AM YISRAEL

As members of the Jewish community, we are commanded to demonstrate solidarity with Jews around the world, take pride in our Jewish identity and embrace our heritage.  As part of this ongoing theme in our Sunday morning rotations, we have been talking about what it means to identify as a Jew, how we show solidarity with Jews around the world, and what constitutes Jewish heritage. 

Students were asked to think about how Jews ended up all around the world, and what countries still have strong Jewish communities.  After identifying the major reasons for our dispersion, students were asked to think about their own families and how they arrived in America, Michigan, and ultimately, Oakland County. 

This discussion led us to talks about anti-Semitism, leaving family behind, and moving for better opportunities.  The discussion also began to lay the foundation for our Jewish History Time line.  Students were asked to pick a country with a strong Jewish population either in the past, or now, and report back to our class.  The purpose of the assignment is to give our students a point of reference in terms of Jewish history when learning world history in their 6th grade classrooms. 

The goal is to help our students understand that most world history events have a Jewish history connection, and having a Jewish point of reference helps us to understand that our life as a Jew is a part of of our JEwish identity which must be nurtured, recognized, and embraced everyday and everywhere.