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8 SHOFAR Fall 1994 Vol. 13, No. 1 TEACHING ZIONISM: THE INTRODUCTORY COURSE by Zev Garber Zev Garber is Professor of jewish Studies, Los Angeles Valley College, and Visiting Professor of Religious Studies, University of California at Riverside. The editor ofMethodology in the Academic Teaching of Judaism (1986), Methodology in the Academic Teaching of the Holocaust (with A. Berger and R. Libowitz, 1988), and Teaching Hebrew Language and Literature at the College Level (Shofar 9.3, Spring 1991), he is also editor-in-chief of Studies in the Shoah (University Press of America). His Shoah, the Paradigmatic Genocide: Essays in Ib.:egesis and Eisegesis (1994) has recently been published in the series. Finally, he served as President of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew. Our essay on "Teaching Zionism: The Introductory Course" is an invitation to study the Zionist movement as one of contemporary jewry's most successful responses to the jewish predicament: the jewish People as the victim of world history. The student is exposed to a brief historical background, beginning with episodes from the Pentateuch, Psalms and pharisaic literature, dealing with the development of Zionism as it is related to an exposition of its central affirmations. The goal is to familiarize the student with what the Zionist tradition regards as its essential genius and to provide an opportunity for an appreciation of the similarities and differences between ideologies and divisions within greater Zionism. Among the class topics that are seen as beneficial in this quest are the following: (a) the theory of Zionism (nationalist messianism): political, cultural, religiOUS, mystical, socialist, synthetic; and (b) the practice of Zionism: the State of Israel as pinnacle or aberration of Zionism, politicS Teaching Zionism: The Introductory Course 9 of statehood, social problems, the diversified and competltlve role of religion-tradition and secularism, contemporary values, and the present state of Zionist belief, e.g., partition or retention of Land for peace, the morality ofJewish power, etc. Students are required to do three papers of unevefl length and varied methodology: (1) an 8-10 page critical discussion of how Laqueur, Hertzberg, Avineri, and O'Brien approach and analyze Zionism; (2) a 12-15 page standard research project intended to examine in some depth one of the ideologies, platforms, institutions, or problems of. contemporary Zionism introduced in class. The student examines the topic in whatever manner he or she deems most productive (historically, philosophically, theologically, socialIy, or any combination of several of these), evaluates the vital issues, points out faults, merits, etc., and makes constructive comments. The structure of the paper is construed from the viewpoint of writing college quality work, using Kate 1. Turabian's A Manualfor Writers of Term Papers or the MIA Style Sheet; (3) a 10-12 page creative writing exercise in problem solving, which is designed to engage the student in ethical decision making and moral development, the twin pillars of a roleplaying sequence. Problem-solving activities can be enacted in almost every phase of Zionist Studies, frqm Sinai-Zion, zealot-pacific-messianic confrontations in the biblical and rabbinic periods, respectively, to the different Zionist and non-Zionist debates of today, from learning about the outlook and mentality ofthe Yishuv during the Palestine Mandate to understanding Israelis, 1948-present, and the different replies to Israel under siege. Individuals develop sensitivity, learn empathy, and see values, commitments , aspirations differently when they enact various roles. If done properly, a simulation project can simplify complex and variegated material, and make the course content more particular and personal.l What folIows is a maximal but not exhaustive, learning-focused and not research-intended, outline for an introductory course on Zionism. It is stimulated by though not restricted to our class on this subject taught at Los Angeles Valley ColIege, one of the nine public colleges of the Los Angeles Community College District. What is presented is a set of four sections containing 21 units concerning the intelIectual history, culture and chalIenges of classical and modern Zionism. For each unit we have 1 Additional comments on role-playing and a simulation game, "Yom Kippur 5735: The October War, One Year Later," are found in my "Alternative Teaching Methods in Teaching Introduction to Judaism." Paper...

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