Hi All! We had a fabulous Sunday. We finished up our
lesson on discrimination and antisemitism. Our new text, Shemot (Exodus)
begins with the King of Egypt becoming scared of the Jews. He is
concerned that our mighty numbers will one day impact him, because we might
rise up with the enemies of Egypt and fight against Egypt. As a result of
this fear, he orders the death of our sons, and taxes us and enslaves us.
A few weeks ago we began this lesson, and the kids were VERY interested.
This week we picked up where we left off by reviewing some
historical cartoons that depict anti-Semitic images: big noses, fat bodies,
sharp teeth, money bags etc… We then watched some Harry Potter clips about
Mudbloods, and we made a comparison between why Hermione Granger would be
looked down upon and discriminated against and the Jews. Hermione was
smart, successful and independent. People didn't understand her. She
acted differently. She looked differently. Ignorance and Fear and Envy
are the perfect combination for discrimination. And the Jews? We had odd
behaviors, we looked different, people didn't understand us, we were
successful. Again: fear, ignorance and envy.
We then looked at current political cartoons and some anti-Semitic
children's literature from World War II. The kids found similar themes in the
images and we talked about how this makes us feel and anti-Semitism in today's
world.
Finally, we viewed some anti-Racism posters to get some ideas, and
we talked about what images might be used to create posters to combat
Anti-Semitism.
I was once again FLOORED by the level of conversation and insight
that the kids have. It makes me sad that they have so much to say, at
such a tender age, on the subject, but it also makes me proud!
Next week we will move to some lighter themes, and some lighter
videos… a little Lego Movie action to begin our discussions on tribehood and
its origins in Egypt, because you know "Everything is awesome when you are
part of a team.!"
Have a great Shabbat.
Morah Leah
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