| Through this program, students
address challenging questions about 1) Jewish identity and 2)
the relationship between the Jewish community and non-Jewish communities
of color. The program begins with students dividing into small
groups and receiving a list of questions about racism, anti-Semitism,
and global multicultural work. The groups are given 20 minutes
to discuss their thoughts on these topics.
Students then rejoin in a large group for 10
minutes, listening to some personal experiences of Jews of color
-- including those of an African-American Jew-by-choice, an Ethiopian-Israeli
Jew, and a Latina Catholic who discovered she was a Jew by birth.
Student volunteers are asked to read the written texts, including
this one:
"I felt invalidated on many levels: I found
myself having to explain that I was a Jew, even though my parents
were Egyptian and Iraqi. Even though? How come our identity is
supposed to be experienced as some kind of a contradiction? What's
the difference -- Arab Jew, European Jew, Latino Jew, Indian Jew,
Ethiopian Jew...It just does not compute with people. They have
no problem understanding 'German Jew,' so why do they take issue
with 'Egyptian Jew'? How does a politically conscious community
continue to have such problems with the concept of my identity?"
Through the use of charts, maps, and entertaining
anecdotes, students are next taken on a 20 minute tour of Jewish
communities across the globe. This activity helps crystalize the
information they have just discussed and heard.
With all this background information in mind,
students are guided in a discussion about the obstacles standing
in the way of Jewish multicultural education in America. Issues
addressed include demographics, trends in racial classification,
and the cycle of ignorance. Following this analysis, students
are offered 10 easy steps to take, to bring awareness of Jewish
diversity into their personal lives, activist work, and community
programs.
This program is 90 minutes long, including the question and answer
period, and requires the use of the following:
- overhead projector
- white board or chalk board
- CD player
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HIP HOP BREAKS
OUT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Israeli Music Takes on Gender, Ethnicity, and the Arab-Israel
Conflict
In Hebrew, Arabic, French, and English, hip hop has swept the
nation of Israel, providing youth a platform for self-expression.
Utilizing music, video clips, photographs, and song translations,
this program offers students a comprehensive overview of Israel’s
thriving new music scene.
The program begins with an outline of key hip
hop artists in Israel over the past decade -- including Shabak
Sameh, MC Jeremy Cool Habash, Arapiot, Subliminal, Hadag Nahash,
MWR, and MC Shiri. Students learn about the unique role each artist
has played and the particular struggle each artist has faced in
the development of Israel’s hip hop scene.
Next, students listen to samples of these artists’
work, to get a sense of their influences. From the alternative
rock/hip hop blend of Shabak Sameh, to the jazz/funk/hip hop fusion
of Hadag Nahash, to the straight-up gangsta rap of Subliminal,
students come to understand the musical forces at play in this
thriving, young scene.
Through song translations, photos, and video
clips, students go on to learn about the signature message each
artist brings to the table, as well as the politics behind that
message. Between the Zionist pride of Subliminal, the bisexual
boldness of MC Shorti, the cultural angst of MC Jeremy Cool Habash,
and the feminist mission of Arapiot, students come to recognize
how diverse struggles for social justice propel Israeli hip hop
today.
With article handouts and a list of contact information,
the program closes by guiding students to additional resources
about this music -- including websites where students can buy
CDs.
The program is 60 minutes long and requires the
use of the following:
- VCR or DVD player
- overhead projector
- CD player
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JEWISH GIRLS,
MUSLIM SOCIETIES:
An Exploration of Life at the Crossroads
How can a woman identify as a political Zionist,
a cultural Arab, a religious Jew, and a committed feminist? The
question is one of many in this thought-provoking discussion on
women of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish heritage. From
Asenath Barzani of 17th century Kurdistan -- the first female
rabbi in the world, to Vicki Shiran of 21st century Israel ---
an Egyptian Jew and pioneering feminist, students learn about
the history and ideology of this diverse community of women.
The program begins with an overview of Jewish
women’s lives throughout North Africa and the Middle East,
both pre- and post-Islam. Students examine the roles of prominent
Jewish women, including Queen Esther of the Persian Empire. Queen
Esther has simultaneously been called an exceptionally powerful
woman and a passive woman playing out a manipulative female role.
Was she one, the other, or some combination of both? And how has
her legacy affected Persian Jewish girls through today?
Looking at religious and cultural patterns, students
go on to familiarize themselves with the roles of everyday Jewish
women, as manifested in the synagogue, the home, and the greater
society. How were these roles empowering, a form of ancient female
bonding, and in what ways were they destructive? Addressing issues
including “witchcraft,” female illiteracy, and the
premature marriage of Jewish girls, students explore the sources
of these roles, such as religious and political tensions between
Islam and Judaism. How did donning the veil, for example, differ
for Jewish and Muslim women?
Moving on to more recent history, students explore
the impact that British and French colonialism had on Jewish women
-- such as changing Jewish women’s dress codes and shifting
Jewish women’s relationship to Muslim women. Students then
learn about the pro-Nazi turbulence of the mid 20th century and
the violent impact anti-Jewish riots had on Jewish girls and women
in Muslim societies. What forces led to the ultimate uprooting
of ancient Jewish communities throughout North Africa and the
Middle East, and how did these forces affect women of the communities?
In the final segment of this program, students
examine how the erasure of non-European Jewish history has affected
Jewish women from Muslim societies. How do these Jewish women
identify today? Students will examine the differences between
those born in Muslim countries, Europe, North America, and Israel
-- looking at ethnicity, religion, sexuality, and politics.
This program is 60 minutes long and requires
the use of the following:
- overhead projector
- CD player
- white board or chalk board
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