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 DiverCity Lens 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

Why Be Jewish?
Lesson plan by Zion Ozeri, Josh Feinberg, and Dara Unterberg

Confronting the uncertainties of our time, Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks invites us to reflect on the deeper questions that lie at the heart of Jewish life:

“The future for Jews and Judaism, in Israel and the Diaspora, is fraught with risk…We will not understand Judaism, or the Jewish people, or the trajectory of Jewish history, until we ask: ‘What made Jews different?’...What are Jews called upon to do? And why, in the twenty-first century, does it matter?” (Future Tense)

  • What factors threaten Jewish continuity today?
     
  • When you hear the question “What made Jews different?”, how does it resonate with your own experience or perception of being Jewish?
     
  • In the face of growing challenges, what makes being Jewish meaningful or worth preserving?


“Holy Ground” Rehovot 1982
All images © Zion Ozeri. All Rights Reserved.

Look closely at the photograph.

  • Describe what you see.
     
  • What might be the relationship between the man and the child? Why do you think so?
     
  • How would you describe the mood or feeling of the scene?
     
  • Which line or diagonal in the photograph, creates movement, mood, and guides the viewer’s eye, emphasizing important elements.
     
  • Why do you think the photograph is titled, Holy Ground?
     
  • What or who is the focal point of the picture? How does the photographer focus our attention on this central element?


Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv Israel
All images © Zion Ozeri. All Rights Reserved.

  • What elements of this photograph catch your eye? Does anything surprise you?
     
  • What can you guess about the context or setting of this photograph?
     
  • What title might you give to this photograph?
     
  • How does this photograph relate to the quote from Rabbi Sacks?
     
  • Consider both photographs. Does one or the other resonate more with you when you think about “the future for Jews and Judaism”?

Read the following texts:

“To be a Jew is to be a part of the ongoing dialogue between earth and heaven that has persisted for two thirds of the recorded history of civilization and whose theme is an urgent now at any time in the  past: to build a society that honors the human person in our differences and commonalities, our singularity and interdependence." (Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks - Radical Then, Radical Now, pg 216)

Judaism is supremely the religion of the not yet…

To be a Jew has always been to answer the question ‘Has the messiah come?’ with the reply ‘Not yet’. Not while there is war and terror, hunger and injustice, disease and poverty, corruption, and inequality…In Judaism the golden age is always in the future…

To be a Jew is to be an agent of hope. Every ritual, every command, every syllable of the Jewish story is a protest against escapism, resignation and the blind acceptance of fate. Judaism, the religion of the free God, is a religion of freedom. Jewish faith is written in the future tense. It is belief in a future that is not yet but could be, if we heed God’s call, obey his will, and act together as a covenantal community. The name of the Jewish future is hope. (Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks - Future Tense)

For discussion:

  • What do you think Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks means by a "dialogue between earth and heaven"?
     
  • How might this dialogue influence the way Jews live or see their role in the world today?
     
  • Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks calls Judaism “the religion of the not yet.” What does this tell us about the Jewish view of time, progress, and redemption?
     
  • What kind of freedom is Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks referring to?
     
  • What is meant by heeding God’s call, obeying his will?
     
  • Why does Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks emphasize hope as the defining feature of the Jewish future

To learn more about Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, click here: A Biography of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks | The Rabbi Sacks Legacy

Follow up activity:

  • Agents of Hope Visual Storytelling Project
  • Instruct students to photograph an image that reflects a Jewish perspective of creating hope in society.

Presentation Option:

  • Display the photographs around the classroom and ask students to present them in a “Gallery Walk.”