HENRIETTA SZOLD Living History Performance Image: Black and white photograph of Henrietta Szold, n.d. JMM 1992.242.007.004.007 Table of Contents: 1 1...About 4...Pre-Visit Activities 1...Learning Objectives 5...During Visit Instructions 1...Curriculum Connections 6...Post-Visit Activities 2...Biography of Henrietta Szold 8...Glossary 3...Putting Henrietta Szold’s Life in Context 9...Resources About As part of your participation in the Jewish Museum of Maryland’s Living History program, an actress playing the role of Henrietta Szold will deliver a dramatic performance for your students. During this performance, students will have the opportunity to interact with “Ms. Szold” and to learn about her life as a Jewish leader. Please note that video recording this performance is prohibited. Learning Objectives • To introduce students to Henrietta Szold’s life and illustrate how her contributions helped improve the lives of millions of people in the United States and pre-state Israel. • To teach students the factors that led to and the impact of Jewish immigration to Baltimore and pre-state Israel in the 20th Century. • To introduce students to the concept of Zionism and to the history of pre-state Israel. • To demonstrate the qualities of a successful leader and emulate how a leader identifies a problem and fosters a community to address it. History Curriculum Connections We want to support your classroom learning. Please let our team know what you are studying in class and we will work together to create a visit that reinforces and explores those topics further. A visit from our Henrietta Szold living history character discusses the topics of immigration, leadership, women’s empowerment, community, and Zionism. Below is a sample of how a visit from our Henrietta Szold living history character connects to classroom learning: Jewish History Curriculum Jewish Values Curriculum Connections Connections • Achrayut (Community Mindedness) • Jewish Immigration to the United States • Ahavat Yisrael (Love the People of Israel) of America • Anavah (Humility) • American Jewish History • Access to Education for Everyone • Evolving Jewish Traditions and Practices • G’milut Chasadim (Lovingkindness) • History of Making Aliyah (1st – 4th Aliyah • Importance of Studying and Aliyah Bet). • Kibud Av v’Em (Honoring One’s Parents) • Early Zionism and the Yishuv • Manhigut (Leadership) • Netzach (Perseverance) • Ometz Lev (Courage) • Tzedek (Righteousness) • V’ahavta l’reacha Kamocha (Love Your Neighbor as Yourself) Biography of Henrietta Szold 2 Henrietta Szold was born in Baltimore in 1860 to Benjamin and Sophie Schaar Szold, Jewish immigrants from Hungary. Her father served as the Rabbi of Congregation Oheb Shalom and raised Henrietta as a scholar. She would spend much of her young adult life in Baltimore, teaching at her alma mater, Western Female High School, as well as Miss Adam’s School. During this time, Szold began writing under the penname “Sulamith,” submitting letters and articles on American Jewish life and culture to periodicals such as the Jewish Messenger. In the 1870s, Henrietta and her father would go to the Baltimore docks to greet new Jewish immigrants, mostly arriving from Eastern Europe and Russia. In 1889, Szold worked with the Isaac Baer Levinsohn Literary Society to form a night school for these immigrants to teach them English and American history. It was from her work with the Russian immigrant community that Szold found her passion for Zionism. In 1893, Szold joined the newly formed Zionist Association of Baltimore, the first Zionist organization in the United States; that year she was also one of two Jewish women selected to speak before the Jewish Congress at the Chicago World’s Fair. In 1896, she published an article explaining her Zionist views, one month before Theodore Herzl’s first Zionist publication, and in 1898, with the foundation of the Federation of American Zionists, she joined its executive committee and education department. During this time, Szold continued pursuing her academic interests. She began working for the Jewish Publication Society as its first paid employee. She also studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary, after promising that she would not seek rabbinical ordination. It was not until 1907, however, that she would join the organization in which she would truly make her mark. Szold joined the Hadassah Study Circle, a Zionist women’s organization. Two years later, she traveled to Palestine with her mother. Horrified by the lack of medical supplies, Henrietta returned home determined to improve the conditions there. She founded the Hadassah organization to raise money to send nurses to Palestine. While serving as Hadassah’s president, she also became involved with the American Zionist Medical Unit, and later helped establish the Rothschild- Hadassah Hospital in Palestine and the Hadassah School of Nursing. Eight years later, Szold retired from Hadassah, but continued her work in Israel, serving as an elected official on the Yishuv’s National Council. With the rise of Nazi power in Germany in 1933, she became the director of yet another organization, Youth Aliyah. She oversaw the resettlement and training of 11,000 refugee Jewish children for life in Palestine. On February 13th, 1945 Szold died at the age of eighty-five in the hospital that she helped build. She is buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Putting Henrietta Szold’s Life in Historical Context 3 Land of Modern-Day Israel Under Control of the 1840 Ottoman Empire Since 1517 and Known as Palestine 1860 1861: American Civil War Begins 1868: Locust Point Opens in Baltimore, MD 1880 1897: First Zionist Conference (held in Basel, c. 1893 Switzerland) Establishes the World Zionist Henrietta Szold 1900 Organization 1860-1945 1914: World War I Begins 1918: World War I Ends; Ottoman 1920 Empire Divided 1922: British Mandate of Palestine is Established 1933: Hitler Comes to Power in Germany July 1936 1938: World War II Begins 1940 1948: Israel Becomes an Independent County 1960 Top Image: JMM 1992.242.006.043d Bottom Image: JMM 1992.242.007.200 Pre-Visit Activities 4 Vocabulary – Words from a Hat This living history performance uses some terms with which students may be unfamiliar, such as Aliyah and Yishuv; this pre-visit activity offers a chance to frontload this vocabulary. 1. Write each of the vocabulary words on an index card and place those cards into a hat. Put students into small groups and have each group select one word from the hat. 2. Provide each group a vocabulary organizer to complete (we have provided a modified Frayer model in this packet for you to use). 3. Ask students to research their word, using a dictionary, encyclopedia, or reputable websites (such as www.myjewishlearning.com, or www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/) and complete the vocabulary organizer. 4. Have students create a presentation about their word for the class. Students can present their findings in any creative way they wish including: a skit, a poem, a song, an illustration, etc. as long as their presentation demonstrates their understanding of the assigned word. 5. Take it a Step Further: Review the vocabulary words with students through a game such as jeopardy, concentration (memory matching), or bingo. Maryland Jewish Leaders You will be learning about Henrietta Szold, a Jewish Baltimorean whose leadership and ingenuity helped improve the lives of millions of people in the United States, but who are other Jewish leaders whose work has shaped the city of Baltimore? 1. Have students think-pair-share the qualities of a successful leader. Write the characteristics down for the class to see. 2. Assign each student or group of students an honoree Black and white photograph of Henrietta Szold, Mr. Berth, and others. from the Jewish Community Center of Greater According to the Daughter of Zion exhibition catalog, this photograph is Baltimore’s Baltimore Jewish Hall of Fame of Henrietta Szold going over plans with madrichim at a kibbutz, about 1940. JMM 1992.242.007.177 (www.jcc.org/know-j/special-events/baltimore-jewish- hall-fame) 3. Give each student or group, 15-20 minutes to research their person using reputable sources, such as the Baltimore Jewish Times (https://jewishtimes.com/). 4. Have each student or group present their findings to the class, focusing particularly on their person’s contributions and leadership qualities. 5. Ask students to brainstorm a leader in their personal lives who has impacted their life and to think about which qualities that person exemplifies. Have students who are willing, share their person with the class. 6. Then ask students to select two of the leadership qualities and to reflect on how they can embody these traits in their own lives. 7. Post-Visit Extension: Have your students reflect on the Henrietta Szold Living History performance and determine which qualities of a successful leader Szold illustrated during her lifetime. During Visit Instructions 5 Set-Up • This performance is usually done in a classroom. If you will be using another type of space, such as an auditorium, please let the School Program Coordinator know in advance. If possible, the actress will need to have access to the room 30 minutes in advance of the start time to set up her trunk. Additionally, she will need a small private room where she can change into her costume. Please make sure that your office staff is aware of the program and that someone is available to direct the actress to the classroom upon arrival. • Please have four straight chairs, three music stands or easels, and one small table or desk for the actress’s use during the performance. Introduction to the Performance (Please Read) We are pleased to present the story of an extraordinary Jewish woman, Henrietta Szold. Born and raised in Baltimore, Henrietta Szold was a woman of vision, determination, intelligence, and an unswerving commitment to Judaism and Zionism.