Jewish Neighborhood Voices Educational Resources
Jewish Neighborhood Voices Educational Resources
About the resources
Developed through a Community Impact Grant from Combined Jewish Philanthropy and classroom visits to local schools, synagogues, and teen programs, these Jewish Neighborhood Voices Educational Resources are intended for educators who want to bring oral history and place-based learning into the classroom.
If you are interested in teaching about immigration, Jewish heritage and culture, the evolution of urban neighborhoods over time, intercommunity relationships, World War II and the Holocaust—and more—the "Jewish Neighborhood Voices" oral history project contains rich stories and first-hand accounts that personalize these historical topics in compelling ways for students. We offer these lesson plans and resources to bring them into your classrooms.
Some questions we hope to build on are:
- What other voices should be part of this story?
- What other stories should be in conversation with those from our narrators?
We ask these questions in the classroom to help students understand the importance of a community’s narrative—and what might lie beyond it—as well as look for opportunities to partner and expand these resources.
As you explore these materials, what additional questions and/or ideas occur to you? We would love to hear from you! Get in touch with JHC Programs: JHCPrograms@JewishHeritageCenter.org.
Teacher Resources
Exhibit Guide
If you want to create your own educational materials (or just want to get to know the project) but aren’t sure where to start, check out the Exhibit Guide.
Oral Historian for the Day
If you want to teach students how to interview using oral history as a framework, this resource is for you.
With thanks to...
Our partners
We are so grateful to our partners who welcomed us into their classrooms to pilot Jewish Neighborhood Voices educational approaches in 2024-2025:
- The Rashi School
- Epstein-Hillel Academy
- Temple Ohabei Shalom
- Teen Beit Midrash
- Repair the World
- Jewish Community Day School
- Temple Shalom
Jewish Neighborhood Voices participants
We are so grateful to our Jewish Neighborhood Voices participants who joined some of these visits:
- Joel Sherman
- Arleen Silverlieb
- Jack Stahl
- Herb Selesnick
Our Education Advisory Group
We are so grateful to our Education Advisory Group:
- Ianne Sherry
- Christian Kelley
- Rabba Claudia Marbach
- Ellen Rovner
With special appreciation for Ianne Sherry and Christian Kelley, who brought Jewish Neighborhood Voices into their classrooms and used those visits to create lesson plans (that you can explore here!)