Postville Teaching Tools

Keywords:

Teaching Resources for the Postville Documentary.

Sites for the Three faiths Mentioned in the Postville

Judaism: http://www.hebroots.com/judaism.html
It answers almost all the questions one might have. What is an Hasidic Jew? What is the Menorah? What are the dietary laws (kosher)? Near the end of the site is a section on covering one's hair. There is information there on women, but many of the links are broken. However, the following site tells about men's head covering, beard, and hair: http://histclo.hispeed.com/style/ethnic/ethnicjew.html

Catholicism: http://www.catholic.org

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (St. Paul Lutheran Church in Postville) belongs to this organization): http://www.elca.org/

Possible Activities

  1. Have students list all the items related to being Hasidic. Then after they've marveled at all the odd things, have them make a comparable list for being a Christian or Catholic. Such an activity should help them see how odd the Christian or Catholic faith can seem to outsiders. Some possibilities are below. Some items match (Star of David vs. pentacle), but we shouldn't try to make the two lists balanced.

    Torah
    Menorah
    Star of David
    yarmulke (skull cap)
    streimal (fur hat)
    head covering for married women
    rabbi
    synagogue
    bowing and chanting
    Kosher
    black clothing
    differentiated gender roles based on religion

    Bible (and how the Bible is read by different groups of Christians: literal or the word of God; the word of people inspired by God; a mixture of history, culture, and God's inspiration)
    Rosary
    Pentacle
    The cross with Jesus's body and without (Catholic vs. Protestant)
    The stations of the cross
    minister or priest
    fasting (fish on Friday)
    baptism (sprinkling or dunking)
    kneeling or bowing the head
    the placement of the hands during prayer
    "Amen"
    church
    communion (symbolically eating Jesus's body and drinking His blood—very odd to outsiders)
    black at funerals; white at weddings
    differentiated gender roles based on religion

  2. What is the relationship between a male's identification and the head covering he wears? The Jews wear the black fedora, yarmulke, and streimal. What does each signify? The Hispanics are often seen with cowboy hats—what does that suggest? The Anglo Christians wear billed hats—what is its significance? AND at least one of the Jews also wears a billed hat—what does that suggest?
  3. Near the opening of the movie are two objects: a piñata and a menorah. What do they represent? One is a secular symbol (though often used at Christmas); the other is religious. Are the symbols then balanced? Should they be? Could the piñata be replaced if you wanted a symbol of the Hispanic Catholic religion?
  4. To set up a contrast, the people who lived in Postville before the 1980s are referred to as "natives," "locals, and "Americans." What is the implication of each term? What term do you think should be used?