Monday, November 29, 2010

Recent destinations in our travels to Jewish communities around the world...

Last week's destination in our Etz Chayim seventh graders' travels to Jewish communities around the world was VENICE, ITALY, home of the first ghetto.  For more on the topic (or to catch up), check out
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Venice.html
Jewish Ghetto of Venice.
 
We'll be continuing our studies with a discussion of whether there is anything good about living in a ghetto.  Any thoughts on the topic?

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Recently, we also shared an awesome lesson (designed by Jen) on the Jews of Ethiopia, also known as Beta Israel or Falasha.  We featured this lesson about one of the largest communities of non-Rabbinic Jews (Jews who were isolated from the Jewish community from a point in time previous to the destruction of the Second Temple) in order to commemorate their festival of Sigd.  For more details on the Beta Israel and Sigd, check these sites:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ejtoc.html
http://www.iaej.org.il/index.htm
http://www.pbase.com/yalop/sigd
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3562939,00.html

NOVA | Quest for Solomon's Mines

During Thanksgiving break, I watched a terrific episode of NOVA, cosponsored by National Geographic, which showed the latest evidence supporting the existence of Israelite David and Solomon. I totally recommend this episode, available streaming online: NOVA | Quest for Solomon's Mines. On the same page, you can also find links to other Nova resources discussing various aspects of biblical archaeology (including its purpose) and topics related to Ancient Israel, including how NOVA has recreated the First Temple and claims about finding King David's palace.