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The connection between Jews inside and outside the Land of Israel has been an essential element of Jewish identity for millennia.

The Key Curated Essentials for Diaspora Jewry and Israel

HMG White Paper: Statement of Policy, 1939

Zionist leaders—David Ben-Gurion, Chaim Weizmann and Eliezer Kaplan—learning of the British intent to limit severely the Jewish national home’s growth. Increasingly, they are also aware of the German government’s hostilities towards European Jewry.

Zionism and Israel: From the Tanakh to 1948

Zionism and Israel: From the Tanakh to 1948 explores the foundations of the centrality of the Land of Israel to the Jewish people and how the relationship between the people and the land evolved over time. Activities and background information are provided to help learners explore the growth of the Jewish Diaspora, the evolving relationship between the people and the Land and the origins of the Zionist movement.  Following the First Zionist Congress in 1897, Zionism and Israel: From the Tanakh to 1948 shifts to explore how the Basle Declaration and subsequent documents guided the movement’s actions towards its vision for a Jewish State.  The material concludes with an exercise on Israel’s Declaration of Independence. 

More Curated Essentials on Diaspora Jewry and Israel

Sephardi Jewry and the Land of Israel

August 15, 2014
E-book

Join special guest curriculum contributor Dr. Yaron Ayalon and the CIE Curriculum team as they take you and your students on a riveting adventure through the lives of the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews of Southern Europe and the Middle East. Explore the differences between Sephardi and Ashkenazi cultures, and discover the great wealth of knowledge and spirituality of the Sephardi Jews. Utilizing maps, photographs, primary documents, an extensive timeline and even a recipe for a traditional Sephardi dish, this book is the perfect introduction to Sephardi Jewry for the individual learner or in a classroom setting.

  • Suitable for learners 9th grade and up
  • Maps, Photographs, Primary Documents, Extensive Timeline
  • Perfect for individuals, groups and classes
  • Develop an understanding of the differences between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewry
 

1951 U.N. Report, “The Situation of Jews in Moslem Countries”

December 1951
This report submitted to the United Nations at the end of 1951 notes that “some one million Jews have become the victims of accelerated antiSemitism” since 1948 in the Muslim countries of the Arab League and North Africa, “communities which have existed for thousands of years.” The report analyzes the situation for Jews overall and explains restrictions and oppressive measures country by country.

Israel and the Jewish Nation: Part 1

August 15, 2014
E-book

Covering the foundations of Judaism and the history of the Jewish people, the unit starts with the ‘covenants’ and ends in 1897. It traces the Jewish connection to the land of Israel, in the land and in exile. It explains how and why Jews retained their traditions in the face of enormous challenges. It concludes with the birth of Zionism as one answer to Jewish insecurity.

  • Suitable for learners 9th grade and up
  • The first of four planned units covering Israel and the Jewish Nation
  • 37-page teacher guide
  • 78-page student workbook
  • Covers the foundations of Judaism and Jewish people starting with the 'covenants'
  • Learn how and why the Jews retained their traditions in the face of enormous challenges
  • Explore the connection to the land of Israel and the birth of Zionism

American Jewish Relationship With Israel: Speech by Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Response by AJC President Jacob Blaustein, 1950

August 23, 1950
August 23, 1950 American Jewish Yearbook, Vol. 53. 1952. 64-8. Over time, world Jewish opinion became splintered not only about the nature of Zionism or the role of Israel in their identity, but the degree...

UNGA Resolution 3379: Zionism Is Racism

November 10, 1975
Led by USSR and Arab states, Zionism is labeled as racist; the resolution is revoked in 1991.

Gil Troy and Steven Bayme, “Diaspora-Israel Relations: What Unites Jewish Communities,” July 25, 2022 (37:26)

October 29, 2022
Jewish Historians Gil Troy and Steven Bayme cogently discuss the ties and tensions between Jewish communities, primarily between American and Israeli Jews. This 37 minute video is entwined with extraordinary vivid insights.

Zionism and Us: Has Zionism Succeeded? (20:40)

February 4, 2023
February 4, 2023 Center for Israel Education President Ken Stein explores the state of Zionism and the Jewish people in an in-person conversation with Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple in Atlanta, Rabbi David Silverman of the Atlanta...

Loss of Precious Faith: The Deep Rift between the State of Israel and American Jewry

August 8, 2018
While heralding the flourishing political relations between the United States and Israel, American media channels over the last six months have also reported that recent measures taken by the Israeli government, such as the passage of the National Conversion Law and the freeze on the pluralistic Western Wall plan, have significantly exacerbated the crisis of faith in the State of Israel among extensive segments of the American Jewish population.

Chaim Weizmann’s Notes for Speech, “Rallying World Jewry to Partition,” 1938

January 23, 1938
After the British suggested partition of Palestine into two states in July 1937, Weizmann, among Zionists, was least opposed to a Jewish state in less than all of western Palestine.

David Ben-Gurion’s “Vision and Redemption,” 1958

1958
Ben-Gurion elegantly connects modern Israel from messianic redemption to Zionism, building the country through labor and immigration, with dual needs to remain actively linked to the Jewish diaspora and Jewish values through education.

Israel State Archives, “Immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, 1948-1985,” and MFA Documents, 2022

1948-1985
Read full article at the Israel State Archives.