Planning Ahead - חשיבות התכנון מראש

Goal: To teach the Chanichim the importance of planning ahead.  What is more important: the present or the future?  Is it better to endure temporary pain for the sake of achieving a goal that will eventually give you pleasure?  Emphasize the importance of focusing on the greater picture.  

Bnei Akiva Pittsburgh

Manhigut (9^th grade) Peula Shabbat December 30^th Parshat Vayigash:

Needs of the Present versus Needs of the Future (this is very light Peula but the Sicha aspect makes it more serious so if you want to include the Sicha then be sure to play one of the games post Sicha..)  The chanichim really enjoyed this Peula!!!

The Manhigut Chanichim have had some pretty serious Peulot and Sichot these past few weeks and we need to lighten the tone through fun games.

Goal: To teach the Chanichim the importance of planning ahead.  What is more important: the present or the future?  Is it better to endure temporary pain for the sake of achieving a goal that will eventually give you pleasure?  Emphasize the importance of focusing on the greater picture.  

Materials YOU MUST PREPARE BEFORE SHABBAT: 3 random objects, 3 decks of cards, empty box of food where it was obvious that large amounts of food once were, the food that was in the box, cards that have words/events written on them.

Ice-Breaker 

Come prepared with 3 objects (the more random the objects the better—i.e. a thumbtack, a hairbrush etc.)  Hold up the first object and have the first Chanich say 1 things that you could do with the object.  Instruct the Chanichim to be as creative as possible.  The Chanichim pass around the objects one by one until each Chanich has contributed.  During the second round, tell the Chanichim that they can only do something with the object that pertains to Shabbat.  During the third round, tell the Chanichim that they can only do something with the object that has to do with Judaism.  No one is allowed to repeat.

What we learn from this game which will be mentioned in closing: During the first round, you only focused on the simple present of what you could do with the object,  During the second and third rounds you had to focus on a more specific need that involved decisions for the future.  It was easier the first time you played beacuase it had no strings attached.  The reality of life is that you can’t just make decisions thinking only about what is good now, because what is good now might not be good in 5 minutes.

Games: 

• Waterlog

      A deck of 3 cards is passed out (maybe only 2 decks of cards depending on how many chanichim actually come)  and each chanich gets 6 cards.  The goal      of waterlog is to get 6 of a kind.  The first person to get 6 of a kind has to            stick out their tongue.  The last person to stick out their tongue has to drink         a glass of water.  The first person to go to the bathroom a.k.a the       waterlog loses.

      What we learn from this game which will be mentioned in closing: The challenge of this game is controlling your present needs for the needs of        the future to win. 

• What do you want to be when you grow up?

   

      The Chanichim all sit in a circle.  The Madrich tells the Chanichim to think       quietly what they want to be when they grow up and why they want to be     that when they grow up.  When the Madrich gives the go ahead, each          Chanich tells the person sitting on the right what they want to be when

      they grow up and the person on their left why they want to be it.  The            results should be pretty funny so play the game one more time if they had a   good time. 

      What we learn from this game which will be mentioned in closing: You all         weren’t really thinking towards the future—you just said answers that make          sense now, but seriously think—being a dolphin trainer may be something you want to be, but maybe you want to move somewhere where dolphin trainers    are not well paid and you want to buy a 5 story mansion so that’s practical…as          you saw in the game whatever you wanted to be got all mixed up because in    life all our plans get messed up.

• What am I thinking?

   

      Pick 5 volunteers (you can always add more volunteers if the game goes well.)           and show all the other chanichim a piece of paper with a certain word           written on it.  This word should not be a complicated word!!  It should be           something funny and something that pertains to your chanichim.  For            example, if you know that your chanichim just won the a basketball game pick          a word or even better an event that has to do with the basketball game such            as “Jake tripping over the referee.”  This will get all of the chanichim     excited and will occupy time as they remincise the finest moments of the   game.  The Chanich has 7 questions to figure out what the mystery word is. 

      What we learn from this game which will be mentioned in closing: Sometimes the answer to a problem is literally right in front of our noses, but we’re so    caught up in the present that our mind is blank. 

Trigger (Generally triggers should be at the beginning of the Peula but this time I am substituting the ice-breaker component since I don’t really know these Chanichim so well) The Madrich should pose a question that challenges the satisfaction achieved in the present versus the long term happiness in the future.  Example: Who likes SOURSTICKS?  (The Chanichim should all say me!!)  The Madrich contines: ME TOO!!  I like donuts so much I just ate 5 PACKS OF SOURSTICKS!!  They tasted so good!!  Yumm!!! Okay so now the Madrich just pretty much piqued the interests of all the Chanichim I mean seriously the Madrich probably sounds crazy.  (For best effect, bring whatever food you’re talking about and actually eat some of it there for the full effect, maybe bring an empty box, even better pass out the rest at the end to the Chanichim!!!)  Use this trigger to begin the closing sicha in a more subtle way (it’s so obvious that it’s subtle if you get my drift)

Sicha: (remember a crucial aspect of this Peula is that the Chanichim have FUN so keep it light)  See above what we learn from this game that will be mentioned in closing as you see appropriate.  Bring up Israeli security—often times the government is forced to make concessions such as giving up land for the sake of temporary peace which may not last in the future? 

Current examples:

1. GUSH KATIF!!!  Israel made a unilateral withdrawal from Gush Katif in the hopes of gaining temporary peace.  Now, 51 percent of Gaza's Jewish refugees are unemployed, and only 21 percent of former Gush Katif businesses have reopened.  Vanunu said the U.S. Jewish groups "supported the Gaza withdrawal, telling Americans it would help bring peace. They see us in a political light, but it shouldn't be this way. There are now thousands of Jews who are without permanent homes and whose children are having major problems.  Less then a week after the disengagement, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in Beer Sheva injuring 16 people. 

    

2. In a gesture to Syria, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday said that he was open to "any murmur of peace" from Israel's enemies.  In peace talks that broke down in 2000, Israel offered a return of all of the captured Golan Heights, but the negotiations foundered on Syrian demands for a foothold on the shore of the Sea of Galilee - a major source of Israeli drinking water - and conditions for peace it would give Israel.   

    

   Post-Disengagement Attacks against Israel (Sept. 2005-June 2006)  This can be used to illustrate the needs of the present versus the results of the future etc.  This is very serious and really darkens the tone of the Peula.  closed military zone and drops leaflets in northern Gaza urging Palestinian to leave the newly declared buffer zone by 6 p.m.

    

    

   2005

    

   1.        December 29, 2005: A Palestinian blows himself up next to a taxi near Tulkarm, killing an Israeli solider searching him and two other occupants of the taxi. Occupants of other Palestinian vehicles are injured. [42]

    

   2.       December 28, 2005: The IDF declares the northern part of the Gaza Strip a

     

    

   3.       December 22, 2005: Five IDF soldiers are lightly injured from a Qassam rocket that lands in their army base south of Ashkelon.

    

   4.       December 21, 2005: As a result of recent Qassam attacks targeting the industrial zone south of Ashkelon, plans are made to connect the area to the Red Dawn rocket launch warning system within two weeks.

    

   5.       December 16, 2005: Terrorists open fire on a vehicle outside Hebron, killing an Israeli man. [43]

    

   6.       December 10, 2005: A Palestinian man smuggling weapons while swimming toward the Gaza coast from Egypt is shot dead by an IDF naval boat. IDF troops uncover a tunnel for smuggling terrorists from Gaza to Israel near the Erez border crossing.

    

   7.       December 8, 2005: The IAF fires missiles onto a house in northern Gaza, killing two high-ranking members of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, Ayad Nagar and Ziyad Qaddas, and wounding six others. An IAF strike also fatally injures Khader Rayana of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in northern Gaza. An Israeli solider is stabbed to death outside the Kalandiya checkpoint, south of Ramallah. Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claims responsibility. [44]

    

   8.       December 7, 2005: Three rockets and one mortar land in Israeli territory from Gaza. The IDF responds by firing dozens of artillery shells into northern Gaza. The IAF also fires a missile at a car carrying Palestinian terrorists, killing the senior Popular Resistance Committees leader Mohammad Arkan and wounding six others.

    

   9.       December 5, 2005: A 21-year old Palestinian kills five people and wounds 50 in a suicide bombing in Netanya, Israel. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

    

   10.     December 2, 2005: Qassam rockets are fired from Gaza, landing in an open field in the Negev  Desert. The Palestinian Authority allows 15 wanted terrorists to enter Rafah, including a founder of Hamas, Ahmed el-Malah.

    

   11.      November 3, 2005: An Israeli soldier is wounded when mortar shells are fired from Gaza at 

   an IDF base near Nahal Oz.

    

   12.     November 2, 2005: An Israeli is wounded by mortar shells fired from Gaza toward the southern Israeli town of Nativ Haasara.

    

   13.     October 27, 2005: An IAF missile attack on a vehicle carrying terrorists in Gaza’s Jabaliya Refugee Camp kills seven Palestinians.

    

   14.     October 26, 2005: A suicide bomber kills six Israelis in the Israeli town of Hadera. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

    

   15.     September 24, 2005: Israel launches aerial attacks against vehicles and targeted locations in Gaza, killing three terrorists and four civilians.

    

   16.     September 23, 2005: Palestinian Islamic Jihad fires eight mortars into southern Israel. Later in the day, an explosion causes 15 deaths and leaves 80 people injured during a victory parade organized by Hamas in the Jabaliya Refugee Camp in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority condemns Hamas for the explosion and orders Hamas to stop parading weapons among civilians.

    

   17.     September 16, 2005: As the last Israeli soldiers leave Gaza, Palestinian mobs throughout the region destroy and burn synagogues left in the evacuated towns.

    

   18.     September 13, 2005: Palestinians loot and destroy greenhouses in Gaza, dealing a blow to efforts to reconstruct the Gaza Strip.

    

   19.     August 28, 2005: A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates in Be’er Sheva, Israel. Four Israelis are severely injured and dozens sustain moderate injuries.

    

   20.    August 22, 2005: Israel completes evacuation of all Jewish residents of the Gaza Strip