To teach the chanachim that the source of “tzionut” in Hebrew literally is “tzion” – one of the names of Yerushalyim. Tzionut is a longing for Yerushalyim.  But that is not how we have come to understand it.  We understand it as a love of Israel, (Yerushalyim included in that) encompassing that of both modern day Midinat Israel and of the “Old” Israel.

• card each with Israeli events and on a separate card their dates.
• Story (attached)
• Ball
• Props for Jeopardy

Topic:

The source of “tzionut” in Hebrew literally is “tzion” – one of the names of Yerushalyim. Tzionut is a longing for Yerushalyim.  But that is not how we have come to understand it.  We understand it as a love of Israel, (Yerushalyim included in that) encompassing that of both modern day Midinat Israel and of the “Old” Israel.

Tzionut:           A movement whose goal was return of Jews to Eretz Israel or Tzion, Jewish synonym for Jerusalem and the land of Israel.  (Definition taken off the “100 years of Zionism website.)

Tzionut Datit:             The belief that Jewish nationalism is a religious as well as a political goal, to be realized as Jewish homeland in Eretz Israel based on Torah V’avodah – a synthesis of Torah with practical labor. (taken from “100 years of Zionism” web page)

1^st to 3^rd Grade

For discussion.  Don’t take too long, and make it interesting, as you know they get bored easily…

·        Is Bnei Akiva a Zionist youth movement?  Is it more a religious Zionist youth movement?  What makes Bnei Akiva Zionistic?  (discuss with them the ideology of BA  Torah, Avodah, and Aliya – emphasise the Aliya.)  Is it good to be Zionistic?  Etc…

·        Play Word Association with them.  Madrich/a starts with a word (about Israel, Zionism, BA, of course!) and the next person in the single says the first thing that comes to mind.  Continues.  Try to keep all the words Zionistic.  (Examples: Yerushalyim, Israel, Magen David, Hertzl, Tzionut…)

·        Discuss with the chanichim typical Israeli “symbols”.  What makes them typical Israel?  Jewish?  Examples: Magen David, The Knesset, Shelet of Yerushalyim, Menorah, etc…

Games:

Word Chain: Madrich/a chooses a word (related to Israel/Zionism) and says it out loud.  The next person in the circle says another word that begins with the last letter of the previous word, and so on.  Objective:  Keep the words to Israel/Tzionut. 

Line up by Israeli History: Madirch/a gives each chanich/a a card with the name of an event and its date.  Chanichim have a time limit in which they must line up from earliest date to the latest date.  When the time is up, go through with the chanichim the events.

(examples: 1948 – Milchemet Ha’Atzmaut, 1967- Milchemet sheshet Ha’Yamim, 1897 – 1^st Zionist Congress (convened by Theodore Hertzl) in Switzerland, 1909 – establishment ong Deganya, the 1^st Kibbutz, 1947 – The UN vote, 1973 – Milchemet Yom Kippur, 1979- Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed.  Etc…

Story:

“On Eagles’ Wings” by Laszlo Hamori (from Flight to the Promised Land)

Thrilling new swept through the Yemenite town where twelve-year-old Shalom lived.  The Jews in the marketplace whispered excitedly to each other, “Israel has arisen again after 2,000 years.  A new David rules in Jerusalem!”  As the news spread throughout Yemen the Jews gathered their household goods and children and began a long trek through the desert toward Aden.  From British-controlled Aden they would somehow find a way to reach the Promised Land.  God would provide a miracle.

One scorching hot morning a glistening silver airplane appeared over the El Hasched settlement in Aden.  Flying low, it circled the tent city.

The people rushed out of their tents, turned their faces upward and stared at the circling plane.

A shrill voice shouted, “The L-rd G-d has sent us a silver bird.”

And as if on command, four thousand Yemenite Jews – men, women and children – bowed to the ground and, with their arms lifted up, recited the creed of their faith:

            “Hear O Israel!  The L-rd our G-d; the L-rd is one.”

A few days later Shalom and his fellow-villagers climbed calmly aboard the huge plane.  The only sign of emotion they showed was that the men covered their heads with their shawls and prayed aloud during the entire trip.  Shalom spent every minute looking out of the round window of the plane.  He could see the Red Sea below and the reddish-gold coast lines of Arabia and Africa.

When they were about three hours out of Aden the little children began to complain that they were hungry.  The mothers, who were dressed in their best clothing festooned with silver jewelry, tried to calm their youngsters, but not even a nasty look from the head of the family helped.  The women decided to take things into their own hands.

At that point the stewardess was sitting in the pilot’s cabin writing a report for the airport officials in Israel.  Suddenly the captain sniffed the air.

“Harry, Leah,” he said to the others.  “Don’t you smell smoke?”

“By golly, you’re right,” the copilot agreed.  He quickly checked his instruments and found everything normal.  The noise of the engines was even and quiet.  Nothing seemed to be wrong.

A sudden hunch made Leah jump up from her seat.  As she opened the door leading to the passenger cabin, smoke began to pour through.  The stewardess and copilot rushed out.  In the aisle between the seats they discovered a small burning pile of newspapers and little pieces of wood.  One of the women squatted beside it holding a kettle of food over the fire.

The copilot did a wild war dance with his size thirteen shoes and managed to stamp out the fire.  The women with the kettle screamed wildly and tried to shove aside the gangly American.

“Idiotic women!  You’ll set the whole plane on fire.  I’ve seen some stupid things in my life, but never anything to equal this!” shouted the copilot.

Leah quickly poured water on the dying embers.  Then she explained to the women that it was dangerous to build a fire on the airplane.  Finally she pushed the angry copilot back into his own cabin and began to pass out sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs and tea to the passengers.

Having eaten, Shalom made his way up to the door between the passenger cabin and the cockpit.  Each time anyone opened the door he stared longingly at the pilots, the strange steering mechanisms, and all the buttons surrounding the pilots’ seat.  Yitzhak, an Israeli truck driver he had met in Yemen, had told him about motors and airplanes.  He would give anything in the world to be able to watch the pilots fly the plane.  But he didn’t dare ask.

So much changed in a short time, thought Shalom.  At one time back home he had dreamed of the day when he would be a teacher and would interpret Jewish law for his congregation.  But Yitzhak had told him there were many rabbis in Israel.  Now Shalom began to dream of a different future.  One day he would be a pilot whose plane would bring Jews to Israel from all over the world.

4^th to 6^th Grades

Peulah:

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!!

Grades 7-8 (Zach)

Debate: Does Tzionut exist today or did it end with Hertzl?

            Why is Hertzl considered the “father of Zionism”?

About Hertzl.  Hertzl turned Zionism into an integral movement.  His famous quote about Zionism – “Im Tirtzu, Ein Zo Agada!”  “If you wish it, it’s not a fantasy!”  Hertzl was bothered by anti-Semitism.  Originally he thought if all Jews converted publicly to Catholicism, it would end anti-Semitism.  But he realized that this “end of Judaism” was neither practical nor moral.

Hertzl was turned to Zionism as an answer to anti-Semitism because of the Dreyfus case.  (Dreyfus case – Dreyfus was accused of being a spy to his homeland – France.  Condemned to life imprisonment.  After death, discovered that he was really innocent.)  Hertzl concluded from the events that as long as Jews lived in non-Jewish societies they would be the scapegoats.  (If “Death to the Jews” shouts was the reaction to the Dreyfus trail in France, the 1^st European country to grand equal rights to Jews, Jews not safe anywhere.)  Therefore, Hertzl became obsessed with the vision of a Jewish state. 

Hertzl laid the foundations for all the major structures of the Zionist movement.  In 1887 the 1^st Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland.

Tzionut HaDatit

How did Hertzl affect Tzionut HaDatit?  Approxatly the same time as Hertzl Rav Kalisher and Rav Alkali were beginning the ideals of Religious Zionism.  They were the real starters of Tzionut HaDatit.

Rav Kook – pre-eminent hero of religious Zionists.  He became a passionate Zionist when most Orthodox leaders were denouncing it.  Believed in not relying on the miracle of Messiach coming, we’ve got to get started and pave the way.  Rav Kook made aliya in 1909.  In 1921 he became the Chief Rabbi of Palestine.

Tzionut HaDatit became big for almost all committed Jews, only after the Nazi rise to power.

Hatikva

Analyze Hatikva.  Is it a Zionist anthem?  Can it be a Religious Zionist anthem?

Yet deep within every heart

The soul of the Jew is yearning

And to the East

The eye seeks out Zion

Our hope is not yet lost

The hope of thousands of years

To be a free people in our land

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

According to Hatikva, how has Zionism in general changed since the time of Hertzl?

Game:  Play Jeopardy, general knowledge about Israel game.  Make teams.  Get them into it.  Take time to prepare it!