Judaism & Pre-War Jewish Life

Topics

• What does Jews believe?
• What are traditional Jewish practices?
• Jewish life prior to the Holocaust

Key INFORMATION

​During this programme, students will learn about the key tenets of the Jewish faith, including Jewish identity, religious movements, and integration within wider European society. This programme is designed to give students a foundation in understanding why Jews were often separate from the society in which they lived, leading to common misconceptions of the Jewish faith and classical antisemitism that was exploited by Nazi Propaganda.

Duration

2.5 hours (includes tour of the synagogue)

cost

$5 per student including GST

Curriculum links

• Level 6 Social Studies: Understand how individuals, groups, and institutions work to promote social justice and human rights.
• Level 7 Social Studies: Understand how conflicts can arise from different cultural beliefs and ideas and be addressed in different ways with differing outcomes.
• Level 7 Social Studies: Understand how communities and nations meet their responsibilities and exercise their rights in local, national, and global contexts
• Level 7 Geography: Understand how people’s perceptions of and interactions with natural and cultural environments differ and have changed over time.
• Level 8 Social Studies: Understand how ideologies shape society and that individuals and groups respond differently to these beliefs.
• Level 8 Geography: Understand how people’s diverse values and perceptions influence the environmental, social, and economic decisions and responses that they make.
• Religious Studies Level 1.1: Describe the purpose of a sacred text within a religious tradition
• Religious Studies Level 1.2: Describe a significant development within a religious tradition.
• Religious Studies Level 1.4: Describe key beliefs of a religious tradition.
• Religious Studies Level 2.1: Explain a significant theme in a sacred text within a religious tradition.
• Religious Studies Level 2.2: Explain the changes in an expression(s) of a religious tradition.
• Religious Studies Level 2.3: Explain how a contemporary social action derives from the ethical principles of a religious tradition.
• Religious Studies Level 3.1: Analyse the meanings in a sacred text within a religious tradition.
• Religious Studies Level 3.2: Analyse a religious tradition(s) in Aotearoa New Zealand.
• Religious Studies Level 3.3: Analyse the response of a religious tradition to a contemporary ethical issue.
• Religious Studies Level 3.4: Analyse the key beliefs of a religious tradition and a secular world view in relation to ultimate questions.

About programme

This programme is a foundation programme to introduce Jews and Judaism to students. The programme is for students who have little to no exposure or knowledge of Judaism and the tenets of the Jewish faith. Through learning about Jewish life before the Holocaust, students will learn about both religious and cultural the development of European Jewry. In relation to the Holocaust, students will learn about classical antisemitic ideas that Nazi propaganda exploited to begin their complete separation of Jews from regular society and the destruction of Jewish life in Europe.