Tu Bi’shvat =tree planting= the best way to show that Hashem gave US Israel.  (trees show ownership over the land). And who planted trees and settled the land? Chalutzim.

Chalutzim and Eretz Israel

Stage 1: preparation

Teach your chanichim the number game.   Each number (1-8) has a sound+motion that goes with it.  They should stand in a row in front of you and respond to the numbers that you call out.  (It requires coordination). 

1- “We’re working the land!” (and pretend to work with a spade) 

2- “All together now!” (and hug the girls next to them)

3- Make sipping noise (pretend to sip from a straw)

4- “zzzzzzzzz” (Clap!)

5- “Eeeeewwwwww!!!!”  (hold your nose)

6- “bang! bang!”  (rifles in the air)

7-“Gobble, Gobble”  (make square hat on head with hands)

8- (kiss the floor in front of you)

• Have them play this game a few times.  Anyone who does the motion or sound at the wrong time, is “out”.  The last one still playing is the winner. 

Now give the numbers names:

1-     chalutzim

2-     Kibbutz

3-     Eucalyptus trees

4-     Malaria

5-     Dirty

6-     Fight

7-     Turks

8-     land

Stage 2: the story 

Tll the following story.  Any time you get to a bold word, they have to do the sound and motion, without getting mixed up.

Stage 3: discussion

Ask your chanichim if THEY would have stayed and settled the land despite the dangers…

You can explain the courage it took to settle the land back when there was danger all over the place (Turks, Malaria, droughts, locusts, etc…).

The story

It was a dark an stormy night in November in the holy land of Israel.   My fellow Chalutsim and I had been working against the clock to finish building our Kibbutz, before winter.   We had so much left to do!  The eucalyptus trees had to be planted before the winter rain hit us.  The eucalyptus trees were used to drain up the swamps.  The swamps were dirty and dangerous because they attracted malaria mosquitoes that caused terrible disease. 

As I said, us Chalutsim worked day and night to get the kibbutz built.  I had mud in my fingernails, dirty swamp water in my sketchers, and above all, I was having a bad hair day!!! 

I had been working with a Chalutz at building a fence around the farm, when he got malaria and left me to hammer alone.  It would have been ok, but it meant that I had to get my hands dirty!   

I guess anything was worth it to build the land of Israel.  Even getting dirty, and getting full of nasty killer malaria mosquito bites!  All the Chalutsim on my Kibbutz agreed with this, so we were all out working that dark and stormy night.

Suddenly, We heard gunshots!!!  It was the Turks.  They wanted to fight!   The Turks hated the fact that we were farming the land, and came to fight, like, every other day.  We had little ammunition and only a few fighters, so we ran to the swamps and climbed up the eucalyptus trees.    The Turks followed close behind.  We were running out of time, and needed a plan.  We couldn’t fight them for much longer…  From my branch on the eucalyptus tree I suddenly had an idea!  I called to all the chalutsot to get down from their trees, and perform the secret plan: “Plan blond”.   The guys looked at us from the eucalyptus trees.  They didn’t know what was going on!  We each stood right next to a Turk.  “On the count of three, girls!” I shouted, “One, two, three!  And bend, and SNAP!!!”  At that moment, we broke all the Turks’ noses!!!!  We had saved the Kibbutz and all the other chalutzim! 

We were dirty and tired from the long day of farming and fighting, but we had beaten the malaria, and the Turks, and most important, WE SAVED THE LAND!!!