3. Israel
For thousands of years, people gravitate
toward the Land of Israel.
What is this connection to the land?
Why does it pull people so strongly?
Do you feel pulled to the land?
4. The Land of Israel is...
• Am Yisrael / - עם ישראלThe place for
the Jewish people.
• Torah / - תורהThe land of the Torah.
• Eretz / - ארץThe land of the Jewish people.
• Medinah / - מדינהThe Jewish state.
What is/are YOUR lens(es)?
6. Palestinians
Israelis
Christians
Secular
Israelis
Arab
Religious Israelis
Israelis
7. Artistic Expression
Throughout time people have
sought to leave their mark as a
way of making a deep
connection to the land, the
people, and the state. Artistic
expression is one way to
connect more deeply to an
experience.
People turn to the ARTS to express and to connect.
8. Let’s take a look at some art
found around Israel...
THINK ABOUT IT...
• In what ways can you leave a
mark? What do you see?
• What voice do you think is behind
the work?
• What message do you think is
being conveyed? ART
9. THINK ABOUT...
“This sculpture sits on the axis connecting
multiple galleries of art. In essence, like the
museum, it symbolizes the link between
the past and the future.”
- Jeremy Leigh
Jewish History and Israel Studies, Hebrew Union College
(Notes from tour to the Israel Museum)
11. THINK ABOUT...
“The Wall...At first I am stunned. Then I see: A
Wall of frozen tears, a cloud of sighs.”
- Abraham Joshua Heschel
Israel: An Echo of Eternity, New York 1969
(from Jerusalem: The Challenge of Sacredness)
14. THINK ABOUT...
“We need to present Israel as a work in progress,
legitimize competing visions, and remember that
machloket, debate and disagreement, has always
been an integral—indeed, a defining—element of
the Jewish experience.”
- David Mendelsson
The Challenges of Teaching ‘Israel’
20. THINK ABOUT...
“…the land of Israel has an intrinsic meaning. It is
connected to the Jewish people with the knot of
life; its very being is suffused with extraordinary
qualities. The extraordinary qualities of the land
of Israel and the extraordinary qualities of the
Jewish people are two halves of a whole.”
- R. Avraham Yitzchak Kook
(from Jerusalem: The Challenge of Sacredness)
28. THINK ABOUT...
“Israel is a multi-vocal, multi-layered,
textured weave that affords the possiblity
for intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and
social engagement with the Land, People,
and State of Israel in a way that cultivates a
rich sense of belonging and commitment to
the Jewish collective.”
- Lisa Grant and Ezra M. Kopelowitz
Israel Education Matters, p.22
32. Musical Expression
The song heard here in the background is by
Israeli singer Ehud Banai and is called
Avodah Sh’chorah/Black Work.
This song explores another voice in Israel – the Ethiopian
Jews. The lyrics express that they are now literally in the land
of Israel, but they are metaphorically still on the outside.
33. THINK ABOUT...
“The Land of Israel is
the centre of the world…”
- Babylonian Talmud,
Tanhuma Kedoshim 10
