More Stumpers

In just a couple of weeks, I'll be introducing the second unit of study in our Edot curriculum this year - the Ashkenazeem (Jews of Europe). We'll learn what we know about their earliest history, migration to eastern Europe in mid-15th century, and the Yiddish language and culture they developed over a thousand-year period.

In preparation for this unit of study, I've put up stumpers relating to the Ashkenazeem on the "Jewish World" bulletin board in our classroom, for those students who are interested in earning stickers toward the Toys 'R Us gift certificate. Each stumper's answer is in the newspaper article hung directly below the sentence strip. One of my main goals with this program is to show the students that it's not just in our classroom that we can learn about our Jewish world - the articles are taken from The New York Times, S.F. Chronicle, Boston Globe, "J" (our Bay Area weekly Jewish newspaper), and other public sources. 

Here's an overview of the bulletin board

 Below are photos of the individual stumpers:

In case it's hard to read the stumpers from the photos, here they are:

How is Rabbi Shlomo Koenig different from most Hasidim?
Who assigned last names to Russian Jewish families in the 1700's?
What was the performance of the late Shifra Lerer always touched by?
What Yiddish name for Amsterdam do the Dutch still use today?
Who were the Jewish Gauchos? (Where did they live, where did they come from, what did they do?)
Why didn't Rashi become Rabbi for the City of Troyes?

Which language may help linguists (people who study languages) discover the origins of Ashkenazi Jews?
Why does Dr. Blaser believe many Jews were spared from the Black Death?

Parents - if you're ever curious about the answers to stumpers in the classroom, there is always an open invitation for you to come to the classroom (Room 201) to find the answers in the articles yourself. Or, of course, just get in touch with me, and I'd be glad to provide the answer!