“I wish I could take your class!” I hear these words countless times per year. Whether at Back to School night, Parent-Teacher conferences, or at Dor L’Dor (visiting day for grandparents and special guests). Why are so many parents and grandparents interested in my Jewish History classes? Why do they find our department’s offerings so compelling?
One answer is that Jewish history allows our students and their families to connect their own beliefs, identities, and traditions to the Jewish community, a community that is both diverse and united in time and space. Understanding Jewish history as the connective tissue of a Jewish day school helps us understand how a study of Jewish History anchors our students’ Jewish identities in a non-judgmental and non-threatening way.
We teach Jewish history with an eye to helping our high school students formulate a clearly articulated Jewish identity within a pluralistic environment. This subject brings together Jewish texts, Hebrew language, narratives, Israel, and an individual’s lived Jewish experience.
If our students understand Jewish history, they can understand the Jewish present, both personal and communal. Yes, an ancestor of theirs may have made an individual decision based on a set of personal circumstances to leave a certain place at a certain time. However, understanding that hundreds or thousands or even millions of Jews made that same choice at that same time fits those individual choices into a larger perspective. If their ancestors were part of a bigger story, it frees our students to explore their own legitimate places in this story. We guide our students in broadening their understanding of the Jewish community, challenging their assumptions of historical narratives, and developing empathy for different points of view. These ideas resonate deeply with our students.
A recent graduating senior wrote the following:
“When other people would get excited about something cool in physics or math, I was always unenthused. But it was different in [Jewish History] class because it was about something that applied to me and my people. You have taught me so much about history, contemporary issues, and all of the trends and patterns that connect them. I learned something new, important, and interesting every day.” Our parents also understand and appreciate what we do in our courses: “I have been meaning to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you taught [my child]. You not only introduced him to modern Jewish history with great sophistication (and exposure to primary sources!), you also inculcated in him a genuine enthusiasm for the subject. I have always believed that Jewish identity requires historical knowledge as much as it requires religious experience, and maybe more; and you vindicated my belief in the person of my own son.”
Here are some of the ways in which the teaching of Jewish history can influence your students and your school community:
Supports students in developing and strengthening their personal sense of Jewish identity.
Interdisciplinary in nature. It connects the various parts of a Jewish day school education, including: Hebrew language, Jewish texts, Jewish ritual, general history, Israel, prayer, and Jewish culture, to name a few.
An understanding of Jewish History allows your students to understand and appreciate the diversity of the Jewish community across time and space.
Knowledge that can help contextualize educational experiences beyond the classroom, in activities such as field trips, and in commemorations and celebrations, such as Yom Hashoah and Yom Ha’atzmaut.
Gives context to the people, places, and events the students encounter in their Tanakh and Toshba (Rabbinics) classes.
Helps students develop a deeper understanding, appreciation, and connection with the State of Israel.
Reinforces the skills learned in other history courses.
The micro lens of Jewish history challenges and adds complexity to the macro lens of world history, and vice versa.
Students want to feel connected, they want to have their own choices validated, they want to feel like they belong to the larger story. A serious study of the subject of Jewish history is the way to make this happen. Although I might not be able to have parents and grandparents take my class, we will build a stronger generation of connected Jews if we are able to ensure the well-crafted study of Jewish history.