goals:

The chanichim will understand the why it is important to have a flag.

The chanichim will know that what’s behind what eyes can see is more important

1. story : the poor man and the suit: an very poor man was once invited by his reach friend to a big party. Seeing him at the door – the guards told him to take a hike. When he asked for a reason they told him he couldn’t have gotten an invitation, being so poor and all. Besides, they told him: “you can’t mingle with the hi society and famous people wearing rags!”

Disappointed – the man went to the closest store and spend every dime he had on a new expensive suit. He then went back to the party and the guards at the entrance, not recognizing him from before, let him in and a tall guy escorted him to a seat handing him the menu. After serving him the tall butler came to see if the poor man needed anything else. He was amazed to see that the guy is poring the soup in to his pants pockets and stuffing his suit pockets with stakes and kneidalach.

He then called the guards and in a minute the whole crowd was surrounding him.  The landlord approached him asking for his actions!!  -“it’s very simple” – answered the poor man – “my close deserve to eat! They got me in here didn’t they?”

This story comes to show us that what should count is not how someone looks but what’s behind it’s appearance!

I was once in a post on the border of Lebanon and infront of us were the hizballa with their green ugly flag up in the air. I looked above me just to notice for the first time that there was a paratrooper unit flag up and not an Israeli one’ I thought : who am I representing? And how am I different from the people on the other side of the fence.  Speaking to my soldiers on the next weapon check we discussed whether or not that’s the way it should be. The next morning I woke up to find that someone swapped the flags.

Was that the right thing to do?

2. ask your chanichim: what’s behind the American flag? (I also attached flags in word 4 u guys – u can in large it if u want!) does it men something to you when you see it waved? Do you feel the same when you see the Israeli flag? If not how is it different?
3. show them the Saudi flag – notice the sward on the bottom. The green color represent Islam! The sward represent the fact that islam should be forces by war – jihad! That’s what muhamad preached for! The words in Arabic are from the kuran!

Now show them the Israeli flag – why the stripes? (talit) why magen david?(believed to be on david’s shield) how are the two flags similar? Don’t forget that We also put our religious on our most famous sign!

Make sure the chanichim come to understand the symbolic difference between a sword and a shield!

4. is there any logic in swearing to the flag? Why do we do it?
5. have u watched the  movie “patriot”? thares a guy who’s job is to run with the flag! He has no weapons and he runs infront of everyone! Of course he always dies but the army finds it worth it because it makes people fight – something like mose’s hands against amalek (lehavdil)
6. should Israel have a flag like all nations?

7.  take two chanichim and give them the flags of france and turkey and ask them to act a French man and a turkman (J) the French man can say how proud he is of his flag and that so many people has died for it at the times of napoleon. The turk can say how important it is for them that in Cyprus – their flag and not Greece will be raised.

8. would we feel the same way towards our flag if we were any other country? Discuss it with the chanichim!

MASKANA! (conclusion) :

The way we feel about the Israeli flag (I still get the shivers seeing it flown up high in the air) is because of the history it represents – more than just 54 years of existence but 2000 years of galut before it! People in America for sure feel the same way especially after 9/11!

We should be proud of our flag and anything which shows our love and bond to srael and to Judaism

Armies of g-d

when the people of Israel parked in the desert they parkes by camps – each one raises his flag up high.

Am Israel was moving in the desert as an army – but army does not mean only war, but also order. There is a global goal and not only an  individual one. When every one stood ready for his job: cohanim in there work, levi’im – carrying, and the rest of Israel – by the order of their flags, becomes a whole order – including contrasts which complete each other. Balancing and harmony of the army of g-d  that shows the unity of  g-d, by it’s amazing appearance and also by joining together to conquer the land, redeeming more and more parts of chaos and mending them.

This appearance by flags meant a lot to the order of the shvatim!

You can find the order of the tribes by flags at:

http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/history/divrey/maamar9r.htm