Sunday morning we hosted the fourth grade for Tefillah in our classroom so they could see how the "big kids" do it. Each fifth grader sat next to a fourth grader and helped him/her follow along in the prayer book. Our class set a beautiful example - I was very proud of them.
As we continue to study the birth of modern zionism, we learned about Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and the re-birth of the Hebrew language last Thursday. We watched more of Pillar of Fire, and saw an interview with Ben-Yehuda's daughter describing what it was like to be some of the only children in the whole world who spoke Hebrew. Their father bought them a male dog and a female cat for the sole purpose of being able practice conjugating verbs in both masculine and feminine!
Yesterday we learned about the Balfour Declaration of 1917, Britian's statement of support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. We looked at four versions of the paper, including the final draft, which reads:
"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country". Click on the image above to see a copy of each of the drafts.
The class identified differences between earlier drafts and the final text. They noted that each draft gave less influence to the Zionist movement, and was increasingly less specific about how much land might be granted to a Jewish homeland. They also pointed out that only the final draft acknowledged the Muslims and Christians from the region, as well as the interests of world Jewry.
Chag Sameach v'chasher-
Morah Amy
