HERITAGE: Civilization and the jews - PBS

DVD-ROM Resource Guide 

www.thirteen.org

PREFACE 

Heritage: Civilization and the Jews was a monumental public 

television event when it was first broadcast in 1984. Filmed 

in eighteen countries on four continents, Heritage presented 

Jewish history in the context of world civilization, revealing its texture 

and content through rare archival film and modern footage. 

The Heritage DVD-ROM expands and deepens the value of the series 

by including a wealth of resources and materials that could only be 

referred to briefly (if at all) in the original television broadcast. By taking 

advantage of the newest digital technology, the DVD-ROM allows 

individuals, families, and educators to use the series interactively, 

enriching the viewing experience by providing access to a vast collection 

of historical maps, documents, and multimedia presentations. 

This Resource Guide is designed to help educators and individuals 

use the DVD-ROM. The guide charts “pathways” through Heritage that 

illuminate themes in Jewish history. It also includes detailed lesson 

plans for each of the nine programs that refer to the series and the 

DVD-ROM’s maps and texts. 

Abba Eban, former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations and 

the narrator-host of Heritage: Civilization and the Jews, reflected on this 

new stage of the project: 

It is a matter of profound importance that audiences in the U.S. and 

around the world, both Jews and non-Jews, can now experience 

through television and new technologies the long, continuous, somber, 

sometimes tragic, yet noble story of the Jewish journey across the theater 

of history. The series and the new DVD-ROM examine, through art 

and sculpture, writing and film, the miracle and mystery of Jewish history—self 

preservation, resonance, suffering, and renewal—and its 

impact on the spiritual and intellectual history of mankind. 

DVD-ROM Resource Guide 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Introduction 1 

General Objectives 1 

Using this Booklet 1 

A Guide to the Heritage: Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM 2 

Utilization Strategies 6 

Suggested Pathways 6 

LESSON PLANS 

Program One: A PEOPLE IS BORN (3800-586 B.C.E.) 13 

Program Two: THE POWER OF THE WORD (586 B.C.E.-72 C.E.) 16 

Program Three: THE SHAPING OF TRADITIONS (30-732) 19 

Program Four: THE CRUCIBLE OF EUROPE (732-1492) 22 

Program Five: SEARCH FOR DELIVERANCE (1492-1789) 25 

Program Six: ROADS FROM THE GHETTO (1789-1925) 28 

Program Seven: THE GOLDEN LAND (AMERICA 1654-1930s) 31 

Program Eight: OUT OF THE ASHES (1919-1947) 34 

Program Nine: INTO THE FUTURE (1880-1990s) 37 

Glossary 40 

Selected Jewish History Resources 41 

Course Grid 44 

Acknowledgements 

Inside Back Cover 

I want to express my gratitude to Thirteen/WNET New York for its creativity 

and steadfast commitment to this idea for more than 20 years; to the 

many funders who have energized its transformation into new technological 

forms; to PBS stations for rebroadcasting the updated series, and to 

www.pbs.org, where teachers, families, and the public can find diverse thematic 

pathways through the material; and to amazon.com for making 

books and media of Jewish interest, including Heritage, available to the public 

in one place. That the series is being offered in an unprecedented variety 

of formats is a service to people of all faiths who wish to explore the 

history, culture, and contribution of the Jewish people to world civilization. 

ORDERING INFORMATION 

Heritage: Civilization and the Jews is available in a 4-disc boxed set 

including 3 DVDs and the interactive DVD-ROM, 

and is also available on videocassette. 

To order call 1-800-336-1917. 

A Windows or Macintosh computer 

with a DVD-ROM drive and at least 

50 MB free hard drive space is required 

run the DVD-ROM. 

Additional computer requirements: 

Windows: 

Windows 98 or above 

266mhz processor recommended 

64 MB RAM recommended 

• accelerated video card recommended 

Macintosh: 

OS9 or above 

200mhz or better G3 or G4 processor 

• 128 MB RAM 

PLEASE NOTE:This product is a DVD-ROM 

only. It will only play in a computer with 

a DVD-ROM drive. It will not play in a 

"living room" DVD video player on a 

television screen, and it will not play in a 

computer that has a CD-ROM drive but 

not a DVD-ROM drive.

INTRODUCTION 

In 1984, PBS broadcast a nine-hour documentary series produced 

by Thirteen/WNET New York, entitled Heritage: Civilization 

and the Jews. Hosted by Israeli statesman Abba Eban, this epic 

production traced the history of the Jewish people from biblical 

times to the present, telling their story as part of the broader history 

of Western civilization. Five years in the making, filmed on four continents, 

and the winner of the coveted Peabody Award, Heritage 

became a landmark — a television portrait of the Jewish experience 

with a scope and depth that has yet to be duplicated. 

Now, more than a decade later, Thirteen has re-released the series 

in a dramatically expanded form. The nine programs have become 

the centerpiece of a new project, the Heritage: Civilization and the Jews 

DVD-ROM, designed for use in personal computers. This edition of 

Heritage also contains a wealth of new material, including a historical 

atlas of 540 annotated maps, an encyclopedia of Judaism and the 

Jewish experience, an anthology of almost 700 historical documents, 

a timeline spanning six millennia and a set of more than 90 multimedia 

presentations on selected topics in Jewish history. 

Capitalizing on the amazing advances in computer technology of 

the past several years, the Heritage: Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM 

is one of the most ambitious multimedia learning tools ever developed. 

It brings the enduring drama of Jewish history to homes and 

classrooms in a form more compelling and thought-provoking than 

ever before possible. 

To accompany the DVD-ROM, Thirteen has prepared a secondarylevel 

program that can be used to enrich existing curricula or to create 

a separate high school-level course. The Heritage curriculum is particularly 

appropriate in History/Social Studies, Language/Literature, and 

Philosophy/Religion courses. 

GENERAL OBJECTIVES 

The Heritage: Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM provides both teachers 

and students with a sophisticated research and learning tool. It is 

designed to open a window onto world history and to help students: 

• Understand the history and development of Judaism 

• Understand how Jewish culture has been shaped by its interac 

tion with other societies 

• Explore the impact of Judaism and Jewish tradition on surrounding 

religions and cultures 

• Understand the social, religious, and political factors that enabled 

the Jewish people to survive as a distinct group and to consider 

these factors in relation to other minority groups 

• Analyze the assumptions and prejudices that make it difficult to 

appreciate other cultures 

• Learn to use and analyze primary source materials 

• View highlights from the collections of archives, libraries, and 

museums around the world 

USING THIS BOOKLET 

• A Guide to the Heritage: Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM 

describes the DVD-ROM’s different features and how to access 

and use them. 

• Suggested Pathways follows six major topics in Jewish history 

chronologically, through all the chapters and material on 

Heritage. It has been designed to provide teachers with a set of 

resources for building their own courses on each of the subject 

areas. 

• Lesson Plans for each of Heritage’s nine video chapters provide a 

wide variety of learning activities, including discussion questions, 

puzzles, analyses of primary sources, and research projects. 

Allactivities focus on key concepts explored in Heritage. Teachers 

can screen the hour-long videos in class or, alternatively, assign 

video chapters to be individually viewed by students on personal 

computers. Lesson plans have been designed to allow teachers to 

select activities appropriate to the grade levels of their classes. 

Each plan includes teacher’s resource pages and a student work 

sheet, which can be reproduced for distribution to the class. 

Instructions and answers to the activities on the student work 

sheet appear in the teacher’s resource pages. 

• A Glossary defines selected terms in Jewish history for teach 

ers and students. The Glossary may be reproduced for distribution 

to students. 

• A Course Grid has been included for teachers who prefer to 

select individual video programs that they find to be particularly 

relevant to their curricula. The course grid isolates major themes 

contained in the programs according to subject area. For exam 

ple, the chart indicates that “Institutions of Democracy,” a theme 

appropriate for Social Studies classes, appears in Heritage programs 

2, 6, and 7. The key at the bottom of the page provides the 

video program titles corresponding to each number. (It is recommended 

that all material be previewed before being assigned.) 

• Selected Jewish history resources have been suggested for each of 

Heritage’s nine chapters. Books for further reading range from 

scholarly works to easy-to-read biographies and, occasionally, 

works of fiction. A brief list of related CD-ROMs and Web sites 

has also been provided as an additional resource. 

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A GUIDE TO THE HERITAGE: 

CIVILIZATION AND THE JEWS DVD-ROM 

GATEWAYS 

There are five main “gateways” to the material on the Heritage: 

Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM. Teachers and students can 

begin exploring Jewish history by clicking one of the three main 

options that appear on the opening screen: 

• ATLAS is the gateway to a historical atlas of 540 maps that 

have been specially created and annotated for this edition of 

Heritage. 

• VIDEO is the gateway to all nine episodes of Heritage: 

Civilization and the Jews. 

• TIMELINE is the gateway to seven scrollable timelines of 

Jewish, and general history spanning 5,800 years and containing 

links to all multimedia presentations and historical documents 

on the disc. 

• CONCISE JUDAICA is the gateway to an edited and abridged 

version of the acclaimed Encyclopaedia Judaica, with over 3500 

articles. 

• INDEX is the gateway to an index from which you can 

research specific topics and themes in Jewish and world history. 

opening screen showing 5 

main options: ATLAS, 

VIDEO, INDEX, TIMELINE, 

CONCISE JUDAICA 

Exploring Heritage via the video series 

You might choose to embark on your journey through Jewish history 

by selecting one of the nine hour-long video programs as a starting 

point. The Heritage: Civilization and the Jews documentary series is the 

framework for all other material on the DVD-ROM. The first eight 

programs appear in their original form, while the final episode, “Into 

the Future,” has been updated to include events as recent as 1998. 

The following list of programs can be accessed by clicking “video” 

on the opening screen. 

• A PEOPLE IS BORN (3800-586 B.C.E.) 

• THE GOLDEN LAND (AMERICA 1654-1930s) 

• OUT OF THE ASHES (1919-1947) 

• INTO THE FUTURE (1880-1990s) 

When you select and click a particular title, a video screen appears. 

Click the PLAY (single arrow) button at lower left to watch the 

video. You can watch the video straight through, as you would a 

video on your VCR, FAST FORWARDing or REWINDing to skip or 

revisit sections by clicking the double arrow buttons that flank the 

PLAY button, and halting the video by clicking the PAUSE button. 

Each program has been organized into chapters and subchapters. 

(To view the menu of subchapters, click the DETAILED VIEW tab 

under the video window; to hide this menu, click LARGE VIEW.) 

You can also choose to view the videos in other ways, such as: 

• jumping to a specific video chapter or subchapter by clicking 

its title from the list on the left of the screen. 

• pausing along the way to explore specific topics mentioned in 

the video by linking to relevant multimedia presentations and 

historical documents (click the EXPLORE TOPIC tab at lower left), 

or moving to the atlas (click A on the top menu bar), index (click 

I on the top menu bar), timeline (click T on the top menu bar), 

or encyclopedia (click the HERITAGE icon at the lower right and 

select CONCISE JUDAICA). 

• viewing captions for the video images on the screen (only visible 

in the “detailed view” mode) by clicking SHOW CAPTION. 

• changing the display mode of the video screen by clicking the 

FULL SCREEN button or toggling between large view and 

detailed view. 

At any time, you can click the title of the program currently playing 

to access a drop-down menu of all the video programs. 

If you’ve left the video mode, you can return by clicking “v” on 

the right of the title bar at the top of the screen. Video programs can 

also be searched for specific topics from the index search screen. 

• THE POWER OF THE WORD (586 B.C.E.-72 C.E.) 

• THE SHAPING OF TRADITIONS (30-732) 

• THE CRUCIBLE OF EUROPE (732-1492) 

• SEARCH FOR DELIVERANCE (1492-1789) 

video menu showing 

list of programs 

• ROADS FROM THE GHETTO (1789-1925) 

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Exploring Heritage via the historical atlas 

Teachers and students who wish to explore Jewish and world history 

from a geographical perspective can enter the Heritage: 

Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM through the gateway of the historical 

atlas, a set of 540 annotated maps. The first map, a view of 

the world beginning in 3100 B.C.E, can be accessed by clicking 

ATLAS on the opening screen, and from most other screens by 

clicking “a” on the right of the title bar at the top of the screen. 

Each map screen consists of the following components: 

• A MAP that can be explored both chronologically (with the 

timeline) and spatially (with the navigational tool). Some maps 

contain several raised areas that can be zoomed in on by 

clicking the cursor anywhere on their surface, allowing exploration 

of additional levels of detail. Move your cursor around on 

the map to discover “hot” locations, and click them for text bubbles 

containing facts, accounts of milestone events, or capsule 

biographies of noted personalities. 

• A scroll-down TIMELINE that charts geographical changes over 

time. Click specific dates on the timeline, or click and drag the 

“globe” icon to move up or down the timeline, and note the 

changes in the map at right. 

• A THUMBNAIL NAVIGATIONAL MAP that allows you to move 

around each map. Click and drag the red square on the thumbnail 

map at lower left to move up, down, left, or right to view the 

different regions on the large central map. A “zoom out” button 

below the thumbnail map allows you to zoom back to a broader 

view of the world. 

• A TITLE BAR showing the date range currently active on the 

timeline. The atlas has been organized into seven different date 

ranges, spanning 3100 B.C.E. to 2001 C.E., that correspond to the 

dates covered in the video programs of Heritage. Click the title 

bar at the top of the screen for a drop-down menu of all available 

date ranges, and click another to change the active date range. 

• A SUMMARY text button, that, when clicked, causes a text 

panel to appear, superimposed on the map. This text panel 

summarizes important events and trends that occurred during 

the date range currently onscreen. Each geographical region has 

its own unique text panel for every date range. 

• A CLICKABLE ITEMS tab. Press this tab to alter the map currently 

on screen by highlighting only the map elements which are 

“hot” and contain text bubble annotations. All other map elements 

will be darkened and faded into the background. 

• A MODERN VIEW tab. Press this tab to instantly obtain a ca. 

2000 view of the region currently on screen. 

• A MAP LEGEND tab. Press this tab to view the map’s scale and 

definitions of icons. 

Teachers and students can explore the geography of Jewish history in 

several different ways: 

• To study changes in a specific region or country over time, move 

chronologically through the maps by scrolling down the timeline 

or by using the title bar to change the date range. 

• To study a specific era in depth, explore all levels of a map for one 

• date range or for one point on the timeline. 

• To explore a geographical topic further, search the Concise 

Judaica or the general index. For example, after reading the text 

bubble for Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E., you may want to read the article 

on Jerusalem in the Concise Judaica. Click the HERITAGE “H” icon 

at lower right, and then CONCISE JUDICA from the menu that 

appears. To conduct an index search, click I on the top menu bar. 

(See the sections of this guide entitled Concise Judaica and 

Exploring Heritage via an index search for instructions on how to 

use the encyclopedia or index.) 

map screen showing 

zoom view of Israel 

map with text bubble 

map screen 

with world view 

Exploring Heritage via an index search 

Another way of entering Heritage is through the index search 

screen. This gateway is most useful when you want to look up 

and explore specific themes in Jewish history or find all material 

pertaining to a certain time period or geographical region. The 

index search screen can be accessed by clicking INDEX on the 

opening screen, and from most other screens by clicking I on the 

right of the title bar at the top of the screen. 

Searches can be conducted in the following ways: 

• Click one of the three categories (DATE, SUBJECT, REGION) and 

then choose one or more search terms from the pop-up menu. 

• Look for items in more than one category or refine your search 

by selecting search items from more than one or from all of 

the categories. 

3

• Look for a specific word or combination of words by clicking the 

WORD SEARCH tab on the second-from-the-top menu bar. Type 

your word in the pop-up box. To refine or limit your search, click 

one of the Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) under the search 

term window and add an additional term in the window that appears. 

index screen 

with search results 

When you have finished specifying your terms, don’t forget to 

press the SEARCH button at lower left. Your search results appear on 

the right side of the page sorted into media categories (ATLAS, 

VIDEO, ENCYCLOPEDIA, HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS, MULTIMEDIA 

PRESENTATIONS). Any item on the search result list can be accessed 

by clicking on its name. (Click on I on to return to your search result 

list.) You can also “cross search”—looking for the occurrence of specific 

words in a set of items found by a category search or applying a 

category filter to items found by a word search. 

Exploring Heritage via the timeline 

You can view the multimedia content of the Heritage: Civilization and 

the Jews DVD-ROM in a historical context by means of the timeline, 

which can be accessed by clicking TIMELINE on the opening screen, 

and by clicking “T” on the top right of the most other screens. The 

timeline, like the atlas, is organized into seven different date ranges 

that correspond to the dates covered in the video programs of 

Heritage. It lists key events in Jewish and general history, and contains 

links to all multimedia presentations and historical documents 

on the disc. 

Each timeline screen is divided into the following components: 

• A TITLE BAR showing the date range currently being displayed 

and the title of the corresponding video program. Click the title 

bar for a drop-down menu of all available date ranges, and click 

on any menu item to change the active date range. 

• A TIMELINE subdivided into columns representing specific dates 

or approximate date ranges. Years are indicated in yellow in the 

top row of the timeline, and time progresses from left to right. 

Listed under the years are significant historical events pertaining 

to general history (black text) and Jewish history (white text). 

Beneath the events are icons with descriptions of multimedia presentations 

and historical documents relevant to the currently displayed 

time period. Click on the large rectangular buttons to 

access multimedia presentations, and the small round buttons 

to access historical documents. Then click on the “BACK” or 

“EXIT”button in the lower right corner of the screen to return 

to the timeline. 

• A TIMELINE SLIDER allowing navigation within the currently 

active timeline. Click and drag on the oval slider controller to 

scroll forward and backward in time. Seminal historical trends 

and events are indicated at various points along the slider. 

• LAST and NEXT buttons on either end of the slider bar. 

Click these buttons to instantly jump to the previous or follow 

ing date range in the timeline without needing to use the title 

bar menu. 

SPECIAL FEATURES 

Multimedia Presentations 

The original Heritage: Civilization and the Jews video series has 

been enhanced by a set of more than 90 multimedia presentations 

that have been specially created for this edition. Linked to 

specific video subchapters, these presentations are designed to 

help teachers and students break away from the linear framework 

of the documentary in order to further explore selected topics in 

Jewish and world history. 

Highlights include: 

Writing Discover the origins of writing by exploring an audiovisual chart that 

traces the evolution of pictures and sounds into written symbols. (A People is Born, 

Mespotamia, “Writing, 3800-1500 B.C.E.”) 

Letters from Babylon Learn about everyday life in the ancient world by listening 

to dramatic readings of letters written by ordinary Babylonians and by exploring 

annotated versions of the texts. (The Power of the Word, Babylon, “The 

Babylonian World, 605 - 450 B.C.E.”) 

A Page of the Talmud Get a hint of the complexities of the Talmud through a 

multimedia presentation that examines the structure and text of a sample page. 

(The Shaping of Traditions, Talmud, “Words of the Rabbis, 400s - 600s C.E.”) 

Origins of Yiddish Explore the German, Hebrew, French, and Slavic roots of 

Yiddish, the everyday language of Ashkenazic Jews. (The Crucible of Europe, Europe 

Awakens, “Jewish Prosperity, 1100s”) 

Portrait Gallery of German Court Jews Through portraits and capsule biographies, 

learn about Jewish families who helped German rulers increase the power 

and prosperity of their realms. (Search for Deliverance, Merchants, “Court Jews, Late 

1500s-Early 1700s”) 

Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue Explore 19th-century Reform Judaism 

through the architecture of a Berlin synagogue. (Roads from the Ghetto, Religious 

Reforms, “Innovation in Judaism, 1796-1880”) 

Statue of Liberty Learn how the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty has changed 

over time by hearing a recitation of Emma Lazarus’s poem “The Great Colossus,” 

by exploring a Yiddish cartoon from the 1920s, and by listening to arriving 

Holocaust survivors as they see the Statue for the first time in 1947. (The Golden 

Land, Introduction, “Statue of Liberty, 1886-1947”) 

Timeline of American Judaism, 1919-1940 Learn about important developments 

within the four major branches of American Judaism (Orthodox, Reform, 

4

Conservative, and Reconstructionist). (The Golden Land, Mass Immigration, “Into the 

Mainstream, 1919-1930”) 

Vilna Jewish Partisan Song Hear a rare postwar recording of Shmerl 

Kaczerginsky, a Holocaust survivor, singing “Jews — Partisans,” a song he composed 

as an anti-Nazi resistance fighter in the forests of Lithuania. (Out of the 

Ashes, Fighting Back, “Ghetto Fighters, 1942-1945”) 

Jews in the Civil Rights Movement Listen to an excerpt from a speech by Rabbi 

Joachim Prinz at the historic 1963 civil rights march on Washington. (Into the Future, 

American Jewry, “At Home in America, 1941-1997”) 

Felafel is the Same in Any Language Explore current events by watching an 

excerpt from an Israeli-Palestinian co-production of “Sesame Street.” (Into the 

Future, 1990s, “Arab-Israeli Conflict”) 

Historical Documents 

a selected 

historical document 

with annotations 

turned on 

Judaica page 

with article and index 

a selected 


with annotations 

turned on 


menu screen 

Multimedia presentations can be accessed in three different ways: 

• From the video screen by clicking EXPLORE TOPIC. 

All video sub-chapters have corresponding topic overview 

screens, many of which are the gateways to special multime 

dia presentations. Click the PLAY half of the oval button for 

presentations that take video material into a new direction, or 

click one of the rectangular presentation buttons on this 

screen for presentations on more peripherally related topics. 

• From the index search screen by looking for results under the 

multimedia presentation tab in the index, and then searching 

for specific topics, regions, or time periods. Clicking on a 

multimedia title in the search result list will bring you to the 

topic overview screen from which it can be accessed. 

• From the timeline screen by clicking on any multimedia 

presentation button. This will bring you to the topic overview 

screen from which the presentation can be accessed. 

A special feature of the Heritage: Civilization and the Jews DVD- 

ROM permits you to view captions for most on-screen images. 

To activate this feature while looking at a multimedia presentation, 

press the pause button during narrated presentation or click 

caption under still images 

The Heritage: Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM includes a set of 

excerpts from almost 700 primary source documents. Each excerpt is 

prefaced by a scholarly introduction and further explained by selected 

annotations, and most excerpts can be printed. 

Types of documents include: 

• Eyewitness accounts of key moments in Jewish history 

• Examples of Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and Yiddish poetry in 

translation 

• Letters, diaries, and memoirs chronicling everyday life through 

the ages 

• Passages from important Jewish texts, such as the Bible and Talmud 

• Tombstone inscriptions, revolutionary handbills, and bills of sale 

• Newspaper reports on important events in world and Jewish history 

• Passages from seminal philosophical and political tracts 

• Laws, decrees, and other official documents that have affected 

the course of Jewish history 

Like the multimedia presentations, the historical documents are linked 

to the topics covered in the video. They can be accessed in three ways: 

• From the video screen by clicking EXPLORE TOPIC. All video 

sub-chapters have corresponding topic overview screens that 

are gateways to sets of relevant historical documents. Click the 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENT button, then select the document you 

want to view from the menu. 

• From the index search screen by searching for specific topics, 

regions, or time periods and the HISTORICAL DOCUMENT icon. 

• From the timeline screen by clicking on any historical document 

button. 

Most historical documents contain areas of “hot” text. When these 

underlined words or passages are clicked, explanatory annotations 

appear in a panel to the left of the document. 

5

Clicking the print icon on the bottom of the screen will print 

most documents. Historical documents are printed in a compact 

form that includes the document’s introduction, annotations, 

source citation, and suggested further reading. 

Concise Judaica Encyclopedia 

More than 3,500 articles from the acclaimed, multi-volume 

Encyclopaedia Judaica have been specially edited and abridged for 

inclusion on the Heritage: Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM. 

The Concise Judaica Encyclopedia can be accessed from all 

screens by clicking the HERITAGE “H” icon at lower right and then 

selecting CONCISE JUDICA Any encyclopedia article can be printed 

by clicking the print icon on the bottom of the screen. 

From the Encyclopedia screen, you can search for articles in two ways: 

• By clicking the TITLE SEARCH tab to scroll down an alphabetical 

list of article titles. 

• By clicking the WORD SEARCH tab to type in a specific word or words. 

All search results appear on the left tab directly under the search 

controls. 

Encyclopedia articles can also be accessed through the index 

search screen. 

Bookmarks 

basic 

bookmark 

screen 

Video segments, topic overview screens historical documents, maps, 

encyclopedia articles, points in the timeline, and search results 

can all be bookmarked for future viewing. The bookmark feature 

can be accessed from most screens by clicking the HERITAGE “H” 

icon at lower right and then selecting BOOKMARKS. 

Click the ADD tab on the pop-up screen to create a bookmark 

for the video subchapter, topic overview screen, historical document, 

map, timeline, index search or encyclopedia article currently 

on screen. You may name your bookmark anything you want by 

typing over the suggested default. Items in the bookmark list are 

automatically tagged with icons that identify their medium. 

(Icons are defined in the key at the bottom of the pop-up window. 

Move your cursor over any icon to see its definition.) 

Bookmarks can also be organized into sets. From the BOOKMARK 

screen, click the CREATE A NEW SET button for access to a standard 

dialog box from which you can create and name folders. 

UTILIZATION STRATEGIES 

FOR VIDEO AND MULTIMEDIA 

Media is most effective when used interactively, rather than passively, 

in class or group discussion. Consider using some of the following 

strategies when planning lessons or discussions based on HERITAGE: 

1. Preview video(s) and DVD-ROM multimedia presentations to 

determine suitability for your objectives and your group members. 

2. Select Segments that are directly relevant to your topic and 

appropriate for your group—you need not use an entire video or 

presentation at one time: a few well-chosen minutes may be more 

effective in illuminating your topic. 

3. Provide a Focus for Interaction—something specific to do, or to look 

or listen for in relation to the chosen segment or presentation. 

This assures that the group will focus together on the information 

most relevant to your topic. 

4. Don’t be afraid to Pause for discussion, or to Rewind and Replay to 

underscore or clarify a particular point. This allows both videos 

and the DVD-ROM to play a more interactive role in discussion. 

5. Consider Eliminating Sound or Picture. Allowing your group members 

to provide their own narration of what they see, or to predict what 

the content accompanying narration might be, is especially useful 

in working with younger groups or groups whose primary language 

is not English. 

SUGGESTED PATHWAYS 

The following list of resources has been prepared to provide teachers 

with six suggested “pathways” through Heritage: Civilization and the 

Jews. Each pathway follows a major topic in Jewish studies chronologically 

through time, and has been designed to provide teachers 

with materials for building lesson plans in each of the subject areas. 

Pathway 1: JUDAISM AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE 

What is Judaism and who are the Jews? Jewish history is the 

chronicle of both a religion and a people. The origins of Judaism 

and the Jewish people can be traced back to the Near East in the 

second millennium B.C.E., and, after many twists or turns, the 

story continues to unfold today. What are some of the basic 

beliefs and practices of Judaism? How do Jewish beliefs and traditions 

differ from those of the world’s other two major monotheistic 

faiths, Christianity and Islam? How has being Jewish always 

been a complex matter of religion, ethnicity, and culture? 

A PEOPLE IS BORN (3800 – 586 B.C.E.) 

VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Introduction • Egypt (Rameses II, Israel “Laid 

Waste”) • Israel (Exodus, The Covenant) • Building a Nation 

6

(Settlement in Canaan) • Babylonian Exile (Torah, Universal God) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on the 

Merneptah Stela (Egypt, Israel “Laid Waste”); Overview presentation 

on scholarly debate about historicity of Exodus (Israel, Exodus) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: The First Passover (Israel, Exodus); The 

Covenant at Sinai (Israel, The Convenant); The Universal God 

(Babylonian Exile, Universal God) 

THE POWER OF THE WORD (586 B.C.E. – 72 C.E.) 

VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Babylon (Psalm 137, Judean Life in Babylon) • Persia 

(Rebuilding Judah) • The Maccabees (A New Judean Kingdom, Religion in 

the Land) • Rome (The Pharisees) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: The Jewish Calendar: The Yearly Cycles of 

Life (Babylon, Judean Life in Babylon) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Hillel’s Golden Rule (Rome, The Pharisees) 

THE SHAPING OF TRADITIONS (30-732) 

VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Jewish Sects (Nazarenes, The Temple Destroyed, 

Reshaping Judaism) • Judea Lost (Mishnah) •Talmud (Babylonian 

Community, Words of the Rabbis) • The Rise of Islam (Monotheism, 

Muhammad) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: A Page of Talmud (Talmud, Words of the Rabbis) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Roman View of Judaism (Roman Empire, 

Diaspora); Debate About Circumcision (Jewish Sects, Nazarenes); On 

Murder (Talmud, Words of the Rabbis); Islam’s Golden Rule (The Rise 

of Islam, Muhammad) 

THE CRUCIBLE OF EUROPE (732-1492) 

VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Islamic Spain (Golden Age, Maimonides) • Northern 

Europe (Jewish Life, Church vs. Jews) • Tragedy in Spain (Forced 

Conversions, Inquisition, Expulsion) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: The Rabbi Refutes Christian Beliefs (Europe 

Awakens, Hostility Toward Jews) 

SEARCH FOR DELIVERANCE (1492-1789) 

VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Ottoman Empire (Mysticism in Safed, Isaac Luria) 

• Hasidism (Ba’al Shem Tov) • Enlightenment (Early Haskalah) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on Jewish mysticism 

in Safed/ Music Presentation: Lekha Dodi Hymn (Ottoman Empire, 

Mysticism in Safed) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: “Come My Beloved…” (Ottoman Empire, 

Mysticism in Safed) 

ROADS FROM THE GHETTO (1789-1925) 

VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Religious Reform (Innovation in Judaism) • Shaping a 

Future (Zionism, The Jewish Labor Bund, Literary Renaissance) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on Eastern European 

Jewish folk culture (Eastern Europe, Shtetl Life & Culture) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Good Russian—A Good Jew (Eastern Europe, 

Czar Alexander II) 

THE GOLDEN LAND (AMERICA 1654-1930s) 

VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Building America (Reshaping Judaism) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on development of 

American Reform Judaism (Building America, Reshaping Judaism) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: What do Reform Jews Believe? (Building America, 

Reshaping American Judaism); A Definition of Conservative Judaism 

(Mass Immigration, Into the Mainstream); Call for a new type of 

Jewish education (Mass Immigration, Into the Mainstream) 

INTO THE FUTURE (1880-1990s) 

VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: 1990s (Jewish Identity, Into the Future) 

Pathway 2: TOLERANCE AND DISCRIMINATION 

Over the centuries, Jews, as members of a religious and ethnic 

minority, have encountered both tolerance and discrimination. 

During the more than two thousand years in which they have 

resided outside their own land, Jews have often enjoyed acceptance 

and have participated extensively in the societies in which 

they live. In modern times, they have gradually gained civil rights 

in many countries. The possibility of integration has confronted 

Jewish society with new challenges, as well as opportunities. 

Throughout history, Jews have also been subject to discrimination, 

isolation, and even violent persecution. Anti-Jewish attitudes 

have developed new forms over time: whereas, in medieval times, 

anti-Jewish policy was based largely on church doctrine, by the 

19th century, a new, racist, political movement known as anti- 

Semitism had taken hold. In the 20th century, anti-Semitism culminated 

in the Holocaust, the mass murder of six million European 

Jews by the Nazis. Jewish responses to persecution have included 

spiritual resistance, political organizing, and armed rebellion. 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Greece (Judeans in Greek a World) •The Maccabees (A 

New Judean Kingdom) • Rome (Misrule and Unrest, Jesus the Nazarene, 

Political Turmoil) • Judean Uprising (Judea in Arms, Jerusalem Besieged, 

Jerusalem in Ruins) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: The Judean Diaspora in the Greek a World (Greece, 

Judeans in a Greek World) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Syrian King Favors Judeans (Greece, Judeans in a 

Greek World); 

The Seleucid Oppression (The Maccabees, A New Judean Kingdom); 

Roman Decrees for Judea (Rome, Roman Rule in Judea); Pontius 

Pilate (Rome, Misrule and Unrest) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Roman Empire (Diaspora, Roman Tolerance) • Judea 

Lost (Bar Kokhba Revolt) • Fall of Rome (Christian Rome) • Talmud 

(Babylonian Community) • Rise of Islam (Jews in Muslim Lands) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Jewish Converts (Roman Empire, Roman 

Tolerance); Jews and Roman Law: Late Roman Treatment of the Jews 

(The Fall of Rome, Christian Rome); Jewish Leaders in Babylon (The 

Rise of Islam, Jewish Life in Muslim Lands) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Laws Granting Jews Freedom of Religion (Roman 

Empire, Roman Tolerance); An Anti-Jewish Polemic (Jewish Sects, Jews 

vs. Christians); Laws to Reduce Jewish Influence (Fall of Rome, 

Christian Rome); Muhammad on Conversion and the Poll Tax; The 

Pact of ‘Umar (The Rise of Islam, The Arab Age); Negative Views of 

Jews in the Quran (The Rise of Islam, The Arab Age) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Islamic Spain (Jewish Parntership, Golden Age, 

Maimonides) • Northern Europe (Jewish Life, Church vs. Jews, First 

Crusade) • Europe Awakens (Rise of Commerce, Jewish Prosperity, 

Christian Spain, Cultural Exchange, Hostility Toward Jews) • Social 

Upheaval (Taxation and Rebellion, Expulsion of Jews) • Black Death 

(Jews Attacked, Refuge in the East) • Tragedy in Spain (Forced 

Conversions, Inquisition, Expulsion) 

7

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: A Golden Age of Hebrew Poetry (Islamic 

Spain, Golden Age); The Jewish Badge/Anti-Jewish Stereotypes, 

Legends, and Folklore (Europe Awakens: Hostility Toward Jews); 

Overview presentation on forced conversions (Tragedy in Spain, 

Forced Conversions) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Jews invited to settle in Speyer (Northern Europe, 

Feudal Society); Jews Accused of Ritual Murder (Northern Europe, 

Church vs. Jews); Jewish Martyrdom in Mainz (Northern Europe, First 

Crusade); Jews Ordered to Wear Badges (Europe Awakens, Christian 

Spain); The Coronation Riots (Social Upheaval, Taxation and 

Rebellion); Law Grants Jews Rights in Poland (Black Death, Refuge in 

the East); Jewish Martyrs in Spain (Tragedy in Spain, Forced 

Conversions); Memoir of a Spanish Jew (Tragedy in Spain, Expulsion) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Exiles from Spain (Refugees & Marranos) • Ottoman 

Empire (Jewish Communities) • Renaissance (Counter-Reformation, The 

Venice Ghetto) • New Worlds (Jewish Amsterdam) • Ashkenazim (Polish 

Jewry, Disaster in Poland) • Merchants (English Tolerance, Court Jews) • 

Enlightenment (Early Haskalah, Political Struggles) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation/Marranos (Exiles from 

Spain, Refugees & Marranos); Overview presentation on new centers 

of Jewish life (Ottoman Empire, Jewish Communities); Overview 

presentation on Jewish participation in the Renaissance (The 

Renaissance, Life in Italy); Ancona Boycott (The Renaissance, 

Counter-Reformation); Overview presentation on Inquisition in Latin 

America (New Worlds, European Empires); Overview presentation on 

Court Jews/Portrait Gallery of German Court Jews (Merchants, Court Jews) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Is It Not Better to Live under Muslims? (Ottoman 

Empire, Jewish Communities); A Christian Defends the Talmud (The 

Renaissance, Protestant Revolt); An Anti-Jewish Diatribe (The 

Renaissance, Protestant Revolt); Jews Lament the Harsh Papal Laws 

(The Renaissance, Counter-Reformation); The Holy Martyrs Will 

Sanctify Your Name (Ashkenazim, Prague); A Gentile Plea for 

Naturalization of Jews (Merchants, English Tolerance); A Jew 

Appointed “Imperial Court Factor” (Merchants, Court Jews); An 

Attack on Judaism (The Enlightenment, Age of Reason); A Gentile 

Advocates Emancipation (The Enlightenment, Age of Reason) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Introduction (The 19th Century) • Revolutions (French 

Revolution, Jewish Emancipation, Industrial Revolution) • Religious 

Reforms (Innovation in Judaism) • Revolutions of 1848 (A New 

Nationalism) • Great Britain (Political Rights) • Eastern Europe 

(The Russian Empire, Shtetl Life & Culture, Czar Nicholas I, Czar 

Alexander II, Assassination) • Western Europe (Anti-Semitism, Dreyfus 

Affair) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on emancipation of 

Jews (Revolutions, Jewish Emancipation); Conscription of Jews into 

the Czarist Army (Eastern Europe, Czar Nicholas I); Anti-Semitic 

Images (Western Europe, Anti-Semitism) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: An Incidence of Economic Discrimination; A 

Gentile Supports Emancipation (Introduction, The 19th Century); 

Can a Jew be a Frenchman? (Revolutions, French Revolution); 

Prussian Jews Emancipated; Changes in Hesse-Kassel (Revolutions, 

Jewish Emancipation); Reflections on Baptism & Acceptance 

(Religious Reforms, Innovation in Judaism); A Constitution 

Guarantees Equal Rights (1848 Revolutions, A New Nationalism); 

Jews Permitted to Hold Parliamentary Office (Great Britain, Political 

Rights); Jewish Residence Restricted (Eastern Europe, Russian 

Empire); Jews Conscripted into Czarist Army (Eastern Europe, Czar 

Nicholas I);A Good Russian — A Good Jew (Eastern Europe, Czar 

Alexander II); New Anti-Jewish Restrictions Imposed (Eastern 

Europe, Assassination); Thou Shalt Keep Thy Blood Pure (Western 

Europe, Anti-Semitism); Jews Promised Rights in Many Nations (A 

New Century, End of the Old Order) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Introduction (Statue of Liberty) • Colonial America 

(Early Settlers, Degrees of Tolerance, Communal Life) • Early Republic 

(Gaining Civil Rights) • Building America (Pioneers from Europe, 

Industrial America) • Mass Immigration (Coming to America, Who is an 

American?) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on the Statue of 

Liberty (Introduction, Statue of Liberty); Overview on Jewish struggle 

for civil rights in the early Republic (Early Republic, Gaining Civil 

Rights); Overview on American Jewish life in the 1930s (Mass 

Immigration, Into the Mainstream) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Jews Permitted to Stay in New Amsterdam 

(Colonial America, Early Settlers); Aaron Lopez Denied 

Naturalization; Eulogy for a Jewish Friend (Colonial America, 

Degrees of Tolerance); A Nation Founded on Liberty & Equality; 

George Washington Visits Newport (Early Republic, Revolutionary 

Ideals); Rights Vary from State to State (Early Republic, Gaining Civil 

Rights); Restrictive Immigration Laws Enacted (A New Generation, 

The Golden Door Closes) 

OUT OF THE ASHES (1919-1947) 

VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Interwar Years (Fear & Creativity) • Eastern Europe 

(Poland, Soviet Union) • Nazi Germany (Persecution of Jews) • Refugees 

(Kristallnacht, Emigration to Nowhere) • Genocide (Reign of Terror, 

Ghettos, Murder Squads, Death Camps) • Fighting Back (Death Camp 

Resistance, Ghetto Fighters, Rescuers, What the World Knew) • A Ruined 

World (Holocaust in Retrospect) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on ghettos/The Lodz 

Ghetto, 1940-1941 (Genocide, Ghettos); Overview presentation on 

mass execution of Jews (Genocide, Murder Squads); Overview 

presentation on Nazi death camps (Genocide, Death Camps); 

Overview presentation on ghetto resistance/The Warsaw Ghetto 

Uprising: Picture Essay/ Vilna Jewish Partisan Song (Fighting Back, 

Ghetto Fighters) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Anti-Semitic Nazi Propaganda (Nazi Germany, 

Rise of Nazi Party); A Child’s Experience of Persecution (Nazi 

Germany, Persecution of Jews); Call for Annihilation of Jewish Race 

(Genocide, Murder Squads); Call to Arms in the Vilna Ghetto 

(Fighting Back, Ghetto Fighters) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Soviet Jewry (Hope and Despair, Exodus from Russia) 

•American Jewry (At Home in America) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Soviet Jewry (Soviet Jewry, Hope and Despair); 

The Fight against Prejudice (American Jewry, At Home in America) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Revolution Wins Support of Many Jews (Soviet 

Jewry, Hope and Despair); Jewish Writers Murdered By the Regime 

(Soviet Jewry, Hope and Despair); Jews Fight Discrimination 

(American Jewry, At Home in America) 

Pathway 3: HOMELAND AND DIASPORA 

History is rich with memories of empires that have come and 

gone. It preserves the record of peoples who have risen to prominence, 

fallen, and then been absorbed into the complex mosaics 

of other civilizations. The Jews, however, are an exception to the 

usual pattern. They have survived, despite suffering the same 

sorts of cataclysms that ended the histories of other peoples. 

8

Indeed, Jewish history is a repeating pattern of subjugation, 

migration, and settlement. The first Jewish Diaspora community 

was settled in 586 B.C.E., when the conquest of Judah by 

Nebuchadnezzar led to the exile of many Israelites to Babylon. Even 

after the exiles were permitted to return to their homeland, a sizable 

number continued to live outside the land of Judah. This 

Diaspora grew, and by the beginning of the Common Era, there were 

Jewish communities in almost every corner of the Hellenistic world. 

The Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. spelled the end of 

Jewish national autonomy in Israel. Like other defeated peoples, the 

Jews were dispersed. But throughout centuries of Diaspora life, both 

Judaism and Jewish national identity survived. A collective Jewish 

memory of the Land of Israel and the Temple was passed from generation 

to generation by being incorporated into Jewish liturgy and 

customs. Beginning in the 19th century, longing for the Land of 

Israel took modern form in Zionism, a political movement aimed at 

restoring Jewish self-rule in Palestine. 

By World War II, Jewish nationalism found itself in conflict with 

Arab nationalism, which had staked its own claim on Palestine. The 

establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 occurred only after a 

bloody war between Jews and Arabs, and resulted in thousands of 

Palestinian Arabs becoming refugees. The conflict has yet to be 

resolved. Nevertheless, by symbolizing the 20th-century emergence 

of Jews from powerlessness, Israel continues to play an important 

role in shaping the identities of many Jews around the world. 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Building a Nation (Settlement in Canaan, King David) • 

Two Kingdoms (Conquest and Exile) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on destruction of 

Jerusalem and beginning of the Babylonian Exile (Two Kingdoms, 

Conquest and Exile) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Abraham Migrates to Canaan (Canaan, Canaanite 

Civilization); The Israelite Conquest of Canaan (Building a Nation, 

Settlement in Canaan); David Captures Jerusalem (Building a 

Nation, King David) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Introduction (Judah Conquered) • Babylon (Psalm 137, 

Judean Life in Babylon, Judean Sacred Texts) • Persia (End of Exile, 

Rebuilding Judah) • Greece (Judeans in a Greek World) • Judean 

Uprising (Jerusalem in Ruins, The Rabbinic Tradition) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: The Judean Diaspora in the Greek World 

(Greece, Judeans in a Greek World) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Lament for Jerusalem (Babylon, Psalm 137); A 

Judean Temple in Egypt (Persia, The End of Exile); A Call to Rebuild 

the Temple (Persia, Rebuilding Judah) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Roman Empire (Diaspora, Roman Tolerance) • Jewish 

Sects (The Temple Destroyed, Reshaping Judaism) • Judea Lost (Bar 

Kokhba Revolt) • Talmud (Babylonian Community) • Rise of Islam (Jews 

in Muslim Lands) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Jewish Leaders in Babylon (The Rise of Islam, 

Jewish Life in Muslim Lands) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Jewish Community in North Africa; A Shavuot 

Celebration in Jerusalem (Roman Empire, Diaspora); The Radhanite 

Merchants (The Rise of Islam, Jews in Muslim Lands); When the 

Shema Should Be Recited; Days of National Mourning (Epilogue, 

Jewish Continuity) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Islamic Civilization (Golden Age) • Northern Europe 

(Feudal Society, Jewish Life) • Europe Awakens (Jewish Prosperity, 

Christian Spain) • Social Upheaval (Expulsion of Jews) • Black 

Death (Refuge in the East) • Tragedy in Spain (Expulsion) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Exiles from Spain (Refugees & Marranos) • Ottoman 

Empire (Jewish Communities, Mysticism in Safed) • New Worlds 

(European Empires, Jewish Amsterdam) • Ashkenazim (Polish Jewry) • 

Messianism (Shabbetai Zevi) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on expulsion from 

Spain (Exiles from Spain, Refugees & Marranos); Overview presentation 

on Jews in the Americas (New Worlds, European Empires) 

Overview presentation on Shabbetai Zevi (Messianism, Shabbetai Zevi) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Don Joseph Rebuilds Tiberias (Ottoman Empire, 

Jewish Communities) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Shaping a Future (Zionism) • A New Century 

(Balfour Declaration) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on diversity within 

early Zionist movement (Shaping a Future, Zionism) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: “Everywhere a Guest, Nowhere at Home” (Eastern 

Europe, Assassination); A Call for Jewish Statehood; A Call for 

Spiritual Zionism (Shaping a Future, Zionism); The Balfour 

Declaration (A New Century, Balfour Declaration) 


MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on Jewish immigration 

from Central Europe (Building America, Pioneers from Europe); 

Overview presentation on mass Jewish immigration from Eastern 

Europe (Mass Immigration, Coming to America) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Eastern Europe (Poland) • Refugees (Palestine as Haven) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Survivors Pin Hopes on Palestine (A Ruined 

World, Survivors) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Prewar Palestine (Search for Refuge, Jewish Settlement, 

British Rule,) • Israel Is Born ( Illegal Immigration, Partition of Palestine, 

Independence & War) • The New Nation (Waves of Immigration) • 

1990s (Jewish Identity, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Israeli Society, Into the 

Future) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: The Revival of Hebrew (Prewar Palestine, 

Jewish Settlement); Shaping the Future of Israel (Israel Is Born, 

Independence & War); Operation Magic Carpet (The New Nation, 

Waves of Immigration) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: On an Illegal Ship En Route to Palestine (Israel Is 

Born, Illegal Immigration); The State of Israel Is Born; The War Creates 

Arab Refugees (Israel Is Born, Independence & War); The Law of 

Return (The New Nation, Waves of Immigration); Israeli Troops Enter 

the Old City (The New Nation, Six-Day War); Soviet Jews Welcome 

Golda Meir (Soviet Jewry, Hope and Despair) 

9

Pathway 4: THE DYNAMICS OF CROSS-CULTURAL EXCHANGE 

Judaism reflects the encounters it has had with other cultures and 

religious traditions. Similarly, Jewish culture and ideas have been 

instrumental in the shaping of Western civilization. 

Ancient Israel contributed the concept of monotheism—the principle 

that there exists but one God—to the world. Parts of the Tanakh, 

the Jewish Bible, draw upon the literary forms and imagery of other 

Near Eastern peoples. Early Christianity first arose as a sect within 

Judaism, and the first Christians carried over a core of Jewish traditions 

and beliefs into their new religion. During what has often been called 

the “golden age of Spanish Jewry” (8th-11th centuries), Jews used 

Arabic literature as a model for new philosophical and scientific works. 

Later, during the High Middle Ages, Jewish scholars played an important 

role in the introduction of Greek and Arabic science to Christian 

Europe. Ladino, a vernacular language of Sephardic Jews, and Yiddish, 

the everyday tongue of Eastern European Jews, are written in the 

Hebrew alphabet, but are based on medieval Spanish and German. 

These are just a few examples of the cross-cultural exchanges that 

have taken place between Jews and non-Jews throughout history. 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Introduction • Israel (The Covenant) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on Canaanite culture 

(Canaan, Canaanite Civilization) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: The Flood Story of the Bible; A Mesopotamian 

Flood Story (Mesopotamia, Archaeology and the Bible); The Ox That 

Gored (Mesopotamia, Gods and Kings); The Laws of the Goring Ox 

(Israel, The Covenant) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Babylon (The Babylonian World, Judean Life in Babylon) 

• Greece (Greek Civilization, Heirs to Alexander, Judeans in a Greek 

World) • The Maccabees (A New Judean Kingdom, Religion in the Land, 

Qumran) • Rome (Judea Resplendent, The Pharisees) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: The Jewish Calendar (Babylon, Judean Life in 

Babylon); Greece and the Near East: A Millennium of Exchange 

(Greece, Greek Civilization) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: How the Bible Was First Translated; Views of a 

Jewish Philosopher (Greece, Judeans in Greek World); Wisdom 

Literature; An Apocalyptic Vision (The Maccabees, Religion in the Land) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Roman Empire (Mediterranean Unity, Diaspora, Roman 

Tolerance) • Jewish Sects (Nazarenes, Jews vs. Christians) • Talmud 

(Babylonian Community) • The Rise of Islam (Monotheism, Muhammad, 

The Arab Age, Jews in Muslim Lands) • Epilogue (Jewish Continuity) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Jewish Converts (Roman Empire, Roman 

Tolerance); Jews and Roman Law: Late Roman Treatment of the Jews 

(The Fall of Rome, Christian Rome); Jewish Leaders in Babylon (The 

Rise of Islam, Jewish Life in Muslim Lands) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Bitter View of Jewish Converts (Roman Empire, 

Roman Tolerance); Islam’s Golden Rule (The Rise of Islam, Muhammad) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Islamic Spain (Jewish Partnership, Islamic Civilization, 

Golden Age, Maimonides) • Northern Europe (Feudal Society) • Europe 

Awakens (Cultural Exchange, Medieval Renaissance) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: A Golden Age of Hebrew Poetry (Islamic 

Spain, Golden Age); Overview presentation on Maimonides/ Writings 

of Maimonides (Islamic Spain, Maimonides); Origins of Yiddish: 

Linguistic Components (Europe Awakens, Jewish Prosperity) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Philosophy Added to Jewish Curriculum; Hebrew 

Poem Celebrating Pleasure (Islamic Spain, Golden Age); On Reason & 

Religion (Islamic Spain, Maimonides) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: The Renaissance (The Venice Ghetto) • New Worlds 

(Dissent in Amsterdam) • Enlightenment (Early Haskalah) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on Jewish participation 

in the Renaissance (The Renaissance, Life in Italy); Christian 

Hebraism: Humanism and Bible Study (The Renaissance, Protestant 

Revolt); Jewish Publishing in Italy (The Renaissance, Scholarship); 

Images of Jewish Life in Prague (Ashkenazim, Prague); Early Yiddish 

Literature (Ashkenazim, Polish Jewry); Overview presentation on 

early Haskalah (Enlightenment, Early Haskalah) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Philosophers & the Existence of God; Torah as a 

Source of Knowledge; A 17th-Century Curriculum Vitae (The 

Renaissance, Scholarship) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Religious Reforms (Innovation in Judaism) • Eastern 

Europe (Shtetl Life & Culture, Czar Alexander II) • Shaping a Future 

(Zionism, The Jewish Labor Bund, Literary Renaissance) • A New Century 

(Modern Culture) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue, Berlin/ 

Jewish Choral Music (Religious Reforms, Innovation in Judaism); 

Overview presentation on Eastern European Jewish folk culture 

(Eastern Europe, Shtetl Life & Culture) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: This Place Oppresses Me (Shaping a Future, 

Literary Renaissance) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Building America (Pioneers from Europe, New 

Communities, Industrial America, Reshaping Judaism) • Mass 

Immigration (Building Community, Yiddish Culture) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Newport, Rhode Island (Colonial America, 

Communal Life); Overview presentation on 19th-century American 

Jewish institutions (Building America, New Communities); Picture 

Gallery: American Judaism, 1860-1880 (Building America, Reshaping 

Judaism); Overview on Jewish trade unionism (Mass 

Immigration, Trade Unions); Overview on American Jews in the 1930s 

(Mass Immigration, Into the Mainstream) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Interwar Years (Fear & Creativity) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Memories of a Polish Jewish Education (Eastern 

Europe, Poland) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: American Jewry (At Home in America) • 1990s (Jewish 

Identity) 

Pathway 5: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE WITHIN JUDAISM 

Over time, Judaism has absorbed many changes, even as it has maintained 

its integrity. Judaism is, in one sense, the sum total of many 

accretions of history and tradition. For instance, after the destruction 

10

of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 C.E., synagogues took on new importance 

as centers of Jewish prayer, learning, and social activity. The 

observance of mizvot (divine commandments), previously the duty 

mostly of the priestly caste, was increasingly embraced by ordinary 

Jews, thus placing the responsibility for the continuation of Judaism 

in the hands of all segments of Jewish society. During the ensuing 

centuries, many other changes were incorporated into Jewish liturgy, 

custom, and thought. Today, scholars of halakhah (religious law) continue 

to interpret and debate, thus ensuring the continuing relevance 

of Judaism to a changing world. 

Judaism has always been characterized by cultural diversity. As 

a result of the wide dispersion of the Jewish people, distinct 

branches of Judaism have developed. As Jews settled in almost 

every corner of the world, they adopted customs and folkways 

that reflected the cultures in which they lived. For instance, 

Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews follow different traditions when it 

comes to holiday foods, liturgical music, and life-cycle customs. 

Controversy over diversity has been a constant in Jewish history. 

From the 3rd century, B.C.E. to the 1st century, C.E., Pharisees and 

Sadducees held sharply different views of what Judaism should be. 

When Hasidism arose in Eastern Europe in the 18th century, it met 

with much opposition from the rabbinic establishment. Reform 

Judaism, a movement founded in the 19th century, does not enjoy 

validity in the eyes of the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Jews. 

The answer to the question“Who is a Jew?” depends very much 

on whom you ask. Today, the term Jewishness encompasses a 

wide range of beliefs, traditions, and life-styles—from traditional 

Orthodoxy to secular atheism, with much in between. 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Introduction • Egypt (Rameses II, Israel “Laid Waste”) 

• Israel (Exodus, The Covenant) • Building a Nation (Settlement in 

Canaan) • Two Kingdoms (Conquest and Exile) • Babylonian Exile 

(Torah, Universal God) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Images of the Exodus through the Ages 

(Israel, Exodus) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: The First Passover (Israel, Exodus); The Universal 

God (Babylonian Exile, Universal God) 

THE POWER OF THE WORD (586 B.C.E. – 72 B.C.E.) 

VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Babylon (Psalm 137, Judean Life in Babylon, Judean 

Sacred Texts) • Persia (End of Exile, Rebuilding Judah) • The Maccabees 

(A New Judean Kingdom, Religion in the Land, Qumran) • Rome (The 

Pharisees) • Judean Uprising (Jerusalem in Ruins, The Rabbinic Tradition) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Dispute Among Priests (Maccabees, Religion in the 

Land); Birth of a New Sect; The Essene Sect (The Maccabees, 

Qumran); Sadducees and Pharisees (Rome, The Pharisees); A 

Rabbinic Account of the Jerusalem Siege (Judean Uprising, The 

Rabbinic Tradition) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Roman Empire (Diaspora) • Jewish Sects (Nazarenes, 

The Temple Destroyed, Reshaping Judaism, Jews vs. Christians) • Judea 

Lost (Mishnah) • Talmud (Babylonian Community, Words of the Rabbis) • 

Epilogue (Jewish Continuity) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Early Synagogues (Jewish Sects, Reshaping 

Judaism); A Page of the Talmud (Talmud, Words of the Rabbis); The 

Karaites (Epilogue, Jewish Continuity) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Shavuot Celebration in Jerusalem (Roman 

Empire, Diaspora); Debate about Circumcision (Jewish Sects, 

Nazarenes); Keeping Christians out of Synagogues (Jewish Sects, 

Jews vs. Christians); How the Mishnah Was Compiled (Judea Lost, 

Mishnah); When the Shema Should Be Recited; Days of National 

Mourning (Epilogue, Jewish Continuity) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Islamic Spain (Golden Age, Maimonides) • Northern 

Europe (Jewish Life) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Jewish Scholarship in Cordoba (Islamic Spain, 

Jewish Partnership 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Ottoman Empire (Mysticism in Safed, Isaac Luria) • 

Hasidism (Ba’al Shem Tov) • Enlightenment (Early Haskalah) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on Jewish mysticism 

in Safed/ Music Presentation: Lekha Dodi Hymn (Ottoman Empire, 

Mysticism in Safed); Images of the Sephardic Community/ Images of 

the Ashkenazic Community (New Worlds, Jewish Amsterdam); 

Overview presentation on early Haskalah (Enlightenment, Early 

Haskalah) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Ruling about Customs of Worship (Ottoman 

Empire, Jewish Communities); A Cloth for the Prepared Table 

(Ashkenazim, Polish Jewry); A Defense of Hasidism (Hasidism, The 

Ba’al Shem Tov); Prospectus for a Modern Jewish Journal 

(Enlightenment, Early Haskalah) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Religious Reform (Innovation in Judaism) • Shaping a 

Future (Zionism, The Jewish Labor Bund, Literary Renaissance) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Orananienburgerstrasse Synagogue/ Jewish 

Choral Music (Religious Reforms, Innovation in Judaism) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Call for the Modernization of Judaism; A Neo- 

Orthodox View of Emancipation (Religious Reforms, Innovation in 

Judaism); The Whole Town Was in an Uproar; Israel Salanter Founds 

the Musar Movement (Eastern Europe, Education) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Building America (Reshaping Judaism) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on development of 

American Reform Judaism/Picture Gallery: American Judaism, 1860- 

1880 A Timeline of American Judaism 1919-1940 (Mass Immigration, 

Into the Mainstream) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: What Do Reform Jews Believe?; A Definition of 

Conservative Judaism; Call for a New Type of Jewish Education 

(Mass Immigration, Into the Mainstream) 


HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Tradition & Change (Eastern Europe, Poland) 

A Woman Defends Traditional Judaism (Eastern Europe, Poland) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: American Jewry (At Home in America) • 1990s (Jewish 

Identity, Israeli Society, Into the Future) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Meaning of the Past: Four Views (1990s, Into 

the Future) 

11

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: The First Woman Rabbi (American Jewry, At Home 

in America); Who Is a Jew? A Critique of “Jewish Unity”; Who Is an 

Israeli? A Call for Spirituality; Who Is an American Jew? A Rabbi’s 

Opinion (1990s, Jewish Identity) 

Pathway 6: THE ROLE OF COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS IN 

DIASPORA JEWISH LIFE 

A highly developed network of communal institutions greatly 

contributed to the survival and continuity of Jewish life in the 

Diaspora. Every Jewish community had a synagogue, mikveh 

(ritual bath), talmud torah (community-run school), bikkur holim 

(“visiting the sick” association), hevra kaddisha (burial society), and 

shohet (ritual slaughterer). These, in fact, are only a few of the 

institutions that provided a limited framework for Jewish communal 

autonomy and dispensed social services not provided by civil 

authorities. These institutions involved the participation of almost 

every member of the community—men, women, and children— 

and made it feasible for ordinary people to observe Jewish laws 

such as those pertaining to food preparation, ritual purity, and 

burial. 

From the 19th century on, as Jews gained emancipation in country 

after country, they gave up communal autonomy for the individual 

legal rights of citizenship. Jews now participated in the community 

through voluntary affiliation with religious institutions, 

cultural organizations, charitable endeavors, and, in some lands, 

even Jewish political parties. Today, such communal structures 

continue to shape Diaspora Jewish life. 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Jewish Sects (Reshaping Judaism) • Judea Lost 

(Mishnah) • Words of the Rabbis (Babylonian Community, Talmud) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Early Synagogues (Jewish Sects, Reshaping 

Judaism); Jewish Leaders in Babylon (The Rise of Islam, Jews in 

Muslim Lands) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Tombstone of a Roman Jew (Roman Empire, 

Roman Tolerance); Functions of the Synagogue (Jewish Sects, 

Reshaping Judaism); Prayer for Scholars (Talmud, Babylonian 

Community); Visit to a Babylonian Academy (The Rise of 

Islam, Jews in Muslim Lands) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Northern Europe (Jewish Life) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview on early Ashkenazic culture 

(Northern Europe, Jewish Life) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: New Worlds (Jewish Amsterdam) • Ashkenazim 

(Prague, Polish Jewry) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Jewish Publishing in Italy (The 

Renaissance, Scholarship); Overview presentation on the 

Venice Ghetto (The Renaissance, The Venice Ghetto); Images of 

the Sephardic Community/ Images of the Ashkenazic 

Community (New Worlds, Jewish Amsterdam); Overview presentation 

on Jewish life in Prague (Ashkenazim, Prague); Jewish Life in 

the 16th & 17th Centuries (Ashkenazim, Polish Jewry) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Charter for a Charitable Society (New Worlds, 

Jewish Amsterdam); Memoir of Jewish Life in Poland 

(Ashkenazim, Polish Jewry); Prospectus for a Modern Jewish 

Journal (Enlightenment, Early Haskalah) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Religious Reform (Innovation in Judaism) • Eastern 

Europe (Shtetl Life & Culture, Education) • Shaping a Future 

(Zionism, The Jewish Labor Bund, Literary Renaissance) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue 

(Religious Reforms, Innovation in Judaism); Overview presenta 

tion on Eastern European Jewish folk culture (Eastern Europe, 

Shtetl Life & Culture); Overview presentation on Jewish Labor 

Bund/ Audio Presentation: The Bund and Yiddish Culture 

(Shaping a Future, Jewish Labor Bund); Salonika: A Jewish 

Community Enters the 20th Century (A New Century, End of 

the Old Order) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Education of Girls in Polotzk (Eastern Europe, 

Education) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Colonial America (Communal Life) • Building 

America (Reshaping Judaism) • Mass Immigration 

(Building Community, Yiddish Culture,Who Is an American?, Trade 

Unions) • A New Generation (Communal Activism) 

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Newport, Rhode Island/ New York, New 

York (Colonial America, Communal Life); Overview presentation 

on new institutions established by immigrants (Building 

America, New Community); Overview presentation on institutions 

established by immigrants (Mass Immigration, Building 

Communities); Overview presentation on development of 

Yiddish theater and literature in America (Mass Immigration, 

Yiddish Culture); Overview presentation on Jewish trade unions 

(Mass Immigration, Trade Unions); Overview presentation 

on Hadassah, American Jewish Congress, and the Joint 

Distribution Committee (Mass Immigration, Communal 

Activism); Overview presentation on American Jewish life in 

the 1930s (Mass Immigration, Into the Mainstream) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Jewish Fraternal Order Is Founded (Building 

America, New Communities); Jewish Cultural Life in Chicago 

(Building America, Industrial America); Jewish Women’s 

Organization Founded (Building America, Industrial America); 

The Yiddish Press (Mass Immigration, Building Community); 

Do You Want to Meet a Fellow Lemberger? (Mass Immigration, 

Building Community); Hillel Founded to Serve Jewish Students 

(Mass Immigration, Communal Activism); An Appeal for 

Donations (Mass Immigration, Communal Activism) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Eastern Europe (Poland) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Tradition & Change (Eastern Europe, Poland); 

A Woman Defends Traditional Judaism (Eastern Europe, 

Poland) 


VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: American Jewry (At Home in America) 

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: He Will Heat up the Synagogue (American 

Jewry, At Home in America) 

12

PROGRAM ONE: 

A PEOPLE IS BORN 

(3800 - 586 B.C.E.) 

The Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from 

your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of 

you a great nation....” [Genesis 12:1-2] 

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 

Where and how are we to discover the origins of the Jewish people? 

Until the 20th century, most people would have replied that 

one need only open the Bible and read. The modern inquirer, 

however, has new information available drawn from archaeology and 

recently discovered ancient Near Eastern literature. These new sources 

help deepen our understanding of Israelite history as told in the Bible. 

They help us understand to what extent the early Israelites were a typical 

Near Eastern people and to what extent they were unique. 

The Book of Genesis is set in the Fertile Crescent between 2000 and 1000 

B.C.E. It places Israelite origins in Mesopotamia, the “land between” the Tigris 

and Euphrates rivers. By the 3rd millennium B.C.E., people speaking Semitic 

languages had settled in this “cradle of civilization,” founding city-states 

such as Abraham’s birthplace Ur, from whence he set out for Canaan. 

We know from recently uncovered sources that Canaanites occasionally 

fled from famine in their own land and took refuge in Egypt. 

According to the first chapter of the Book of Exodus, it was during one of 

these sojourns that the ancestors of the Israelites were enslaved. Later 

chapters of Exodus show that they regarded their escape from slavery and 

their subsequent desert wandering as the decisive moments in their collective 

existence. They bound themselves in a covenant with the invisible 

God to whom they attributed their deliverance. 

After their settlement in Canaan in the 13th century B.C.E., the Israelite 

tribes went through a period of political and religious disarray until a monarchy 

was finally established. Under David and Solomon in the 10th century 

B.C.E., the kingdom became an empire.At its height, it was said to have extended 

from Sinai to the Euphrates River. Upon Solomon’s death, however, the 

kingdom split apart. The ten northern tribes formed the kingdom of Israel, 

while the Davidic dynasty in Jerusalem, supported by the tribe of Judah, continued 

to rule in the south. 

In 722 B.C.E., Assyria, the rising power in Mesopotamia, conquered the 

northern kingdom and exiled its people. The captives, the so-called “Ten 

Lost Tribes,” were probably absorbed into the general population.The kingdom 

of Judah survived until 586 B.C.E., when it fell victim to 

Nebuchadnezzar, king of the new Mesopotamian empire of Babylonia. 

Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple (also known as the First Temple) were 

destroyed and many Judeans were exiled to Babylonia. 

The religion of the Israelites during this period was characterized by 

prophets and by a Temple cult administered by a hereditary priestly caste. 

The revolutionary aspects of the religion, however, were also much in 

evidence: the worship of one God, the rejection of idols, the link 

between God and ethics, and the certainty that God’s will was evident 

in the course of history. These beliefs found their fullest expression in 

the words of the classical prophets. 

ACTIVITIES 

MAP 

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST 

T E A C H E R ’ S 

HERITAGE: 

CIVILIZATION AND THE JEWS 

Use the map atlases on the DVD-ROM to help prepare a discussion on the 

differences between ancient maps, where boundaries tend to mark the 

borders of empires, and modern maps, which delineate the borders of 

modern states. Discuss with the class the principal geographical features 

of the Near East, especially its role as a land bridge between Europe, Asia, 

and Africa.Then have students draw and label the following on their maps: 

1. The Fertile Crescent 

2. Abraham’s possible route from Mesopotamia to Canaan 

(use Bible as a source). 

PEOPLE AND PLACES 

This activity appears on the Student Worksheet. The answers are, in 

order of appearance: Eden, Tigris, Abraham, Canaan, Hyksos, Egypt, 

Judah, and Sumer. The famous river is the Euphrates. 

The word “Hebrew” means “one who crossed over.”Abraham’s crossing of 

the Euphrates on his journey to Canaan is analogous to his crossing over 

from idolatry to monotheism. He was the first “crosser-over”—the first 

Hebrew. Discuss common causes of mass migration, using examples from 

recent history (e.g., Vietnamese “boat people,” Puerto Rican and Dominican 

immigration to the U.S.). 

R E S O U R C E 

13





USING PRIMARY DOCUMENTS 

THE FLOOD 

Have the class refer to their maps of the Near East, and discuss how the 

geography of the region might explain the origin of the flood story. (The 

land between the Tigris and Euphrates is almost completely flat and 

prone to flooding.) Explore the ways in which a people’s literature sometimes 

reflects the natural phenomena they have witnessed. Cite examples. 

Then, read aloud excerpts from the biblical story of Noah and the ark. 

(See below.) Ask students to point out the similarities and differences 

between it and the Sumerian / Babylonian flood story on the Student Worksheet. 

NOAH AND THE ARK 

All the fountains of the great deep burst apart, and the flood-gates of the sky 

broke open. The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights [...] 

[...] The waters increased and raised the ark so that it rose above the earth, 

and the ark drifted upon the waters. 

At the end of one hundred and fifty days the water diminished; the ark 

came to rest on the mountains of Ararat [...] 

At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark that he had 

made and sent out the raven [...] 

The waters began to dry from the earth; and when Noah removed the covering 

of the ark, he saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking of every clean animal and 

of every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. 

Genesis 6:9-7:23 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 

PROGRAM ONE: 


(3800 - 586 B.C.E.) 

1. Many people believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. Others see it 

as a historical document. After reading about Noah and Gilgamesh, 

what do you think? Could it be both? 

2. In Mesopotamia, the flood may have served as a metaphor for the “flooding” 

of the country by waves of new settlers in the third millennium B.C.E. Even 

the name by which these new settlers were known sounded like the 

Sumerian word for “flood.”The ancestors of the early Israelites may have 

belonged to this group of newcomers.The flood story in the Bible, however, 

represents the ancestors of the Israelites as heirs of the original creation 

who were saved by divine intervention. Cite examples of conflicting 

accounts of other historical events. 

RESEARCH PROJECTS 

• Compare the Code of Hammurabi to biblical law. Be sure to discuss the 

concept of “an eye for an eye.” 

• If you could live in one of the ancient civilizations of the Fertile Crescent, 

which would you choose? Why? 

• Write a research report on the development of writing and alphabets. Refer 

to the multimedia presentation on writing in The Power of the Word, 

Mesopotamia, “Writing,” for help. 

• How did the writings of the prophets reflect the social, political, and 

economic conditions of their time? Discuss whether or not their 

messages are still relevant today. 

• Compare Saul, David, and Solomon as kings of Israel. 

• Research how the holiday of Passover arose as a commemoration of the 

Exodus. Discuss key elements of the holiday observance, including the 

seder meal, the prohibition against eating leavened foods, and the 

Passover Haggadah. Describe the ways in which the concept of “freedom” 

is handled in the Haggadah. Interview friends, acquaintances, and/or 

family members about how some families link the story of Passover to 

current incidences of oppression around the world. (See “An American 

Jewish Passover Speech,” Program 9 Student Worksheet, for one example.) 

• Report on 20th-century discoveries at an archaeological site in Israel, such 

as Hazor, David’s City in Jerusalem, or Gezer, focusing on examples of how 

the “detective” work of scientists and scholars has shed new light on the 

biblical period of Israelite history. 

Noah building the ark 

14

PREVIEW QUESTIONS 

PROGRAM ONE: 


(3800 - 586 B.C.E.) 

Answer these questions as you watch A People Is Born or as you explore the 

accompanying multimedia presentations, historical documents, and maps. 

1. Where and why did civilization first appear? What changes in life-style did 

it produce? 

2. How did the Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures contribute to the history 

of the ancient Israelites? 

3. How did the Exodus shape the Israelites’ understanding of God and their 

view of themselves? 

4. How did the Israelites rule themselves when they came into Canaan? 

5. What was the prophets’ message? What motivated them to speak the way 

they did? In what ways could it be said that their prophecies were true? 

MAP 

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST 

S T U D E N T 



W O R K S H E E T 


The following anagram puzzle contains the names of people or places 

appearing in the program. Use the clues in the middle column to 

unscramble their names. Write them in the blanks. When you have finished, 

unscramble the words in the circles and you will have the name of 

a great river in Mesopotamia. 

DNEE 

SRIIGT 

BMAARAH 

ANACNA 

YOSSKH 

TYEPG 

DHAUJ 

MSURE 

A famous 

“garden” in 

Mesopotamia 

An important river 

in Mesopotamia 

The first Hebrew, 

according to the 

Bible 

The area in which 

the Israelites settled 

The Asians who 

conquered Egypt 

The country from 

which the Israelites 

fled 

A land conquered by 

Babylonia 

Civilization began 

here 

A famous river in Mesopotamia 

_ _ _ _ 

_ _ _ _ _ _ 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

_ _ _ _ _ _ 

_ _ _ _ _ _ 

_ _ _ _ _ 

_ _ _ _ _ _ 

_ _ _ _ _ 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Your teacher will give you instructions. 


Your teacher will help you understand the following document. 

THE FLOOD 

The biblical story of the flood is similar to an account found in The Epic of 

Gilgamesh. A fragment of this ancient Sumerian work has survived on a piece 

of clay tablet. An excerpt is given below: 

[...] A flood will sweep over the cult centers; 

To destroy the seed of mankind [...] 

All the windstorms, exceedingly powerful, attacked as one. 

At the same time, the flood sweeps over the cult centers. 

After, for seven days and seven nights, 

The flood had swept over the land, 

And the huge boat had been tossed about by the windstorms on the great waters, 

Utu (the sun god) came forth, who sheds light on heaven and earth, 

Ziusudra opened a window on the huge boat, 

The hero Utu brought his rays into the giant boat. 

Ziusudra, the king, 

Prostrated himself before Utu, 

The king kills an ox, slaughters a sheep.





PROGRAM TWO: 

THE POWER OF THE WORD 

(586 B.C.E. - 72 C.E.) 

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, sat and wept, we thought of 

Zion. [Psalm 137:1] 


the western Mediterranean. By 288 B.C.E, they controlled most of the Italian 

peninsula. The Roman empire continued to expand throughout the next 

two centuries, eventually defeating all of the Hellenistic powers. In the faction-torn 

independent Judean state, a battle for succession in the year 63 

The ancient world saw the successive rise and fall of empires. B.C.E provided a pretext for the eventual establishment of Roman rule over 

From the 6th century B.C.E. to the 2nd century C.E., the Land of Judea.That rule was to last, in one form or another, until the Arab conquest 

Israel was conquered first by the Persians, then the Greeks, and in the 7th century C.E 

finally the Romans. Each empire incorporated the strategically located 

land into its own domain and left an indelible mark on Judaism and the 

history of the Jews. 

The Persians began their expansion under Cyrus, who in 539 B.C.E put an 

end to the Babylonian Empire. Cyrus permitted the exiled Jews to return to 

the sub-province of Judea (consisting of Jerusalem and its environs) and to 

The confrontation between Jews and Romans in the first two centuries 

of the common era (C.E) was a bloody and tragic chapter in Jewish history. 

The most fateful event was the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 

C.E Paradoxically, this cataclysm unleashed powerful creative forces within 

Judaism. In response to the challenge, Jews fashioned legal and theological 

foundations for Judaism that have lasted to the present day. 

reestablish the Temple. According to some historians, it was during this 

time that the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) may have been completed ACTIVITIES 

and canonized as sacred scripture. 

MAP 

During the 5th century B.C.E, the Athenians tried to build their own 

THE WORLD OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, 323 B.C.E. 

empire on the Aegean Sea. Although the Athenian empire was one of the 

Instructions are on the Student Worksheet. Correct answers are: 

smallest and shortest-lived of the ancient states, it made some of the most 

✓(1) E (2) D ✓(3) C ✓(4) A ✓(5) B 

significant contributions to Western culture. Athens was home to Socrates, 

Plato, and Aristotle, and to the great tragic playwrights Aeschylus, 

Sophocles, and Euripides. The defeat of the Athenians in 404 B.C.E at the 

hands of a league of other Greek city-states led to the birth of a Greek, or 

more accurately, Hellenistic Empire.The Greek Macedonians, led first 

by Philip II, and subsequently by his son Alexander, conquered 

virtually all of the territories formerly held by 

the Persians, including Judea. 

At the end of the 3rd century B.C.E, the 

Hellenized rulers of Syria known as the 


THE SAYINGS OF HILLEL 

The sayings of Hillel (see Student Worksheet) typify Pharisaic 

Judaism, by emphasizing morality. As such, they provide 

an excellent basis for a discussion about values. 

Begin the lesson by putting the following 

five words on the board: fame, 

knowledge, patience, courage, and 

Seleucids wrested control of Judea from 

wealth. Ask the students to 

the Ptolemys, the Hellenized rulers of 

Egypt. Once again the political affairs of 

the Jews were thrown into turmoil. The 

second of the Seleucid rulers of Judea 

was the infamous Antiochus IV, during 

whose reign Judaism came under attack. 

Judah the Maccabee led a revolt in 164 B.C.E 

and full Jewish sovereignty was established in 

Judea in 140 B.C.E. For close to a century, the 

Hasmonean dynasty founded by Judah’s brothers 

ruled the Judean state. 

rearrange them in order of importance. 

Have some put their lists on 

the board. Discuss with the class 

and agree on a definition of “values.” 

Then read and discuss Hillel’s 

sayings in terms of the values they 

represent. Ask the students to list them 

in order of importance and to give examples 

of how each might apply to real-life situations. 

Some students may recognize the first saying 

as the Golden Rule: Whatever you do not wish your 

While the Hellenistic dynasties dominated western Asia 

neighbor to do to you, do not do to him. Jesus later changed 

Bar Kochba coin, 

and Egypt, the Romans began to form an empire in Italy and 

2nd Century C.E. 

this to: All things that you wish men to do to you, you must 

16

PROGRAM TWO: 


(586 B.C.E. - 72 C.E.) 

do the same to him (Matthew 7:12). Compare and contrast. 

Students may wish to trace other sayings of Jesus to their Jewish 

sources. Here are a few suggestions (see chart below): 

Hebrew Bible 

Isaiah 61:2 

Psalms 37:11 

Psalms 24:3-4 

Deuteronomy 6:4 

and Leviticus 19:18 

Proverbs 25:21 


Jesus (New Testament) 

Matthew 5:4 



Matthew 22:36-39 

Romans 12:20 

• Compare and contrast the mass deportation of the Jews to Babylon in 

586 C.E. with other forced migrations in history, such as the 

“Trail of Tears” (the relocation of Cherokee Indians in Andrew 

Jackson’s time), the Nazi deportations of Jews during World War II, 

and the more recent expulsion of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. 

• Not much is known about Jewish life in Babylon in the 6th-5th 

centuries B.C.E. Write a research report about what is known, using 

sources such as translations of the cuneiform clay tablets that are 

part of the Murashu Archives (the records of a banking firm). Did all 

Babylonian Jews regard themselves as exiles? What was the range of 

Jewish occupations? What impact did the exile have on Jewish 

religious practice? 

• Why was King Cyrus of Persia considered an enlightened ruler? Compare 

his policies to those recommended by Niccolo Machiavelli in The Prince,or 

to those of any other ruler you have studied. 

• Who were the Samaritans? How did they differ from the Israelites? 

Where are they today? 

• What elements of Hellenistic culture were embraced by Judean Jews? 

What aspects of Hellenism did pious Jews feel threatened by and reject? 

• Consult the historical atlas on the DVD-ROM and prepare a research 

report on the extent of the Jewish diaspora in the 1st-2nd century C.E. 

Then select one Jewish community outside Palestine, such as Rome or 

Alexandria, and write a profile of it. 

• Write a report on the Jewish rebellion against Rome. Refer to The Jewish 

War by Josephus, as well as to other sources. What might account for 

the differences between these accounts? 

• Write a comparative report on the following groups mentioned in 




this program: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. Include a basic 

description of who they were, what they believed, and how they 

interacted with one another. Or compare one of the above groups to 

a contemporary religious group. 

• In 1947, Arab shepherds discovered a treasure trove of what many 

scholars believe are Essene documents in caves at Qumran. Known 

as the Dead Sea Scrolls, these manuscripts have revealed hitherto 

unknown facts about life in Roman-ruled Palestine. Write a report on 

the “detective” work used by archaeologists and scholars to uncover 

the meaning of these artifacts. 

• What was the relationship between Jesus and the Jewish community in 

his lifetime? In what ways was he a practicing Jew? Who were his early 

followers? Consult books by historians and compare with accounts in 

the New Testament. 


17


S T U D E N T 




Answer these questions as you watch The Power of the Word or as you explore 

the accompanying multimedia presentations, historical documents, and maps. 

PROGRAM TWO: 


(586 B.C.E. - 72 C.E.) 

1. How did Jewish worship change during the Babylonian Exile? 

2. Why did Cyrus permit the Jews to return to Judea? What problems did 

they encounter on their return? 

3. What were the achievements of Ezra and Nehemiah? 

4. What threats did Hellenistic culture pose to the Jews? 

5. Why was the festival of Hanukkah instituted? 

6. How did life in Palestine change under Herod? 

7. Why did the Jews revolt against Rome? What happened? 

Sadducee family gravestone, Syria 

MAP 

THE WORLD OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, 323 B.C.E. 


THE SAYINGS OF HILLEL 

During the time of the Romans, the Pharisees were a major religious group in 

Palestine.They believed that the Torah applied to all aspects of life, that a good 

life required people to be kind, merciful, generous, and charitable, and that 

study should be part of the lives of ordinary people, not just those of the 

priestly caste. 

The most important of the Pharisee teachers was Hillel, who is remembered 

for his wisdom, kindness, patience, and respect for learning. Below are 

a few of his more memorable sayings. They are representative of those elements 

of Phariseeism that helped form the foundations of rabbinic Judaism. 

Many of the sayings of Jesus are similar to Hillel’s maxims, suggesting that 

Jesus, who was a practicing Jew, was sympathetic to the Pharisees’ teachings. 

• Whatever you do not wish your neighbor to do to you, do not do to him. 

—From the Talmud, Shab. 31a, Avot-de-Rabbi Nathan 15,61 

Below are the names of five cities in Alexander the Great’s empire. Indicate 

their location on the map above by matching them with the correct letter 

(write in number). Put a check next to the cities that still exist today. 

1. Jerusalem 4. Athens 

2. Babylon 5. Alexandria 

3. Damascus 

• A name made great is a name destroyed. 

• He who does not increase his knowledge decreases it; he who 

does not study deserves to die [...] 

• If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for 

myself, what am I? And if not now, when? 

• Do not judge your fellow-man until you put yourself in his place. 

• Neither say, “When I have leisure I will study”—perhaps you will 

have no leisure! 

• Someone who is too engaged in business cannot grow wise. 

• In a place where there are no human beings, you must try to be a 

human being. 

—From Sayings of the Fathers


PROGRAM THREE: 

THE SHAPING OF TRADITIONS 

(30 - 732) 

Once, as Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai was coming forth from Jerusalem, 

Rabbi Joshua followed after him and beheld the Temple in ruins. 

“Woe unto us!” Rabbi Joshua cried,“ that this, the place where the iniquities 

of Israel were atoned for, is laid waste.” 

“My son,” Rabban Johanan said to him, “be not grieved; we have another 

atonement as effective as this. And what is it? It is acts of loving-kindness, 

as it is said, For I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” [Hosea 6:6] 

— Judah Goldin, tr., The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, (New Haven: The Yale 

University Press, 1955). 


Jerusalem and the Temple served as the political and religious center 

of Jewish life for almost 1,000 years. The destruction of the Temple in 

70 was a catastrophe, affecting not only Jews in the Land of Israel, but 

also large numbers already living in the Diaspora. Fortunately for the survival 

of Judaism, however, the Pharisaic belief that religious authority should 

rest with rabbis (teachers) rather than with the Temple priesthood had 

already firmly taken hold. Under the leadership of Johanan ben Zakkai, a 

group of rabbis assembled in Jabneh, a small town south of Jerusalem, where 

they established a synagogue and rabbinical academy. Over time, individual 

synagogues assumed a heightened importance throughout the Diaspora as 

places of prayer, learning, and social activity. Religious authority shifted to 

the new rabbinical institutions that were developing in Palestine and 

Babylonia. 

The Pharisees conceived of Torah, or divine law, as composed of two 

dimensions: a written law and an oral law, which interpreted, refined, and 

elaborated upon the written text. This concept reinforced the pliability of 

Judaism’s sacred tradition, allowing it to adjust and modify itself to the 

needs of Jewish life in subsequent centuries. In about 200 C.E., a selection 

of oral law was 

compiled into 

the Mishnah, 

the work that 

became the 

foundation for 

the continued 

development 

of Judaism. 

Economic 

conditions in 

the devastated 

Land of Israel 

led many Jews 

Drawing of the Temple, 18th-century manuscript 

to settle elsewhere in the Roman Empire or beyond the empire’s borders, in 

Babylonia. The Babylonian Jewish community, established in biblical times, 

eventually became the largest and most influential of Diaspora Jewish settlements. 

It was here that the Babylonian Talmud (a compilation of the 

Mishnah and rabbinical commentary) was completed in around 500 C.E. 

In the Roman Empire, Christianity had grown from a Jewish sect to a separate 

religion whose differences with Judaism had become irreconcilable by the 

end of the 1st century. The emperor Constantine began to favor Christianity in 

312 C.E., and by the end of the 4th century, the once-persecuted faith had become 

the official religion of the Roman Empire. Jews found their civil status reduced 

under imperial Rome. By the beginning of the 5th century, they were subject to 

civil and economic restrictions that eventually served as the basis for the legal 

status of Jews in medieval Europe. 

By 476, the once-mighty Roman empire had fallen victim to poor government 

and barbarian invasions. Centralized government deteriorated and 

countless petty chiefs set themselves up as lords. Government and classical 

culture crumbled, the old Roman roads decayed, and what later generations 

would call the Dark Ages settled upon Europe. 

On the Arabian peninsula, Islam, the third great monotheistic religion, 

was born in the 7th century. Influenced by both Judaism and Christianity, 

Islam is based on divine revelation in the form of a text—in Islam’s case, the 

Quran.The new religion spread quickly throughout the Arab world. Less than 

a century after the death of the prophet Muhammad, Muslim rule extended 

over a vast empire stretching from Afghanistan to Spain. A cultured and 

sophisticated Islamic civilization flourished in the great cities of Baghdad 

and Cordoba.The treasures of classical Hellenistic civilization were translated 

into Arabic by Muslim scholars. During this period of Islam’s flowering, 

the Jews in Muslim lands constituted the majority of world Jewry and shared 

in the vigorous cultural awakening. 

ACTIVITIES 

JEWS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD 

Refer to the map activity on the Student Worksheet. Students are asked to 

give the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates for major Jewish population 

centers. Approximate answers are given below. 

Latitude / Longitude 

1. Babylon 33ºN / 45ºE 

2. Baghdad 34ºN / 45ºE 

3.Toledo 40ºN / 5ºE 

4.Tiberias 33ºN / 36ºE 



Latitude / Longitude 

5. Jerusalem 32ºN / 35ºE 

6. Sardis 39ºN / 29ºE 

7. Rome 42ºN / 12ºE 

8. Antioch 37ºN / 36ºE 


19






Remind your students to read this exercise before watching the program 

and to have a pen or pencil while viewing. The correct answers are: 

(1) D (2) C (3) A (4) B 

CATEGORIZING: MAJOR MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS 

This exercise will provide students with an overview of the three 

monotheistic religions discussed in this program. It will also be valuable in 

teaching the process of clearly organizing material to be learned. 

You might begin this lesson by putting the following number on the 

board: 123199. Ask the class what it means. Then rewrite it as 12 31 99, the 

last day of December 1999. Point out that by sorting things into categories, 

it is possible to create order and better see what is really there. 

Students may complete the chart on their worksheet as a homework 

assignment or library project. They may add other items to the list for 

extra credit. The answers are given below. 

Categories 

1. Messiah: 

Judaism 

Awaiting his arrival 

Christianity 

Awaiting his return 

Islam 

Muhammad is God’s 

Prophet: mainsteam 

Islam believes that 

Muhammad was the 

final Prophet 



(30 - 732) 

Apart from the Bible, many of the earliest Jewish laws were transmitted 

orally. Rabbis continued to debate the exact meaning of the Torah in relation 

to everyday life. Their arguments were collected in about 200 C.E. and 

formed the Mishnah. Again, the oral debates continued—for another three 

hundred years—and when they were finally organized and written down, 

they became known as the Gemara, from the Hebrew word gamar, “to complete.” 

Together, the Mishnah and Gemara compose the Talmud. 

The vast majority of Jews came to regard the Talmud as authoritative. 

Scattered throughout the world, the Jews were nonetheless one people, united 

by their reliance on these volumes as a source of wisdom and guidance. 

* * * * * * * * * 

This activity is based on a selection from the Talmud. (See Student 

Worksheet.) The rabbis raised this problem to clarify the meaning of the 

biblical phrase “that thy brothers may live with thee.” Ask the class to 

answer the following two questions: 

1. Do you agree with Ben Petura (that both should drink and both should 

die) or with Akiva (that one should drink and live and the other die)? 

Why? 

2. Which teaching places a higher value on life? Which on fair play and equality? 

Allow ample time for discussion, then ask the class for other solutions to 

the dilemma. 

2. First,second and 

third to be founded: 

3. Title given to 

spiritual leader: 

4. Day of Sabbath: 

5. Central religious 

figure(s): 

6. Holy cities: 

7. Most sacred 

holiday: 

First 

Rabbi 

Saturday 

Moses, Abraham 

Jerusalem 

Yom Kippur or 

Passover (open to discussion) 

Second 

Priest, Minister 

Sunday 

Jesus 

Jerusalem, Rome, 

Bethlehem 

Easter, Christmas 

Third 

Imam 

Friday 

Muhammad 

Mecca, Medina, 

Jerusalem 

Feast of Ramadan 

NOTE: Ben Petura taught that if your brother could not live, neither should you, 

for you “should not behold your companion’s death.” Ask the class what values 

are implicit in this point of view (sharing equally, fair play, the wish not to 

bear the guilt of another person’s death). 

Rabbi Akiva taught that the solution centers on the word “with.”Your life 

must take first place, because if you are not alive, how can your brother live 

with you? It is implied, however, that your brother had a right to his life after 

yours is assured. One of Judaism’s central values is that one must do everything 

possible to preserve life. 

Conclude the activity by making sure that the class understands that 

Ben Petura and Akiva represent two opposing sets of values—equality and 

fair play versus self-preservation and veneration of life. 


THE TALMUD 

The Talmud, from a Hebrew word for “study,” is the central compilation of 

law and lore for the Jewish people. It contains thousands of pages and millions 

of words and represents the ideas of approximately 2,000 scholars 

who lived over four centuries, from about 100-500 C.E. The Talmud touches 

on every conceivable aspect of human life: health, medicine, law, religion, 

ethics, charity, history, astronomy, etc. 


• Judaism has no central ruling organization; Catholicism does. Write 

an essay exploring this difference. 

• Write a report explaining when and why the followers of Jesus became 

alienated from Judaism and began to form a separate religion. 

• By the 9th century, Islam had produced great works of literature, 

philosophy, art, architecture, and mathematics. Write a report on 

these achievements and explain their lasting influence on the world. 

20

S T U D E N T 




(30 - 732) 

Answer these questions as you watch The Shaping of Traditions or as you 

explore the accompanying multimedia presentations, historical documents, 

and maps. 

1. How did the Jewish world change after 70 C.E.? How did the scholars at 

Jabneh help reshape Jewish life and traditions? 

2. How did Paul’s preaching differentiate early Christians from Jews? 

3. What factors allowed Christianity to flourish despite Roman persecution? 

4. What roots do Christianity and Islam share with Judaism? 

5. How did the Muslims, as reflected in the Pact of Umar, treat religious 

minorities, such as Jews and Christians? 

6. How did the Jews fare under Charlemagne? 

CATEGORIZING: MAJOR MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS 

Complete this table by filling in the appropriate information for one of the 

three major monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. Indicate 

your choice of religion at the head of Column B. 


Column A contains a list of important people and places you will learn about 

in The Shaping of Traditions. As you watch the video, match the names from 

Column A with the correct descriptions in Column B. 

Column A 

1. Saul of Tarsus 

2. Johanan ben Zakkai 

3. Judah ha-Nasi 

4. Muhammad 

MAP 



JEWS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD 

Study this map of Jewish population centers in the 1st-5th centuries C.E. Fill in 

the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates for each of the following places: 

Latitude/Longitude 

Column B 

A. Compiled the Mishnah 

B. Founder of Islam 

C. Led the school at Jabneh 

D. Preached that Jesus was the Messiah 

Latitude/Longitude 


Column A 

Column B (Religion: ) 

1. Babylon 

5. Jerusalem 

1. Messiah: 

2. Baghdad 

6. Sardis 

2. 1st, 2nd, or 3rd to be founded: 

3.Toledo 

7. Rome 

3. Title given to spiritual leader: 

4.Tiberias 

8. Antioch 

4. Day of Sabbath: 

5. Central religious figure(s): 

6. Holy cities: 

7. Most sacred holiday: 



THE TALMUD 

The following selection from the Babylonian Talmud deals with the meaning 

of the biblical phrase, “that thy brother may live with thee.” 

If two are traveling on a journey [far from civilization], and one has a 

pitcher of water, if both drink, they will [both] die, but if one only drinks, 

he can reach civilization—Ben Petura taught: It is better that both 

should drink and die, rather than that one should behold his companion’s 

death. Until [Rabbi] Akiva came and taught: “that thy brother may 

live with thee” [means] thy life takes precedence over his life.”





In the Name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. When I wished to 

make a city out of the village of Speyer, I Rudiger [...]bishop of 

Speyer, thought that the glory of our town would be augmented a 

thousandfold if I were to bring Jews. 

[...]I have accorded them the free right of exchanging gold and 

silver and of buying and selling everything they use [...] throughout 

the city. 

—Bishop Rudiger of Speyer, Charter, 1084, from Robert Chazan, 

Church, State, and Jew in the Middle Ages (New York: Behrman House, 1980) 


From the 8th to the 15th centuries, during the era that later 

observers would call the Middle Ages, new centers of civilization 

and patterns of life evolved out of the ruins of the ancient world. 

During these years, European civilization acquired some of the basic characteristics 

that have lasted until our time. 

Western civilization in this period was divided between the world of 

Islam and the world of Christianity. Islam thrived in Spain and part of 

southern Italy. Christianity held sway in England, France, Germany, Italy, 

Eastern Europe, and, from the late 10th century, in reconquered Spain. 

When the Muslims conquered the Iberian peninsula in 714, they 

imported there the radiant Arab culture of Baghdad and other capitals of 

the East. Islamic civilization in Spain reached its zenith in the 9th and 

10th centuries, when the Muslim polity, the Caliphate of Cordoba, 

declared its political independence. Iberian Jewry blossomed and enjoyed 

what later came to be known as “the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry”—an 

era marked by extensive 

Jewish participation 

in public life and a 

symbiosis of Arabic and 

Jewish culture. This 

golden age came to an 

end when Spain’s 

Umayyad rulers were 

usurped by the repressive 

North African 

Almoravid dynasty. 

During the 12th and 

13th centuries, Spain 

gradually returned to 

Christian rule, as 

St. Basil attended by a Jewish physician, Castile and Aragon,the 

Augsburg, 1487 

two preeminent Iberian 

PROGRAM FOUR: 

THE CRUCIBLE OF EUROPE 

(732 - 1492) 

Christian states, led the Reconquista (Christian reconquest). Granada, the last 

Muslim outpost in Spain, was finally conquered in 1492. 

In the early Middle Ages, the sparsely populated territories of Northern 

Europe were organized according to the feudal system, in which serfs 

farmed the lands of lords in exchange for protection. The Church was an 

integral part of daily life. By the 10th century, cities were beginning to grow 

in size and importance. Merchants and artisans helped develop a new, 

urban economy. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, Europe enjoyed 

something of a cultural renaissance. Architectural advances enabled the 

construction of magnificent cathedrals. An intellectual revolution took 

place as universities were established and scholars, such as Thomas 

Aquinas, sought to reconcile the teachings of Christianity with the principles 

of classical Greek philosophy. 

Local rulers, seeking to promote commerce in the towns and cities, 

invited Jewish merchants to settle in their principalities. Eventually, Jews 

were viewed as economic competitors by the rising urban class. The 

Church, worried that the Jews’ non-acceptance of Christianity would 

encourage doubts about Christian doctrine, began preaching anti-Jewish 

sermons. Jews became subject to persecution, which ranged from being 

forced to wear special costumes and badges to being massacred (especially 

during the First Crusade and during the years of the Black Death). When 

the state rulers consolidated their power and the Jews’ financial services 

were deemed no longer necessary, the Jews were expelled from England, 

parts of France and Germany, and Spain. 

ACTIVITIES 

MAP 

JEWISH POPULATION CENTERS IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE 

The map that appears on the Student Worksheet depicts the major cities 

of Jewish settlement in medieval Europe. Have the students identify the 

countries represented by the numbers. Correct answers are: 

(1) England (2) France (3) Spain (4) Italy (5) Germany 

LEARNING ABOUT STEREOTYPES 

In feudal society, Jews were excluded from many trades and crafts, and 

from most kinds of agriculture. Increasingly, they were forced into the role 

of moneylenders, an occupation despised by many Christians. In this activity, 

students use information from the program to discuss resentment 

towards the Jews in the Middle Ages and the development of stereotypes. 

22

PROGRAM FOUR: 


(732 - 1492) 


1. After viewing the program, how would you say stereotypes about the 

Jews developed in Northern Europe during the Middle Ages? 

2. Using examples, explain where and how people learn to see things in 

terms of stereotypes. 

3. How has stereotyping affected Jews? Other groups? What can you do to 

help combat stereotyping? 

4. Compare anti-Judaism in Spain to forms of racism, discrimination, and 

prejudice that exist in the United States today. 


SCHOOL CURRICULUM 

For Jews, education has served as a force for internal cohesion and, at the 

same time, has sometimes provided tools for successful integration into the 

larger society. This document deals with a Jewish school curriculum from 

medieval Muslim Spain. (See Student Worksheet.) By carefully examining it, 

students will see one example of how a minority group was able to maintain 

its distinct cultural identity while living within a larger society. 

Students are provided with excerpts from a curriculum for boys from the 

highest stratum of Spanish-Jewish society. The curriculum emphasizes 

scholarship in both traditional and secular fields of learning through the 

study of religious law (Talmud and other sources), as well as through the 

study of classical subjects (philosophy, logic, mathematics, and science). 

Although curricula of this type were prevalent throughout Europe, the 

stress on grammar and poetry was unique to Muslim Spain, reflecting the 

great importance of these subjects in Muslim culture. 


1. How can a minority maintain its own cultural traditions within a dominant 

culture? List some of these ways (e.g., music, oral history, language, 

literature, dress, names) on the board and describe their use by various 

ethnic groups. 

2. Have students read the curriculum on their worksheet. Ask the following 

questions and have students support their answers by using references 

to the primary source: 

a. What were the religious and secular subjects studied by the Jewish 

children? 

b. How could study serve as a cohesive factor among the Jews? How 

did it keep religious tradition alive? 

c. How did their education also prepare Jews to live within the larger 

Spanish society? 

3. Give examples of how minority groups in this country have maintained 

their unique cultures through education (e.g., Hebrew schools, Catholic 

schools, Ukrainian church schools). 





• Jewish culture was shaped, in part, by its interaction with surrounding 

societies. In Muslim Spain, Jewish culture was influenced by Arabic 

poetry, philosophy, grammar, and lexicology. Explain why the 

influence was so strong and cite examples. 

• Write a research report on one of the following Spanish Hebrew poets: 

Judah Halevi, Moses ibn Ezra, Solomon ibn Gabirol. Discuss examples of 

the author’s poetry. 

• Write a biography of Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides and discuss 

his influence on the world at large. 

• In 1890, a treasure trove of documents was found in a synagogue in 

Cairo, Egypt. The Cairo genizah (a depository for written material in 

Hebrew containing the word “God,” which, according to Jewish law, 

cannot be destroyed) has revealed hitherto unknown facts about Jewish 

life in the Middle Ages. Write a report on the “detective” work used by 

archaeologists and scholars to uncover the meaning of these artifacts. 

• Research one aspect of the Ashkenazic Jewish culture that developed in 

Northern Europe during the Middle Ages and show how it was shaped by 

European cultural influences. Possible topics include the Yiddish 

language; customs associated with life-cycle events, such as bar 

mitzvahs and weddings; education; rabbinical scholarship; and common 

Jewish occupations. 

• Imagine that you are a Jew who has survived an attack by the Crusaders 

in 1096. Write an imaginary diary entry recounting the circumstances of 

the attack on your community. How did you survive (i.e., hid, fled, accepted 

conversion, were wounded and left for dead)? What spiritual impact has 

the ordeal had on you? What are your plans for the future? 

• Do further research on the role of money lending in the medieval 

economy, focusing on one country (i.e., England, Italy, or France). Explore 

some of the following questions: Why was money lending necessary for 

the economy? How did it differ from modern banking? How did rulers 

exploit the institution for their own self-interest? 

• What was the motivation for the Spanish Inquisition? What methods 

did it use? How well did it achieve its aims? 


23


S T U D E N T 




Answer these questions as you watch The Crucible of Europe or as you 



1. Describe the “Golden Age” in Spain. How did Jews and Muslims interact 

during this period? How did this situation develop? 

2. Why were feudal lords in Northern Europe eager for Jews to settle in their 

towns in the 10th and 11th centuries? 

3. How did increased economic competition and anti-Jewish policies force 

more and more Jews into money lending? 

4. Why do you think the call of Pope Urban II for the First Crusade led to hostility 

against Jews living in Europe? Did he intend the attacks on Jews to occur? 

MAP 

JEWISH POPULATION CENTERS IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE 

PROGRAM FOUR: 


(732 - 1492) 


Your teacher will help you understand the following documents. 

SCHOOL CURRICULUM 

This is a curriculum for Jewish boys, ages five to eighteen, in 12th-century 

Spain: 

• Reading and Writing: [...] The teacher will begin first with the script, 

in order that the children may learn their letters [...] the use of 

which has been agreed upon by our ancestors. Then he is to teach 

them to write until their script is clear and can be read easily. 

• Torah and Hebrew Grammar: Then he is to teach them [...] the Bible, 

with an eye to the vocalization and modulation in order that they may 

be able to pronounce the accents correctly [...] the children are 

then taught the inflections, declensions, and conjugations. 

• Poetry: the teacher [...] should have them recite religious poems and 

whatever else of beauty is found in the different types of poetry. 

• Talmud: At fifteen the age is reached for the study of Talmud [...] 

when the Talmud [becomes] so much a part of them that there is 

hardly any chance of its being lost, and they are firmly entrenched 

in the Torah [...] then the teacher is to impart to them [...] the 

refutation of the errors of apostates and heretics [...] 

• Logic: [...] Logic presents the rules which keep the mental powers 

in order, and lead man on the path of clarity and truth [...] 

• Mathematics: [...] Beginning with arithmetic or geometry [...] then optics. 

• Astronomy: [...] First, astrology, that is, the science wherein the stars 

point to future events [...] like the interpretation of dreams, fortunetelling 

and similar arts. This science, however, is forbidden by God. 

• Music: [...] how melodies are linked together, and what condition is 

required to make the influence of music most pervasive and effective. 

• Medicine: [...] The art which keeps the human constitution in its 

normal condition, and which brings it back to its proper condition [...] 

Reprinted with permission of UAHC Press, 633 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017; 

uahcpress.com. All rights reserved. 

This map of medieval Europe depicts what were at the time the major centers 

of European and Jewish civilization. On a separate sheet of paper, write 

down the names of the countries represented by each number.

PROGRAM FIVE: 

SEARCH FOR DELIVERANCE 

(1492 - 1789) 

When the dreadful news [of the decree expelling Jews from Spain] 

reached the people, they [...] wept bitterly. [...] However, they bravely 

encouraged each other: “Let us cling unflinchingly to our faith [...] If 

they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will perish. But we will 

not break our Divine Covenant nor shall we turn back. We will go 

forth in the name of the Lord our God.” 

In this spirit the people, old and young, women and children [...] went 

forth on one day, unarmed and afoot. I was among them. They went 

whithersoever the wind carried them. Some fled to the kingdom of 

Portugal, others to the kingdom of Navarre. Many chose the way of 

the sea and were lost, drowned, burnt to death, and sold into slavery. 

—Don Isaac Abrabanel (1437-1509), Memoir, from Leo W. 

Schwarz, Memoirs of My People Through a Thousand Years (New York, Toronto: 

Farrar and Rinehart, 1943) 


The expulsion of the Jews from Spain, on one hand, and the 

French Revolution, on the other, bracketed three centuries of 

major political, cultural, and social upheavals. To survey the 

changes in this era, both for Jewry and civilization as a whole, is to present 

a catalogue of advances, transformations, and reversals. 

The Renaissance, which started in Italy, was based on a revival of classical 

art, literature, and learning. Its humanist philosophy emphasized reason 

and inquiry over faith and authority and valued everyday, human 

experience. In the German city of Mainz in around 1450, Gutenberg invented 

movable type. This technological advance enabled the mass production 

of books, making knowledge more accessible than ever before. In the 16th 

century, Copernicus discovered that the earth revolved around the sun— 

and modern science was born. Scientific achievements reduced the hazards 

of ocean travel, allowing Europeans to explore distant parts of the 

globe. Motivated by the desire for increased international trade, Portugal, 

Spain, Holland, France, and England established colonial empires in the 

Americas and Asia. 

In Germany in 1517, Martin Luther initiated the Reformation, which 

challenged the authority of the Pope, questioned the ritual of the Church, 

and ultimately, split Christendom into Protestant and Catholic sectors. In 

the next generation, Catholic leaders such as Ignatius Loyola launched the 

Counter-Reformation to reaffirm the supremacy of the Papacy and the 

authority of the Church. 

For Jews, the end of the 15th century was marked by tragedy. In 1492, 

Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand expelled the entire Jewish population 

of Spain in an attempt to isolate conversos (Christian converts) from contact 

with non-Christians. Eventually, many of the exiles found new homes in 




North Africa, Italy, the Netherlands, the Americas, and the Ottoman 

Empire (which at that time included Palestine). In the 14th and 15th 

centuries, large numbers of Ashkenazic Jews from Northern Europe 

migrated to Poland and Lithuania. 

Rabbinical scholarship achieved new heights in Salonika, Cairo, 

Constantinople, and Safed, which was the home of a spiritual revival 

centered on kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. In Renaissance Italy, Jewish and 

Christian philosophers traded ideas. Jewish philosophy began to reflect a 

humanist influence. Christian philosophers learned about Judaism and 

developed a new appreciation for the role of Hebrew culture in the formation 

of Western civilization. 

Religious and social schism, as well as continuing persecution, rocked 

Jewish society. In the 17th century, in the course of a bloody uprising, thousands 

of Jews in Poland and Ukraine were murdered by Bogdan 

Chmielnicki’s Cossacks. In Amsterdam, Baruch Spinoza argued for the 

supremacy of rationalism over religious doctrine. His controversial views 

led to his excommunication from the Jewish community. During the same 

century, thousands of 

Jews around the world 

became followers of 

Shabbetai Zevi, a charismatic 

but erratic messianic 

pretender. In the mid- 

18th century, Hasidism, a 

dynamic religious movement 

that emphasized 

joyous prayer over asceticism 

and scholarship, 

arose in Poland to challenge 

the Jewish communal 

establishment. Hasidism 

was particularly popular 

Shabbetai Zevi, False Messiah 

among poor Jews and 

quickly spread to other Eastern European regions. 

In the 18th century, French philosophers, such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and 

Montesquieu, led an intellectual revolution known as the Enlightenment, 

which questioned traditional royal and Church authority by suggesting that 

human institutions should conform to new canons of logic and reason. The 

“enlightened” also argued for the equality of man and universal liberty. These 

ideas spread throughout Europe and even to the American colonies. In Berlin 

in the 1770s, a small group of Jews gathered around Moses Mendelssohn, a 

Jewish philosopher of the German Enlightenment, who sought to apply the 

ideals of the Enlightenment to Judaism. Adherents of the Jewish 


25





Enlightenment (Haskalah) aimed for the integration of Jews into European 

society and for a synthesis of Jewish tradition and Western culture. With 

the approach of the 19th century, the ideas of the Haskalah gained currency 

with a new generation of Jews, who were faced with new challenges 

and opportunities not encountered by their parents and grandparents. 

ACTIVITIES 

MAP 

JEWISH MIGRATIONS IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD, 1492-1700 

In this unit, ask your students to show on the class wall map the routes 

that Jews took in their dispersion after the expulsion from Spain in 1492. 

PEOPLE, PLACES, AND TERMS 

Go over this exercise with the class. Below are the correct answers: 

1. Safed 

2. Zohar 

3. kabbalah 

4. ghetto 

5. New Jerusalem 

6. Baruch Spinoza 

THE HASIDIC WAY 

The Ba’al Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, believed that devotion to 

learning and study was not the only way of living a pious Jewish life. 

Instead, joyful faith and allegiance to a rebbe (spiritual leader) could provide 

even the humblest with a pathway to God.The Ba’al Shem Tov’s teachings 

appealed to the poor, who were unable to afford prolonged yeshiva 

study and who appreciated the egalitarianism of Hasidic life. 

Here is one selection from the vast body of Hasidic literature. Read it to 

the class to help convey some of the essence of Hasidism. 

JOY 

Once a Jew in great sorrow came to the Ba’al Shem Tov. “How many 

days,” he asked, “do I have to fast, so as to atone for a grievous sin?” 

The Ba’al Shem Tov replied: “Not through fasting is God’s anger averted, 

but through joy. Recite the Psalms, with inward rejoicing, and you will 

be free of your sin.” 


7. Bogdan Chmielnicki 

8. Shabbetai Zevi 

9. Ba’al Shem Tov 

10. Court Jews 

11. Moses Mendelssohn 

12. Haskalah 

1. What Hasidic belief is extolled in this reading? 

2. How do Judaism, Christianity, and Islam regard fasting? 

PROGRAM FIVE: 


(1492 - 1789) 


THE CHMIELNICKI (KHMYEL-NITS-KI) MASSACRES 

(1648-1655) 

There had been Jews in Poland and neighboring lands as far back as the 

10th century. By the middle of the 17th century, they numbered about half 

a million. During this period, they enjoyed prosperity and tolerance, and 

brought Jewish learning to new heights in the many yeshivas they established. 

The Jews, as financial agents of the crown and landed gentry, were 

given special privileges. They constituted a much-needed middle class of 

tradesmen and craftsmen. However, they also served as economic middlemen, 

and were a buffer, as it were, between the wealthy Polish landlords 

and the impoverished peasantry. The resentments of this unequal society 

erupted into a bloody revolt in 1648. Ukrainian Cossacks led by Chmielnicki 

massacred tens of thousands of Jews and Poles and sold others into slavery. 


1. Read with the class Nathan of Hanover’s description of the Chmielnicki 

massacres. (See Student Worksheet.) Ask students to deduce Nathan’s 

purpose in writing it. To whom was he addressing his book? 

2. Ask the class to identify two kinds of atrocities described here—those 

against people and those against books. Which is worse? Why? 

3. Have students write a news article about the massacres, complete with 

headline. Be sure that they include the who, what, where, when, and why 

of the event. Some students may wish to do further research on this topic. 


• Believe it or not, small communities of Marranos (secret Jews) have 

recently been discovered in Portugal, and there is evidence that some 

families in the American Southwest have retained Marrano practices. 

Write a research report on present-day Marranos, using recent and 

archived newspaper articles and other published works. Try also to 

obtain and watch Frederic Brenner’s 1990 documentary, The Last Marranos. 

• Write a research report on one of the following communities settled by 

Jewish refugees from Spain and Portugal: Salonika, Constantinople, 

Venice, Amsterdam, or Safed. What were this community’s cultural and 

economic achievements? How was society there shaped by the 

traumatic experiences of the refugees? 

• Discuss Jewish contributions to the Italian Renaissance. How did the 

exchange of ideas affect both Jewish and Christian thought? 

26

S T U D E N T 


PROGRAM FIVE: 


(1492 - 1789) 

Answer these questions as you watch Search for Deliverance or as you 



1. Why was the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 a tragedy? How did it 

affect Jews everywhere? 

2. Where and why did ghettos originate in Europe? 

3. What contribution did Jews make to the Italian Renaissance? 

4. How did the thriving Jewish community of Poland meet with disaster 

in 1648? 

5. How did the appearance and failure of Shabbetai Zevi as a false messiah affect 

Jews the world over? Why were so many Jews ready to believe in him? 

6. Describe the beliefs and life-styles of the early Hasidim. 

7. What were some of Moses Mendelssohn’s ideas about Jews and European 

society? 

PEOPLE AND PLACES AND TERMS 

Read this list of names, places, and terms before viewing Search for Deliverance: 

Baruch Spinoza Safed Ba’al Shem Tov 

Haskalah Bogdan Chmielnicki Shabbetai Zevi 

Court Jews Moses Mendelssohn New Jerusalem 

ghetto Zohar kabbalah 



(11) _______________________ was among the first to break down psychological 

barriers by suggesting that Jews should participate in Western culture. His philosophy 

was the basis for the Jewish enlightenment, which is known as the 

(12)_________________. 



THE CHMIELNICKI MASSACRES (1648-1655) 

In 1648, the prosperous Jewish community in Poland met with catastrophe, 

as Ukrainian Cossacks and Crimean Tartars went on a rampage. A contemporary 

author, Nathan of Hanover, describes the bloodshed: 

There was no cruel device of murder in the whole world that was not perpetrated 

by the enemies. All the four death penalties: stoning, burning, beheading, 

and strangling were meted out to the Jews. Many were taken by the Tartars 

into captivity [...] They seized comely women as handmaids and housekeepers, 

some as wives and concubines. Similar atrocities were perpetrated in 

all the settlements through which they passed. Scrolls of the Law were torn to 

pieces, and turned into boots and shoes for their feet [...] Other sacred books 

served to pave the streets. Some were used for kindling purposes, and others 

to stuff the barrels of their guns. 

Published by permission of Transaction, Inc. From The Abyss of Despair by Nathan of Hanover. 

©1982 by Transaction Books. 


Immediately afterwards, insert the correct item in each blank space in the 

following summary: 

Thousands of displaced Spanish Jews fled to the small town of (1)___________ in 

Palestine, where they studied the (2) ___________, a book based on a body of mystical 

Jewish ideas known as the (3)________________. In Europe, Jews experienced 

both tolerance and oppression. In Venice, Jews were forced to live in a 

(4)__________, a word that originally meant iron foundry. On the other hand, 

Amsterdam was so liberal towards Jews that it was soon known as 

(5)________________________. A Jewish philosopher there, (6) _____________________, 

questioned the truth of miracles and was excommunicated by the Jewish authorities.The 

Polish Jewish community became the largest in the world, but in 1648 a 

Ukrainian Cossack chieftain, (7)________________________, led a bloody rebellion 

against Poland in which over 100,000 Jews were tortured, killed, or enslaved. 

Over the centuries, some Jews responded to traumatic events by joining 

religious movements. In Turkey, (8)_____________________ falsely declared himself 

Messiah and attracted many Jewish followers. The Hasidic movement was 

founded in Poland in the mid-18th century by the (9) ________________________. He 

taught that even an uneducated man could approach God directly through prayer. 

In the German states, “(10)__________________” were advisers to the 

wealthy, but most Jews still lived in an exclusively Jewish world. 

MAP 

JEWISH MIGRATIONS IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD, 1492-1700





Liberty! Equality! In the Name Of the French Republic One and 

Indivisible. The Central Government of the Paduan Delta Districts 

of Rovigo and Adria [...] decrees: 

First, that the Hebrews are at liberty to live in any street they 

please; Second, that the barbarous and meaningless name of Ghetto, 

which designates the street which they have been inhabiting hitherto, 

shall be substituted by that of Via Libera. 

— Decree abolishing the Ghetto in Padua (August 28, 1797), from 

The Jew in the Modern World, Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, eds., 

p.122 (Oxford University Press, 1995) 


Revolution! The word sums up a century of sweeping change. In 

the years between the French Revolution, which inaugurated 

the period, and the end of World War I, which brought it to a 

close, the political, economic, cultural, and religious lives of most 

Europeans were immeasurably altered. 

The French Revolution, inspired by the doctrines of the Enlightenment, 

ushered in a period of great hope and optimism. The stirring document 

“Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” promised basic rights and 

freedoms to all, including the Jews. 

Napoleon’s conquests can be credited with spreading some of the ideas 

and reforms of the Revolution across Europe. His defeat in 1815, however, 

opened up the gates to the restoration of conservatism. Nonetheless, the 

forces of egalitarianism, liberalism, and nationalism had already gained 

substantial momentum and could not be permanently arrested. By the 

end of the 19th century, Western Europe was essentially rid of the imperial 

and feudal political structures of its past. Society was now to be established 

on the principle of equality of all citizens before the law. 

This was also the age of the Industrial Revolution. Factories began to 

appear across the continent, creating new industries and needs. Demands 

for capital and credit grew. Revolutions in transportation and communications 

were in the making. The rapidly expanding economy provided new 

opportunities for Jews to break out of traditional occupations and to enter 

new professions. 

All these changes were accompanied by new ideas about the nature of 

humankind, society, and culture. The theory of evolution and psychoanalysis 

offered up strikingly modern visions of human development. The 

writings of Marx and Engels and other socialists questioned the values of 

the emerging industrial society. Revolutions in art, music, and 

literature—including romanticism, impressionism, expressionism, and 

cubism—flouted convention to explore new aesthetic frontiers. Within 

Jewish society, new movements—such as Reform Judaism, Zionism, and 

PROGRAM SIX: 

ROADS FROM THE GHETTO 

(1789 - 1925) 

Bundism—arose to challenge the status quo. 

Eastern Europe lagged behind when it came to industrialization and 

political liberalization. Russia did not free its serfs until 1861. Czarist subjects 

lacked many of the basic civil rights enjoyed by citizens in Western 

Europe. Jews were subject to discriminatory laws. It was only when the 

Czar was overthrown in 1917 that Russian Jews attained civic equality. 

Rarely does change occur without creating victims. The overthrow of 

feudalism displaced the landed gentry from their positions of privilege and 

created chaos for many of the peasants whose homes and livelihoods were 

tied to the status of the lords they served.The industrialization of the economy 

left many artisans, craftsmen, and petty merchants unable to compete. 

New historical and scientific discoveries rocked the foundations of traditional 

society, leaving many confused and anxious. Some of the discontent of the 

19th century found expression in anti-modernist, anti-Semitic political 

movements, that targeted Jews, newly prominent in the economy and in 

society, as symbolic of all the disturbing changes. 

ACTIVITIES 

THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT 

In this exercise, the student map shows the Pale of Settlement. Ask your 

students to write in the names of countries and bodies of water near the 

Pale. (Correct answers above.) 

IMPORTANT PEOPLE 

Remind your students to read this exercise before watching the video and 

to have a pen or pencil ready while viewing. The correct answers are: 

(1)F (2)E (3)A (4)G (5)B (6)C 

28

PROGRAM SIX: 


(1789 - 1925) 

STEREOTYPES 

Since this program deals with anti-Semitism in modern Europe, it is suggested 

that part of the class should be devoted to a discussion about generalizations 

and stereotyping. 

1. Point out that people tend to generalize because they can never really 

have all the facts about a group of objects or people. For instance, you can 

say that fish swim or Chinese people speak Chinese or birds fly. These are 

generalizations. But generalizations are based on imperfect information 

and are never 100% correct. It would be more accurate to say, “Most 

Chinese people speak Chinese.”To illustrate, put the following chart on the 

board or prepare it as a handout. Ask the students to check the heading 

that is most true of each generalization. (You may wish to add to the list.) 

GENERALIZATION All Most Many Some Few Don’t 

Know 

Horses run. 

Houses are expensive. 

Politicians are dishonest. 

African-Americans are 

good athletes. 

Jews are rich. 

2. Point out that sometimes faulty logic obscures the truth. For example: 

fish swim—Johnny swims—therefore, Johnny is a fish. Or: Mr. Goldberg is 

Jewish—Mr. Goldberg is a good businessman—therefore, Jews are good 

businessmen. Ask students to create faulty syllogisms of their own. 

3. Point out that when incorrect generalizations and false impressions 

become frozen in people’s minds, they are called stereotypes. One danger of 

stereotyping is its tendency to emphasize only certain characteristics 

while ignoring individual cases. To demonstrate the limitations that 

stereotyping places on intelligence and imagination, put nine dots on the 

board, as seen below: 

Ask students to join all 9 dots with 4 straight lines without lifting their 

pencils. (See solution above.) Point out that if they had difficulty solving 

the problem, it may have been because they didn’t think of going outside 

the box. Their previous experience had “boxed” them in. Discuss how 

stereotyping boxes you in and prevents you from seeing what is really 

there. 

4. One way to look at stereotypes is to think of them as catering to deepseated 

psychological needs such as ego inflation, i.e., the need to feel superior 

to others to cover up one’s own inadequacies. 

5. Another way is to point out the way that stereotyping often leads to contradictions. 

For example, when Jews tried to join certain social clubs or organizations, 

they were rejected; yet, when they formed their own, they were considered 

clannish. Jews were sometimes stereotyped as “Communists,” yet at 

the same time, they were vilified as “international bankers.” How could both 

of these things possibly be true? Ask the class to find the contradictions in 

commonly held stereotypes about other ethnic groups. 

Adapted from David A. Shiman, The Prejudice Book, New York: Anti-Defamation League, 1979. 


EMANCIPATION 




The teacher should start this lesson by having the class compare the 

excerpt on religious guarantees from the French Constitution (see Student 

Worksheet) to the Virginia Statute (below). The following information may 

help to stimulate discussion: 

On September 27, 1791, the French National Assembly, in keeping with 

the new constitution, annulled all restrictions “affecting individuals of the 

Jewish persuasion, who shall take the civic oath.” * 

In the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom (1786), Thomas Jefferson 

stated: 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no man shall be compelled to frequent 

or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever [...] nor 

shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions of belief [...] and 

that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities.* 

* Refer also to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 


Most French Jews welcomed emancipation. (See letter on Student 

Worksheet.) However, some were also troubled by it, fearing loss of autonomy 

in communal Jewish affairs, as well as pressure to renounce their 

Jewish identities. Ask students how the Jews of France could be loyal to the 

Jewish nation and at the same time feel they were good French citizens. 

How do American Jews and other minorities maintain a balance between 

their group identities and their loyalty to the United States of America? 

29


S T U D E N T 




Answer these questions as you watch Roads from the Ghetto or as you 



1. How did the French Revolution affect the Jews of France? 

2. What was the significance of Lionel Rothschild taking his seat in the British 

House of Commons? 

3. What is a shtetl? 

4. What reforms did Alexander II bring about in Russia? How did they affect 

the Jews? 

5. What was the Dreyfus Affair? 

6. What motivated Theodor Herzl to become a Zionist? 

7.What conditions in Eastern Europe led to the rise of the Jewish Labor Bund? 

MAP 

PROGRAM SIX: 


(1789 - 1925) 

IMPORTANT PEOPLE 

Column A contains a list of important people you will learn about in Roads 

from the Ghetto. As you watch the video, match the names from Column A 

with the correct descriptions in Column B. 

1. Sigmund Freud 

2. Emile Zola 

Column A 

3. Mayer Amschel Rothschild 

4. Hayyim Nachman Bialik 

5. Benjamin Disraeli 

Column B 

A. Founder of a banking dynasty 

B. A converted Jew who became Prime 

Minister of Great Britain 

C. A Jewish army captain falsely accused of 

espionage 

D. Father of modern Zionism 

E. French journalist who exposed 

the false charges against the 

captain mentioned in (C) 

6. Alfred Dreyfus 

7.Theodor Herzl 

F. A Viennese Jew known as the father of 

psychoanalysis 

G. A great modern Hebrew poet 



EMANCIPATION 

The following provision of the French Constitution led to the emancipation of 

the Jews in France. 

The Constitution guarantees, as natural and civil rights [...] Liberty to every 

man to speak, write, print and publish his thoughts, without the writings being 

subjected to censure or inspection before the publication, and to exercise the 

religious worship to which he is attached. 

THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT 

This map shows the Pale of Settlement, where millions of Jews who fell 

under Russian rule at the end of the 18th century were confined. The following 

are some land areas and bodies of water in or near the Pale. Write the 

name of each in the correct place on the map: 

Austria-Hungary Baltic Sea Black Sea Germany 

This excerpt of a letter written by a prominent Jewish businessman and politician, 

Berr Isaac Berr, reflects the feelings many French Jews had about their 

emancipation. 

At length the day is arrived when the veil, by which, parted from our fellow-citizens, 

we were kept in a state of humiliation, is rent; at length we recover those 

rights which have been taken from us more than eighteen centuries ago [...] 

We are now, thanks to the Supreme Being, and to the sovereignty of the 

nation, not only Men and Citizens, but we are Frenchmen!

PROGRAM SEVEN: 

THE GOLDEN LAND 

(AMERICA 1654 - 1930S) 

So at last I was going to America! Really, really going at last! The 

boundaries burst. The arch of heaven soared. A million suns shone out 

for every star. The winds rushed in from outer space, roaring in my 

ears, “America, America.” 

— Mary Antin, The Promised Land 


Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 

Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost to me. 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door! 

It is surely no coincidence that these words, engraved on the base of 

the Statue of Liberty, are from the pen of a Jewish poet, Emma 

Lazarus. In all the lands of the Diaspora, never has there been a country 

in which Jews have had such freedom and security as they have had in 

America. 

Indeed, some of the thirteen American colonies were founded by religious 

minorities seeking havens from persecution. These communities also 

attracted others, including a small number of Jews seeking freedom and the 

chance for a new life.The colonies were especially attractive for two reasons: 

they had not produced an entrenched system of social privilege, such as that 

which existed in Europe, 

and they offered fertile 

ground for the spread of 

Enlightenment ideals of 

reason and tolerance.These 

concepts influenced many 

colonial leaders, some of 

whom would become 

Founding Fathers. 

As the newly independent 

United States expanded 

in the 19th century, it 

attracted millions of immigrants. 

The decades before 

Boy with Tallith 

and immediately after the Civil War witnessed a huge influx of immigrants 

from Ireland and from German-speaking countries—the former fleeing the 

effects of the terrible famine and the latter escaping poverty and political 

turmoil. Among the German-speaking immigrants were approximately a 

quarter of a million Jews, moved by the same impulses as their neighbors, 

but with the added incentive of escaping anti-Jewish laws. Following the 

general pattern of immigration, most of these Jews arrived on the East 

Coast and traveled all over the American continent, settling in cities, in 

small towns, or on the frontier. 

A far larger wave of immigration to the United States took place 

between 1880 and 1920, as 26 million predominately Eastern and 

Southern European immigrants, including two million Jews, flocked to 

America’s shores. This was an era of rapid and sweeping change. The 

very fabric of American life was altered by the new and varied immigrant 

population, the closing of the frontier, the growth of industry and cities, the 

rise of the labor movement, and the spread of socialism. The immigrants 

formed the backbone of American industry and made the United States a 

richer, more diverse society than it had ever been before. Social change, 

however, also created tensions, fear, and opposition to immigration. 

Jewish immigrants lived and worked in crowded city slums like New 

York City’s Lower East Side. They played their part in the transformation of 

American society, and, in turn, were transformed by it. For them and for 

other minority immigrant groups, America was a true haven, free of the 

persecution they had known in Europe and offering hitherto unknown 

economic and educational opportunities. Still, America was not perfect: 

The Declaration of Independence’s promise of the inalienable right to “life, 

liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” was yet incomplete. American Jews, 

drawing on both their ancient prophetic heritage and their new, democratic 

one, would play a prominent role in the effort to realize the 

American ideals of freedom and justice. 

ACTIVITIES 

CATEGORIZING 

Students are given a list of Jewish organizations and are asked to list parallel 

institutions established by another minority group. (See Student 

Worksheet.) Answers will vary, depending on the ethnic group chosen. 

Discuss and ask how each organization helps that minority group preserve 

its culture in the United States and explore other reasons why minority 

groups might choose to establish separate institutions (e.g., non-provision 

of services by civil authorities or fear of prejudice). Encourage students to 

add to the list. 





A LETTER FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON TO THE JEWS OF 

NEWPORT 

Make sure the class understands the letter. (See Student Worksheet.) Ask 

why the American Revolution may have had particular significance for 

Jews. The following information may help the discussion: 

Prior to the Revolution, executive power over the thirteen colonies was 


31





theoretically held by a hereditary monarch. It was claimed that his 

authority came from God. This assertion was supported by the Church 

of England, which enjoyed much power over the daily lives of ordinary 

people in matters of belief, alms-giving and other social services, and 

even domestic relations, such as marriage. A purely secular civil law did 

not yet exist. This is suggested by the oath of allegiance to the King of 

England, which required a person to swear “upon the true faith of a 

Christian,” i.e., as an adherent of a Protestant church. Neither Jews nor 

Catholics could swear to this oath. 

This arrangement prevailed in the English colonies until the American 

Revolution. Since Jews could not accept the jurisdiction of the Church of 

England, which was linked to authority of the state, their religious dissent 

left them open to charges of political disloyalty. 

The American Revolution laid to rest the theocratic claim.The king was 

replaced by an elected president who governed by the will of the people. 

Government was no longer underwritten by religion. This change was 

spelled out by Article VI of the Constitution of the United States, which 

states: No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any 

office or public trust under the United States. 

This transformation was of momentous importance for the Jews, for no 

longer was their religion of legal importance in determining their civil rights. 

WORKING CONDITIONS IN A SWEATSHOP 

The “Bintel Brief” (Letters to the Editor) column in The Jewish Daily Forward 

was one outlet for the frustrations of Jewish workers in immigrant neighborhoods 

like the Lower East Side. (See the sample letter on the Student 

Worksheet.) Have several students read their answers to the worker’s letter. 

Allow time for discussion, then read the editor’s reply: 

The worker cannot help himself alone [...] But he must not remain alone. 

He must not remain silent. He must unite with his fellow workers and 

fight. To defend their honor as men, the workers must be well organized. 

These documents provide an excellent introduction to labor history. Ask 

students to list the evils of the garment industry (low wages, long hours, 

unsanitary conditions, fire hazards, abuse from the boss, lack of job security, 

no pension, and no paid vacation). Explain the role of labor unions and 

collective bargaining in alleviating these hardships. 

These unions—sometimes called Jewish labor unions because they 

organized so many Jewish workers in the garment industry—were pioneers 

in advancing the process of collective bargaining, creating employee health 

and welfare plans, and developing recreational facilities for workers. 

(As an additional or alternative classroom exercise, have the class listen 



(AMERICA 1654 - 1930S) 

to and discuss some of the American Jewish union songs from In Love and 

Struggle: The Musical Legacy of the Jewish Labor Bund, a CD available from 

YIVO, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY, 10011. For additional labor history 

teaching resources, teachers can order “Bringing Labor into the K-12 

Curriculum” from the California Federation of Teachers at One Kaiser 

Plaza, Suite 1440, Oakland, CA, 94612.) 


• Imagine that you are a Jew living in colonial New York, Philadelphia, or 

Newport. Write a letter to an overseas relative in which you describe a 

typical day in your life. What does your family do to earn a living? 

What role does the synagogue play in your daily activities? What is the 

nature of your interaction with non-Jews? 

• Write a biographical sketch about a Jewish participant in the American 

Revolution, such as Isaac Franks, Major Benjamin Nones, Mordecai 

Sheftall, or Solomon Etting, or about a prominent Jewish citizen of the 

early republic, such as Rebecca Gratz, Uriah Phillips Levy, or Mordecai 

Manuel Noah. 

• You are a Jewish peddler in the Midwest. Write an account of your travels 

for one year. Include a report on the dates of your trip, places you visited, 

things you sold, where you slept, what you ate, people you met, your feelings, 

and your profit or loss. 

• Write a research report on what well-heeled women were wearing in any 

year between 1875 and 1900. 

• Look at fashion history books, old photographs, and ads. What parts of an 

outfit were store-bought? How much clothing was still made at home? 

How did income and class play a role in what one chose to wear? 

• Write a research report on how Reform Judaism attempted to 

“Americanize” its observance. Include a discussion of the changes 

Reform synagogues made regarding women’s roles. 

• Describe life in a Jewish tenement in an immigrant neighborhood at the 

turn of the century. What were some of the hardships? What were some 

of the new pleasures of life in America? How did American living conditions 

compare with those back in Europe? 

• Listen to examples of American Yiddish theater music from the 1930s or 

earlier or watch a video of the Yiddish movie Uncle Moses (1932). 

Write a report that addresses the following questions: In what ways do 

the song lyrics (or movie) reflect some of the issues that Jewish immigrants 

faced as they tried to adjust to life in America? How are the songs (or 

movie) expressions of both American and Eastern European Jewish culture? 

32




(AMERICA 1654 - 1930S) 

Answer these questions as you watch The Golden Land or as you explore the 


1. Where did the first Jewish settlers in the American colonies come from? 

Where did they settle? 

2. Where did the German-speaking Jewish immigrants settle? How was 

America different from the Old World? 

3. How did American Jews react to the Civil War? 

4. Why did Eastern European Jews come to America in such large numbers 

after 1880? 

5. Contrast life on New York City’s Lower East Side with conditions in Eastern 

Europe. 

CATEGORIZING 

One way a minority can maintain its cultural identity within society is to 

establish special institutions and organizations. Five are listed in Column 1 

below. In Column 2, list the parallel institutions of another minority group. 

1: Jewish Institutions 

YMHA 

Jewish hospitals 

Fraternal organizations 

Charitable organizations 

Yiddish theater 

2:________Institutions 

S T U D E N T 



Check the statements below that are supported by Washington’s letter: 

1. ___ Jewish citizens have a right to applaud themselves. 

2. ___ Toleration and equality are one and the same thing. 

3. ___ The U.S. government supports neither bigotry nor persecution. 

4. ___ American citizens are guaranteed the right to their own beliefs. 

WORKING CONDITIONS IN A SWEATSHOP 

The Jewish Daily Forward was the most popular Yiddish-language newspaper 

in America. One popular feature was the “Bintel Brief” (Letters to the Editor). 

This letter, written in 1908, shows how insecure many Jewish workers felt 

about their jobs. If you were the editor, how would you answer “A.P.”? 

Esteemed Editor, 

We were sitting in the shop and working when the boss came over 

to one of us and said, “You ruined the work: you’ll have to pay for it.” 

The worker answered that it wasn’t his fault [...]the boss got mad and 

began to shout, “I pay your wages and you answer back, you dog! I 

should have thrown you out of my shop long ago...” The worker said 

no more. Tired, and overcome with shame, he turned back to his work 

and later he exclaimed [...]“I wanted to pick up an iron and smash his 

head in, but I saw before me my wife and five children who want to eat!” 

[...]Did this unfortunate man act correctly in remaining silent under 

the insults of the boss? 

A.P. 

Metzker, Isaac, ed. The Bintel Brief: Sixty Years of Letters from the Lower East Side to the Jewish 

Daily Forward. New York: Schocken Books, 1990. 




A LETTER FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON TO THE JEWS OF NEWPORT 

In August 1790, the Jewish congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, wrote to 

President George Washington, expressing gratitude for the blessings of civil and 

religious liberty that they now enjoyed.Washington’s response is presented below. 

Gentlemen: 

[...] The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud 

themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal 

policy [...] It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the 

indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their 

inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, 

which gives to bigotry no factions [sanction], to persecution no assistance, 

requires only that they who live under its protection should demean [conduct] 

themselves as good citizens [...] 

Lower East Side street





First the Nazis came for the Communists; and I didn’t speak up 

because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews; and I 

didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. When they came for the 

trade unionists I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a trade unionist. 

And when they came for the Catholics I didn’t speak up because I 

was a Protestant. Then they came for me... and by that time there 

was no one left to speak for anyone. 

— Attributed to Pastor Martin Niemoeller 


People everywhere fervently hoped that the First World War 

would be “the war to end all wars.” However, that conflict merely 

served to inaugurate thirty years of turmoil that culminated 

in yet another war, the most destructive and horrifying in history. Before 

World War II was over, European Jewry was dealt the severest blow it had 

ever endured: Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. 

The end of World War I paved the way for major political transformations 

in Western Europe. In 1918, the German Empire collapsed and Kaiser 

Wilhelm fled. The Weimar Republic, an experiment in liberal democracy, 

was born. In Russia in November 1917, the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and 

Trotsky, established a new regime, the Soviet Union, and implemented revolutionary 

social and economic reforms. Jewish communities from the 

Rhine to the Volga were swept up in the sudden political changes. The 

Russian Revolution brought Jews emancipation, while the Weimar 

Republic allowed them full participation in German life. 

In Eastern Europe, a new political map was drawn. From the ruins of the 

Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires rose Austria, Poland, Hungary, 

Czechoslovakia,Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.Their independence 

was guaranteed by the Versailles Peace Conference of 1919. In these 

new states, however, Jews found that discrimination and anti-Semitism 

persisted. 

The year 1917 was also critical in the history of the Zionist movement. 

The British government issued the Balfour Declaration, which sanctioned 

“the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” 

The 1920s were an age of experimentation in the life-styles, art, and literature—and 

a time of deep discontent. The painting, architecture, music, 

fiction, and theater of this era express excitement and hope, as well as 

anxiety and pessimism. 

In Germany, the promise of the Weimar era was foreclosed by economic 

depression. Through demagoguery and violence, Hitler transformed the 

anti-Semitic Nazi movement from a fringe element to the ruling party. 

Upon coming to power, the Nazis made anti-Semitism official state policy 

by enacting discriminatory laws, instigating violence against the Jews, and 

PROGRAM EIGHT: 

OUT OF THE ASHES 

(1919 - 1947) 

Auschwitz 

spreading racist propaganda. 

In 1938, world leaders acquiesced when Hitler annexed Austria and 

occupied much of Czechoslovakia.When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, 

however, Britain and France declared war. 

Upon invading Poland, the Nazis took their anti-Semitic campaign further. 

Before the outbreak of war, their main efforts centered on isolating 

Jews through legislation and sporadic acts of violence, restricting Jewish 

livelihoods, confiscating Jewish property, and encouraging emigration. In 

Poland, they were confronted with the largest Jewish population in Europe. 

The Nazis forcibly segregated the Jews into sealed ghettos, where many 

died of starvation and disease. In 1941, when Hitler abrogated a nonaggression 

pact with Stalin and invaded Russia, the Nazis began a systematic 

program of genocide.Via mass executions, they murdered hundreds of 

thousands of Jews in the formerly Soviet-held territories. By 1942, they had 

devised a more efficient means of annihilation: the death camp. Millions 

of Jews and other people from all over Europe were brought to six industrial 

killing centers in Poland, where most were murdered in gas chambers 

and others worked and starved to death. 

On May 9, 1945, after six devastating years, Great Britain and the United 

States proclaimed victory in Europe.The total number of World War II fatalities 

was estimated at a staggering thirty million. Six million of them were 

Jews. Nearly two-thirds of the entire Jewish population of Europe had been 

murdered. 

Many of the Jewish survivors hoped to leave Europe and reconstruct 

their lives in Palestine. But restrictions on immigration, promulgated by 

the British White Paper of 1939, prevented their entry. They had to wait in 

displaced-persons camps until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. 

34



(1919 - 1947) 

During this period, Jewry moved from the verge of annihilation to the 

threshold of national independence. 

ACTIVITIES 

A VANISHED WORLD—BAR GRAPH 

In this activity, students are asked to draw a bar graph. Graphic quality and 

accuracy are less important in this exercise than students’ comprehension 

of the staggering loss of Jewish population in Europe. Ask what percentage 

of each country’s Jews vanished. What percentage of Europe’s Jews were 

killed? How well did Hitler succeed in making Europe Judenrein (“free of 

Jews”)? In which countries was he most successful? In which was he least 

successful? What reasons are there for the disparity in the number of Jews 

killed in different European countries? 

In recent years, certain writers have claimed that the Holocaust never 

happened. One way to answer them is to ask, “Then where did six million 

Jews go?” Ask the class if they can think of other evidence (e.g., records the 

Nazis kept, testimonies of Nazis after the war, the testimonies of survivors, 

and photos taken by the Allied liberators). 


THE NUREMBERG LAWS 

Have the class read the Reich Citizenship Law. Be sure that they understand 

it before you ask the following questions. 


1. Previously, some Jews had sought escape from persecution by disassociating 

themselves from Judaism, by changing their religion, or by assimilating 

into the surrounding society. How did this law make this sort of choice 

all but impossible? 

2. Why did the Nazis find it necessary to legally define who was a Jew? 

3. How did the Nuremberg Laws serve to isolate Jews from other Germans? 

4. What basic civil rights did the laws take away from German Jews? What 

civil rights were taken away from Japanese Americans during World War II? 

What were the similarities and differences? 

5.What would have happened to Jesus if he had been in Germany at the time? 

RESISTANCE 

Read aloud to the class the following quote by Holocaust survivor 

Alexander Donat, and discuss. 

It is pure myth that the Jews were merely “passive,” that they did not 

resist the Nazis who had decided on their destruction. They fought 

back against their enemies to a degree no other community anywhere 

in the world would have been capable of doing were it to find 

itself similarly beleaguered. They fought against hunger and starvation, 

against epidemic disease, against the deadly Nazi economic 

blockade.They fought against the German murderers [...] And they 

were utterly alone in their fight [...] And when,finally,we [...] took 

up arms, we inscribed in the annals of history the epic of the Warsaw 

Ghetto uprising. 

It is interesting to note that the battle for the Warsaw ghetto lasted longer 

than the Nazi conquest of France. 

In addition to Warsaw, there were armed underground units in at least 

forty other Jewish ghettos in Eastern Europe. Some openly rebelled; others 

helped Jews escape and join partisan fighters in the forests of Poland, 

Lithuania, and Russia. In France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany 

itself, Jews joined resistance groups. Even in the death camps, Jews organized 

uprisings. While most of the rebels died, their actions made a statement 

about human dignity and were even effective in crippling the Nazi 

death machine. For instance, Sobibor was dismantled by the Germans two 

days after the rebellion.The gas chamber at Treblinka, destroyed during the 

revolt, was never rebuilt. 


1. What obstacles did Jewish resistance movements face that other anti- 

Nazi organizations did not have to confront? 

2. Besides armed revolt, what were some other forms of anti-Nazi resistance? 

3. Why did Jews resist even though they had no hope of victory? 

4. Why do you suppose that a high percentage of the armed rebels were 

teenagers? Discuss possible reasons, including the existence of a network 

of Zionist and Bundist youth groups and the fact that, unlike most 

adults, teenagers did not have dependents to worry about. 





• Why did Zionism, which originated in the 19th century, become 

increasingly popular in Poland in the 1920s and 1930s? 

• The 20th century has been noted for its increasing acceptance of brutality. 

How did this manifest itself in Spain, Turkey, Germany, and Russia 

between 1914 and 1939? 

• Explain how Nazi anti-Semitism differed from earlier forms. 

• Did the western Allies know about the mass murders in the Nazi death 

camps? What evidence is there? Once they knew for sure what was 

happening, why did they not do more to stop it? 


35

S T U D E N T 





Answer these questions as you watch Out of the Ashes or as you explore the 


1. How well were Jews assimilated in European society between World War I 

and World War II? How did the situation differ from country to country? 

2. What steps led to the Nazis achieving control of the government? 

3. Why did most Germans fail to protest Kristallnacht? 

4. How did Nazis tighten the screws of anti-Semitism after 1942? What was 

the Wannsee Conference? 

5. How did the Nazis deceive the Jews they murdered? 

6. Give examples of Jewish resistance to the Nazis. Why was it so hard to 

mount an armed resistance? 

7. How did the Danes and some Dutch resistance fighters defy Nazi attempts 

to deport Jews? 

A VANISHED WORLD BAR GRAPH 

Here are Jewish population figures in some European countries before and 

after World War II. On a separate sheet of paper (preferably graph paper), construct 

a bar graph depicting the change. 



(1919 - 1947) 



THE NUREMBERG LAWS 

Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and almost immediately 

began a campaign against the Jews. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were the 

most infamous anti-Jewish decrees ever passed in modern Germany. In the 

first law, intermarriage between German gentiles and Jews was banned, and 

Jews were prohibited from displaying the German flag. The Reich Citizens Law 

stated: 

• A Jew cannot be citizen of the Reich. He cannot exercise the right to 

vote on political matters; he cannot hold public office [...] 

• A Jew is anyone who is descended from at least three full Jewish 

grandparents [...] 

The practical result of this law was to deprive Jews of civil rights they had 

gained in 1870. Jews once again became subjects rather than citizens with 

equal rights. 

1939 

1945 

RESISTANCE 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

60,000 

90,000 

50,000 

7,000 

40,000 

47,000 

Just to survive in the Nazi camps was in and of itself a form of resistance. 

However, there were many cases of active rebellion. The following is an eyewitness 

account of the 1943 uprising in the Treblinka death camp. 

Czechoslovakia 

Denmark 

France 

315,000 

6,500 

270,000 

44,000 

5,500 

200,000 

There are now around 200 of us who are fully armed; the others attack 

with axes, picks, and spades [...] The perimeter fences are cut through 

and the posts uprooted with cries of “Hurrah!”—the gas chambers 

burned down, and then the “bath”! German reinforcements are called in 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

240,000 

74,000 

400,000 

80,000 

12,000 

200,000 

from all directions as the shooting rocks the entire region and the flames 

rise higher and higher [...] But our revolt has succeeded 100 percent.The 

entire camp is in flames and completely destroyed. 

Italy 

50,000 

33,000 

Luxembourg 

3,000 

1,000 

Netherlands 

140,000 

20,000 

Norway 

2,000 

1,000 

Poland 

3,350,000 

50,000 

Romania 

800,000 

430,000 

U.S.S.R. 

3,264,000 

2,600,000 

Yugoslavia 

75,000 

12,000 

©1961 by Raul Hilberg. Reprinted by permission of Raul Hilberg and his agents, Raines and Raines.

PROGRAM NINE: 

INTO THE FUTURE 

(1880 - 1990s) 

The United States Government recognizes the Provisional Government 

as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel. 

— President Harry S. Truman, May 14, 1948 


The world that emerged from the throes of the Second World War 

bore little resemblance to the one that existed on the eve of that 

terrible conflict. 

Perhaps the most significant shift involved the world powers. The 

Western European nations, especially the once-great British Empire, lost 

their domination of the world stage. Asian and African nations were able 

to achieve independence from colonial rule. At war’s end, the United States 

and the Soviet Union emerged as the major political entities, or “superpowers.”The 

U.S. became the backer of the Western European nations and 

helped rebuild them, while the U.S.S.R. dominated the Eastern European 

nations. Differences in political and social ideology led to rivalry between 

the two superpowers. For almost fifty years, they vied for influence in the 

Near East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, waging a “Cold War.” 

This unstable world situation was an important factor in Jewish history. 

The creation of the state of Israel, for example, was originally approved by 

both superpowers. In time, however, Israel closely allied itself with the U.S. 

Since its establishment, Israel has managed to survive five full-scale 

wars with its Arab neighbors, including the War of Independence (1948), 

the Suez Campaign (1956), the Six Day War (1967), the Yom Kippur War 

(1973), and the Lebanon War (1982). Each of these wars has left its mark on 

Israeli society. The Six Day War, which brought hundreds of thousands of 

Palestinians under Israeli rule, was a turning point for both Israelis and 

Palestinians. The debate within Israel over how best to achieve peace 

intensified. The two main camps—those in favor of giving up land for 

peace and those determined to keep control of the captured territories— 

became more and more polarized. At the same time, the Palestinian resistance 

movement increasingly turned to violent acts of terrorism. In late 

1987, unrest in the West Bank erupted into a prolonged period of streetfighting 

known as the Intifada. International pressure on Israeli and Arab 

leaders to negotiate an end to the conflict has grown. A series of peace 

agreements negotiated in the 1990s led to hope that lasting peace was on 

the horizon, but there have since been many setbacks to the peace process. 

Meanwhile, Israeli society has continued to evolve. Since its inception, 

it has absorbed many waves of immigration.The most recent influxes have 

been from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. The schism between 

“hawks” and “doves” has been accompanied by mounting tensions 

between religious and secular Jews and between Ashkenazim and 

37 

Sephardim. In 1995, the assassination of Prime Minister Yizhak Rabin by 

a right-wing extremist who opposed his government’s negotiated peace 

settlement with the Palestinians threw Israel into turmoil. 

American Jewish life has also changed greatly since the Second 

World War.The destruction of former centers of Jewish life in Europe left 

American Jewry the largest Jewish community in the world. Having 

ardently participated in the fight against Hitler— America’s and Jewry’s 

common foe—most American Jews were now confident that they were 

entitled to full participation in American society. The younger generation 

was willing to leave traditional Jewish enclaves in cities and settle in the 

suburbs or new urban centers, such as Miami and Los Angeles. Many took 

advantage of postwar prosperity and a decline in prejudice to work in new 

areas in the economy. 

At the beginning of the 21st century, Jews around the world continue to 

grapple with what it means to be a Jew in the modern world. Although 

there has never been an easy answer to the question, “Who is a Jew?,” the 

issue of identity seems especially complex in an era of great diversity in 

Jewish life. In Israel, some wonder: Is being Israeli synonymous with being 

Jewish? If so, how is Jewishness more than a national identity? In America, 

some Jews are trying to imbue Jewish ritual and theology with a new 

emphasis on spirituality. Others, seeking to define for themselves a secular 

Jewish identity, are turning to the experiences and culture of their 

immigrant grandparents for inspiration. 

ACTIVITIES 

THE WORLD JEWISH COMMUNITY 

Refer to the population on the Student Worksheet for this unit. Students 

are asked to draw a pie chart. It should look something like this: 

ISRAEL 

4.6 million 

32.8% 




FRANCE 

600,000 

4.3% 

UNITED STATES 

5.8 million 

41.4% 

UKRAINE 

400,000 

2.8% 

OTHER 

1.7 MILLION 

12.2% 

CANADA 

360,000 

2.6% 

RUSSIA 

550,000 

3.9% 

R E S O U R C E






THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL 

This activity focuses on the declaration establishing the State of Israel. 

(See Student Worksheet.) Before studying it, students should be familiar 

with the major events that preceded its passage. The following summary 

is provided for background: 

For most of the 2,000 years prior to 1948, Jewish history took place in 

what the Jews have viewed as exile from their historical homeland. In 1897, 

Theodor Herzl summoned the first Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland, 

to take steps towards “the establishment for the Jewish people of a publicly 

and legally assured home in Palestine.” Even before that historic meeting, 

however, groups of pioneers had begun returning to Palestine, which was 

then under Turkish rule. By the outbreak of World War I, some 85,000 Jews 

were already there. 

On November 2, 1917, the British government issued the Balfour 

Declaration, which stated: His Majesty’s Government view with favor the 

establishment of a national home for the Jewish people [...] After World 

War I, the League of Nations gave Great Britain a mandate to establish a 

government in Palestine. In 1947, the General Assembly of the United 

Nations partitioned Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state. On May 

14, 1948, Great Britain gave up her mandate and the State of Israel was proclaimed. 

Chaim Weizmann was its first president and David Ben-Gurion its 

prime minister. 

The students have been asked to list each reason in the declaration that 

justifies the establishment of the state. Ask for student responses and discuss 

each reason. Possible answers appear below. One idea is to rank them 

with the strongest first, etc. The teacher might ask, “Which are the most 

important: the spiritual, historical, or political justifications? What are the 

political and social ramifications of selecting any one of these justifications? 

For instance, what does it mean to justify the State of Israel on the 

basis of the Bible? Or on the United Nations resolution?” 

• It was the birthplace of the Jewish people.There they attained statehood. 

• The spiritual, religious, and political identities of the Jewish people were 

shaped in Israel. 

• It was there that the Jewish people created important cultural values 

and gave the world the Hebrew Bible. 

• Throughout the years of their dispersion, the Jewish people continued 

to hope and pray for their ultimate return to their own land. 

• The General Assembly of the United Nations called for the re-establishment 

of a Jewish state there. 

• It is the natural right of the Jewish people to have their own sovereign 

nation, be masters of their own fate, and be like all other sovereign 

nations in the world. 

PROGRAM NINE: 


(1880 - 1990s) 

• The Jewish people have a natural and historic right to the Land of Israel. 

• The British mandate was over. 

AN AMERICAN JEWISH PASSOVER SPEECH 

The Student Worksheet for this unit includes a Passover speech written in 

the 1960s by the well-known Social Realist artist Moses Soyer (1899-1974) 

for his grandchildren. It provides a glimpse of how one American Jewish 

family synthesized liberalism with American patriotism and pride in 

Jewish history. 

The teacher might want to use this document as the basis for a learning 

activity aimed at demonstrating the use of artifacts and individual 

family experience in the study of history. Ask students to provide examples 

of the ways in which their own family stories represent aspects of 

American and world history. Are there ways in which their family stories 

concur with historical generalizations? Contradict them? Point out to students 

that Moses Soyer’s humble little speech, folded up and preserved by 

accident inside a family Haggadah, is a bona fide historical document. Ask 

them to bring in similar artifacts from home (e.g., letters, photographs, 

diplomas) and to analyze them as historical documents. 


1.What attitudes towards Israel and the United States are expressed in this 

speech? How does Moses Soyer draw analogies between American and 

Jewish history? 

2. How does this speech express optimism about the future of Jews in 

America and in the world? 

3. How does Soyer attempt to make the story of Passover relevant and 

understandable to his grandchildren? Can you think of other examples 

of holiday celebrations or ethnic customs that have been updated to 

harmonize with contemporary American life? 


• Report on the illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine after World War II. 

Why did Great Britain oppose Jewish settlement in Palestine? 

• Describe briefly the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982. 

What was the position of the superpowers in each? Make a series of 

maps showing the territorial changes. 

• Where, when, and why was the Arab refugee/exile problem born? What 

solutions can you suggest for this problem? 

• Describe Israel’s current relations with its Arab neighbors, the 

Palestinians, the superpowers, and with Jews in other countries. 

38


Answer these questions as you watch Into the Future or as you explore the 


1.Why did many Holocaust survivors feel that there was no longer any future 

for them in Europe? 

2.Why did Great Britain restrict Jewish immigration to Palestine before, during, 

and after World War II? How did Jews there react? 

3. Describe some of the events leading to the establishment of the state of 

Israel. How did the Arab nations react? 

4. What role has Israel played for world Jewry since its establishment? 

5. Why did Jewish consciousness revive in the Soviet Union after World War II? 

What led to the intensification of anti-Semitism there? 

6. What political events in the 1990s led to optimism about the possibility of 

achieving a lasting peace between Israel, the Arab nations, and the 

Palestinians? 

THE WORLD JEWISH COMMUNITY 

Using the data in this table, draw a pie chart on a separate sheet of paper, 

showing the distribution of Jews in the world today. On each wedge, write the 

name of the country, the number of Jews living there, and the percentage of 

the world’s Jews living in that country. 

United States 

Israel 

Russia 

Ukraine 

France 

Canada 

Other 

Total 

WORLD JEWISH POPULATION 

Source: Jewish Communities of the World, World Jewish Congress 

and Lerner Publications Company, 1998. 


PROGRAM NINE: 


(1880 - 1990s) 

5,800,000 

4,600,000 

550,000 

400,000 

600,000 

360,000 

1,709,000 

14,019,000 


THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL 

In 1948, Israel proclaimed itself an independent nation. A part of the proclamation 

is reproduced here. Make a list of the reasons it uses to justify establishing 

the state. 

S T U D E N T 



ERETZ-ISRAEL [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 [...] 

On the 29th of November, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly 

passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in 

Eretz-Israel [...] 

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. 

ACCORDINGLY, WE [...] HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A 

JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF 

ISRAEL [...] 

14TH MAY, 1948 

AN AMERICAN JEWISH PASSOVER SPEECH 

The artist Moses Soyer (1899-1974), who had emigrated as a child from 

Russia to America, read this speech to his grandchildren before a Passover 

seder in New York City in the 1960s: 

This is the holiday of Passover. We are Americans and we are free. We 

are also Jewish. Therefore we are Jewish Americans. There are Irish 

Americans, French Americans, Negroes, and other kinds of Americans. 

But we are all Americans, and we are all free. 

Many, many years ago the Jewish people were not free. They were 

slaves of a country called Egypt. They were persecuted and treated 

badly. But a great man arose among them. His name was Moses. I am 

called after him. He was sad because his people were slaves. So he 

decided to set them free. So like our George Washington he made a 

revolution, fought the Egyptians, conquered them and led the Jewish 

people, his people from Egypt to Israel, where many of them are today. 

Some later went to America and became Americans like we. But there 

is a great country called Israel and Moses is their George Washington. 

And this is the Holiday of Passover when Jewish people all over the 

world light candles and sit on pillows, feel happy and eat good foods 

and drink wine and sing songs to celebrate their freedom. 

— Courtesy of Daniel Soyer 

W O R K S H E E T

GLOSSARY 

ASHKENAZIM (singular, Ashkenazi): Jews of Central or 

Eastern European descent. 

B.C.E. Abbreviation for “before the common era,” the 

equivalent of B.C. 

BA’AL SHEM TOV (literally,“Master of the Good 

Name”): Israel ben Eliezer, founder of Hasidism. 

BALFOUR DECLARATION 1917 British declaration of 

official support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. 

BUND See Jewish Labor Bund. 

C.E. Abbreviation for “the common era,” the 

equivalent of A.D. 

CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM A movement, established 

in the United States in the late 19th century, which 

sought a middle ground between Orthodox and 

Reform Judaism. 

CONVERSOS Jews in Spain and Portugal who 

converted to Christianity. (See also Marranos.) 

COURT JEWS Jewish advisors and financial agents of 

European rulers in the 18th-19th centuries. 

DIASPORA Jewish populations or Jewish settlements 

outside the land of Israel. (See also Exile.) 

EXILE Term used by those who view the Diaspora as 

the “exile” of the Jewish people from the Land of 

Israel. (See also Diaspora.) 

FIRST TEMPLE See Temple. 

GEMARA (literally, “completion”) Commentaries 

on the Mishnah; together, the Mishnah and Gemara 

form the Talmud. 

HALAKHAH Jewish religious law. 

HASIDISM A religious revivalist movement founded 

by the Ba’al Shem Tov in Eastern Europe in the early 

18th century that emphasized joyful prayer and 

charismatic leadership. (See also Rebbes.) 

HASKALAH The Jewish Enlightenment, a movement 

that helped spread European culture among Jews 

from the late 18th to late 19th centuries. 

HEBREW Language of the Israelites and the Tanakh. 

Also sometimes used as a synonym for Israelite. 

ISRAEL The Jewish term for the Jewish people; also, 

the kingdom established by the Israelites in Canaan 

in biblical times and the modern state established in 

1948. 

JEWISH LABOR BUND A Jewish socialist movement. 

Founded in Eastern Europe in the late 19th century 

as part of the Russian revolutionary movement, its 

activities also included the fostering of Yiddish 

culture. 

JUDAH Biblical southern kingdom of Judah, known as 

Judea by the Greeks and Romans; also one of the 

twelve tribes of Israel.The terms “Judaism” and 

“Jew”are derived from this word. 

JUDEA See Judah. 

KABBALAH (literally,“received tradition”):The Jewish 

mystical tradition. 

KIDDUSH HA-SHEM (literally,“sanctifying the 

Name [of God]”): Martyrdom in support of Jewish 

religious principles. 

KRISTALLNACHT (“Crystal night,” or “night of broken 

glass”): Government-sponsored, anti-Semitic 

pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria that took 

place on November 9-10, 1938. 

LADINO A language of Sephardic Jews, a blend of 

15th-century Castilian Spanish and Hebrew. 

MARRANOS Spanish Jews and their descendants who 

professed Christianity but secretly observed Jewish 

rituals. (See also Conversos.) 

MASKIL (plural, Maskilim; adjective, Maskilic): 

Adherent of the Haskalah, the Jewish 

Enlightenment. 

MIDRASH Rabbinic interpretations of the Bible. 

MISHNAH Collection of Jewish laws gathered from 

the oral tradition and edited during the 1st and 2nd 

centuries, C.E. 

MUHAMMAD The founder of Islam. 

OLD TESTAMENT See Tanakh. 

ORTHODOX JUDAISM A form of Judaism that holds 

that Jewish law is divinely ordained and 

immutable. Compared to Conservative and Reform 

Jews, Orthodox Jews are much more cautious about 

modifying Jewish law for the sake of modern 

needs. Hasidism and “Modern Orthodox” Judaism 

are two examples of Orthodox Jewish movements. 

PALE OF SETTLEMENT Area stretching from the 

Baltic to the Black Sea that was the only place Jews 

were permitted to live in Czarist Russia. 

PENTATEUCH The first five books of the Hebrew Bible, 

also known as The Five Books of Moses or the Torah. 

(See also Tanakh and Torah.) 

PHARISEES Ancient Jewish sect that emphasized the 

teaching of Oral Law,believed by Orthodox Jews to have 

been revealed at Sinai along with the Written Law. 

POGROMS Violent mob attacks on Jewish communities. 

QURAN Islam’s most sacred text. 

REBBE (literally, “teacher”) Hasidic religious leader. 

REFORM JUDAISM A movement that originated in 

Germany in the early 19th century and which 

regards Judaism as an evolving religion, not as an 

immutable set of laws. It sought to divest Judaism 

of beliefs and practices that seemed to conflict with 

modern life. 

SANHEDRIN Ancient Jewish court combining religious 

and civil authority in Palestine during the Roman 

period. 

SECOND TEMPLE See Temple. 

SEMITIC Adjective for a group of related Near Eastern 

languages, including Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, and 

Akkadian. 

SEPHARDIM Jews of Spanish or Portuguese descent. 

SHABBOS Yiddish word for Sabbath; in modern 

Hebrew, Shabbat. 

SHTETL Yiddish word for a type of Eastern European 

market town with a large Jewish population. 

TALMUD (“study”) The fundamental work of 

Halakhah, comprising the Mishnah and the Gemara. 

TANAKH The Jewish Bible, made up of the Torah (the 

Five Books of Moses), Nevi’im (Prophets), and 

Ketuvim (Writings); called the “Old Testament” by 

Christians, who appended the “New Testament” to it 

to create the Christian Bible. 

TEMPLE The central institution of Judaism before 70 

C.E. The First Temple was built in Jerusalem in 

Solomon’s time, ca. 965 B.C.E., and destroyed in 586 

B.C.E. The Second Temple was constructed ca. 516 

B.C.E. and was destroyed in 70 C.E. 

TORAH The Five Books of Moses. (See also Pentateuch.) 

Also used to denote the entire body of Jewish 

religious teaching. 

YHWH A biblical name for God. Most scholars believe 

that it was pronounced “Yahweh.” 

YESHIVA (plural,yeshivot): Advanced Talmudic academy. 

YIDDISH Everyday language of Ashkenazic Jews from 

Eastern Europe, a blend of German, Hebrew, Slavic, 

and Romance languages. 

YISHUV The Jewish community in the Land of Israel 

before the establishment of the State of Israel in 

1948. 

ZIONISM Modern ideology and political movement 

that sought the return of the Jewish people to the 

Land of Israel. 

ZOHAR (“splendor”) The most important book of 

the kabbalistic tradition, written by Moses of Leon 

in the late 13th century. 

40

SELECTED JEWISH HISTORY RESOURCES 

SUGGESTED READING 

General Works 

These books provide overviews of 

Jewish history and contain suggestions 

for further reading: 

Barnavi, Eli. A Historical Atlas of the 

Jewish People. New York: Schocken 

Books, 1992. 

Ben Sasson, H.H. and Ettinger, 

Shmuel, eds. History of the Jewish 

People. Cambridge: Harvard 

University Press, 1976. 

Eban, Abba. My People. New York: 

Behrman House, 1978. 

Hallo, William H., Ruderman, David, 

and Stanislawski, Michael. Heritage: 

Civilization and the Jews, Study Guide. 

New York: Praeger, 1984. 

Seltzer, Robert M. Jewish People, 

Jewish Thought. New York: 

Macmillan, 1980. 


(3800 - 586 B.C.E.) 

The Biblical Archaeology Review. 

Bimonthly journal. 

Fox, Everett, tr. The Five Books of Moses: 

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 

Deuteronomy (The Schocken Bible,Vol. 1). 

New York: Schocken Books, 1997. 

Niditch, Susan. Ancient Israelite 

Religion. New York: Oxford University 

Press, 1997. 

Sasson, Jack M., ed. Civilizations of the 

Ancient Near East. New York: Scribner, 1996. 


(586 B.C.E. - 72 C.E.) 

Schiffman, Lawrence H. From Text to 

Tradition: A History of Judaism in 

Second Temple and Rabbinic Times. 

New Jersey: Ktav, 1991. 

Schurer, Emil. A History of the Jewish 

People in the Time of Jesus Christ. 

Peabody, Massachusetts: 

Hendrickson Publishers, rpt., 1994. 

Shanks, Hershel. The Mystery and 

Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls. New 

York: Random House, 1998. 

Tcherikover, Victor. Hellenistic 

Civilization and the Jews. New York: 

Atheneum, 1982. 

Yadin,Yigael. Masada. Jerusalem: 

Steimatzky, 1966. 


(30-732) 

Alon, Gedaliah. The Jews in Their Land 

in the Talmudic Age. Cambridge: 

Harvard University Press, 1989. 

Cohen, Abraham and Neusner, 

Jacob, ed. Everyman’s Talmud: The 

Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages. 

New York: Schocken Books, 1995. 

Fine, Steven, ed. Sacred Realm: The 

Emergence of the Synagogue in the 

Ancient World. New York: Oxford 


Neusner, Jacob, ed. The Mishnah: 

Introduction and Reader. Philadelphia: 

Trinity Press International, 1992. 

____________ and Chilton, Bruce D. 

Trading Places: The Intersecting 

Histories of Judaism and Christianity. 

New York: Pilgrim Press, 1996. 

Stillman, Norman. The Jews of Arab 

Lands: A History and Source Book. 

Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication 

Society, 1989. 


(732-1492) 

Abrahams, Israel. Jewish Life in the 

Middle Ages. Philadelphia: The Jewish 

Publication Society, 1993. 

Chazan, Robert. In the Year 1096... The 

First Crusade and the Jews. 

Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication 

Society, 1996. 

Gerber, Jane S. The Jews of Spain: A 

History of the Sephardic Experience. 

New York: The Free Press, 1994. 

Katz, Jacob. Exclusiveness and 

Tolerance: Studies in Jewish-Gentile 

Relations in Medieval and Modern 

Times. New York: Behrman House, 

rpt., 1983. 

_________. Tradition and Crisis: Jewish 

Society at the End of the Middle Ages. 

New York University Press, 2nd ed., 

1993. 

Mann, Vivian B. and Glick, Thomas 

F., eds. Convivencia: Jews, Muslims, and 

Christians in Medieval Spain. New 

York: George Braziller, 1992. 

Twersky, Isidore, ed. A Maimonides 

Reader. New York: Behrman House, 

1989. 


(1492-1789) 

Hsia, R. Po-Chia. The Myth of Ritual 

Murder: Jews and Magic in Reformation 

Germany. New Haven: Yale University 

Press, 1988. 

Lowenthal, Marvin, tr. The Memoirs of 

Glueckel of Hameln. New York: 

Schocken Books, 1988. 

Mann, Vivian B., Cohen, Richard I., 

and Backhaus, Fritz, eds. From Court 

Jews to the Rothschilds: Art, Patronage, 

and Power 1600-1800. Munich: 

Prestel-Verlag, 1996. 

Meyer, Michael A. The Origins of the 

Modern Jew: Jewish Identity and 

European Culture in Germany, 

1749-1824. Detroit: Wayne State 


Roth, Cecil. Dona Gracia of the House 

of Nasi. Philadelphia: The Jewish 

Publication Society, rpt., 1992. 

Weinryb, Bernard. The Jews of Poland: 

A Social and Economic History of the 

Jewish Community in Poland from 

1100-1800. Philadelphia: The Jewish 

Publication Society, 1982. 

Wiesel, Elie. Souls on Fire: Portraits 

and Legends of Hasidic Masters. New 

York: Bibliophile, 1986. 

Yerushalmi, Yosef Hayyim. From 

Spanish Court to Italian Ghetto. New 

York: Columbia University Press, 

1971. 


(1789 - 1925) 

Dawidowicz, Lucy S., ed. The Golden 

Tradition: Jewish Life and Thought in 

Eastern Europe. Syracuse University 

Press, 1996. 

Fishman, David E. Russia’s First 

Modern Jews: The Jews of Shklov. New 

York University Press, 1996. 

Frankel, Jonathan. Prophecy and 

Politics: Socialism, Nationalism, and the 

Russian Jews, 1862-1917. New York: 

Cambridge University Press, 1981. 

Hertzberg, Arthur. The French 

Enlightenment and the Jews. New York: 

Columbia University Press, 1990. 

Howe, Irving and Wisse, Ruth R., eds. 

The Best of Sholom Aleichem. 

Washington: New Republic Books, 

1979. 

Kaplan, Marion. The Making of the 

Jewish Middle Class: Women, Family, 

and Identity in Imperial Germany. New 

York: Oxford University Press, 1991. 

Katz, Jacob. Out of the Ghetto: The 

Social Background of Jewish 

Emancipation, 1770-1870. New York: 

Schocken Books, 1978. 

Rodrigue, Aron S. Images of Sephardi 

and Eastern Jewries in Transition: The 

Teachers of Alliance Israelite 

Universelle, 1860-1939. Seattle: 

University of Washington Press, 

1993. 

Vital, David. Zionism: The Formative 

Years. New York: Oxford University 

Press, 1982. 


(AMERICA 1654-1930s) 

Antin, Mary. The Promised Land. New 

York: Penguin USA, 1997. 

Ashton, Dianne. Rebecca Gratz: 

Women and Judaism in Antebellum 

America. Detroit: Wayne State 


Cahan, Abraham. The Rise of David 

Levinsky. New York: Penguin USA, 

1993. 

Evans, Eli. The Provincials: A Personal 

History of Jews in the South. New York: 

The Free Press, rev. ed., 1997. 

Feingold, Henry L., ed. The Jewish 

People in America (5 vols.). Baltimore: 

Johns Hopkins University Press, 

1995. 

41

Soshuk, Levi and Eisenberg, Asriel, 

eds. Momentous Century: Personal and 

Eyewitness Accounts of the Rise of the 

Jewish Homeland and State, 1875-1978. 

New York: Cornwall Books, 1984. 

Svonkin, Stuart. Jews against 

Prejudice: American Jews and the Fight 

for Civil Liberties. New York: Columbia 


Survivors: 

Testimonies of the Holocaust 

Simon & Schuster Interactive, 

www.simonsays.com 

Excerpts from video interviews with 

Holocaust survivors taped by Steven 

Spielberg’s Shoah Visual History 

Foundation are linked to maps, 

timelines, and a reference library. 

JEWISH 

HISTORY 

CD-ROMS* 

JEWISH 

HISTORY 

WEB SITES* 

Howe, Irving. World of Our Fathers. 

New York: Harcourt Brace 

Jovanovich, 1976. 

Hyman, Paula E. and Moore, Deborah 

Dash, eds. Jewish Women in America: 

An Historical Encyclopedia. New York: 

Routledge, 1997. 

OUT OF THE ASHES (1919 - 1947) 

Berenbaum, Michael. The World Must 

Know: The History of the Holocaust As 

Told in the United States Holocaust 

Memorial Museum. Boston: Little 

Brown and Company, 1993. 

Block, Gay and Drucker, Malka. 

Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in 

the Holocaust. New York: Holmes & 

Meier, 1992. 

Brenner, Michael. The Renaissance of 

Jewish Culture in Weimar Germany. New 

Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. 

Dawidowicz, Lucy S. The War against 

the Jews, 1933-1945. New York: Bantam, 

Doubleday, Dell, reissue, 1991. 

Dobroszycki, Lucjan and 

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara. 

Image before My Eyes: A Photographic 

History of Jewish Life in Poland, 1864- 

1939. New York: Schocken Books, 

reissue, 1995. 

Frank, Anne. The Diary of Anne Frank: 

The Critical Edition. New York: 

Doubleday, 1989. 

Friedlander, Saul. Nazi Germany and 

the Jews: The Years of Persecution, 1933- 

1939. New York: Harper Collins, 1997. 

Gutman, Israel. Resistance: The 

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Boston: 

Houghton Mifflin, 1994. 

Hilberg, Raul. The Destruction of the 

European Jews. New York: Holmes and 

Meier, 1985, rev. ed. 

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam 

Books, reissue, 1982. 

Wyman, David. The Abandonment of 

the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 

1941-1945. New York: Pantheon, 1984. 

INTO THE FUTURE (1880 - 1990s) 

Gilbert, Martin. Israel: A History. New York: 

William Morrow and Company, 1998. 

Gitelman, Zvi. A Century of Ambivalence: The 

Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to 

the Present. New York: Schocken, 1988. 

Glazer, Nathan. American Judaism. 

University of Chicago Press, 1989, rev. ed. 

Howe, Irving and Greenberg, Eliezer, eds. 

Ashes out of Hope: Fiction by Soviet-Yiddish 

Writers. New York: Schocken, 1977. 

Meir, Golda. My Life. New York: G. P. 

Putnam’s Sons, 1975. 

Moore, Deborah Dash. To the Golden 

Cities: Pursuing the American Jewish 

Dream in Miami and Los Angeles. New 

York: Free Press, 1993. 

Oz, Amos. Israel, Palestine and Peace: 

Essays. San Diego: Harcourt Brace 

Jovanovich, 1989. 

Segev, Tom. 1949: The First Israelis. 

New York: Henry Holt and Company, 

1998, rev. ed. 

Shapiro, Edward S. A Time for Healing: 

American Jewry since World War II. 

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University 

Press, 1992. 

Beyond Sambatyon: 

The Myth of the Ten Lost Tribes 

Maxima Multimedia, 

www.maxnm.com 

A multimedia presentation of the 

story and history of the Ten Tribes 

produced for the Museum of the 

Diaspora in Tel Aviv. 

Eclipse of Humanity: The History 

of the Jews in the Holocaust 

www.yad-vashem.org.il 

Multimedia program on the 

Holocaust produced by Yad 

Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust 

Museum. Includes a comprehensive 

historical narrative, hundreds 

of primary source materials, timelines, 

and interactive maps. 

Encyclopedia of Judaism/ 

Dictionary of Jewish Biography 

Davka Corporation 

(800) 621-8227 or 

(773) 465-4070, 

davka.com 

A searchable version of two acclaimed, 

concise reference volumes. 

Encyclopedia Judaica (for 

Windows) 

Davka Corporation 

(800) 621-8227 or 

(773) 465-4070, 

davka.com 

The 16-volume encyclopedia, plus 

all yearbooks, decennials, and a 

media gallery with pictures, audio, 

and short documentary videos. 

A Page From the 

Babylonian Talmud 

www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/ 

TalmudPage.html 

An interactive taste of the Talmud 

via an in-depth exploration of one 

of its pages. Hyper-links are used to 

deconstruct a page of Mishnah and 

its many layers of commentary. 

Beyond the Pale: The History of 

Jews in Russia 

www.friends-partners.org/ 

partners/beyond-the-pale/ 

On-line photographic exhibition 

that provides a historical overview 

of the Russian Jewish experience. 

Fortunoff Video Archive for 

Holocaust Testimonies 

www.library.yale.edu/ 

testimonies/ 

Excerpts from Yale University’s 

collection of over 3,800 videotaped 

interviews with witnesses and survivors 

of the Holocaust; information 

about educational resources 

for teaching the Holocaust. 

Internet Jewish History 

Sourcebook 

www.fordham.edu/halsall/ 

jewish/jewishsbook.html 

Part of the Internet History 

Sourcebooks Project, this Web site 

offers links to Jewish history-related 

public domain and copy-permitted 

historical texts and illustrations 

and other Web resources, 

organized chronologically. 

*All information current as of April 2001.

The Israel Museum 

www.imj.org.il/ 

A virtual tour of the museum’s 

galleries; opportunities to view 

and learn about highlights from 

the Art, Archaeology, and Judaica 

collections. 

Jerusalem Mosaic 

jeru.huji.ac.il 

Virtual tour of Jerusalem through 

different periods in history. 

Jewish Heritage Online 

Magazine 

www.jhom.com 

A non-denominational web 

monthly devoted to the study of 

Jewish culture and history. Each 

month different topics, such as 

“Dreams,” “Memory,” and “Bread” 

and Jewish holidays, are explored 

in a multidisciplinary way, with 

articles and illustrations crossing 

the spectrum of biblical and talmudic 

literature, modern poetry, 

Hebrew language, art, and music. 

Jewish Women’s Archive 

www.jwa.org 

An online archive devoted to the 

history of Jewish women. 

Shtetl: Yiddish Language 

and Culture 

www.ibiblio.org/yiddish/ 

Resources and links for learning 

about Yiddish and Eastern European 

Jewish culture. 

Simon Wiesenthal 

Center/Museum of Tolerance 

www.wiesenthal.com 

On-line tour of the Holocaust 

museum and exhibition about the 

experience of children in the 

Holocaust; resources for teaching 

about tolerance. 

United States Holocaust 

Memorial Museum 

www.ushmm.org/ 

On-line exhibitions and text about 

the Holocaust; extensive Education 

Resource section that includes a 

brief history of the Holocaust, 

guidelines for teaching the subject, 

and an annotated videography. 

OUTREACH 

PARTNERS 

ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE 

823 United Nations Plaza 

New York, NY 10017 

Fax: (212) 661-3844 

Email: webmaster@adl.org 

Web: www.adl.org 

HEBREW UNION COLLEGE - 

JEWISH INSTITUTE OF 

RELIGION 

1 West 4th Street 


Contact: Jean Bloch Rosensaft, 

National Director of Public Affairs 

Phone: (212) 824-2209 

Fax: (212) 533-0129 

Email: jrosensaft@huc.edu 

Web: www.huc.edu 

HILLEL: THE FOUNDATION 

FOR JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE 

1640 Rhode Island Avenue NW 

Washington, DC 20036 

Contact: Andrea Hoffman, 

Department of Jewish Student Life 

Phone: (202) 857-6586 

Fax: (202) 857-6693 

Email: ahoffman@hillel.org 

Web: www.hillel.org 

JEWISH COMMUNITY 

CENTERS OF NORTH 

AMERICA 

15 East 26th Street 

New York, NY 10010-1579 

Contacts: Patricia Cipora Harte, 

Coordinator of Jewish 

Educational Services, x275 

Bethany Rogosin, 

Marketing Associate, x225 

Phone: (212) 532-4958 

Fax: (212) 481-4174 

Email: pcharte@jcca.org 

Web: www.jcca.org 

JEWISH EDUCATION SERVICE 

OF NORTH AMERICA 

111 Eighth Avenue, 11th Floor 

New York, NY 10011-5201 

Contact: Caren N. Levine, Associate 

Vice-President for Media and 

Technology 

Phone: (212) 284-6898 

Fax: (212) 284-6951 

Email: caren@jesna.org 

Web: www.jesna.org 

MUSEUM OF JEWISH 

HERITAGE—A LIVING 

MEMORIAL TO THE 

HOLOCAUST 

One Battery Park Plaza 

New York, NY 10004-1484 

Contact: Ivy L. Barsky, 

Deputy Director for Programs 

Phone: (212) 968-1800, x138 

Fax: (212) 968-1368 

Email: ibarsky@mjhnyc.org 

Web: www.mjhnyc.org 

NEW YORK BOARD OF 

RABBIS, INC. 

136 East 39th Street, 4th Floor 

New York, NY 10016-0914 

Contact: Rabbi Doniel Z. Kramer, 

Executive Director 

Phone: (212) 983-3521 

Fax: (212) 983-3531 

Email: dkramer@nybr.org 

Web: www.nybr.org 

THE WORKMEN'S CIRCLE 

45 East 33rd Street 


Contact: Adrienne Cooper, Director 

of Program Development 

Phone: (212) 889-6800, x226 

Fax: (212) 532-7518 

Email: coopergord@aol.com 

Web: www.circle.org 

YESHIVA UNIVERSITY 

MUSEUM 

15 West 16th Street 


Contact: Gabriel Goldstein, Curator 

Phone: (212) 294-8330, x8813 

Fax: (212) 294-8335 

Email: ggoldstein@yum.cjh.org 

Web: www.yu.edu/museum 

HERITAGE ON THE WEB 

Thirteen has developed a 

comprehensive educational 

Web site to accompany the 

series. It contains numerous 

multimedia presentations, 

an interactive atlas, 

educational materials, 

historical documents, 

and video clips. 

www.pbs.org/heritage 

PICTURE CREDITS 

Maps provided by www.maps.com 

Photos: Inside cover, Talmudic Sage, Beth Hatefutsoth, The Nahum Goldman Museum of Jewish Diaspora; p.14, Noah Building the Ark, Courtesy of Bettmann/CORBIS; p. 15, 

Exodus XIV, Courtesy of the Blaustein Library; p. 16 and 18, Bar Kochba Coin, Courtesy of the Jewish Museum, NY/Art Resource, NY; p. 18, Sadducee family gravestone, 

Metropolitan Museum of Art Purchase, Funds from Various Donors, 1902 (0229.1) All rights reserved, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; p. 19 and 42, Drawing of the Temple, 

Courtesy of The Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University; p. 22 and 24, St. Basil attended by a Jewish physician, Courtesy of The Blaustein Library; p. 24, 

Blowing of the Shofar, Courtesy of The Blaustein Library; p. 25 and 27, Shabbertai Zevi, Courtesy of The Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University; p. 30, Theodor 

Herzl, Central Zionist Archives; p. 31 and 33, Boy with Tallith, Heritage: Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM; p. 33, Lower East Side street, Lewis W. Hine Collection, Millstein 

Division of U.S. History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations; p. 34 and 36, Auschwitz, YIVO Institute for Jewish 

Research; p. 36, Nazi with anti-Semitic sign, Heritage: Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM; p. 39, Member of Buchenwald Kibbutz, United Press International

COURSE GRID 

Video program numbers for particular themes are listed in the appropriate boxes. See key to corresponding program titles at the bottom of the page. 

COURSE AREAS 

THEMES COURSE AREAS RELIGION/PHILOSOPHY LANGUAGE/LITERATURE 

Anti-Semitism 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 

3,4 3,6,8 

Development of Monotheism 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 1, 3 

Education 3, 6 2, 3, 6 4 

Global Economy 1, 4, 6, 7 

Resistence to Persecution 

All 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 1, 2 

Homeland and Dispersion All 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 4, 9 

Institutions of Democracy 2, 6, 7, 8 1, 3, 6, 7, 8 1, 3, 6, 7 

Jewish Leadership 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 

Jews and Muslims 3, 4, 5, 9 3, 4 4 

Living by Religious Law 2, 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 3, 4, 6 

Messianism All 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 

Migration All 3, 4, 5 

Morality and Justice 1, 3, 6, 7, 8 1, 3, 6, 7, 8 1 

Nationalism 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9 1,2 2,6,8,9 

Rationalism 6, 7 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 4, 5, 6 

Religious Diversity 3,4,5,6,7 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 3 

Social and Political 

Revolutuion 

2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 2, 3, 6, 7 6, 9 

Worship: Liturgy and Ritual 1, 2, 6, 9 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 

KEY 

1. A PEOPLE IS BORN (3800-586 B.C.E.) 

2. THE POWER OF THE WORD (586 B.C.E.-72 C.E.) 

3. THE SHAPING OF TRADITIONS (30-732) 

4. THE CRUCIBLE OF EUROPE (732-1492) 

5. SEARCH FOR DELIVERANCE (1492-1789) 

6. ROADS FROM THE GHETTO (1789-1925) 

7. THE GOLDEN LAND (AMERICA 1654-1930s) 

8. OUT OF THE ASHES (1919-1947) 

9. INTO THE FUTURE (1880-1990s) 

44

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

This guide was produced by 

Thirteen/WNET New York. 

www.thirteen.org 

Educational Publishing Department 

Educational Resources Center 

Publisher Robert A. Miller 

Editor David Reisman, Ed.D. 

Designer Shari Saffioti 

Writers Roberta Newman, 

Jerome L. Ruderman 

Photo Research Jesse Dillon, 

Christina L. Draper, Jennifer Toro 

Proofreader Sue Young Wilson 

ADVISERS 

Marcel Blum Technical Director, 

Heritage DVD-ROM 

John G. Fox Executive Producer and 

Editor-in-Chief, Heritage DVD-ROM 

Brad Lakritz Director of Educational 

Technology, Marin Academy 

High School, San Rafael, CA 

Robert M. Seltzer Professor of Jewish 

History, Hunter College and 

the Graduate School of The City University 

of New York 

Dr. Robert Shapiro History teacher, 

Joseph H. Lookstein Upper School, 

The Ramaz School, New York, NY 

© 2001, 1984 by Educational Broadcasting 

Corporation. All Rights Reserved 

HERITAGE: CIVILIZATION AND THE JEWS 

DVD BOXED SET is a production of the Kravis 

Multimedia Education Center at 

Thirteen/WNET New York. 

Executive Producer and Editor-in-Chief 

John G. Fox 

Executive in Charge 

Anthony Chapman 

The original HERITAGE: CIVILIZATION AND THE JEWS 

is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York. Executive 

producers are Arnold Labaton and Marc Siegel. 

Teacher’s Pages and Student Worksheets in this guide 

are updated and adapted from the Heritage: Civilization 

and the Jews Resource File, © 1984 Educational 

Broadcasting Corporation. 

Funding for the Heritage: Civilization and the Jews DVD-ROM was provided by: 

Charles H. Revson Foundation 

Estate of Mortimer J. Harrison 

The Jacob Burns Foundation 

Karl Asch 

Mr. and Mrs. Jerome L. Greene 

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Milstein, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Milstein, 

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Milstein 

OFFITBANK 

Righteous Persons Foundation 

The Jacob and Hilda Blaustein 

Foundation, Inc. 

The Canary Charitable Foundation 

The Nathan Cummings Foundation 

NEUBERGER BERMAN 

Patricia and James Cayne 

The Lemberg Foundation 

The Mailman Foundation 

Joan and Martin Messinger 

Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation, Inc. 

Marvin and Donna Schwartz 

The Smart Family Foundation 

Josh and Judy Weston 

Lawrence and Carol Zicklin 

The Vincent Astor Foundation 

Alan and Elisabeth H. Doft Philanthropic Fund 

Morris and Rose Goldman Foundation 

in memory of Morris Goldman 

Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund 

Mr. and Mrs. Eugene M. Grant 

David and Joan Helpern 

Carol and Irwin Lainoff 

Richard and Beth Levine 

The William Petschek Family 

M. A. Schapiro Fund 

S.H. and Helen R. Scheuer 

Family Foundation 

Linda and Edward Spilka

450 West 33 Street 

New York, NY 10001-2605 

www.thirteen.org

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