PICTURING ISRAEL: History, Heritage, and Homeland

The content and images in this curriculum and presentation are copyrighted and trademarked. Photographs’ subject matter is divided into categories. All photographs are by Zion Ozeri. You may only use the presentation or parts of it while implementing the Picturing Israel in your school. For any other use, including reproduction, you must get special permission from Zion Ozeri. The use of the following content, which may be objectionable, is at your own risk, and Zion Ozeri holds no responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness, and usefulness of any content provided, prior to your use. You may contact Zion Ozeri for any questions: zion@zionozeri.com

The People of Israel
Lesson Plan | Grades 7–12 | by Zion Ozeri, Edited by Joshua Feinberg and Dara Unterberg

Opening

Before showing the photographs, ask students: When you think of an Israeli, what image comes to mind?

Invite students to describe the person or scene that came to mind. After hearing several responses, continue:

Maybe you pictured a soldier, a Rabbi. Maybe a surfer in Tel Aviv, a high-tech worker, or a farmer in the Galilee. There is no single picture of an Israeli. Israelis come from many different backgrounds, cultures, communities, and ways of life. So what connects all of these different people as part of one society? What does it mean to share an Israeli identity while also carrying distinct identities and traditions?

Now show the collection of photographs and invite students to consider these questions as they look at the different faces and scenes of Israeli life.

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

Part 1: Reading the Photographs

Look closely at these photographs and discuss:

Which photographs show aspects of Israeli life that you expected to see? Which ones show you something you had not thought about?
Which scenes feel familiar from your own life or community? Which feel less familiar? What do those similarities and differences help you notice about life in Israel?
Look for contrasts across the photographs. What different ways of living, working, gathering, or spending time do you see?
What insights about Israeli society or identity do these photographs provide for you?

Part 2: The Texts

Text 1: Country Built on People

Ours is a country built more on people than on territory. The Jews will come from everywhere: from France, from Russia, from America, from Yemen… Their faith is their passport.
- David Ben-Gurion, Israel's First Prime Minister

Text 2: Diversity As Strength

Diversity is a source of strength for us and a key to our future as a nation.
- Isaac Herzog, President of Israel

Discuss:

Ben-Gurion describes Israel as a country “built more on people than on territory.” What does he mean? What does this suggest about what makes a nation?
Herzog calls diversity “a source of strength.” In what ways can different backgrounds, cultures, traditions, and perspectives strengthen a society?
Taken together, what do these texts suggest about building a shared Israeli society without erasing the differences within it?

Part 3: Synthesis

Look back at the photographs. Where do you see the ideas in the texts reflected in the people, communities, and scenes represented?
What do the photographs add to the ideas in the texts about diversity, shared identity, and belonging to one society?

Follow-Up Activity

A Portrait of Your Community

Take two or three photographs that capture something about the diversity within your own community. The photographs might show people, places, activities, objects, or traditions. Write a title for each, then explain what the photographs reveal together about the different identities, backgrounds, or experiences within your community and what connects them.

IMAGES

Hi-Tech Engineers, Jerusalem