The Holocaust: Teaching the Shoah to High School Students

CHAPTER TWO

Fundamentals of Judaism

The direct revelation from God to Moses is what separated the Hebrews from other tribes of nations living in the Middle East. Think about this: if the Hebrews are God’s chosen people, then what could everyone else assume that they could NOT be? – God’s Chosen People. So everyone else was automatically on the outside looking in.

Historical Context: Some time around 4000 years ago the Hebrews found themselves enslaved in Egypt. Upon delivery from their captors, the God of Abraham gave to His people the Law. This Law was communicated from God to the prophet Moses after the exodus from Egypt and can be found in the Hebrew Bible’s books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (more commonly called the Pentateuch when grouped with the first book, Genesis). Since the time of deliverance, the Jewish people have turned to the Law for daily guidance. Today, Judaism has broken into three main sects: Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative. The Law still forms the basis for Jewish life and worship.

Rationale to Teach: In order to enter a discussion on the Holocaust, the teacher should first establish tenets of the Jewish faith. Many high school students of today lack any kind of specific information on religion in general. Depending on the audience, most “knowledge” of Judaism will center on various stereotypes as portrayed both in popular culture and generational prejudices. Breaking those down, perhaps with a comparison to Christianity, will help to set the table for rational and objective discussion of the events leading up to and of the Shoah.

Major Topics:

Judaism

Monotheism

13 Fundamental Beliefs of Judaism

The Ten Commandments

To close, it might be helpful to discuss the following points of interest about Christianity as a comparison/contrast for the students:

Christianity

The alleged resurrection of Jesus Christ separates Christianity from Judaism and Islam

Major beliefs

Sermon on the Mount

Comment:

This is a discussion that needs to take place to set up parameters of Jewish “difference”. In subsequent units students will enter a multi-millennial realm of hatred, which led to stealing, expulsion, and murder. Here the teacher can establish the ideas both of choseness, of a higher call to service to God, but also of “the other” – that which we do not understand/relate to, and thus shun as strange, different, even threatening…

In the age in which we live, the teacher here also gains the opportunity to expose students to morality. I always find that I have several students who are hearing these ideas for the first time. And any discourse on religion always carries with it the potential for controversy, and for debate. I would encourage you to embrace, not run from, this should it occur. Challenge your students to defend their beliefs without polemics against alternative faiths or denominations.

Resources:

Fleshed-out notes with lines of questioning/student interaction

Grobman, Gary. The Holocaust – A Guide For Teachers – Who Are the Jews? © 1990. http://remember.org/guide/Facts.root.whoare.html. Grobman does a nice survey of fundamental beliefs and practices of Judaism. With study questions and activities.

Hinnells, John R. ed. Handbook of World Religions, London: Penguin Books. 1991.

Donin, Hayam Halevy. To Be a Jew, USA: Basic Books. 1972. Note: either of these books would be helpful; the Hinnells book is a survey of world religions, but each faith gets a detailed treatment. The Donin book is highly readable and clearly explains not only Jewish rituals and beliefs, but rationales for such.

Holy Bible. Specifically the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Also the book of Matthew for the Sermon on the Mount.

Jewish Virtual Library. Fundamentals of Jewish belief, found at http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Judaism/articles_of_faith.html

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