poverty statistics: “Over 500,000 families in Israel suffer
from ‘nutritional insecurity.’ 23.6% of Israeli citizens –
equivalent to approximately 1,530,000 people – live in
poverty, including over 714,000 children. A family is
considered to be facing partial nutritional insecurity if
the parents go without food in order to make sure their
children have enough to eat. In families facing serious
nutritional insecurity, the children themselves do not have
enough food. (National Insurance Institute Report, 2004).”
How do you feel about these statistics? How can we try to
help these families – as a nation and as individuals?
First course
David and Alon are best friends. Alon was injured and he
must now use a wheelchair. They were invited to their friend
Dan’s birthday party. When they arrived at the club, the
bouncer wouldn’t let Alon enter because he was in a
wheelchair. David was allowed to go into the party. What
should David do? Should he stay with his friend, or should
he leave him outside and go into the party?
House cocktail
Tomer is organizing a party on Friday night because he will
soon be going off to the army. His friends Gabi and Shlomo
are religious and tell him that they cannot come, because
the party will be on Shabbat. Some of Tomer’s friends are
already in the army, and they won’t be able to come if he
moves the party to Thursday night. What should Tomer do?
Main course
Shlomo owns Shlomo’s Prime Vegetables Ltd. Times are hard
and the business is low on cash. Shlomo employs Su, an
illegal foreign worker from China. Su loads crates in
containers for NIS 12 an hour, without health insurance,
pension, or social rights. One day Su is crossing the road
on a pedestrian crossing when he is knocked down by Yair. Su
is injured and a physician who happens to be near the scene
says that he should go to hospital as he may have internal
injuries. Su is afraid to go to hospital because they will
ask for his papers and he may be deported. Should Shlomo
call for an ambulance?
Salad with thousand island dressing
Bar has been dancing since he was a little kid. He studies
in the dance track at the Arts Academy in Jerusalem. Last
week Bar got his first draft notice and he has to go to the
recruitment office. Bar’s parents are very excited, because
everyone in the family served as officers. Bar’s big brother
served in an elite marine unit. Bar knows that the draft is
compulsory, but he also knows people who have found ways not
to serve in the army. Bar doesn’t want to join the army. He
wants to work on his career as a dancer, and he knows that
if he joins the army he will lose three vital years and will
probably never be able to catch up. He has a chance to join
the prestigious Kibbutz Dance Group, and he can’t combine
that with army service.
Bar’s parents cannot accept his position. They always
emphasized contributing to the nation as the first priority,
and Bar’s brother served in an elite unit. They can’t bear
the idea that Bar will think only of himself while his
friends go off to the army…
What should Bar do?
Cracker
The Torah says: “And on the seventh day God finished all the
work God had made” (Genesis 2:2).
The Jewish people are commanded to keep the sanctity of the
Sabbath day. Since the establishment of the State of Israel,
it was accepted that business and shops close on Shabbat.
In recent years, however, more and more shops around Israel
are opening on Shabbat. One of the main reasons for this is
the huge turnover the shops make on Shabbat – far more than
on a regular weekday. Many people in Israel are concerned
that if this trend continues, Israel will lose its Jewish
character and the social value of a day of rest.
Should shops and businesses close on Shabbat?
Hot chocolate cake
A letter suddenly arrives from the president of the United
States:
“Since Israel is a burden on the American taxpayer;
Since Israel still cannot stand on its own two feet, even
though it is now sixty years old;
Since the ongoing conflict with the Arab nations causes
problems and leads to many deaths in wars and terror attacks
among the Israeli population;
Since the United States is the only Western nation that
protects Israel against the other countries of the world,
the United Nations, and everyone else;
Since the majority of the Jewish people today live in the
United States, and since they are joined every month by
dozens of Israelis, and since everyone in the United States
is treated equally and enjoys equal social and economic
rights;
Since many Jews sense their Jewish identity while on
American soil;
Since there is growing dissatisfaction among Israeli
citizens and Jews around the world;
Since modern-day anti-Semitism is the result of the behavior
of the State of Israel ---
The Government of the United States hereby suggests that the
State of Israel announce its dissolution.
The United States is willing to let every Israeli Jew come
and settle wherever they choose in the United States, and to
become an equal citizen (OPTION: the letter could state that
an area will be provided as the 51st state of the Union).
The Government of the United States will do everything
possible to promote the full and successful absorption of
the Israeli Jews on American territory.
This will solve the problem of the Palestinians, the Jews,
the Americans, and the Western world and save money and
human lives.”
Should the Jews dismantle the State of Israel and move to
the United States? Would you do that?
Hot drink
Yael is a social worker aged 37. Her son Gadi is 8. When
Yael was a student at university, she met an intelligent and
pleasant man called Erez. It was love at first sight. When
Yael was 28 they decided to get married. After a while Yael
saw that Erez was coming home late every night, and hardly
spending any time with her and their son. Erez claimed that
he was under a lot of pressure at work. One day Yael found
out by chance from a neighbor that Erez was having an affair
with a woman he worked with. Yael waited for him to come
home, and then told him that they could not go on like this.
She asked him to choose – either to give up his affair and
be faithful to her, or to leave the home right away. The
next day Erez left Yael and moved in with his new
girlfriend. That was six years ago.
Over the years, Erez built a new family with his girlfriend
and they had two children. Yael has met a nice guy who loves
her, but she cannot marry him or have children with him
because Erez will not give her a “get” (a religious
divorce). If Yael has children, they will be considered
“mamzerim” (bastards). In Israel, the rabbinical courts are
responsible for marriage and divorce, and they strictly
follow the Orthodox Halacha. According to the Halacha, the
man must give the “get” to the wife, and until he does so
she is not released of the marriage. So while he continues
his life, she is stuck in a marriage she wanted to end long
ago. Yael is called an “aguna” – a woman whose husband
refuses to grant her a divorce.
How do you think Yael’s problem should be solved? Imagine
that you are Yael and write a letter to the rabbinical court
or the prime minister of Israel.
Appendix 9:
Throughout the year, B’Kavod works with Reform congregations
in Israel distributing food packages to needy families
during Muslim, Christian, Jewish holidays, as well as
packages every month to one hundred families in poor
communities. The Reform Movement in Israel is the only
movement which feeds people of all faiths.
B’Kavod also works in partnership with Israeli welfare
organizations, providing Informal educational and cultural
activities, including theater and musical performance,
science and art museums, and more for children and their
parents.
Last summer during the war in the North, B’Kavod was one of
the primary organizations that served those citizens who
could not leave their homes, providing hundreds of food
packages, hygiene and baby products, as well as toys. The
B’Kavod staff and volunteers go door to door, personally
helping Israel’s most needy residents.
B’Kavod began providing food, clothing and baby supplies for
approximately 100 Sudanese refugees, who fled the genocide
on Darfur on foot with nothing but the clothes on their
backs to Israel.
IRAC's Legal Department fights for Reform Rabbi Miri Gold's
right to government recognition as the Municipal Rabbi for
Kibbutz Gezer in central Israel. As both a Reform Rabbi and
a woman, Rabbi Gold seeks to increase the religious options
available to Israeli taxpayers—of the nearly 1000 government
paid Municipal Rabbis throughout the country, all are
orthodox men. As of March 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court is
overseeing mediation in the case, and IRAC is currently
waiting for the Israeli government's response.
Israel IRAC's Legal Assistance Centers for Olim (LACO) offer
assistance to new immigrants, particularly those from the
Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia, to navigate government
bureaucracy as they assimilate into Israeli society. The
majority of cases that LACO handles include issues of
marriage, adoptions, conversions, family unification, and in
the worst case scenarios preventing deportation.
IRAC's Legal Department continues to build upon its major
2005 Supreme Court victory in attaining recognition for
non-Orthodox conversions where study took place entirely in
Israel but the ceremonial acts took place abroad.
Non-orthodox conversions are vital to keeping the Jewish
tradition alive in Israel, where Orthodox conversions are
long and taxing, especially for hardworking new immigrants.
With the future of the Jewish state in mind, IRAC’s ultimate
goal is recognition of non-Orthodox conversions performed in
Israel.
Unit #4:
“Our Hope Is Not Lost”
Goals
1. To become familiar with Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikva.”
2. To encourage the participants to think about a better
future for the State of Israel.
Process
1. Word game (15 mins.) –stage 1 and (optionally) 2.
2. Reading Hatikva and understanding its meaning (5 mins.)
3. Group discussion. (15 mins.)
4. Group divides into groups of three and comes up with a
new verse for the national anthem (10 mins.)
5. Presenting the proposed new verses (5 mins.)
6. In groups of three – participants study Yair Lapid’s
article (10 mins.)
7. Group comes together – participants share the study in
groups of three + conclusion (10 mins.)
8. Optional activity: Mosaic – A Present for Israel (15 mins.)
Materials
1. The words of Hatikva on cards (one word on each card).
2. Copies of the text of Hatikva in Hebrew and English.
3. Tape and tape recorder.
4. Posters and markers for writing the new verses for
Hatikva.
5. Copies of Yair Lapid’s article + paper + pens.
6. For the optional activity – Mosaic- A Present for Israel:
Posters, glue, magazines, pens, colored crayons, scissors,
modeling clay….
Course of Activity
1. Opening
All the words of Hatikva are scattered on the floor – each
word on a separate piece of paper (Appendix 10).
Stage 1: The participants are asked to take a word they
connect with and explain why they chose it – what does this
word mean to them? Alternatively, they can create a phrase
and explain why they did so.
Stage 2 (if facilitator chooses): Each participant in turn
says the word or phrase they chose and adds a particular
intonation or movement. Each participant must repeat the
words and movements of their predecessors.
= The facilitator can ask the participants whether they are
familiar with the phrases they chose.
- Do they identify the words of Israel’s national anthem
Hatikva?
- Can they put the words in the right order?
2. Reading the full text of Hatikva
(Appendix 11) and
listening the anthem (link)
The facilitator gives some background about Israel’s
national anthem (see the background for the facilitator in
Appendix 12).
3. Group discussion (the facilitator can choose questions
according to the participants’ level)
Questions for discussion:
- Basic questions about the meaning of the words –
clarifying words (according to the participants’ level)
- How do you understand the phrase “the soul of a Jew
yearns?”
- Is it important to you to belong to the Jewish people?
- What is the “hope” that the anthem refers to? What hope
“is not yet lost?”
- What does “of two thousand years” mean?
- What is our/your hope today? Is your hope as Jews who live
outside Israel different from the hope of Jews who live in
Israel?
- What does “free nation?” mean? Are we a “free nation”
today?
- Would you choose this song as Israel’s national anthem?
What anthem do you identify with more – the national anthem
of your country or the Israeli national anthem?
- Discussing the dilemma in the group: Israel’s national
anthem
Hatikva, as Israel’s national anthem, is a representative
and official song that is supposed to represent the State of
Israel and all its citizens. Yet the anthem specifically
talks about “the soul of a Jew” and “to be a free nation in
our land.” Can this anthem be the national anthem of Israel
and represent all Israel’s citizens (including those who are
not Jewish) equally?
4. Adding a new verse to the anthem
The facilitator divides the participants into groups of
three.
Task: You have to write another verse for Hatikva.
The verse
you write will be sent to the State of Israel as a present
through the website of Keren B’Kavod.
5. Presenting the “new verses” to the whole group
Each group will present its additional verse for the Israeli
national anthem.
Please send
the verses as a present to Israel
6. Study in groups of three: “The Land I Love”
Each group of three receives a copy of Yair Lapid’s article
“The Land I Love” (Appendix 13).
Task: Read the article by Yair Lapid. Which comments that he
makes do you agree with? What things does he like about
Israel? What thinks make him mad? What are his hopes for
Israel?
7. Mosaic – A Present for Israel
In groups of four, the participants are given blank posters.
Each group decides what it would like to wish Israel for its
anniversary. Then they draw/paint the greeting on the
poster.
Later all the posters are pinned on the wall forming a
mosaic. A photograph is taken and sent to the website.
Appendix 10: Individual words of Hatikva Heart free
deep soul
Forward East
Eye looks
Jew nation
Zion Thousand
Jerusalem
land
Appendix 11
|
Transliteration
Kol od balevav p'nimah
Nefesh Yehudi homiyah
Ulfa'atey mizrach kadimah
Ayin l'tzion tzofiyah
Od lo avdah tikvatenu
Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim
L'hiyot am chofshi b'artzenu
Eretz Tzion v'Yerushalayim |
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ëì òåã áìáá ôðéîä
ðôù éäåãé äåîéä
åìôàúé îæøç ÷ãéîä
òéï ìöéåï öåôéä
òåã ìà àáãä ú÷åúðå
äú÷åä áú ùðåú àìôéí
ìäéåú òí çåôùé áàøöðå
àøõ öéåï åéøåùìéí |
Hatikva - English Lyrics
As long as deep in the heart,
The soul of a Jew yearns,
And forward to the East
To Zion, an eye looks
Our hope is not lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem
The anthem link:
http://kaye7.school.org.il/iritz/hatikva.wma
Appendix 12
Background for the facilitator
The title of the national anthem, Hatikva, means "The Hope."
It was written by Naftali Herz Imber (1856-1909), who moved
to Palestine in 1882 from Galicia. The melody was arranged
by Samuel Cohen, an immigrant from Moldavia, from a musical
theme in Smetana's "Moldau" that is partly based on a
Scandinavian folk song.
Hatikva expresses the hope of the Jewish people, that they
would someday return to the land of their forefathers as
prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. The Jewish people were
exiled from Israel in 70 C.E. by the Roman army led by Titus
who destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. During the two
thousand years of exile, the Jewish people said special
daily prayers for return to Israel while facing the East in
the direction of Jerusalem. They celebrated the holidays
according to Hebrew seasons and calendar. Zion is synonymous
with Israel and Jerusalem.
Appendix 13: Yair Lapid
The Land I Love, Yair Lapid, (From Maariv 4/02,
translated by Kobi Luria)
I love this country. I love this country for the right
reasons and some idiotic reasons, but that’s what love is
like. I have no illusions about this country. Mount Hermon
is not as breathtaking as Mont Blanc. If the Sea of Galilee
(Kinneret) was in Canada it would be considered a puddle.
Jerusalem is the size of a small pitcher, but it is
difficult to find among all the traffic jams. This country
is beautiful to me only because it is mine. Every view
reminds me of a different memory - the Shwarma in Beer-Sheva
that we would go to in our army days, the Gilboa hike that I
succeeded in falling in the mud every year, the ins and outs
in Ben Gurion Airport, the hill that I climbed in 30 seconds
(move!) that I hated so much it has turned into a real love
I love this country because I understand it. In other
countries I am always afraid to make a mistake. I know that
the English don’t invite strangers home, but I don’t really
understand why. French eat frog’s legs – I don’t understand
how. I understand that every bow in Japan has a different
meaning, but I’ll never understand what the appropriate
angle should be.
Israel is simple for me. I know that the Honorable Minister
is the guy without a tie, that the driver who yells out
“Selling?” doesn’t really mean to buy, that the tehina is
added after the falafel so that it doesn’t drip on my pants.
I know that God is a political subject, the budget is a
religious issue, and the executive branch doesn’t really
execute anything. If I don’t have guests from abroad, I
don’t notice that there are a lot of soldiers on the street.
The security guard at the cinema doesn’t scare or surprise
me, but the whine of the ambulance siren does. There are no
secrets between the state and me. We are still, like the
song says, “simple and similar”. By the way, the song I also
recognize.
I love this country because it also makes me angry. The
government drives me crazy, income taxes are way too high,
reserve duty is a pain in the butt, and the way people drive
here is horrible. Every time there are elections, half the
country threatens to leave the country and the other half is
insulted. The culture of debate here is anything but
cultured. The government is not efficient, the football is
in the toilet, and Maccabi (basketball) has way too many
Americans. We suffer from too much weight, too much
bureaucracy, and too many taxi drivers giving too little
change. The right is aggressive, the left is impotent, and
the Knesset is rated R. But it is clear to me
notwithstanding that I still care. We are the most
heterogeneous country in the West. Everyone feels like he
owns a share of this country. In Switzerland, no one is
angry at their country, it is not that important to them.
I love this country because its past is part of its everyday
life. King David was not long ago on the house committee.
The map of Joshua is part of the discussion in the U.N. Real
estate deals of Abraham our Father have not finished
closing. (Where do we sign to give back Hebron?) We talk on
our mobile phones in a 3500 year old language. We eat Diet
Matzah, while surfing through channels we find a talk show
where two rabbis discuss Maimonides. Nothing happens here
for the first time. We have already split apart, conquered,
were conquered, exiled, and returned. In our case, History
does not repeat itself, it is always here.
I love this country because it makes me laugh. A country the
size of a comma, that developed the Arrow missile and Bamba.
I love this country because it has more than meets the eye.
Notwithstanding our problems, we have a real Western
democracy with a judicial system that is among the best in
the world, a reasonable public health system, a advanced
hi-tech industry, an advanced telecommunications system, an
amazing and active group of authors, and what is most
important, no-one dies here from starvation. This doesn’t
mean that we need to light torches each morning, but it’s ok
sometimes to be proud of what we have achieved here. Let’s
say every Tuesday at 6:30.
I love this country not because it is the Promised Land or
because we are the Chosen People, but I can’t do otherwise.
This country is my instinct. It’s true, it’s not bad in
Wisconsin, but only if your choice of country is based on
the type of housing.. I want to live in a place that has
meaning for me, to which I have an emotion attachment, that
turns me into something more than just someone who has paid
real estate taxes. I don’t want to kill anyone in order to
live here and I certainly don’t have any intention of being
killed. Life is in any case a dangerous proposition, so you
may as well live in a way you can understand. I live in this
country because I love this country. With a little luck and
a little patience, perhaps this country will decide to love
me back.
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