homeland Archives - Makom Israel

What do we mean by “Our Land”?

Post author:Makom
Post published:July 4, 2012
Post category:Educational Material Four Hatikvah Questions
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In this session we are going to try to do the impossible: We are going to try to find some deep philosophical issues in the behavior of Bart Simpson. For this purpose you only need watch the first 10 minutes of the episode “Crepes of Wrath”. It is possible to buy this episode, or you can click on one of these free links:

Link one, and link two

There is a conflict – and there are casualties – because one member of the family has not tidied up after himself. Bart believes that he should be allowed to leave his belongings all over the house – not just all over his room – and that it should be his father’s responsibility to avoid stepping on them. Marge believes that Bart should tidy up his room – she seems to view the stuff in the hall as “overflow”. Homer just lies there.

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Home

Post author:Makom
Post published:December 28, 2011
Post category:Educational Material History & Contemporary Society
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This activity explores the notion of “home” and employs artistic technique to make the topic personal and relevant to the students. The activity seeks to discuss the sacrifices and choices one makes when deciding where and why to set up a home, and what the ramifications of this prioritization are for you and those around you. (more…)

Home and Homeland

Post author:Makom
Post published:November 6, 2011
Post category:Educational Material Four Hatikvah Questions
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What you may be wondering:

What is all this stuff they keep telling me and my kid about ‘homeland’? What, am I supposed to completely ignore the fact that I was born in the US? I mean I do connect to Israel, and I’d really like my kids to do so as well, but this whole connection between people and place just makes me feel uncomfortable.

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Teaching the Bible, Teaching Israel – a Pause for Reflection – 18

Post author:Makom
Post published:October 31, 2011
Post category:Educational Material History & Contemporary Society

As mentioned in Lesson 1, this course is based on the assumption that in liberal Jewish education, the three primary texts are the Bible, the Siddur, and the calendar; thus about two thirds of the course meetings focus on study of these sources, with the last third devoted to modern history and current issues. The emphasis in the first third, the Bible section, has been on helping participants maintain their alertness to the opportunities for teaching Israel in just about any Bible lesson. After all, the Bible is a book about God, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel. However, in recent generations, the land has lost some of its centrality, at least in liberal Jewish classrooms in North America. So, first of all, this course seeks to refocus the teaching of Bible, to keep Israel always within the field of vision; the Bible must be understood and taught as not only the biography of God, nor only the history of the Jewish people, but as the story of the three-way relationship of God, people, and land.

This lesson seeks to present an opportunity to step back and reflect on some of the underlying questions that must be addressed in our teaching of this relationship.

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What you may be wondering:

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