Important note regarding the copying of programmes

Aims / Objectives :
Quick "best Jew" debate

Theodore Herzl

Judaisim and Zionism

Some fun games (can be in teams)

Trigger :
7:15: Name and the name of a famous Jewish person

Main part of the programme :
7:20: Quick “best Jew” debate (in groups?)
Who is the best Jew?
1. Moshe (biblical dude who took us outta Egypt)
2. Herzl (made Israel ours – kinda anyway)
3. Einstein (Jewish genius! Gave Jews a good name)
4. Steven Spielberg (Makes great films. Gives Jews a good name)

7:35: Tell story of Theodore Herzl:
Ø In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, was unjustly accused of treason, mainly because of the current anti-Semitism
Ø He concluded that anti-Semitism was an irreversible factor in human society, which assimilation did not solve… Jews must have a home land.
Ø The First Zionist Congress in Switzerland, concluded that:
“Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Palestine secured under public law.”
Ø He proposed the British Uganda Program as a temporary refuge for Jews in Russia in immediate danger. Herzl was suggesting moving the Jews to Uganda but all the members of the Zionist Congress rejected his idea.
Ø His fellow Jews would only accept a homeland in Israel and although Herzl was not alive to see it in 1948 Israel was declared a Jewish state.

7:36: Discussion Points (in groups?):
X Why is it important for Jews to have a homeland?
X What is the importance to you as a person and you as a member of the Jewish people?
X Do you think that it would have made a difference where the Jewish homeland was situated?
X Why would Uganda not have been acceptable?
X Ahad ha’am – wanted a Jewish state believed culture was more important so you could have Jewish state anywhere.
X Uganda itself was a poor barren land, - offering it to persecuted refugees was not exactly being generous. People argue this itself shows the intolerance and anti-Semitism that existed (but Israel was equally as barren)
X Others say we should have just taken the land Uganda when it was offered, as it could have been an earlier safe haven for many in need.
X Do we need a specific place of worship? Why should it be Israel?
X Why is it important for all Jews to live together?
X Should Jews live all together outside of Israel e.g in Golders green? – Or in a Ghetto?
X Would it be a good thing to live altogether e.g. in a Ghetto? – If we are all Jewish together – wouldn’t assimilate
X Ultra orthodox Jews stick with each other and don’t break into the secular world, opinions…
X Should we live in a multicultural society? – Advantages/disadvantages
X Religious schools - advantages/disadvantages – Jewish schools?

8:00: BREAK

8:20: Riddles (in teams as a competition?)

1. What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries? - A towel
2. What can you catch but not throw? - A cold
3. Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I? - Fire
4. No sooner spoken than broken. What is it? - Silence
5. What's black and white and red all over? - A newspaper
6. I'm light as a feather, yet the strongest man can't hold me for much more than a minute. What am I? – Breath
7. What is it the more you take, the more you leave behind? – Footsteps
8. Hands she has but does not hold, teeth she has but does not bite, feet she has but they are cold, eyes she has but without sight. What is she? – A doll
9. A big Indian and a little Indian are walking down the street. The little Indian is the son of the big Indian but the big Indian is not the father of the little Indian. How is this possible? – The big Indian is the mum
10. A cowboy rides into town on Tuesday. He has travelled far and is tired, so he decides to stay at the town's hotel. He rides out of town on Sunday. He hasn't left town in the meantime or stayed anywhere else, but he only pays the hotel for two nights. How does he do it, without breaking the law? – His horses name is Tuesday
11. Who walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening? – A human. As a baby we crawl, as an adult we walk and in old age we walk with a stick

8:35: Associated word game… (Continued in teams as a competition?)

For each group of words given you have to think of one word that associates with all three e.g. back, short and watch become backstop, shortstop and stopwatch
1. blue, cottage, cake – CHEESE - blue cheese, cottage cheese, cheese cake
2. stool, powder, ball – FOOT - footstool, foot powder, football
3. made, cuff, left – HAND - handmade, handcuff, left hand
4. light, hot, check – SPOT - spotlight, hot spot, spot check
5. out, baby, out – CRY - outcry, cry baby, cryout

8:50: All but one stand in a circle and hold hands. By going under and over arms and legs and twisting round, etc, but never letting go of hands, the circle must muddle itself up until it can muddle no more, at which point they shout: "Doctor, doctor!" and the one person left not in the circle returns and has to untangle the circle by telling them what to do. In order for the original circle to be restored, the people must not let go of hands.

Conclusion :
In my youth group (JYSG) we end with announcements and songs

Resources:
None (but you need a printout of the program because it has the riddles etc. on it)

Notes:
There are timings including for this meeting. Normally we start the program at about 7:15 and end at about 9:00. The timings are estimates made before the program was run, they normally work out about right, but remember you can be a bit flexible.