Online Zoom Tours

:Goals

• Offer tour for classrooms from abroad
• Use material items to teach about a community

:Outline (35-40 minutes)

:WHAT TO DO

• Ask students to “raise a hand” in the chat when they’re ready to start the tour
• Intro at Dura Europos
  • If there is a holiday coming up (Hanukkah, Purim, Pesach, Tisha B’Av) select the frame with that story
• 3-4 synagogues: your choice, but keep in mind the gallery noises (gallery films, large groups, etc) are amplified over Zoom, so should avoid them even more than normal.
  • Diversity: Europe, Africa, N. America, Ashkenazi, Mizrachi, Conservative, Orthodo
  • Quiet area, close by each other
  • Best synagogues to see over Zoom (in order of best visibility to lowest):
    • Elkins Park
    • Alexandria
    • Sardis
    • Curacao
    • Cochin
    • Fez
    • Warsaw
    • Venice
    • Prague
• When going to a new synagogue or artifact, give students the choice and ask, “Where should we travel to next? Berlin? Egypt? You pick!”
• Questions should be direct with short answers. Students will respond in the group chat, and guide will read answers aloud.
• Good opportunity to repeat the answering student’s name when responding.
  • Examples of questions to ask:
    • “What biblical place do you think the Elkins Park Synagogue is modeled after?”
    • “What is this synagogue made out of?”
    • “Do you think this is a large or small community?”
    • “Does anyone have family that came from this city/country/community?”
• Torah scrolls/ark artwork: Often an overlooked part of the gallery, quiet but filled with material. Example of questions (after describing the background of the scrolls and artwork):
  • “Which of these do you have in your community? Is there a specific look that makes up ‘Jewish art’?”
  • “What stories do these Torah scrolls tell?” “Why are they decorated differently?”
  • See Appendix for more information on objects
• Goal with these artifacts is to add to the rest of the tour’s mission of using material objects and buildings to represent a community’s identity.
• After each synagogue/artifact, allow students to ask questions via the chat. Note that the normal discussion had between visitors will be different because of the typed (rather than spoken) questions.
• Gallery videos not part of this tour
• Ask students, “Is there anywhere you’d like to go back to?” before conclusion
• Conclusion
• Sign off (confirm call is over before talking to anyone else)

:HOW TO DO IT

:Before the tour

• Some classes have had a pre-lesson reviewing concepts of Jewish Peoplehood, some have not. Ask your group or their teacher before beginning to get a better idea of their knowledge base.
• Confirm timing with teacher. Tour should be the length of one class period, so anything that goes over that time limit will not be heard because students will be changing classes.
• Confirm all students on mute mode of Zoom call
• Make sure network connection works
• Make sure iPad is fully charged
• Make sure you have fully charged Bluetooth microphone
• Make sure iPad is secured in the tripod

:Important points to keep in mind during the tour

• Be aware of camera angle: lens should be a bit above your eye level.
  • Not underneath: only shows your face and the ceiling
  • Look at the camera, not your image in the screen (make eye contact with students)
• When walking from synagogue to synagogue:
  • Flip camera to face out
• Narrate as you walk
• Push triPod from iPad, not from stand
• When transitioning from synagogue to synagogue, you are encouraged to be whimsical and upbeat to enhance the excitement of the tour
• No dead air time: unlike an in-person tour, this virtual tour cannot have time when the guide is not speaking. Don’t know what to say? Talk about the weather in Israel, how crowded the museum is, why you’re excited for the upcoming synagogue, etc.
• Take the iPad out at each synagogue/stopping station to get a closer, clearer image of the synagogue or artifact
• When you take the iPad out, use only the green corner
• When holding the iPad, move very slowly and avoid shaking/sharp movements
• Image for students is exaggerated, so extra movement is dizzying for students watching the video
• Do not adjust height in the tripod

:Appendix

Torah and Ark Decor

:From left

-Ner Tamid, Shabbat lamp from the Spanish and Portugese Synagogue on Mill Street, New York, USA, 1730, brass.

-Parochet (curtain for Torah ark) with depiction of Jerusalem skyline, Galya Rosenfeld, 2015, laser-cut leather.

-Crown for Torah scroll decorated with images of eagles, griffins and lions, Poland, 5486 (1726), cast silver, engraved and partly gilded.

-Crown for Torah scroll, Avi Biran, 2015, silver and semi-precious stones.

-Torah rimonim (finials that decorate the top part of a Torah scroll or case), Suri Srulovitch, 2015, silver.

-Torah rimonim (finials that decorate the top part of a Torah scroll or case), Iran, 19^th century, hammered silver.

-Torah yad (pointer used by the reader of the Torah scroll), Suri Srulovitch, 2015, aluminum.

-Torah yad (pointer used by the reader of the Torah scroll), Tlemcen, Algeria, 19^th century, engraved silver.

-Torah breastplate (ornamental shield hung in front of the mantle of the Torah scroll), Avi Biran, 2015, silver and semi-precious stones.

-Torah breastplate (ornamental shield hung in front of the mantle of the Torah scroll), Pressburg, Austria-Hungary, 1810, hammered and engraved silver.

Stained Glass

-Twelve tribes window, Friedrich Adler, produced by Eduard Stritt, Freiburg, Germany, 1919, stained glass with lead, six two-parted windows.

Torah Scrolls

:From left

– Embroidered Ashkenazi Torah scroll mantle, Itamar Sagi, 2016, fabric, embroidery thread. All of the animals mentioned in Shir HaShirim (the Song of Songs) are embroidered on this mantle.

– Case and finials for Torah scroll, Yemen, 19^th century, wooden case and silver finials.