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| The Queen of Sheba visits Solomon, by Tintoretto (Wikipedia) |
Note: For a woman who is barely mentioned at all, the fabulously-wealthy Queen of Sheba has had an out-sized effect on culture. Just ask my sister!
Get Ready: What would you call a powerful, perhaps arrogant, woman?
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| The shepherd boy David plays the harp for troubled King Saul (Wikimedia) |
Note: No one in the history of Israel made a bigger splash than King David. Here is the story of his unlikely rise to power.
Get Ready: Do you think a country needs a monarch (king or queen), president, etc.? Or is a military leader good enough?
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| Susannah and the Elders by Chiari (c. 1700-1727) (Wikipedia) |
Note: Some Bibles have extra books or passages, called "Apocrypha," which contain "extra" materials. Nevertheless, some of these are of great interest. Here's one such story.
Get Ready: If someone tells a lie about you, how can you prove it?
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| Queen Esther in the palace of King Ahasuerus (Wikimedia) |
Note: Despite her lack of historical status, Queen Esther has been held up as a model Jewish hero for generations, and her act is commemorated in a holiday even today.
Get Ready: Does a person need to be "real" to have a major impact on her or his culture?
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| In the Bible, Elijah was taken up in a "chariot of fire" as Elisha looked on. Thus some believe that, since he did not die, he can return. Painting by Giuseppe Angeli, c. 1740 (Wikipedia) |
Note: The Jewish tradition has given the world many inspiring folk stories; here's a good example.
Get Ready: Do you find it difficult to understand "why bad things happen to good people"? How do you explain it?
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| The Disinherited Knight unhorses Bois-Guilbert (Wikipedia) |
Note: Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel has given rise to many films, the earliest in 1911; and many television adaptations, including three series, the latest in 2002.
Get Ready: What is the attraction of historical novels? Why do we wish to read about the (real or imagined) activities of (real or imagined) people of the distant past?
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| "The Fox and the Crow" (Gutenberg) |
Note: The fox has the reputation of being clever--even sly! But as two of these stories show, that's not always true.
Get Ready: What other animals are associated with personality traits--like "bees are industrious" or "owls are wise"?
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| From a 1976 book that retells the story (Macmillan) |
Note: Yiddish stories often combine wisdom with humor--and they're fun to tell!
Get Ready: What would make your life better? What would make it worse? Think about what's "better" and what's "worse" as you read the story.
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| Rabbi Loew and the Golem (Wikipedia) |
Note: Jewish folk stories tell us of creatures made of clay by holy men, just as God made Adam. But sometimes when people trifle with magic, things can go horribly wrong...
Get Ready: The Jews often were (and sometimes still are) persecuted by the cultures in which they live(d). How do you think this real problem contributed to stories about the creation of golems?
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| Hanukkah has nine candles; Kwanzaa, seven. (Wikipedia: top, bottom) |
Note: Two December holidays very similar in some ways--Hanukkah and Kwanzaa--have different origins and serve different communities.
Get Ready: Do you think it's important for members of "sub-cultures" to gather and strengthen their bonds in formal, ritual ways, or is it better for them to allow themselves to be assimilated (be absorbed into the larger culture)?
