The Goodman Initiative - Large Group (75+ campers)

Say My Name, Say My Name

JAR — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 17:50:16 +0000

This is an experiential program that invites participants to learn about the geography of Israel through the names of its cities. As in Native American cultures, Hebrew names have meanings. The same is true of Israel's cities. Go on a journey through the identities and histories of Israel's cities. Just don't forget your passport!

Curriculum Themes:

A Land & Its People

Materials Required:

Program Duration:

1 hour

Physical Space:

Large Room (capacity 100+)

Number of Campers:

Age of Campers:

Core Learnings:

City names in Israel

Map of Israel

Explanation:

Program Steps:

Everyone gets a piece of paper and instructions for folding it into a passport.
You will need to fill in the form on the 2nd page of your passport with provided pens.
8 ‘Mayors’ will be preselected (counselors? Older campers? Same age campers?) – each of these people will be given an ‘identity’. That identity comes with a slip of paper. Each slip of paper will include the name of a place in Israel and the etymology of that place’s name (etymology = derivative history of the name). Every ‘Mayor’ gets a marker of a different color and a simple shape they will make as their stamp.
These 8 people will be scattered around the room. The participants will be told to take a tour around the room, to learn about the different places in Israel and to ask for a detailed description of where they are located. They must then draw the places on the map on their passport’s last page without asking others for help. The goal is to collect all 8 ‘stamps’ from the 8 people and to finish with a ‘full’ map.
At the end, there will be one large piece of butcher paper or poster board on the wall and the facilitator will have drawn on it a LARGE blank map of Israel. Each person, once they have achieved all 8 stamps, should take a pen and put where they think each of the places they visited are in Israel. Everyone will be told that they should transcribe their maps exactly, even if it looks different than what someone else (or many someone elses) has already put on the master map.
Once everyone has finished, a 2nd map will be revealed, filled in with the true location of all the places in Israel (or the facilitator will place the places with a marker on the master map for everyone to see at the end.)
Everyone will now sit for a debrief. The facilitator will ask the questions that are on the back page of the passport.

What has changed about how you feel about places in Israel now?
What does a name say about a place?
What does “Yisrael” mean and how does that meaning impact our feeling about the place?
Do you feel differently about YOUR name now? If so, how?
What is your camp's name and how does that name relfect the camp and its mission?

Supplies:

Passports

Pens for every participant

Scissors?

8 markers

1 large piece of butcher paper/poster board

SLIPS OF PAPER FOR ‘MAYORS’

Place Cards In Use:

Jerusalem

Tel Aviv

Yad Vashem

Dead Sea

Negev

Kineret

Haifa

Beer Sheva

JERUSALEM

A city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (c. 19th century BCE) is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem.[24][25] Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba (1330s BCE).[26] The name "Jerusalem" is variously etymologized to mean "foundation (Sumerian yeru, 'settlement'/Semitic yry' 'to found, to lay a cornerstone') of the god Shalem",[27][28] the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city.[29] The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) first appears in the Bible, in the book of Joshua. According to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yir'eh ("God will see to it", the name given by Abraham to the place where he began to sacrifice his son) and the town "Shalem".[30] The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE[31][32] and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states: "I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem",[33][34][35] or as other scholars suggest: "Yahweh is the God of the whole earth. The mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem".[36][37]

TEL AVIV

Tel Aviv is the Hebrew title of Theodor Herzl's Altneuland ("Old New Land"), translated from German by Nahum Sokolow. Sokolow had adopted the name of a Mesopotamian site near the city of Babylon mentioned in Ezekiel: "Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Abib, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days."[15] The name was chosen in 1910 from several suggestions, including "Herzliya". It was found fitting as it embraced the idea of a renaissance in the ancient Jewish homeland. Aviv is Hebrew for "spring", symbolizing renewal, and tel is a man-made mound accumulating layers of civilization built one over the other and symbolizing the ancient. Theories vary about the etymology of Jaffa or Yafo in Hebrew. Some believe that the name derives from yafah or yofi, Hebrew for "beautiful" or "beauty". Another tradition is that Japheth, son of Noah, founded the city and that it was named after him.[16]

BE’ER SHEVA

There are several etymologies for the origin of the name "Beersheba": The oath of Abraham and Abimelech (well of the oath) is the one stated in Gen. 21:31. Others include the seven wells dug by Isaac (seven wells), though only three or four have been identified; the oath of Isaac and Abimelech (well of the oath in Gen. 26:33); the seven ewes that sealed Abraham and Abimelech's oath (well of the seven). Be'er is the Hebrew word for well; sheva could mean "seven" or "oath" (from the Hebrew word shvu'a). In this case the meaning is probably "oath", as the ancient Hebrews believed seven to be a lucky number, and the Hebrew "shvu'a" (to take an oath) literally means " to seven oneself".

KINERET

The modern Hebrew name, Kinneret, comes from the Old Testament or Hebrew Tanakh "sea of Kinneret" in Numbers 34:11 andJoshua 13:27, and spelled (Hebrew) כנרות ("Kinnerot") in Joshua 11:2. This name was also found in the scripts of Ugarit, in the Aqhat Epic. Kinneret was listed among the "fenced cities" in Joshua 19:35. The name Kinneret may originate from the Hebrew word kinnor ("harp" or "lyre"), in view of the shape of the lake.[6] All Bible writers use the term "sea" (Hebrew יָם yam, Greek Θαλασσα) except the gospel of Luke, written to Theophilus of Macedonia, where it is called "the lake of Genneseret" in Luke 5:1, from the Greek λίμνη Γεννησαρέτ, (limnē Gennēsaret), the "Grecized form of Chinnereth" according to Easton, who says Genneseret means "a garden of riches".[8] The Babylonian Talmud, as well as Flavius Josephus mention the sea by the name "Sea of Ginosar" after the small fertile plain of Ginosar that lies on its western side.

NEGEV

The origin of the word negev is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'. In the Bible, the word Negev is also used for the direction 'south'; some English-language translations use the spelling "Negeb". In Arabic, the Negev is known as al-Naqab, though it was not thought of as a distinct region until the demarcation of the Egypt-Ottoman frontier in the 19th century and has no traditional Arabic name. During the British Mandate it was called Beersheba sub-district.[3]

YAM HAMELACH (DEAD SEA)

In Hebrew, the Dead Sea is Yām ha-Melaḥ (ים המלח), meaning "sea of salt" (Genesis 14:3). In the Bible, the Dead Sea is called the Salt Sea, the Sea of the Arabah, and the Eastern Sea. The designation "Dead Sea" never appears in the Bible. In prose sometimes the term Yām ha-Māvet (ים המוות, "sea of death") is used, due to the scarcity of aquatic life there.[8]

YAD VASHEM

The name "Yad Vashem" is taken from a verse in the Book of Isaiah: Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name (yad vashem) better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off" (Isaiah 56:5). Naming the Holocaust memorial "yad vashem" conveys the idea of establishing a national depository for the names of Jewish victims who have no one to carry their name after death.[1]

HAIFA

The ultimate origin of the name Haifa remains unclear. One theory holds it derives from the name of the high priest Caiaphas. Some Christians believe it was named for Saint Peter, whose Aramaic name was Keiphah.[17] Another theory holds it could be derived from the Hebrew verb root חפה (hafa), meaning to cover or shield, i.e. Mount Carmel covers Haifa;[17] others point to a possible origin in the Hebrew word חוֹף (hof), meaning shore, or חוֹף יָפֶה (hof yafe), meaning beautiful shore.[17][18]

Supporting Materials:

Say My Name Passport Document.doc

JAR_oragami final.docx

Human Bingo, Israel-Style

Natalie Blitt — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 20:53:46 +0000

Human bingo is all the rage as a way of getting to know the people in a group. But wouldn't it be more fun to meet and get to know famous people? Use the content cards to introduce your campers and staff to the people, places, and events in Israeli history in a fun and interactive way.

Curriculum Themes:

Dreams & Realities

Materials Required:

copies of content cards

Program Duration:

Physical Space:

Open Space

Number of Campers:

Age of Campers:

Core Learnings:

While it depends on the cards you choose, this is a content rich activity

Explanation:

Human bingo is a game designed to have participants learn things about the other people in the room. In this version, campers and/or staff will be given a card and take on that identity for this game. You can have them create nametags or a piece of costume first, if you have the time. There's no need to keep the identity secret.

In advance, you should prepare bingo cards with clues. Use the following website to generate randomized bingo cards, using your clues: http://www.print-bingo.com/.

Depending on the number of people who are playing, you can give more than one person the same card. You can use the list we provided that includes clues that refer to every content card, or you can choose to make ones that only refer to a certain section, like people or places. Feel free to add more people, places or event "cards" than what are available. You can do this by collecting a few facts and maybe a picture, and handing them out in lieu of an actual content card.

1. Give each camper/staff an Israeli bingo card
2. Have each camper approach other campers in the room and
• Introduce themselves (even if they are an event or place) and tell the other person one fact/tip about them.
• Ask if the camper they are talking to fits the description found on one of the squares of their BINGO card. If they do, get that person to sign their name in the square with their identity.
3. Continue talking to people and asking them if they fit the descriptions on their card.
4. When someone completes the full card they shout 'bingo' and are declared the winner.

Clues are provided in the word document attached. We've also generated sample bingo charts based on all the clues (excluding the easy ones), with 14 clues listed per column (in the bingo card generator).

Variations:

You can use clues that are specific to one card, or to make things easier/faster, you can use more generic clues. Suggestions for each are included.

You can use clues that are generic to people, events, and places. For instance, connected to 1948 could be a number of people and events and sites.

The important part to writing clues is to think of what you want your camper/staff to know about the information that is listed on the content card. Don't use random and obscure facts, but also don't make the clues too easy (unless you are playing this game with younger campers).

Feel free to have campers create a list of facts they've learned on the back of the bingo sheet.

Background Cards:

Supporting Materials:

print-bingo-com.pdf

Clues for Israeli Human Bingo.docx

Our Camp's Israel Garden: A Guide to Creating and Programming

JAR — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 18:52:20 +0000

Learn the skills of gardening and the history of Israeli innovation as we create an Israel garden in camp -- full of Israeli fruits, veggies, and herbs that we will harvest and eat together!

Curriculum Themes:

Materials Required:

Program Duration:

Physical Space:

Outdoor Space

Number of Campers:

Age of Campers:

Core Learnings:

How to garden

History of drip irrigation in Israel

What kinds of food grows in Israel

Explanation:

At the beginning of the summer, choose a plot of land to place your garden. The land should have direct sunlight for at least 6 hours each day, and it should be near a water source.

Once you've selected the land, campers can help create the garden. They will need to hoe the dirt, plant guard rails of wood around the garden (laying them down in troughs dug in the ground is an easy way to do this). The point of planting guard rails is to keep the garden dirt firm and in the garden, allowing the garden to be 'boxed in'.

You then need to dig troughs as lines for planting seeds. Determine which items will need to grow where, and how many seeds you want for each item you're planting.

Once planted and watered, there are many interesting ways to integrate Israel into the experience:

Learning about Israeli innovation.
- Start with drip irrigation, one of Israel's claims to fame. You can set up your own drip irrigation system (a long hose with holes in it) or have your campers brainstorm the problem that led to its creation.
- Once you're on the topic of Israeli innovation, learn more about creations that Israel is (and isn't) well known for. Like the cherry tomato strain Israel invented that ripens slowly and stays on the vine, allowing for it to be sold on cluster like grapes, and making shipping easier. (Other examples can be found here: http://www.israel21c.org/technology/israels-top-45-greatest-inventions-o...).
- Have campers look at areas that need innovation in their garden or around camp. How can they use the examples of Israeli innovation to fix their problems? For instance, if the garden is too small for many people to work in it at once, what could they do to maximize the efforts of the whole group? Or if the garden isn't ready to be tended and a group is coming, what could they do with the other campers to help them feel connected to the Israeli garden?
The garden is a great opportunity for campers to learn Hebrew vocabulary. Create Hebrew and English (and transliterated) signage for every kind of plant in the garden. You can even create a poster for a wall near the garden letting everyone see a 'map' of the garden and what is growing where (in Hebrew and English). Also, you can post an enlarged version of the Resource Cards related to Israeli agriculture (Kibbutz, Drip Irrigation) and while you're planting the garden, you can orient the campers to the important role of agriculture in Israel's history.
Talk about argiculture and the landscape of Israel. Part of Ben Gurion's dream was to see the desert bloom. Why did he care about using the desert? Why did Israel spend so much effort in making agriculture work even in the desert? (Hint: The Negev Desert is 60% of the land in Israel).
You can also bring in a lesson about the kibbutz here, discussing with campers the history of the kibbutz movements and its role in agriculture.
You can also learn about the remarkable work of desalination in Israel. Given that much of the water around the desert has high saline content (the Mediterranean Sea), Israel found ways to use the salted water for irrigation of certain crops.

The garden can become the foundation for a wide array of programming (some examples below):

a cabin activity to prune/plant/harvest
a full age group activity to create the garden
an activity to create signage
a cooking class using the harvested foods/herbs
an Israeli meal where campers describe each item using the Hebrew name

Background Cards:

Supporting Images:

Attribution:

Camp Avoda

Yes We Can! Jumping Into the Israeli Knesset

Natalie Blitt — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 23:03:55 +0000

The Israeli Knesset that was elected in 2015 had representatives from 10 political parties and way more personalities than any one building can usually handle. It may seem like an impossible task to make the Knesset relevant and interesting to teens today -- but creating a mock Knesset allows teens to do many of the things they love most: negotiating, arguing, striking deals, breaking deals, and trying to get their way. And BBYO's CLTC staff has created the step-by-step tools to make the program a success.

Curriculum Themes:

Dreams & Realities

Materials Required:

Program Duration:

90 minutes

Physical Space:

Large Room (capacity 100+)

Number of Campers:

Large Group (75+ campers)

Age of Campers:

Core Learnings:

Participants will be able to formulate their own opinions on Israeli issues

Participants will be able to identify the major players, issues, and challenges of the process

Participants will be able to understand that Israel is a diverse society that often requires compromises

Participants will be able to understand Israel’s value of human rights

Explanation:

Time Table:

00:00 – 00:05 Group Introduction
00:05 – 00:20 Parties read and discuss their profiles, and discuss their positions on the main issues.
00:20 - 00:40 Parties negotiate and try to form coalitions.
00:40 - 01:00 Final presentations are read and the Knesset votes.
01:00 - 01:15 Return to large group, wrap-up.

Set Up

If possible, tables will have assigned seats with designated name cards for each political party. Participants will be instructed to sit in their assigned seats. The tables will already have materials spread out, such as pens and background information on the party’s stances.

Pull 10 teen leaders together in advance. Brief them on the program as a whole and assign each to be the leader for one of the parties. Give them their party’s information. Give them an opportunity to do additional research if possible. Answer any questions they may have. When you begin the program, remind them to sit at their assigned party. They’ll lead the first bit of the program, in small groups.

Each party leader should get enough copies of the following for each of the participants in their group:

the two page brief explanation of all the political parties
the in-depth explanation of their party

Detailed Procedure

Introduction: 0:00-0:05

Group facilitator welcomes everyone and gives a brief overview of the program.

PART 1: 0:05 – 0:20 Intro (each group is led by the party leader)

The party leaders (teen leaders you pulled in advance) should:

Walk their group through an overview of their party’s platform.
Review the four bills that will be up for a vote. Each party should determine how they will vote on each bill. Remember that parties must vote as a block – the number of votes (seats) each party has is listed on the overview sheet.
Each party will have an opportunity to publicly support or oppose one bill in front of the full Knesset. Your presentation can be verbal, through posters, a rallying cry, a letter, etc… You’ll have two minutes to present.
Plan your negotiations! For a bill to pass, it needs 61 votes. Who can you get to vote with you? What can you offer in order to get them on your side?

PART 2: 00:20 – 00:40 Negotiate

This is the fun part. Four bills are up for debate and each party will have the opportunity to vote on each bill. A majority (61) of votes is needed to pass a bill.
As soon as the bill is handed out, the politicking begins. Your party should devise a strategy of how to get your bill passed—who to bargain with and who to fight with. As ambassadors for your party, work with the other parties to negotiate passing bills.
For example, Shas might decide that they can strike a deal with Likud. They send an ambassador to Likud with the bargaining chip that Shas will vote for Likud's bill if Likud votes for Shas' bill. Another example is: Meretz might send an ambassador to UTJ saying that, if UTJ votes against Yesh Atid's bill, then Meretz will vote for UTJ's bill.

PART 3: (0:40-1:00) The Knesset Meeting

When we call for the Knesset meeting, all bargaining will cease and parties will sit together in the main room for final voting.
Each party may choose one bill to present an argument for or against. You will have up to 2 minutes to make an argument.
Each party will be called out, and you will announce how you are voting (For or Against) concerning the bill at hand. Each party must vote as a bloc. After the vote, you'll have the chance to inform the group if there were any deals brokered that influenced your vote.
Feel free to break secret deals to advance your own party's interests. This is meant to be a realistic simulation of what really happens in the Knesset!

PART 4: 01:00 – 01:15 Wrap-up

Program leader facilitates wrap-up discussion. Ask campers what they learned from the experience, challenge them to describe the process as well as the positions of different parties in the Knesset.

Variations:

This program can easily be expanded to last much longer. It could be a half-day activity or a full-day activity. If you want to expand it, be sure to include opportunities for diverse ways of presenting information. Each party can write, practice, and present a cheer or song; promotional posters can be hung in a central area of camp, advocating for and against various bills; and more. Additionally, with more time to prepare each group's leader can learn more in advance about his or her party's positions and history (shlichim, the GE, and Goodman Fellows all can be great resources for this!).

The wrap-up discussion can include an opportunity for campers to discuss their personal opinions on some of the issues that came to a vote during the activity. While role-playing members of Knesset, campers had to tow their party's line, but a follow-up discussion can provide opportunities to stake out personal views and explore the issues from multiple perspectives.

Background Cards:

Supporting Materials:

Mock Knesset Party Backgrounds.docx

CLTC Mock Knesset - Full Program Updated 6-25.docx

mock knesset table tents.pdf

Attribution:

BBYO - CLTC

My Facebook Kotel

JAR — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 17:09:13 +0000

Social Media provides a platform for personal expression and building community, and Israel can be a key component in both of these endeavors. This program offers fun ways to integrate Israel into campers' social media reality.

Curriculum Themes:

A Land & Its People

Materials Required:

Program Duration:

Physical Space:

Number of Campers:

Age of Campers:

Core Learnings:

How to express your opinions appropriately about current events in Israel

Slang and lingo used by Israelis on social media

Israel's history of pioneering advances in technology has played a central role in the global explosion of social media

Explanation:

Our campers are natives to social media technology and it is an integral part of their lives at home. Israel, on the other hand, may seem foreign to them -- certainly as a content piece related to social media. This program aims to bridge that gap and help campers understand the power of social media in helping them keep informed, share their views, and engage in lively respectful discussion about difficult topics.

Opening Game: give each camper a piece of paper and ask them to write a list of words that describe what other people think of them when looking at their Facebook walls. Next, ask them to pick the one word from the list that makes them most uncomfortable, and write it on a label/sticker/nametag that they will affix to their forehead. Now, use a "cocktail party"-style activity in which the group must circulate and interact. Instruct campers to walk the way the word on their label would walk and interact based on the way the word on their label dictates. In essence, campers are asked to become their label for the duration of the exercise.

Debrief: Facilitate a conversation about this opening exercise seeking to encourage campers to begin to think about how their Facbook wall -- much like the labels they were wearing at the cocktail party -- define them and shape how people interact with them. Ask questions such as:

What was your experience?
In what ways does your Facebook wall define you?

After campers have reflected on the experience they just completed, introduce Israel into the conversation: tell the group that they are gong to create a Facebook wall for Israel. Unlike the notes they may have placed in the Western Wall, if they have visited Israel, the messages on this wall are going to be public, just like so many social media posts.

Formulate a list with the group: what are situations that might prompt you to post about Israel? Possible aswers might include:

I saw an Israeli movie
I visited Israel, or want to visit Israel
I heard about an Israeli invention
Something about Israel was on the news
It's an Israeli holiday, or the anniversary of something important in Israeli history

Create an actual Facebook wall for Israel using markers and butcher paper.

Give everyone a chance to think about their own relatinoship to Israel. Encourage them to come up with five ideas of things they might post -- and then to pursue the idea they think is least likely to be repeated by others. Campers can write their posts directly on the Facebook wall, or they can write on slips of paper and then tape them to the wall. As people post their own contributions to the wall, they should be encouraged to comment on other people's messages. You can create small "like" stickers and let campers affix them to any posts or comments that they particularly like.

Variations:

After the conclusion of the activity, hang the paper wall in a public place at camp -- perhaps in the dining hall -- and encourage everyone to add comments and "likes" of their own, This wall can become a physical replica of the virtual world in which campers so frequently express themselves during the year; at camp, it takes on a physical presence, and it focuses primarily on Israel and the camp community's relationship to Israel.

Background Cards:

Supporting Images:

Curricular Subjects:

Attribution:

BB Camp

Someone's in the Kitchen with Golda!

JAR — Fri, 09 May 2014 16:05:59 +0000

Participants will create a presentation of Israel that highlights all 5 senses of the human body.

Curriculum Themes:

Materials Required:

video cameras

Program Duration:

30 minutes

Physical Space:

Open Space

Number of Campers:

Age of Campers:

Core Learnings:

Israel cannot be 'digested' merely as something you hear about, look at pictures of, or watch on tv. It is a multi-dimensional place, with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and texture, both literally and metaphorically.

Explanation:

Split campers up into groups (with one staff member for each group).

Each group will be given 10 minutes to create a segment of a cooking show. The dish they are cooking is: Israel.

To be clear, this is not a cooking show for an Israeli dish but rather what if the STATE OF ISRAEL was the dish? What would the ingredients be? What would it taste like? Smell like? Feel like in your hands? In your mouth?

Your cooking show must include:

A list of ingredients
Steps for preparing the dish
An anecdote about someone in your group’s personal experience with or in Israel
At least one Hebrew word (not including the word “Shalom”)
A creative title for the show
A special guest chef
Every member of the group must participate in some way in the presentation of the cooking show (be creative with this one – there are no rules to how this is achieved)

After 10 minutes, all groups will be gathered for a quick check in, followed by the next set of instructions:

Using a video-camera or ipad, please film your cooking show. You can spread out to go to a quiet place to film, but you must return to the group in 10 minutes with a finished filmed cooking show segment. Then everyone gathers to watch!

At the end, you can serve Israeli snacks to the campers if you want!

CASINO NIGHT: Content Card POKER

JAR — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:06:54 +0000

Content Card Poker is played from a ‘playing’ pack of 52 Goodman Content cards. The cards are ranked (from high to low) Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. (Ace can be high or low, but is usually high). There are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs); however, no suit is higher than another. All poker hands contain five cards, the highest hand wins. So, how do you bet? In Content Card Poker, we use shekels! Not real shekels of course, but paper copies of shekels. This will help participants learn Israeli money. Please see attached shekel images which can be printed and copied.

Curriculum Themes:

A Land & Its People

Program Duration:

1 hour

Physical Space:

Indoor Space

Number of Campers:

Age of Campers:

Explanation:

The Very Basics:

Hands are ranked as follows (from high to low):

Five of a Kind

Straight Flush

Four of a Kind

Full House

Flush

Straight

Three of a Kind

Two Pair

Pair

High Card

Descriptions of Hand Ranks:

Five of a Kind

A five of a kind (which is only possible when using wild cards) is the highest possible hand. If more than one hand has five of a kind, the higher card wins (Five Aces beats five kings, which beat five queens, and so on).

Straight Flush

A straight flush is the best natural hand. A straight flush is a straight (5 cards in order, such as 5-6-7-8-9) that are all of the same suit. As in a regular straight, you can have an ace either high (A-K-Q-J-T) or low (5-4-3-2-1). However, a straight may not 'wraparound'. (Such as K-A-2-3-4, which is not a straight). An Ace high straight-flush is called a Royal Flush and is the highest natural hand.

Four of a Kind

Four of a kind is simply four cards of the same rank. If there are two or more hands that qualify, the hand with the higher-rank four of a kind wins. If, in some bizarre game with many wild cards, there are two four of a kinds with the same rank, then the one with the high card outside the four of the kind wins. General Rule: When hands tie on the rank of a pair, three of a kind, etc, the cards outside break ties following the High Card rules.

Full House

A full house is a three of a kind and a pair, such as K-K-K-5-5. Ties are broken first by the three of a kind, then pair. So K-K-K-2-2 beats Q-Q-Q-A-A, which beats Q-Q-Q-J-J. (Obviously, the three of a kind can only be similiar if wild cards are used.)

Flush

A flush is a hand where all of the cards are the same suit, such as J-8-5-3-2, all of spades. When flushes ties, follow the rules for High Card.

Straight

A straight is 5 cards in order, such as 4-5-6-7-8. An ace may either be high (A-K-Q-J-T) or low (5-4-3-2-1). However, a straight may not 'wraparound'. (Such as Q-K-A-2-3, which is not a straight). When straights tie, the highest straight wins. (AKQJT beats KQJT9 down to 5432A). If two straights have the same value (AKQJT vs AKQJT) they split the pot.

Three of a Kind

Three cards of any rank, matched with two cards that are not a pair (otherwise it would be a Full House . Again, highest three of a kind wins. If both are the same rank, then the compare High Cards.

Two Pair

This is two distinct pairs of card and a 5th card. The highest pair wins ties. If both hands have the same high pair, the second pair wins. If both hands have the same pairs, the high card wins.

Pair

One pair with three distinct cards. High card breaks ties.

High Card

This is any hand which doesn't qualify as any one of the above hands. If nobody has a pair or better, then the highest card wins. If multiple people tie for the highest card, they look at the second highest, then the third highest etc. High card is also used to break ties when the high hands both have the same type of hand (pair, flush, straight, etc).

Supporting Images:

Supporting Materials:

Content Card Playing Deck Description.pdf

CASINO NIGHT: Content Card Bingo

JAR — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 20:53:09 +0000

Come play bingo using the cards of the Goodman deck. It's more than just regular bingo, it's also Israel trivia!

Curriculum Themes:

A Land & Its People

Materials Required:

Background Cards

Program Duration:

30 minutes

Physical Space:

Indoor Space

Number of Campers:

Age of Campers:

Explanation:

The game starts when all the players receive bingo sheets. A bingo sheet is a card/page with a 5x10 grid. 5 columns on the card correspond to 5 letters of the name of Israel in Hebrew "י-ש-ר-א-ל".

24 numbers per each card are random. Each column comes from a different set of cards (save for columns 4 and 5 which both come from People). The center of the card is Star of David that completes a diagonal, horizontal, or vertical line.

When the game begins, the caller selects cards from the Goodman Deck at random and calls them out by biographical information, followed by the name. As soon as the caller describes the picked card, and the players identify which name goes with which number, all the players mark it on their tickets. The winner is determined when one or several of the players complete the winning bingo pattern. The pattern can vary, depending on how hard you want to make the game. It can be vertical, horizontal or diagonal, or a full house (when all the numbers are to be covered).

Variations:

You can make the game harder by not announcing the name of the card, only the biographical facts for the event, person, place, etc.

Supporting Materials:

Bingo Board Template (filled).docx

Bingo Board Template (empty).docx

HOLYLAND SQUARES!

JAR — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 20:40:31 +0000

This is a game based on “Hollywood Squares” that serves as fun Israel trivia with low stakes and many opportunities for learning AND silliness.

Curriculum Themes:

A Land & Its People

Materials Required:

Program Duration:

Physical Space:

Indoor Space

Number of Campers:

Age of Campers:

Core Learnings:

This is broad - everything

Explanation:

The facilitator will select 9 people to sit in the “squares” like a tic-tac-toe box. The best way to achieve this is to have three sit on the floor, three sit behind them in chairs, and three sit behind them on a table (so it’s layered). In each square seat, the person will find a Content Card of a different Israeli personality through Modern Israeli History. While the people in the chairs familiarize themselves with their content card, the facilitator will jump into game-show host mode. The ‘host’ will ask for two volunteer contestants who want to play Holyland Squares. The two contestants will come up and stand to one side of the ‘celebrity panel’ (the squares). The host will ask each contestant their name and a little bit about themselves (have they ever been to Israel? What’s their favorite thing about Israel? etc.). The host will then interview each of the celebrities briefly to find out who they all are.

The way the game works is this:

Each celebrity will be given a piece of paper/poster with an X on one side and an O on the other.
A flip of a coin will decide which contestant goes first.
The first contestant will get to select a square and that celebrity will be asked a question about Israel by the host.
The celebrity can answer the question truthfully or falsely. The contestant has to decide if the answer is true or false. If the contestant is right about the celebrity’s answer, the contestant gets the square and the celebrity turns their paper/poster to the letter (x/o) of the contestant.
If the contestant is wrong about the answer of the celebrity, no X/O is held up and the next contestant gets a turn.
The winner must win the game of tic-tac-toe

Background Cards:

Supporting Materials:

Israel Questions for Holyland Squares.docx

True False Questions about Israel.docx

Tag into the Flag: An Israel Icebreaker

JAR — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 15:35:54 +0000

The campers will participate in an icebreaker that simultaneously engages them in conversation about Israel and puts them surreptitiously into the shape of the Israeli flag!

Curriculum Themes:

A Land & Its People

Materials Required:

Program Duration:

15 Minutes

Physical Space:

Number of Campers:

Age of Campers:

Core Learnings:

Icebreaker - getting to know other people

The sense that people have all different kinds of relationships with Israel

Explanation:

The faciliator will gather the campers/participants on a large field or in a large open indoor space. They will be instructed that this will be a game of tag, but not a traditional game of tag. The facilitator will ask everyone to follow the directions of each task.

The first task – please find someone from a different city or whom you don't know from home. Great! You should all be standing in pairs, holding hands. (If you are shomer n’giah, you may find an alternative to holding hands, of course.)

Next, please discuss and add up among the two of you how many years you have been at your camp. Now, find another pair that matches (or comes close to) your number. Great! You should now be standing in groups of four.

Next task is to talk amongst yourselves and determine how many times the members in your quartet have visited Israel combined. If you are playing this game with staff and have a shaliach in your foursome, consider yourselves lucky! You have a lifer! And add the number of the non-shlichim in your group and then add 10 to your number. Now find another quartet that matches (or comes close to) your number. Great! You should now be in standing in groups of eight.

Now this gets fun! Please now circle up, huddle, and go over who everyone is in your group and what they love most about Israel (even if they haven't been).

Your next task now is to find another group of eight that has at least one person in that group who has been to Israel! Great! You should now be standing in groups of sixteen.

Our next to last task is to get into 3 groups of 32. In order to do that, please circle up and huddle with your group of 16. A staff member will now bring to your group a slip of paper. Please read the slip of paper and accomplish your task!

SLIPS OF PAPER

(4 groups get this slip) Your task is to stand in a line, shoulder to shoulder with your backs right up against the long end of the open space, facing the space. There will be another group with this same assignment. Please include them in your line. There are three other groups getting this slip of paper. You can only partner with one other group and your two groups must be standing opposite and facing the other two groups.

(2 groups get this slip) Your task is to create a standing equilateral triangle in the very center of the field using all 16 people in your group. There will be another group with this same assignment. Please ensure that their triangle and your triangle overlap to make a Magen David.

The faciliator should be in a place where a picture from above can be taken and the ideal way to end this program is to play Hatikvah on a loud speaker and get everyone to sing along while showing them an Israeli flag so they recognize the shape they're standing in.

Variations:

You can always do this with smaller/less groups.

Curricular Subjects:

Current Events