Acting Out Biographies: Jewish Leadership at a New England Prep School

Abstract

The New England college preparatory school provides a microcosm of Jewish life in an academic setting. In an educational project for five new England preparatory schools students explored different forms of Jewish leadership by acting the roles of historical figures with whom they identified. Leaders ranged from business woman and mother, Gluckel of Hamlin, to Zionist Theodore Herzl and poet Hannah Senesh. These biographical presentations revealed students creating their own biographies as Jewish leaders.