Kehillot haOlam: Experiencing the World Through the Jewish Holidays

High School (Grades 9-12)

A year long high school curriculum by Michelle Blumenthal that explores Sephardi, Mizrahi, Ethiopian, Indian, and other Jewish communities through how they celebrate the Jewish holidays.

Overview

How do Jews in Morocco, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, India, Ethiopia, Turkey, and Mexico celebrate Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Purim, and Passover? This curriculum guide, written by Michelle Blumenthal at the HUC-JIR Rhea Hirsch School of Education, takes students around the Jewish world one holiday at a time. After a background unit on Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews, students research customs, stage a Rosh Hashanah seder, compare Hanukkah traditions, and finish by creating a multicultural holiday guide for their own community.

Questions Students Explore

  1. Who are Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, and how do their traditions differ from Ashkenazi ones?
  2. How do Jewish communities around the world make the same holidays their own?
  3. How can a community honor the diversity of its members?

What Students Do

  • Research holiday customs in jigsaw groups and present posters.
  • Experience a Rosh Hashanah seder, compare Purim and Passover customs, and cook.
  • Create a multicultural holiday guide as a final project.

At a Glance

Grade level: Grade 10; written for congregational and Jewish day schools
Time: About 30 lessons of 90 minutes in six units
Source: Michelle Blumenthal, HUC-JIR Rhea Hirsch School of Education (2020); hosted by The Jewish Education Project

About this resource

This curriculum was written by Michelle Blumenthal and is hosted by The Jewish Education Project. It is not a JIMENA lesson. JIMENA note: Unit 1 discusses the experiences of Mizrahi immigrants in Israel but does not explain why nearly a million Jews left Arab countries and Iran. Teach it alongside JIMENA’s Forgotten Refugees lesson so students see the whole story.

Downloads

  • Curriculum Guide  Kehillot haOlam: Experiencing the World Through the Jewish Holidays (PDF, The Jewish Education Project)

View the curriculum guide on The Jewish Education Project  Opens on educator.jewishedproject.org

Procedures

Before You Teach

  • Choose your units. The guide is long; most teachers select the background unit and one or two holidays.
  • Add the missing history. Before Unit 1, teach JIMENA’s Forgotten Refugees: Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands so students understand why Mizrahi families left their home countries.
  • Check links. Some links in the guide point to retail or social media pages; preview them first.
Body of Lesson

The Units

  1. Background: Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews; Ladino; Mizrahi immigration to Israel.
  2. Rosh Hashanah: the Sephardic seder; Indian and Persian customs; shofars around the world.
  3. Sukkot: India, Morocco, and the Ethiopian holiday of Sigd.
  4. Hanukkah: foods, a Yemenite celebration of women, and candle lighting around the world.
  5. Purim: Morocco, Yemen, Baghdad, and Mexico.
  6. Passover: Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Morocco, and Mizrahi and Yemenite traditions.
Conclusion

Culminating Project

Students create a multicultural holiday guide for their synagogue or school.

Assessment Ideas

  • Formative: jigsaw posters and unit assessments.
  • Summative: the multicultural holiday guide.
Extension Activities
Resources and External Links