Tzionut

The goal of this peulah is to break down some of the stereotypes our chanichim hold concerning Israelis.

·        Assign each chanich/a role. Eg: Israeli bus driver, soccer player, student, plumber etc.

Tell each  chanich/a to become his character and have them act out a meal or a typical day in these characters’ lives.

·        Discuss how each chanich/a portrayed his/her character. (Deal with the character, not the acting techniques…) Explain to them that Israelis do not conform to the stereotypes which some of us have. They are just like us, only they live across the Ocean.

·        Play the game again, except this time change the parts to a Religious Israeli bus driver, soccer player etc.

·        Discuss how being religious changes your life in America and how it changes your life in Israel.

Sicha:

One questionàHow is being religious in Israel different from being religious in America?

1.      Buses don’t run on Shabbat.

2.      No public sports on Shabbat.

3.      Shabbat is the national weekend-not Sunday.

4.      Only Kosher food is served in the parliament (Knesset).

5.      Every corner has someone selling flowers on Erev Shabbat.

6.      Newspapers dated by the Jewish as well as the secular date.

Stress: No separation of Church and State in Israel. Religion is part of our national as well as our personal lives there.

Games:

Teacher: Be the teacher/guru/wise person.  Throw a ball/small object to someone in the circle.  Ask him to be the teacher and tell all he knows about Zionism, Hertzl, Israel, anything.  Let each chanich/a assume the role of teacher.  Give time limits, and make it fast moving.  Have everyone else move around when the “teacher” is talking.

I Am Taking a Trip to Israel: Chanichim sit in a circle (or any fun formation for that matter).  “I am taking a trip to Israel and in my bag I packed ________”  Go around the formation repeating the statement, saying at the end what everyone else took, and adding your own thing to it.  To make it more interesting – have a “punishment” when someone gets something wrong (run around the curcle, stand up and do a silly dance…)  Continue with the game.

Etz, Pri, Perach: Madrich/a assigns each chanich a name (etz, pre, perach, for example).  Stand in middle of circle and call one of the names.  Everyone with that name gets up and trades seats.  Person in middle also tries to get a seat.  Person left standing calls the next group up.  Try calling “Eretz Israel”, everyone gets up and has to trade seats.  None of this sitting in the seat right next to you – that’s cheating!!