This five-lesson module guides students through a sequential, humanizing approach to Jewish American history that begins with the foundations of Jewish identity and belief and ending with the complex, layered story of Jewish life in America. The module builds a deep understanding of who Jewish people are, where they come from, and what they have experienced, before exploring their role in the American story.
ConnectED's approach centers Jewish identity and peoplehood before American context, traces the arc of Jewish life in America with honesty and nuance, and invites students to grapple with both the richness and the complexity of Jewish American experience: including moments of solidarity, tension, and lasting impact
Module Big Ideas
- Identity as a Foundation
Jewish identity is ancient, layered, and multidimensional: encompassing religion, culture, ancestry, and peoplehood. Understanding who Jewish people are is essential to understanding what they have experienced and contributed. - Opportunity and Exclusion
Jewish Americans built thriving communities and shaped American society across every field, even as they faced discrimination, antisemitism, and pressure to assimilate. These two realities have always existed side by side. - Complex Narratives
From the diversity within Judaism itself to the complicated history of Black-Jewish relations, honest engagement with complexity is essential to understanding Jewish life in America.
Essential Questions
- EQ1: What does it mean to be Jewish, and how has that identity been shaped by
history, culture, and community across time and place? - EQ2: How have Jewish Americans navigated the tension between opportunity and exclusion, and what has that experience revealed about the promises and limitations of American democracy?
- EQ3: What can the full arc of Jewish American history — its contributions, its tensions, and its complexity — teach us about identity, belonging, and coalition-building in a diverse society?