The Churban

Objective

Why was the Beit HaMikdash destroyed?

The Churban

Galut

Method

This topic is something that the chanichim will probably know. Even in grade three most kids have some knowledge about the Churban, so how about some trivia.

Here is a list of questions that can be made into jeopardy, who wants to be a millionaire?, trivial pursuit or just good old fashioned trivia. If you want you can ask the questions as they are, or make them multiple choice. Do not be afraid to open up a tanach (the end of Melachim Bet) and come up with some more questions on your own. This is also a great way to throw some Bnei Akiva trivia into the mix

What nation conquered Jerusalem? Babylonia (Bavel)

What is Bnei Akiva’s anthem? Yad Achim

Who was the King of Babylonia at the time of the Churban? Nebuchadnezzer

What is the real name of the shoe lace shirts? Tilboshet

What year was the Churban? 586 BCE

Who is Bnei Akiva named after? Rabbi Akiva

What day was the Beit HaMikdash destroyed? Tisha BeAv

How many different countries have Bnei Akiva? 28

Where were the Jews sent to, after the Churban? Babylonia

What are the ideologies of Bnei Akiva? Am Yisrael, BeEretz Yisrael, Al Pi Torat Yisrael

What were the three reasons for the Churban? Avodah Zara, Murder, and Gilui Arayot (inappropriate [sexual] relations) 

What are the 6 objects in the semel? Luchot, olive branch, pitchfork, scythe, wheat sheaf, ribbon

What year was the fall of Babylonia? 539 BCE

Who wrote Yad Achim? Rav Neryiah z"l

Who was the king at the time of the Churban? Zedekiah

What do the objects in the semel represent? Olive, wheat, scythe and pitchfork- Avodah/ Luchot- Torah/ ribbon- the thing that ties the two together (two being Torah and Avodah)

After the Churban who was the last Jewish leader in Israel of the time, and how did he die? Gedaliah ben Achikam, he was assassinated

Other than Canada, Israel and the US, what are 5 other countries that have Bnei Akiva? England, Scotland, South Africa, Norway, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, France, Russia, Holland, Sweden, Denmark Finland, Hungary, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Germany……..

or any other questions you want to add in that are connected to Israel, Bnei Akiva, the churban and anything else really. You can throw in sports, parsha and movie trivia to keep the kids into the game.

Conclusion

Due to the fact that you were asking your Chanichim questions on various topics, they may have already lost the information they learned about the churban. When you are done playing try to review the questions pertaining to the churban. Especially important questions have been italicized and bolded. If you are able to, prizes and candy really encourage kids to get involved in the game. Because the game was trivia, there aren’t any conclusion questions. The game wasn’t to prove a point, all the information was already directly discussed in the questions.

Suitable For Shabbat