Lesson Scope

Class Type

History / Social Studies

English Language Arts

Student Levels

Grades 6 -12

  • For middle school students, it is recommended that they work in pairs to discuss and share their insights before writing individual responses. Collaborating with a peer and participating in a class discussion will help deepen their understanding.

    For high school students, it is best to have them work independently first, allowing time to formulate their own responses before engaging in a class discussion. Since they are generally more comfortable with group discussions, a whole-class conversation on the essential questions is encouraged.

Duration

Approx. 45-minute lesson with options for essential questions / journal prompts (can be done in class or assigned as homework).

    • Provide historically accurate, thorough, and engaging lessons that align with state standards and enable classroom teachers to feel confident in teaching this difficult history.

    • To engage students in historical thinking and inquiry by examining primary sources and evidence to enhance one’s understanding of how and why the Holocaust happened; including its lessons for today and our responsibilities as active and engaged citizens in a democracy.

    • Lessons are meant to be taught in sequence thereby providing a full chronology of the history. The Holocaust was incremental; seeing the progression of events is essential to understanding how and why the Holocaust happened.

  • SS.912.W.3.2 - Compare major beliefs and principles of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

  • Following this lesson, students will:

    • Articulate an understanding of key beliefs, practices, and traditions of Judaism including the concept of one God (Monotheism), the importance of the Torah, major Jewish holidays and symbols

    • Identify significant historical figures and events within Jewish tradition

    • Demonstrate an understanding of the Jewish community and its diverse expressions

    • Explain significant changes to Judaism over time

    • What is the central belief system of Judaism?

    • How does the Torah guide Jewish practices and daily life?

    • How does the concept of a covenant with God shape Jewish identity?

    • What are the different branches within Judaism and how do they vary in practice?

    • What are the key Jewish holidays and their significance?

    • What are some important symbols in Judaism and what do they represent?

    • What are the most significant changes to Judaism over time and why did they occur?

Teacher Preparation

Read through the lesson plan and Google Slide presentation (complete with teacher notes / “script”) to familiarize yourself with the lesson.

Watch the video, “The Dangers of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, to summarize the main ideas to your students, or you may wish to show the video to your students as an introduction to this lesson (stop video at 10:32 mark).

Consider:

  • Do you have a “Single Story” when it comes to Jews during the Holocaust or Jews in general?

  • Is it “a single story of catastrophe”?

  • If we “Show a people as one thing, as only one thing over & over again, that is what they become.”

  • Do you only see Jews as “victims”?

Vocabulary

Diaspora

The dispersion, spread, or exile of a people from their original homeland.

Synagogue

A Jewish house of worship and learning.

Rabbi

Translated from Hebrew, it means “teacher”; Spiritual leader.

Star of David

Six-pointed star often used as a symbol of the Jewish religion. It is said to be from the shield of King David who established Jerusalem as the capital city of the Israelites. The Nazis transformed this religious and cultural symbol into a badge for identifying, segregating, and humiliating Jews.

Shabbat

Recognized as a day of rest and prayer for Jews. It begins at sunset on Friday and lasts until nightfall on Saturday. In Judaism, a new day begins at sunset. Observing Shabbat can take many forms, most celebrate by socializing with other Jews at a Shabbat meal, including the lighting of two candles, followed by a blessing over a cup of wine, and the sharing of bread together. Shabbat is a regular reminder that God created the world and rested on the seventh day.

Kippah

Hebrew word that means “dome” and refers to a skull cap worn by men during times of prayer or as a sign of being in the presence of God.

Kosher

Dietary laws. Not all Jews keep Kosher. It’s an individual choice. For those who do keep Kosher, it means they have no pork or shellfish, there is no mixing of meat and milk, and they only eat meat that has been slaughtered according to Kosher laws.

Brit Milah

Ritual circumcision on the 8th day of a Jewish boy’s life.

Bar Mitzvah/Bat Mitzvah

Ceremony marking passage from childhood to adulthood (typically age 13); Hebrew for “Sons / Daughters of Commandment”; first time they read aloud from the Torah. From this point forward, they assume the rights and obligations of a Jewish adult.

Talmud

A collection of teachings and commentaries on Jewish law that was developed as Judaism evolved after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It includes the interpretations of thousands of rabbis - a recording of the rabbis' discussion of the way to follow the Torah at that time - and it outlines the importance of Jewish law. The Talmud is typically studied, not read.

Torah

Part of the Jewish sacred text that includes the origin stories of the Jewish people and outlines Jewish laws. It’s written on scrolls and kept in a special cabinet in synagogues called the holy ark. It’s read with a pointer. Each week, one section is read until the entire Torah is completed and then the reading begins again.

Passover

This holiday lasts 7-8 days and celebrates Jewish freedom from slavery in Egypt. Passover refers to the story of when God “passed over” houses of Jewish families and saved their children during a plague that was said to have killed all other first-born babies in Egypt.

Seder

Symbolic meal held on the first or second night of Passover. The Seder meal consists of items that are symbolic in retelling the Passover story: roasted shank = sacrifice; egg = circle of life; bitter herbs = slavery; haroset = mortar used to make bricks in Egypt while slaves; karpas (greens) = Spring.

Rosh Hashanah

Jewish New Year. Customary to eat sweet foods, symbolizing the desire to have a sweet year of blessings and abundance - such as dipping a piece of apple into honey. The pomegranate symbolizes the wish to have a year full of abundant blessings and good deeds, just as a pomegranate is filled with an abundance of seeds.

Yom Kippur

This “Day of Atonement” is considered the holiest day of the year for Jews and is typically spent in prayer and fasting. The High Holy Days are the 10 days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur; this is a time of repentance for Jewish people.

Hanukkah

This Jewish celebration, also known as the “Festival of Lights,” lasts 8-days and commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The holiday commemorates the time when a small group of Jewish fighters found only enough oil to light the temple's candles for one day, but the oil miraculously burned for eight days. This gave the Maccabees enough time to find more oil and rededicate the temple.

Menorah

The nine-branched candelabra used on Hanukkah that commemorates the miracle that a day's worth of oil lasted eight days. Eight of the nine branches hold lights that symbolize the eight nights of the holiday; on each night, one more light is lit than the previous night, until on the final night all eight branches are lit. The ninth branch holds a candle that is the “helper” or is used to light the other candles.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Established by the U.N. General Assembly in 2005. The chosen date of Jan. 27 reflects the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops (Jan. 27, 1945). Auschwitz has become emblematic of the camp system as a whole, and therefore to many, it is representative of the Holocaust. Its liberation marks an occasion for solemn commemoration and reflection.

Yom HaShoah

Hebrew for Holocaust Remembrance Day. The first commemoration of Yom HaShoah took place in 1951 in Israel. The U.S. Congress established the Days of Remembrance as the nation’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust. Across the U.S., state and local government organizations, workplaces, schools, and religious and community centers host remembrance activities to reaffirm our nation’s commitment to keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive.