Holy Places in Israel
Find Israel on a globe; show photos of Jerusalem and its holy sites.
Children wonder and discover; you facilitate more than you lecture.
- Where is Israel?
- What makes it holy to Jews, and where are those sites?
- What makes it holy to Christians and Muslims, and where are those sites?
Israel is central to Jewish history and prayer. Jerusalem is holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike — a place many peoples cherish.
- Yisrael — Israel
- Yerushalayim — Jerusalem
- Kotel — Western Wall
- “Why is one place holy to so many people?”
- Because many faiths have deep, ancient stories there; it’s a place lots of people love and respect.
- Children locate Israel and identify it as a land sacred to many peoples.
- Children recognize key sites (Jerusalem, the Kotel, Dome of the Rock, Church of the Holy Sepulchre) as important places where different people pray.
Present Israel’s holiness to multiple peoples evenhandedly and age-appropriately; model respect for all who hold it dear.
Folktale. The Whispering Stones of the Kotel (Folklore) — legend says the stones of the Western Wall hold every prayer ever whispered there.
Changemaker. Teddy Kollek — a long-time mayor of Jerusalem who worked to care for its Jewish, Christian, and Muslim residents.
How can one place be holy to many peoples — and why?
“We located Israel and learned about Jerusalem. Try at home: find Israel on a map and share any family connection to it.”