CU4-20


 * 4:20 **  **Ezra and Nehemiah **
 * Goal ** Students will learn about the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah with an emphasis on the ethical tension between the official policy of exclusivism and the universalistic ethic of some of the post-exhilic writings.
 *  1. **** Gain the attention of the learner ** Find out how many students have no Jewish parents, one Jewish parent, and two Jewish parents.
 *  2. **** Relevant past learning ** Identify the time being studied on the timeline. Recall the situation of the Jews under Persian rule, emphasizing the tensions between the Jews and the Samaritans.
 *  3. **** Introduce new material ** Connect the problems between Jews and Samaritans with the problems between Jews and other neighbors (Ammonites, Edomites). Relate what historians and archeologists know about the reforms of Nehemiah and Ezra, emphasizing the policies of strict observance of religious law and of exclusivism with respect to Gentiles and Samaritans.
 *  4. **** Provide for guided practice ** Read the story of Ruth, written during the time of the Nehemiah-Ezra reforms. Discuss how making Ruth, an outsider, both the heroine of the story and the great-grandmother of David contrasts with the exclusivism of Nehemiah’s policies.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial"> 5. ****<span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> Provide for independent practice **<span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> Give students the story of Jonah, also post-exhilic in origin, and ask them to prepare and act out a play dramatizing the story.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> 6. Close the lesson **<span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> Note the universalistic theme of the Jonah story, again contrasting it with the exclusivistic policies of Nehemiah. (Relate to preexhilic writings emphasizing separation. Also relate to current events: isolationism and xenophobia vs. global community.)