Edot: "Becoming" a Jewish Pioneer

During our last week day sessions, Edot students were presented with four dilemmas faced by Jewish pioneers who came to the United States from Europe during the late 1840's to mid-1850's. Students were divided into four groups; each group was presented with one dilemma and was asked to brainstorm solutions.

The dilemmas:

We had only half an hour to brainstorm the solutions, so there was a lot of give and take, discussion and argument as to what the recorder in each group should write down to share with the rest of the class. As each group shared its solutions, more ideas were offered from members of the other groups, resulting in quite a long list. I typed the list up, and it became a part of a "Pioneer Packet" or archive which each student was given during our Sunday morning session yesterday.

Now that I have shared the history of Jewish settlement in the United States from 1654 to 1855, it's time for my students to share what they have learned. They began doing so yesterday, by "becoming" Jewish pioneers who participated in the California Gold Rush and who are buried in one of the 7 pioneer Jewish cemeteries owned by the Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks in the West. After explaining how historians glean records from many contemporary sources, such as newspaper articles and announcements, family memoirs and photographs, board meeting minutes from various civic and religious organizations and institutions, etc. in order to learn about a historical era or personality, I introduced the term "archives" and explained what a historian researching a particular era or personality might find in an archive. I then presented each student with an archive I had prepared for the pioneer I had assigned to him or her.

Some "archives" contained a lot of information, some very little. The information for these "archives" was taken from one of three books written by local historians: "The Jews in the California Gold Rush" by Robert Levinson, "Jewish Voices of the California Gold Rush" Edited and with an Introduction by Dr. Ava F. Kahn, and "A Traveler's Guide to Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries of the California Gold Rush" by Susan Morris.
The students were given a questionnaire to fill out, the answers to which will serve as an outline for the final "letter home" they will be writing during the coming week day session. Once each student has become an expert on the pioneer whose archive they were given, they will be able to "become" the pioneer and will write a letter back home to the family they left behind in Europe, sharing information about their journey to America and their experiences in Gold country, with an emphasis on how they managed to maintain their Jewish identity during the many hardships they had to face. Those students participating in our field trip to the Sonora Pioneer Jewish cemetery on November 16th, will be asked to read their "letters home" as they stand next to the gravestone of the pioneer they were assigned to "become," helping to make the pioneer buried on that site more than just a name on the gravestone.

Getting a first look at the "archive"

Sharing your assigned pioneer with others

Filling out the questionnaire

We were treated this Sunday to a very special "Creative T'fila," which sixth grade students have written and presented during the 3rd - 6th grade t'fila session on Sundays over the past few years. Under the tutelage of Rabbi Miller, small groups of sixth graders meet 3 or 4 times during the school year on Tuesday or Wednesday, and decide upon a theme which is used to introduce the major prayers we chant during t'fila. For our first Creative T'fila session this year, 5 Edot students from this past Wednesday's session met with Rabbi Miller from 4 to 5 p.m., and came up with a sports theme (not surprising, as you may recall the World Series was in "full swing" last Wednesday!).