The State of Israel is Born - Session 06 - The Founding of the State of Israel
Brief
Acquaint chanichim with the tenets of the Declaration of Independence and help them understand the significance of what was achieved on May 14, 1948.
Equipment
Appendix XIII (1 copy per chanich/a or chevruta)
Appendix XIV Palestine Post front page
Appendix XV: Video recording of Ben-Gurion reading the Declaration of Independence
Activity length: 45 minutes
Age Groups
Elementary, Middle School
Topics
Zionism
Adaptable for Shabbat
Download for Printing
Program
Chanichim will read aloud the shaded excerpts from Israel’s Declaration of Independence (Appendix XII) in an effort to understand what the country’s founders saw as key values of the Jewish state. The madrich/a can distribute copies of the front page of the Palestine Post (Appendix XIV) and give chanichim several moments to read it and get a sense of the atmosphere in May 1948.
Depending on time, Hebrew level, and technological capability, the madrich/a may decide to screen the 2-minute video of Ben-Gurion declaring independence.
Chanichim will compare the values and ideas of the Declaration with the values and ideas they developed in the previous lesson and discuss how these they impact the way a country develops and functions.
After chanichim have discussed the shaded parts of the Declaration, the madrich/a should encourage them to reflect on the ideas they stressed in the previous activity (key elements of an ideal Jewish state.) Questions to ponder together as a group include:
Did the founders of Israel share our ideas about what the state should be like?
Based on what we know of today’s Israel, does the country live up to the ideas and ideals expressed in the Declaration?
Do we tend to focus on the successes, the shortcomings, or both? Why?
Sikkum discussion points
Ask the chanichim for examples of ideas that seem particularly important in the Declaration.
Urge chanichim to try to put themselves in the place of the founders, in 1948, three years after the Holocaust, on the brink of a bitter war. Does the Declaration seem different under those circumstances?
Explain that – due largely to controversies surrounding the role of religion and religious law in Israeli society – Israel has not succeeded in writing a constitution. Therefore, the Declaration of Independence often serves a role similar to that of a constitution in other democratic countries, and it is referred to more often than in most other countries.
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