To show the chanachim that through Jewish History there are many examples of heroes who were examples of physical gvurah.

Through Jewish History there are many examples of heroes who were examples of physical gvurah.  This week we are going to focus on a couple of individuals.

 

Israel has used spies to gain important advantages in many wars.  One spy was Eli Cohen, “Our Man in Damascus”.  Eli Cohen posed as an Arab in Syria, and became friends with important government officials there.  He convinced his “friends” to hide their bunkers in the Golan Heights with Eucalyptus trees.  The Syrians were using these bunkers to shoot down on the Kibbutzim and villages in the Galil.  Because of the Eucalyptus trees, the Israeli army knew where bunkers were, and bombed them, saving many Israeli lives.  (Eli Cohen was eventually caught and killed by the Syrians.)

Suggestions:

-tell chanichim/ot that they are being trained/tested as spies for the Mossad

-sneak through the building (“hiding” from “enemy” kvutzot) and play each game in a different secret location

Spy Game #1: (Do you notice small details?)

1)                  Get your chanichim/ot to sit in a circle

2)                  Choose one of your chanichim/ot to be the “spy” and s/he should leave the room until s/he is called back in by the madrich/a

3)                  While the chanich/a is out of the room change a few things in the circle, such as 2 chanichim/ot changing shoes or switching places

4)                  The chanich/a should then be called back in and told to find out what is different about the circle and with the chanichim/ot in the circle

5)                  This should be done until every chanich/a has had a chance to be the “spy”

Spy Game #2:(Do you crack under pressure?)

1)                  The chanichim/ot sit in a circle and one of them is chosen to be the leader

2)                  The leader points to any chanich/a and at the same time says a word that is three letters or less (to make it more challenging for older kids- longer words, names from the parsha, etc.)

3)                  The leader then counts to ten, while the chanich/a must name one word for every letter in the leader’s word

eg. Cat- carrot, animal, towel

4)                  If the chanich/a can’t name the words he then switches places with the leader

 

Spy Game #3:(Can you crack the code?)

1)                  One chanich/a leaves the room

2)                  The rest of the kvutzah is split into two and each half is given half a phrase (e.g. “Bnei” “Akiva”)

3)                  When the chanich/a re-enters the room, the two groups have to yell out their messages at the same time

4)                  The chanich/a must guess the message

Another hero showing physical gvurah was Shimshon the shofet.  Not only was he amazingly strong, killing 1000 Plishtim with the jawbone of a donkey and pulling down a building with his bare hands, but he was also great at riddles.  This is the riddle he asked his in-laws (if they got it within 7 days, he would give them 30 sheets and 30 outfits.  If they didn’t, they had to give him 30 sheets and 30 outfits):

From the eater came food, from the strong came sweetness. (Shoftim 14/14)

What was he talking about?  Shimshon had killed a lion when he went to see his wife for the first time.  When he went back there for the wedding, he saw that there was a beehive inside the lion. (The in laws couldn’t guess it, so they got Shimshon’s wife to tell them the answer.  Shimshon got mad and killed 30 Plishtim and gave their clothing to his in-laws).

Here are a few picture riddles.  If they are too hard for your kids, try Laffy-Taffy type riddles, like:

What kind of room has no windows or doors? (a mushroom)

But I’m sure you can come up with better ones than that.

Answers to droodles

1.                  fresh bubble gum drooping from under a chair

2.                  Godzilla’s mailbox

3.                  a performing elephant on a unicycle

4.                  a butterfly breaking out of jail

5.                  a sailboat sailing on the high seas

6.                  parallel lines that finally meet

7.                  a giraffe passing by a window

8.                  a koala climbing a tree

9.                  a man stuck in an elevator

10.              the world’s biggest bubble (a man blowing a bubble)

11.              a Mexican hat (sombrero)

12.              a shepherd’s birthday gift

13.              an amateur sandwich maker making a tomato sandwich

14.              a spider doing a handstand

15.              George Washington crossing the Delaware River (a fish’s view of a boat)