Text: Young Judaea - Group activities - Jewish living - Zionism - American affairs
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Teachers: This poster and the following essay are meant to be used in tandem with Being Jewish as part of The New Curriculum which is designed to encourage greater student participation in classroom discussions on political Zionism, Palestinian nationalism and U.S. Middle East policy.
This poster was published by Young Judaea, the oldest Zionist youth movement in the United States, founded in 1909. On the left side a Jewish-American man and woman are striding off an outline map of the United States filled in with a graphic of the American flag. A man, perhaps an Israeli or an American who has already "made aliya" (Hebrew: to immigrate to Israel) is welcoming them to Israel. He stands on an outline map of Palestine/Israel that features a formulaic graphic for a kibbutz (Hebrew: collective farm) with trees, service buildings and a water tower surrounded by large agricultural fields. The entire background is done in a flat grey and no other countries are indicated. All three figures are dressed in blue farm work clothing. The subtext of this graphic is that the Jewish-American man and woman are not mere visitors or tourists to Israel but rather they are immigrating permanently to Israel. Only there, according to Zionist dogma, can they begin to live authentic, Jewish lives.
The main goal of Young Judaea is to encourage Jewish Americans to emigrate from the United States and to settle in Israel. According to the most recently available statistics, less than 40% of all Jewish people in the world live in Israel. The United States is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.