History of Modern Israel

Course Description for 2011-12:

TPS Ancient Israel takes students up to about 400 BC. The period between the Testaments, Israel at the time of Christ, and the Destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 is where the <i>History of Modern Israel </i> begins. This second semester course follows the Diaspora of Jews into the Ottoman Empire, Spain, Russia, New York... and traces political, cultural, and theological shifts up through 1948, when Israel regained sovereignty. Students take a virtual tour of the historical sites in Modern Israel using maps, satellite images, movies, and slide shows enhanced by the Nichols' family who home schooled three teens in Jerusalem during the 2007-08 school year. This elective is project based with all readings on line. Class discussions follow the “Crash Course” at aish.com/jl/h/cc (#27-68). More class information is at http://historytour.net/israel

(Previous Course Description for 2010-11)
Modern Jerusalem is seen by many to be a "cup of trembling" on the world stage. Given the sovereignty of God, this course asks, "What is the relationship between theology and the history of Israel?" Students will examine a range of views discussed by Christian conservatives. Variations of dispensationalism, premillennialism, and amillennialism will be discussed in light of scriptural support and historical events. Following a review of the covenant God made with Israel, and the methods God used in bringing the Assyrians and Babylonians to serve his providence, students will look at the significance of 70 AD and the resulting diaspora. The scope and sequence then follows the Jews as they are scattered and gathered the world over. What has been the historical and theological relationship between Jews and Christians? Why are Christians and Jews divided over Zionism? Why does the UN spend the majority of its energy on Israel? How has history brought about the current state of affairs in Israel? What are the major religious expectations for the future of Israel? The course provides students with an overview of Jews in relation to world history over the past two millennium and an emphasis on national Israel since 1948. The teacher recently made another visit to Israel, spending a full school year arranging for expert enhancements to this class.

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The following 16 week scope and sequence is available to registered students. (Readings, quizzes, discussion forums, videos, and other multimedia are password protected.) Winter Break:  February 19 - February 27, 2011 Spring Break:  April 16 - April 24, 2011 All listed readings are Setting the Stage 1. Class overview: logistics, warnings, encouragements , Intertestamental 2. Geography: Mesopotamia to Egypt, reading 3. Covenant. with Abraham, Moses, reading , reading, reading History to 15th century 4. Discipline: Judges, Kings, Assyrians, Babylonians, reading , reading 5. Scattering Persians, Greeks, Maccabees, Romans, reading 6. Destruction of the Temple, Fall of Masada, Diaspora, reading Theology 7. New Testament: Romans 9 -11, Hebrews..., reading , reading , reading 8. Theological Variations: Dispensationalism and Amillennialism, reading 9. Anti Semitism: positions on Israel and the Church up through the Crusades reading , reading , reading Nationalism 10. Zionism from 1492 to 1948 , reading 11. Interactions: Ottoman Empire, Islam, and Judaism reading , reading 12. Nations Rage: Nazi Holocaust, British Mandate, USA, USSR, Arabs, Iran reading, reading, reading Gathered 13. Restoration: Israel 1948 - 1967, reading, reading , reading , reading , reading 14. Struggle: Israel 1967 to present, reading , reading 15. Eschatology: End Time Scenarios, reading 16. History Review, International relations, Gaza, EU, OPEC, UN, USA reading Individualization Students may choose a regular track or an honor's track. The honor's track requires more rigorous research and essay writing than the regular track. Essays in the regular track require 800 - 1000 words. Essays in the honors track require 1200 - 1600 words.

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15 Weekly Readings and Quizzes [10 points each for 150 points, or a total of 38% of the overall grade.]
All the reading assignments are on line, and/or in your Bible. A weekly quiz helps students be accountable to cover each week's readings. There is a final semester exam.

12 Weekly Discussion Threads [4 points each week for 48 points, or a total of 12% of the overall grade.]
Moderated topics are discussed in password protected forums. Students may also earn credit in this category by posting verses they have memorized.

1 Final Semester Exam [50 points, or a total of 12% of the overall grade.]
This is an open notebook timed exam based on course lectures and readings.

Projects: Select one per every three weeks

w03_Cartography PowerPoint or Motion Slideshow (due week 3)
a. The geography project requires students to draw a map to rubric standards which presents a thematic history relating to Israel. An visual example might be to show the Diaspora during a giving time period. [The Honors option includes a PowerPoint presentation with multiple maps, one of which must be hand drawn.]

b. Arrange a series of (15 - 25) still photos and/or drawings in a slide show set to music with narration and playable as a (panning/zooming) video. The theme needs to be geographic or regionally demographic. [Honors include subtitles.]

w06_Psalm or Quiz over a Reading (due week 6)
a. Write a poetic focus along the lines of a psalm that that relates the emotion and theology of an event in Israel's history. The rubric requires footnotes of the facts in the psalm. [Honor's student may record a melody for their psalm or enhance it with rhyming and/or metered phrases.] For inspiration see Psalms: 68, 78, 105, 106, 107, 114, 135, 136.

b. The "Quiz over a Reading" is to locate and propose an appropriate reading found on the web that would enhance the content of one of the course weeks 7 - 14. If approved, then the student will compose 11-14 multiple choice questions over the article to be taken as an open book format. The selected reading should be between 5000 and 9,000 words. [Honor's student would write 15 - 20 questions over an article of 8000 - 12,000 words.]

w09_Theological Essay or Debate Video (due week 9)
a. It would be unreasonable to discuss the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 without mentioning possible interpretations of the words of Jesus. Likewise, it would be unreasonable to discuss the events of 1948 and 1967 without noting their influence on Christian (and Jewish) eschatology. To help deal with these eschatological subjects, students will have the option of writing a theological thesis based essay in defense of a position, or in simply comparing positions. Students could also choose to explore the fulfillment of some Old Testament prophecy or the significance of Romans 9 - 11. Extensive background material is online to cover Traditional Dispensationalism (Israel is chosen land during millennial reign, with return to temple worship and such) and Covenant Amillennialism (Israel is fully replaced by the church in God’s plan, and has no special future). There are also Moderate views of Progressive Dispensationalism and Historic Premillenialism. [The rubric for the Honor's essay requires the addition of four multiple choice questions to help the reader check for understanding.]

b. Select an issue of theology concerning Israel and stage a debate which is video taped. The script needs to be written and approved in advance and the resulting audio-visual file should be between 5 and 10 minutes long. Acting counts.

w12_Document Based Question or (due week 12)
a. Student's will look at historical source documents in a self selected area of research to learn the various viewpoints over an event of history related to Israel. An essay will be written to analyze the sources within the context of the authors, audiences, and purposes of the documents. [Honors Track select 8 documents, Regular Track select 5 documents.]

b. Make a video which uses documentary evidence to counter a position promoted by revisionist historians who are dedicated to portraying Israel in a negative light. The resulting expository audio-visual file should be between 5 and 10 minutes long. [Honors Track students would include motion picture evidence in their documentary.]

w15_Impact of Israel Essay (due week 15)
a. This essay will focus on the political, economic, medical, or technological ramifications of Israel's historical events, that students select from the past 2000 years of history.

b. Assignment Option (due as substitute for any week)
A student initiated (and teacher approved) proposal can be used in place of any one of the above assignments. One possibility is to deliver a 45 minute lecture in class.

[Each of the five projects are worth 30 points, for a total possible of 150 points (38% of the overall grade).]

Due Dates: Assignments must be uploaded by the last day of the week they are due. After one week late the assignment is 50% of its original value.

Grades: 400 points possible
A = greater than 360 points
B = 320 - 359
C = 280 - 319
D = 240 - 279

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A personal comment from the course instructor