online Resources
The Online Resources collection provides educators and students with additional videos connected to the ZEI curriculum units. Each resource is selected to support and expand on the themes explored throughout the curriculum, offering opportunities to see different perspectives, hear new stories, and engage more deeply with the subject matter.
Unit 1
The Jewish People’s Historical Connection to the Land of Israel
Unit 1
This video traces the Jewish people’s 4,000-year connection to the Land of Israel, from the biblical era through exile and diaspora to the establishment of the modern State of Israel.
This video explores the origins and evolution of Zionism, from its biblical foundations to its emergence as a modern political movement, culminating in the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
This video explores the history of the Land of Israel under successive empires, highlighting the Jewish people’s enduring connection to the land and the impact of foreign conquests from antiquity through the modern era.
This video examines Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the U.S. Congress, in which he presents the historical, biblical, and legal foundations of the Jewish people’s connection to—and claim to—the Land of Israel.
This video explores the Israelites’ conquest and settlement of the Land of Israel under Yehoshua, the period of the Shoftim (Judges), and the challenges that ultimately led to the establishment of the Israelite monarchy.
This video features Canadian politician Pierre Poilievre sharing his perspective on Israel, emphasizing its democratic values, security challenges, and the importance of standing with Israel on the international stage.
This video features Loay Alshareef discussing how archaeological discoveries provide compelling evidence of the Jewish people’s ancient connection to the Land of Israel and the role archaeology plays in understanding the region’s history.
This video features Loay Alshareef explaining the historical origins of the term “Jews” and how understanding Jewish history and identity can inform contemporary discussions about the Jewish people’s indigenous connection to the Land of Israel.
This video explores the importance of confronting extremism while promoting peace, highlighting the Abraham Accords and the power of dialogue, cooperation, and shared humanity to build a more stable and prosperous Middle East.
This video examines the Babylonian conquest of Judah, the destruction of the First Beit Hamikdash, and the beginning of the Babylonian Exile, a pivotal turning point that shaped Jewish history and the enduring hope of returning to Zion.
Unit 2
The Jewish People’s Historical Connection to the Land of Israel
Unit 2
This video explores how Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai and the sages of Yavneh preserved Jewish identity after the destruction of the Second Beit Hamikdash by establishing new foundations for Jewish leadership, prayer, and Torah study that sustained the Jewish people throughout exile.
This video examines the Jewish people’s indigenous connection to the Land of Israel, exploring how centuries of exile created a global diaspora while preserving a shared history, identity, and enduring bond with their ancestral homeland.
Unit 3
European Enlightenment, Emancipation and the Jewish Question
Unit 3
This video explores the Dreyfus Affair and its profound impact on modern Zionism, showing how the rise of antisemitism in Europe inspired Theodor Herzl to champion the vision of a Jewish state.
This video features Haviv Rettig Gur explaining the Jewish people’s indigenous connection to the Land of Israel, examining the historical, cultural, and national foundations of Jewish identity and peoplehood.
Unit 4
The Modern Middle East and the Creation of the State of Israel
Unit 4
This video traces the events leading to the establishment of the State of Israel, from the British Mandate and the UN Partition Plan to Israel’s Declaration of Independence and the War of Independence in 1948.
This video reflects on the remarkable journey of the State of Israel, from the restoration of Jewish sovereignty in 1948 to its transformation into a thriving, resilient nation after 2,000 years of exile.
This video explains how the State of Israel was established, tracing the events from the British Mandate and the UN Partition Plan through Israel’s declaration of independence and the major conflicts that have shaped the region ever since.
This video traces the events that led to the establishment of the State of Israel, from the rise of the Zionist movement and the British Mandate to Israel’s Declaration of Independence and its successful defense during the 1948 War of Independence.
This video examines the historical and legal foundations presented in support of Israel’s establishment, exploring key international agreements and their role in recognizing a Jewish national home in the Land of Israel.
This video explores how Chaim Weizmann’s scientific achievements and diplomatic leadership helped secure the Balfour Declaration, advancing the Zionist movement and laying important groundwork for the establishment of the State of Israel.
This video examines how World War I reshaped the Middle East, ending Ottoman rule, creating new national borders, and laying the foundations for many of the region’s modern conflicts, including the development of the British Mandate for Palestine.
This video features Sir Simon Mayall explaining the historical developments that shaped the modern Middle East, providing context for the region’s political boundaries, conflicts, and contemporary challenges.
This video explains the Sykes-Picot Agreement and how the partition of the Ottoman Empire by Britain and France after World War I reshaped the modern Middle East and influenced the region’s political borders and conflicts.
This video examines the Balfour Declaration of 1917, exploring its significance for the Zionist movement, the role of Chaim Weizmann and British diplomacy, and its lasting impact on the future of the Land of Israel.
This video explores the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the San Remo Conference, explaining how World War I reshaped the Middle East and how the League of Nations mandates influenced the creation of modern states, including the framework for a Jewish national home in the Land of Israel.
This video examines the relationship between the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel, arguing that Israel’s foundations are rooted in the Jewish people’s long history, identity, and connection to the Land of Israel, rather than in the Holocaust alone.
This video explores the Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi, examining their different strategies, ideologies, and roles in the struggle to establish the State of Israel before its independence in 1948.
This video examines UN Resolution 181, the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan, exploring its proposal to divide Mandatory Palestine into Jewish and Arab states and its role in the events leading to Israel’s independence and the first Arab-Israeli War.
This archival video captures the historic 1947 United Nations vote on the Partition Plan, a pivotal moment that paved the way for the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
This archival video features David Ben-Gurion proclaiming Israel’s Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948, marking the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty after nearly 2,000 years of exile.
This video explains the Law of Return, exploring its origins, purpose, and significance in providing Jews around the world with the right to immigrate to Israel while examining the ongoing questions surrounding Jewish identity and citizenship.
This video examines Operation Finale and the capture of Adolf Eichmann, highlighting the historic trial that brought a key architect of the Holocaust to justice and transformed global understanding of the Holocaust through survivor testimony.
This video explores the capture of Adolf Eichmann and his landmark trial in Israel, examining how it brought a leading architect of the Holocaust to justice and transformed global awareness of the Holocaust through the testimony of survivors.
This video explores the causes, major events, and consequences of the Six-Day War, examining how Israel’s victory reshaped the Middle East and reunified Jerusalem under Israeli control.
This video traces the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War, exploring the city’s division after 1948, the events of June 1967, and the significance of the Old City, the Temple Mount, and the Western Wall for the Jewish people.
This video examines the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, exploring the terrorist attack on the Israeli team, its global impact, and the lasting questions it raised about terrorism, security, and Israel’s response.
This video explores the causes, major events, and impact of the Yom Kippur War, examining how the surprise attack by Egypt and Syria brought Israel to the brink of defeat before it ultimately regained the initiative.
Unit 5
Archaeology and the Jewish Connection to the Land of Israel
Unit 5
This video explores the 3,000-year-old historical and archaeological roots of Jewish Jerusalem, examining how ancient conflicts and devastating foreign destructions threatened the survival of its people before they ultimately persevered to maintain their traditions and identity today
This video explores the ancient ruins of the Davidson Center and the Southern Wall, examining how physical evidence like Roman-era cornerstones, ritual purification baths, and 3,000-year-old tombs chart Jerusalem’s shared religious history before ultimately underscoring the unbroken continuity of modern Jewish traditions.
In this video Rawan Osman walks the ancient Pilgrimage Road in the City of David, presenting the excavation as archaeological evidence of Jewish Jerusalem’s ancient roots and connection to the Temple Mount
This video explores a secret tunnel beneath Jerusalem, following an ancient route from the Shiloach Pool toward the Temple Mount. The tunnel passes under the Old City walls and unexpectedly leads along the Temple Mount’s edge.
This video explores the wealth of archaeological evidence uncovered within the ancient City of David, examining how findings like Babylonian-era destruction pottery and the physical clay seals of King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah ground biblical figures in tangible historical reality.
This video explores Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the US Congress, examining how he counters colonialist labels by tracing the prayers, teachings, and reigns of biblical figures like Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac before ultimately asserting the Jewish people’s 4,000-year-old connection to their homeland.
This video explores why Israel should never apologize for its existence.
It emphasizes national identity, legitimacy, and the right to exist.
This video explores the remarkable discoveries of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, examining how soil illegally removed during unauthorized underground mosque construction yielded ancient coins, floor tiles, and seals before ultimately verifying the historical presence of the Holy Temple described in the Hebrew Bible.
This video details a visit to the Jordan Museum in Amman where Loay Alshareef showed a skeptical friend a replica of the 9th-century BCE Mesha Stele. It argues that this stone inscription’s mention of the “King of Israel” provides undeniable, non-biblical archaeological proof of Israel’s historical presence in the land.
This video explores the archaeological excavation at Isbet Sarta, examining how the discovery of a 3,000-year-old pottery shard containing an early Hebrew alphabet exercise challenges academic skepticism about ancient Israelite literacy before ultimately shedding new light on when the Torah and the Bible were first written
This video explores the striking architectural design of the Shrine of the Book, examining how the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls were safely hidden in Judean desert caves to escape Roman invaders before ultimately demonstrating the extraordinary, unbroken continuity of the Hebrew language from antiquity to the modern day
This video explores the historical significance of the Merneptah Stele, an ancient Egyptian artifact that provides the earliest known written reference to Israel outside of the Bible
This video explores the discovery of two ancient silver scrolls that contain the oldest known biblical text. These amulets from 600 BCE confirm the long-standing roots of Jewish prayer and tradition in Jerusalem.
This video details how Cyrus the Great’s conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE led to a historic decree allowing the exiled Jewish people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple. It highlights how the 1879 archaeological discovery of the cuneiform Cyrus Cylinder directly aligns with the biblical narrative in the Book of Ezra, proving that a foreign king recognized the connection between the Jewish nation and their land 2,500 years ago.
Unit 6
What Is A Jew?
Unit 6
This video explores how the Western term “religion” fails to capture the true essence of Judaism, which is actually a portable suitcase of a native civilization’s identity. Speaker Rudy Rochman calls for the decolonization of the Jewish mentality to overcome sectarian divisions imposed by outside societies.
This video argues that the Jewish people are not a race but rather a unique combination of national and religious identity. It notes that despite spending two thousand years scattered in the Diaspora, the Jewish nation remains one of the oldest surviving civilizations.
This video illustrates the difficulty of defining Jewishness through conventional labels like religion, race, or nationhood. It presents the perspective that Jews are “the children of Israel,” making the global Jewish community fundamentally a large, diverse family.
This video dismantles the classification of Jewishness by race, culture, nationality, or religious practice, highlighting the immense diversity of the global Jewish population. It explains that according to Judaism, being Jewish means having a Jewish soul inherited from a Jewish mother or received through conversion.
This video explains that the Jewish people predate modern European racial categories, which did not exist when Jewish identity was formed over 3,000 years ago. It describes Jewish identity as a civilization of shared history and peoplehood deeply rooted in the land of Israel.
This video features Jonah Platt discussing how Jewish Americans are responding to geopolitical conflict, highlighting how liberal Jews navigate feeling politically homeless. It also addresses the rise of modern antisemitism and defines Zionism as the right to self-determination in their indigenous land.
This video outlines the biblical, historical, and international legal claims of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. It also explains that early Jewish pioneers legally purchased land from willing Arab sellers at highly inflated rates.
This video presents archaeological, historical, and biblical evidence proving the 3,000-year-old connection of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. Host Noa Tishby explains that Zionism is a movement for Jewish self-determination and asserts that supporting indigenous rights means being a Zionist.
Unit 7
Why Does Judaism Need A Land?
Unit 7
This video details Theodor Herzl’s proposal for a temporary safe haven in East Africa to protect Jews from rampant antisemitism and the intense opposition it faced from the Zionist Congress.
This video explores various historical attempts to establish Jewish states in diverse locations ranging from ancient Babylonia to Niagara Falls. It demonstrates that while these alternative options never lasted, they underscore that the Land of Israel is the only place where a Jewish homeland has permanently and successfully taken root.
This video explores the unique, 4,000-year-old connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, framing it as their place of destiny to build a society of justice and compassion. It emphasizes that Israel is the only place on Earth where Jews are a majority with self-rule, enabling them to shape a culture as the land’s original inhabitants rather than a colonial presence.
This video highlights Rabbi Sacks’ perspective that Israel represents the only place on Earth where the Jewish people have the opportunity to construct a self-determining society based on their own beliefs.
This video explains how antisemitism is a mutating virus that historically targeted Jewish religion and race, but now manifests as anti-Zionism by denying the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Unit 8
Why Do Jews Need A State?
Unit 8
This video describes Zionism as the privilege of empowering the Jewish people to become the leading directors and protagonists of their own national storyboard rather than supporting actors in someone else’s story.
This video features Golda Meir asserting that the conflict with Arab nations is not about territory, but rather a fundamental refusal to acknowledge the Jewish right to self-determination and existence. She firmly declares that her policy is centered entirely on keeping the Jewish people alive and protecting their independence.
This video defines Zionism not as a movement of ideological elites, but as a critical rescue project that saved millions of Jewish lives when international quotas blocked other refuges in the 20th century.
Unit 9
Who is a Zionist?
Unit 9
This video humorously examines the definition of Zionism through a stand-up routine interacting with immigrants making Aliyah to Israel. The speaker jokingly suggests that true Zionism involves “downgrading” one’s quality of life from a comfortable Western city like Miami or Manhattan to help build up the country, rather than using Israel merely as a shelter from difficult situations.
This video traces the 3,000-year-old roots of the Jewish connection to Israel, illustrating how centuries of exile and prayer culminated in a modern organized movement.
This video presents Zionism as a movement of national self-determination and decolonization that asserts Jews share a national identity and have the right to a democratic state in their ancestral homeland.
This video describes Zionism as the fundamental belief that the Jewish people have the right to live freely in their ancestral homeland of Israel. It frames the movement as a means of survival and self-authorship after 2,000 years of global exile, persecution, and homelessness.
This video introduces the life, legacy, and vision of Theodor Herzl, tracing his journey from witnessing the infamous Dreyfus Affair to establishing the annual Zionist Congress in 1897.
This video highlights the life and enduring impact of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, who shaped religious Zionism and worked to bridge the deep divide between religious and secular Jews.
This video traces the story of Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court Justice, who reconnected with his Jewish heritage while working as a reform lawyer defending Jewish workers.
This video presents Prof. Gil Troy’s passionate defense of Zionism as a legitimate and inspiring movement of national renewal that rescued a scattered, persecuted people.
This video challenges extreme, demonizing stereotypes by defining Zionism as a movement for national self-determination that recognizes the Jews as a people with the right to a democratic state in their ancestral homeland.