MFS – Search the Databases
Search the Databases
Goals:
- Add depth to personal research done by students
- Broaden their view of global Jewish cultures and histories
- Enforce the idea that their stories are not stand alone, but rather are connected with Jews throughout time
These databases can be great resources for your students at home if they would like to explore diverse communities from the past and present. They can be paired up with many of the My Family Story lessons. We have included these databases in the lessons where they fit best, as well as marked them below. They can also be good short lessons in class if each student has access to a computer or tablet.
If using as a short lesson in class, try these prompts:
- Online Family Story Collection
Using the Online Family Story Collection, find a story coming from the same country your family came from. Is their Jewish story similar to yours? How? How do they differ? Please note that while the interface is in Hebrew only, stories appear in all languages. Please have your students use Google translate to understand stories in other languages. - Here is a direct link to a worldwide map, where students can click on the country and read stories about people born in that country.
- Synagogues360
Using the Synagogues360 database, find a synagogue in a country you would like to visit. What makes this synagogue unique? - Com.unity
Check out the current communities on the Com.unity database. If you were to open a page for your own community, what would it say? What would you want the world to know about your school/synagogue/kehillah? - ANU Open Databases
Enter your family’s last name or place of origin and see if their records are on our database. This database has both document and user-generated content, so if your information is not yet on the site, we invite you to add parts of your family tree. Others searching the database can also log on and may connect to your tree if you have similar roots! - Additional databases
Check out the additional databases, which include close-up looks at certain Jewish communities from certain parts of the world, as well as Jewish Nobel Prize recipients.
