MY FAMILY
THE BETA ISRAEL CURRICULUM
STARTER
Teachers should begin the unit by asking students to reflect on the following:
Imagine that because of political turmoil, you are forced to become a refugee, displaced from the country you have always lived in and pulled away from everyone you know. What kinds of things would you do to maintain hope while waiting for the opportunity make your way home?
Students might mention looking at photographs of family and friends, thinking about celebrations and holidays that made them happy, singing familiar songs, and praying to return home.
It is suggested that teachers screen a clip from the 2000 film Castaway, which tells the story of a plane crash in which none of the passengers presumably survived. As it turned out, one passenger – Chuck Noland – did survive, stranded alone on a desert Island. He did what he could with limited resources to maintain his memory of home. When he was finally discovered, his joy was mixed with pain when he learned that the wife of his friend had died – and then found out that his fiancée had also married someone else. This mixture of joy and pain at returning home serves as a powerful representation of the Beta Israel.
Celebrating Sigd, 1975. Credit: Gershon Levi
