Hakamat Hamedina-nili - הקמת המדינה- ניל"י

Goals: Teach the chanichim about this important part of the new Yeshuv and its struggle to gain independence. Focus on bravery and determination

Materials: Morse Code strips, written out messages, rebus, Officer Insignia

Game 1: Rebus

As a quick shtick, show the chanichim the included rebus. Help them work it out. The answer is Net+Sock=Netzach  Yisrael  Low=Lo  Y+Shock+Hair=Yishaker

Explain that this is a phrase that was used for an organization called NILI.

Background

            During World War I, one of the major theaters of war was Palestine, where the British forces met those of the Ottoman Empire, who then ruled Palestine. The Jews living in Palestine were anxious to contribute to the war effort to show that they could fight and with the hope that after the war they would be given Palestine as a reward for their assistance. The New Yeshuv eventually chose to support the British. To this end, they formed several battle groups. These included Joseph Trumpeldor’s Zion Mule Corps and Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s Jewish Legion. (Jabotinsky is quoted saying “Now we will obtain the Land of Israel in a manner befitting us as a nation only if blood is shed for the liberation, only if Jews bear arms.”) These groups fought valiantly and helped the British succeed in Palestine.

            Another group that formed at this time for similar purposes was NILI, which stands for Netzach Yisrael Lo Yishaker(The glory of Israel will not lie). This group spied for the British voluntarily (without receiving compensation). The group was headed by a man named Aaron Aaronson. The information that NILI passed to the British was vital to their success in Palestine. 

Game 2: Morse Code

            All spies use secret codes to communicate. One of the most common codes is Morse Code. Cut up the sheets of Morse code so that you have a few to go around. Divide the chanichim into small groups of five kids or so. Have give every few kids a code sheet. Have each team send up one person to you, standing across the room. Tell that person that they must communicate a secret message. Have them relate it to their teammates by opening and closing the palm of their hand - IF you open it and close it immediately, it is a dot. If you open it and hold it open for a few seconds it is a dash - the first team to guess the message gets a point. Some suggested messages:

            The British will join us at dawn              The ship will return in three weeks

            The password is NILI                           The Turkish Soldiers are coming

            We will meet tomorrow

Of course you can feel free to make up your own messages, but make sure to write them out before Shabbat, for those chanichim who have spelling trouble (Make a few copies of each, one for each group.) This game may get boring quickly, so stay on top of it and end it if you have to. It also might go very well. Just make sure you pay attention to how it’s going.

Game 3: Detective

            Play in a circle and one to three objects are needed.

            One player is chosen to leave the room. He is the thief. The objects are placed in the center of the circle. Another player is chosen to be the detective. The thief reenters and must remove the objects from the circle without beingtagged by the detective. But the thief doesn’t know who the detective is. The detective may not leave his chair until the thief has touched the objects. If the thief escapes from the circle he wins’ if he doesn’t escape the detective wins.

Game 4: Human Stratego

            In the game of Stratego, everyone is assigned a rank. In our game the ranks will go from  1-6. Depending on your rank you can kill people on the other team of a lower rank. 1 can kill all those lower than him (2-5) except the 6, who can kill 1. 2 can kill 3-6. 3 can kill 4-6, etc. If you want, you can assign a name instead of a number. (1=General, 2=Colonel, 3=Major, 4=Lieutenant, 5=Private, 6=Spy, or if you’re slightly more ambitious, you can go to Tzahal’s web page and find the hebrew names that correspond.)

Divide the group into two teams, and distribute cards secretly to each member so that there is one 1, one 2, one 6, and a reasonable number of each other type. Then basically let them run amock, playing a big game of tag, and whichever team has the last player alive wins. Let them make a bit of strategy before the game starts. For an added effect, you can make copies of the insignia of each officer-type to put on the cards.

 Explanation:

            Obviously, all these games have to do a bit with spying and secret, clandenstine operations.