Zionist
Century - Programming and Activities- The Early Years
Background to the Growth of the Jewish National Movement
in the Late Nineteenth Century: Crossroads
Activity Suggestions
 If you have
not used the preceeding activities, you may need a double session for
the adapted version presented here.
Procedure:
1. If you have completed any of the preceeding lessons, review them
[Concepts 1-6] and the main motives for the growth of the Jewish National
Movement.
If not, you will need:
- Four sets of Martin Gilbert [or other] maps of the Jews in Europe
in the late nineteenth century;
- The four causes - work cards or banners from concept #9 [students
can make the banners, if you have time and materials!];
- A siddur with English translation, birkat hamazon, copy of the marriage
ceremony... [mark passages if you need to or prepare them separately];
- A passage from the Encyclopaedia Judaica or Keter's History of the
Jewish People relating to the Emancipation in Germany and France;
- A short reference from the Keter Encyclopaedia to antisemitism in
Europe in the late nineteenth century;
- A number of large paper sheets and markers [or transparencies and
projector];
- Worksheets with all four factors, one for each participant [optional.]
Divide participants into four groups, each with one work card. Their
task is to substantiate the cause on the card as the major motive behind
the growth of the Jewish national movement at this time, using the sources
provided and their own knowledge. They have 10-15 minutes, during which
they have to discuss the factors among themselves and why their "own"
was crucial.
Each group marks up its arguments - either on large sheets of paper or
as transparencies.
Allow time for the group to review each other's analyses or to view
the transparencies.
Participants may have difficulty in stating what they believe was the
major factor: you can either prepare worksheets and let them decide the
priority of each factor [1-4] or you can have them go round marking their
preference on sheets of paper pinned to the wall!
Time for an intermediate, quick review.
2. This is a short group-based simulation in three sub-groups. You
will need the dilemmas and you may need the 4 option cards from concept
#8.
- Divide the group into three:
A: Jews from Russia
B: Jews from Germany
C: Jews from France.
- Emphasize how important it is to play this in 1881 and not today;
give each group their dilemma sheet and ask them to prepare as many options
as possible to resolve this situation. Which of these options would they
choose? [5-10 minutes]
- If, at any point, a group appears to be experiencing difficulty in
producing options, or if one person is dominating the discussion, you
may suggest that any options are possible and that you are seeking more
than one eventuality.
- Review: each group presents its options and its first choice. Which
were most common? Did one kind of option characterize a particular dilemma
response?
Use the 4 option cards if these solutions were not explored. At this point,
you may - if you wish - refer to real Jewish figures of this period [Pinsker,
Herzl...] and their choices.
- Conclusion:
Return to summarize the 4 motives of the Jewish National Movement and
Zionism.
Allow the participants to say if they have changed or reinforced their
previous position.
Dilemma Documents
Your parents left the Jewish Pale of Settlement in the 1860's to live
in a large city. You studied at the Russian Gymnasia [high school] and
are now a university student. You believe that your own ideas and actions
are advancing the cause of Jewish integration into Russian society and
promoting Emancipation.
Dilemma:
You have just heard about the wave of pogroms in southern Russia and
are distressed by the total indifference of your friends in the Russian
intelligentsia to the fate of the Jews. Will this change your life or
your ideas?
Discuss all your options. Don't forget, this is Russia in 1881!
Write them up as a group, and decide on one of them.
You are a member of the German General Parliament. You worked for many
years towards the reunification of the separate German states and the
Emancipation of German Jewry. You believe that your ideas and activities
to integrate Jews fully into German society have borne fruit.
Dilemma:
You have become aware of the recent increase in antisemitism. What questions
are you asking yourself now about your own and your people's future? Will
you change your ideas or your life?
Discuss all your options. Don't forget, this is Germany in the 1880's!
Write them up as a group, and decide on one of them.
You are a correspondent for a major French newspaper. Since the Decree
of Emancipation, there is no area of French national life where your family
has not integrated itself. Over four generations, you have proven that
one can combine French citizenship and patriotism with preserving one's
Jewishness.
Dilemma:
Since the arrest and trial of Captain Dreyfus, antisemitism has been
raging intensely across France.
What questions are you asking yourself now about your own and your people's
future? Will you change your ideas or your life?
Discuss all your options. Don't forget, this is France in 1895!
Write them up as a group, and decide on one of them.
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