The Destiny Foundation

More information on the series

“What makes this series so unique is that it puts Jewish history into perspective.

We can see ourselves in the ‘big picture’ of how we fit into nearly over 4,000 years of Jewish survival.

Who are we as Jews? How, and why we have survived so long? And what is Jewish Destiny??

Highly informative and entertaining, the series tells us – that despite the trials and tragedies, there are triumphs – and that knowing where we come from – will help us understand where we are going”

Berel Wein Director, The Destiny Foundation

About the series

The series and it’s multi-media educational materials, is based on Berel Wein’s book “Faith and Fate – The Story of the Jews in the 20th Century” and six years of extensive research with leading historians and educators.

Four episodes of the 13 part series, and their companion Educational Materials have been produced to date.

Presently, in pre-production are the three episodes covering the rise of Nazism, World War II and the Holocaust entitled, Distortions & Illusions 1921 – 1930; Ominous Skies 1931 – 1938; The Darkest Days 1939 – 1945. The remaining six episodes are awaiting funding.

Faith and Fate delves into “the stories behind the stories” to give the viewer a comprehensive overview of not only what happened in each decade of the century – but why things happened.

Faith and Fate’s special focus is on how the events of history impacted on the lives of Jews, living in different countries, all over the world – and the impact the Jewish people had on the century.

Director’s quote

“Understanding Jewish history in the context of world history – and making it informative, relatable and personal, as well as entertaining – that’s been our constant goal.”

“We’ve focused on the human story of history – not just the facts, events and dates.

We’ve searched the world for rare and hardly seen archival films and photographs – especially personal portraits and pictures of how history has touched the lives of ordinary people.

We’ve also composed original music to be scored for each episode – to help breath life and soul into the images and events in the series”

Ashley LazarusSeries Director

Research

Before beginning production on the documentary series Faith and Fate and its accompanying educational materials, we did extensive research to find out:

• What other educational materials and programming are available?
• What is the need and demand for such materials?
• What would be the most effective format to satisfy this need?

We worked closely with The Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York, an advisory board of leading history teachers in the United States, the Jewish Agency in Israel, and educators in South Africa and Israel. We also interviewed high school and college students and their teachers to understand their needs.

Research results

Unfortunately, for various reasons, learning about Jewish history and its life lessons for today have fallen to an all time low in the priorities of Jewish Education.

A minority of Jews know the whole story. The majority of us, especially the younger generation, do not.

There is a serious lack of teaching materials to effectively teach Jewish History. Teacher and schools confirmed there is a definite need for updated, interactive, multi-media teaching tools.

Response from educators, students, and communities confirmed that teaching Jewish history effectively is very important.

It gives the student the knowledge to objectively understand their own history, it enhances a sense of Jewish identity and increases their commitment to the Jewish community.

It also empowers the student to deal with the distortions of today’s media – which is unfortunately filled with ant-Jewish and anti-Israel propaganda.

Even in Israel, today’s youth are not being taught Jewish History as effectively as it could be.