Intl Tour: for Christian Groups -ENG

סגור לתגובות על Intl Tour: for Christian Groups -ENG
Tour-for-Christian-Groups-LSהורד

ANU Museum Tour for Christian Groups

Time: 75 minutes

Goals:

  • Teach the Judaic foundations of Christianity
  • Trace the interwoven paths of Jews and Christians over 2,000 years
  • Show elements of Jewish life (texts, Shabbat, Israel) that remained constants in Jewish life in the Diaspora and Israel
  • Emphasize diversity of historic, and modern day, Jewish populations

Introduction to Museum, concept of Jewish Peoplehood

First floor:

  • Covenant
    • Explain concept of covenant between Jewish people and God, Jewish perspective of this covenant. Unites Jews across time and space, despite the outward differences in Jews we are about to see. This covenant also plays a role in the Christian faith, but in a different way. We will see how the history of these two religions and peoples: Judaism and Christianity/Jews and Christians, are intertwined.
  • Texts: King James Bible and German Luther Bible
    • One of the core elements we see throughout Jewish faith and history is sacred texts. They contain the Word of God, and have been passed through generations for millennia. They include the Torah, which Christian theology sees as the Old Testament, the Tanakh which is the complete collection of the Torah, Prophets and Rabbinical writings. Here we see two examples of Christian bibles that we translated and adapted from the ancient Hebrew Torah to English or German.
  • Shabbat Wall
    • Shabbat is the day of rest. In Judaism it falls from Friday night to Saturday night, while is Christian practice it is on Sunday. The 4th commandment reminds us to keep the day of rest. Explain Shabbat installation.

Second floor:

  • Antiquity
    • Explain Jewish connection to Jerusalem and Land of Israel; First and Second Temple as a place where the priests, (Cohenim), would pray and make sacrifices to God. Wasn’t a place for everyday people, but rather the holiest of priests. The time of the Second Temple was the time of Jesus, born as a Jew, who spent time learning in different places around the Land of Israel, including Jerusalem. He spoke, read and write in Hebrew, and celebrated Jewish holidays and rituals. Jesus raised the idea of a different way of embracing God. He did not want to create a different religion, but rather a different interpretation of Judaism. We know that this was not the outcome.
    • The Second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 CE, not long after the death of Jesus. With the destruction of the Temple came two important shifts: a need for alternate ways of prayer, and the growth of the Jewish Diaspora living outside of the Land of Israel. Jewish political autonomy in the Land of Israel ended, and would not return until 1948.
    • Alexandria Synagogue: As Jews scattered around the world, we modeled our synagogues after the Temple. We also took influences from non-Jewish buildings. Centuries later, so did churches.
  • Ashkenaz/Sepharad
    • By this time, Christianity had developed and spread, and was the dominant religion of Europe. The Jewish Diaspora spread to parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. The relationships of Jews and Christians living in these places differed greatly depending on the ruler and time period. Despite hardships, Jews maintained their traditions, such as Shabbat.
    • HRE Edict: Gave formal permission to Jews to live in the HRE. Jews welcomed in some places because of economic reasons. Explain usury. Despite some royal privileges, the Church or local neighbors did not always embrace Jewish neighbors.
    • Synagoga and Eclaisia: Explain statues. Emphasize: Synagoga was seen as the old queen, who would not accept defeat. Eclaisia was the new queen and bringer of the new light, Christianity.  
    • Lamp of Belmonte: Explain lamp. Emphasize: despite persecutions by monarchs and leaders of the Church, Jews held on to their sacred traditions, such as Shabbat (connect with Shabbat wall seen on first floor.)
  • Modernity
    • Use four family photos as an explanation for changing positions of Jews in Europe, North Africa/Middle East, and United States. Jewish identities both within the Jewish community, and in relationship to our non-Jewish neighbors, shifted greatly between the 18th-20th centuries.
    • Mizrachi wedding dress: Jewish population grew in N.Africa and Middle East, and developed their own cultural identity. They wore clothing similar to that of their non-Jewish neighbors, such as this wedding dress, yet still had wedding ceremonies and prayers that look like modern day weddings. Point out hamsa on dress.
    • Statue of Liberty Hanukkiah: Jewsadapting to their local traditions and cultures. Story of Statue of Liberty/Emma Lazarus/Great Migration of Jews to USA in 19th/20th centuries.
  • New Political Movements
    • Russian Zionist flag, JNF poster: Explain ethos of modern Zionism (returning to the land, reuniting Jews) Emphasize centuries-long longing to return to the Land of Israel since the destruction of the Second Temple and growth of Diaspora. Despite being scattered throughout the world over nearly 2,000 years, the belief and desire to return to the Holy Land remained strong.
  • State of Israel
    • Israel by the Numbers: After 2,000 years, Jewish sovereignty is returned and the State of Israel is established. It continues to be a country where Jewish refugees seek safe haven.

Third floor:

  • Food interactive: The cuisine of Israel is greatly influenced by traditions brought by Jewish immigrants from places such as Russia, Morocco, Yemen, France, Poland, Ethiopia and more. Food has set Jews apart from their neighbors for thousands of years, due to the restrictions of kashrut, or Kosher dietary laws. Even kosher wine set us apart, and meant we could not always drink with our neighbors. Explain briefly the importance of kashrut and kosher wine.
  • Literature/language: Explain Jewish languages (Yiddish, Ladino, Hebrew) and why they came to be. Jews are known as the “People of the Book”, and this points to the heavy emphasis on literacy, learning and questioning. But we like to say that we are “People of the Story” (explain Hebrew play on words). And that is why we continue to tell our story, and how it interacts with the stories of others, every day here at ANU.