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PICTURING ISRAEL: History, Heritage, and Homeland

HOME - HOMELAND
Lesson Plan by Zion Ozeri, Josh Feinberg, and Dara Unterberg

Often framed as a monolithic society, Israel is in fact made up of the many stories of the immigrating families who have built their lives there, united under the values of a shared heritage and history. The Israeli family has a distinct blend of customs from their original home country and the homeland.

Immigration to Israel is known as aliyah (ascent) and a newcomer as an oleh, one who has risen up, as if having attained new heights arriving in the Biblical, historic, and religious homeland of the Jewish people. The elders in these photographs had reasons for aliyah as diverse as their backgrounds.

The reality for new arrivals to Israel was often more harsh than the promised dream of “a land flowing with milk and honey”. These challenges are a reminder of the complexity of building one nation that includes Jewish people from every corner of the earth.

Click the thumbnails above to open the full-size images and its background information.

Discuss:

Why is Israel often framed as a monolithic society?
What do the terms aliyah and oleh suggest about the spiritual or emotional meaning of immigrating to Israel?
How can a land be a home?
What does it mean when we refer to Israel as the “homeland” of the Jewish people?
Which photograph's do you resonate with most? Why?

Read the following poem:

Pine

Here I will not hear the voice of the cuckoo. Here the tree will never wear a cape of snow.
But it is here in the shade of these pines my entire childhood comes alive.

The chime of the needles: Once upon a time
I called the snow-space homeland,
and the green ice that enchains the stream
the poem's tongue in a foreign land.

Perhaps only migrating birds know
suspended as they are between earth and sky - this heartache of two homelands.

With you I was transplanted twice,
with you, pine trees, I grew,
my roots in two separate lands.

Pine is a Hebrew poem written by Leah Goldberg (1911-1970). Born in Lithuania, she moved to pre-State Israel in 1935.

How does the pine tree function as a metaphor in the poem, and what does it reveal about Leah Goldberg’s sense of identity and belonging?
Why do you think Goldberg contrasts the landscapes of snow and pine trees? What emotions are attached to each homeland
What does the image of migratory birds add to the poem’s message about living between two worlds?
How does the poem express both connection and loss at the same time?
In what ways can the poem’s message resonate with immigrants today?

Follow-Up Activity:

Take a photograph of someone who has immigrated to your hometown with an object that is symbolic of their immigration story..

Write a short paragraph that incorporates the answers to the following questions:
What is the significance of the object they chose?
What does “homeland” mean to them?
What do they miss from their previous home?
What feels rooted in their new home?

PHOTOS

Family Origin: Germany, Kibbutz Dafna, Israel 2007
All images © Zion Ozeri. All Rights Reserved.

To learn more about Germany Jewry: 1,700 Years OF JEWISH LIFE IN GERMANY

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Family Origin: Ethiopia, Rehovot, Israel 2008
All images © Zion Ozeri. All Rights Reserved.

To learn more about Ethiopian Jewry: The History of Ethiopian Jewry | My Jewish Learning

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Family Origin: Poland & England, Mevaseret Zion, Israel, 2008
All images © Zion Ozeri. All Rights Reserved.

To learn more about about Polish Jewry:Community in Poland - World Jewish Congress
To learn more about British Jewry: United Kingdom Virtual Jewish History Tour

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Family Origin: USA, Tel Aviv, Israel 2008
All images © Zion Ozeri. All Rights Reserved.

To learn more about American Jewry: Community in United States of America - World Jewish Congress

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Family Origin: India, Moshav Nevatim, Israel 2007
All images © Zion Ozeri. All Rights Reserved.

To learn more about Indian Jewry: Virtual Jewish History Tour

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To learn more about Azerbaijan Jewry: Jewish Heritage in Azerbaijan

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To learn more about Belarus Jewry: History of Jews in Belarus - European Jewish Heritage

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To learn more about Dagestan Jewry: https://jewish-museum.az/en/mountain_jews/

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To learn more about Bukharan Jewry: The Bukharan Jews – Center for Research of Jewish Communities of the Caucasus and Central Asia (CJCC)

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To learn more about Yemenite Jewry: Yemen Virtual Jewish History Tour

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