Contents

J.1. Preamble

Games

J.2. A to Z
J.3. Jewish Personalities
J.4. Famous Jewish Personalities
J.5. Jewish Expressions Relay Race
J.6. Pass the Symbol
J.7. Find Your Other Half
J.8. Word Find
J.9. Word Chain
J.10. Jewish Telephone
J.11. Jewish Objects
J.12. Remnant
J.13. Fill in the Blanks
J.14. Shiriah (Variation)
J.15. Hebrew Bingo
J.16. Jewpardy
J.17. College Bowl
J.18. Line Up Jewish History
 
J.19. Related Games
J.20. References for Educators (biographies, games)

Preamble

The games in this section are varied. The goals of these games is to present Jewish/Israeli content to groups members in an enjoyable manner.
Some are short games which can be used in connection with other games for an evening activity; others are good openers for sichot (presentations/ discussions).
Certain games may be used as an evening activity in and of themselves - either as part of a broader games evening, or within a specifically Jewish/Israel theme games program.

Quickie games can be used while waiting for buses, or in intervals and breaks, to wind down, warm up, or simply pass the time.

It's up to the leader to be creative!

For biographies of Zionist and Israeli Personalities

More thematic games can be found on:
Ben Gurion Activities Bank (#3)
Jerusalem Activities:
Festivals Index (Tishrei, Tu B'Shvat, Purim, Pesach)

J.2. A to Z

The leader calls out the letters of the alphabet, one at a time.
Group members have to respond with the name of a Jewish/Israeli personality which begins with that letter.

Variations:
Divide the group into teams and play for points.
Use the Hebrew Aleph Bet for initial letters.
Alternative subjects: Places in Israel
Places in Jewish history
Jewish Symbols

J.3. Jewish Personalities

The leader arranges the group in a circle, seated.
The leader asks the group to give the name of a Jewish personality they would like to speak to, or to have known, and explain why.

J.4. Famous Jewish Personalities

As the group members walk into a room, the leader attaches an index card to each one’s back or forehead with tape, bearing the name of a Jewish personality.
Participants walk around the room asking each other yes or no questions about the person whom they represent.
Afterwards, the group sits in a circle and the leader asks each person to identify his/her character and tell what he or she has learned about him/her.

Suggestions for characters:
Abraham, Bella Abzug, Shalom Aleichem, Woody Allen, Shulamit Aloni,
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Menachem Begin, David Ben Gurion, Leonard Bernstein, Rachel (Bluwstein) the poetess, Mel Brooks,
Bob Dylan, Albert Einstein,
Anne Frank, Sigmund Freud,
Emma Goldman, A.D. Gordon,
Theodore Herzl, Emma Lazarus,
Karl Marx, Golda Meir, Bette Midler, Chaim Potok,
Mark Spitz, Henrietta Szold,
Chaim Weizmann, Elie Wiesel, etc.

J.5. Jewish Expressions Relay Race

Sentences or Expressions can be Jewish expressions from history, simple questions, or statements on any Jewish topic.

The leader plits group into teams of 5. Scrambled Jewish expressions are given to each group: they have to unscramble their sentence and bring the completed sentence to the judges, where they receive a new sentence to unscramble.

Examples:

J.6. Pass the Symbol

Participants each choose a Jewish symbol.
In the first round, each person states his or her symbol.
In the next round, one person starts by saying his or her symbol and that of any other group member. The group member who hears his/her symbol called should repeat their symbol and that of someone else.

Variation:
Can be done completely nonverbally.
Each person picks a physical movement as his/her symbol.

J.7. Find Your Other Half

The leader hands out index cards with half the name of a famous Jewish person written on them, (prepare cards of the exact number of participants) and participants have to find their "other half".
Once they have done so, each couple talks about their characters and discusses what they know about him/her.
Finally, they have to present something about that character to the group as a whole, such as a one-minute speech, song or skit, or a letter they would have written.

J.8. Word Find

Pencils and paper are required for each group member.

The leader calls out words on a Jewish theme (long words are better: Enlightenment, Jerusalem, international, Nebuchadnezzar, etc.). Participants have an agreed-upon time limit to make as many new words as possible. The object is to find words that no one else has listed.
The leader then picks one participant to read out his/her words. The group crosses out any words mentioned that they have written down.

J.9. Word Chain

The leader chooses a word on a Jewish theme.
The next person in the circle says another word, beginning with the last letter of the previous word, with the objective of remaining with the same Jewish theme.

J.10. Jewish Telephone

The leader whispers a Jewish expression into the ear of the next participant in the circle.
The participant whispers it to the next group member, etc.
See if the same expression is repeated by the last person in line.

J.11. Jewish Objects

The leader splits groups up into small teams sitting around a table, with a pencil and paper.
The leader announces the name of a Jewish object (e.g., menorah, kippah) – this can be done from a hat, if preferred. He or she asks participants to think up creative ways they would use the object.
The teams list their ideas, and afterwards they are sifted out together.
The leader and the group now look for which ideas were: the most original, funny, functional, etc.

J.12. Remnant

This activity may be used after other symbols activities to review what is important to the group.

The leader asks the participants in a round:
“If you had to take only one symbol of Judaism with you before the end of the world, what would you take?”
The leader asks each group member to explain why he or she picked a particular item.

J.13. Fill in the Blanks

Each participant has a paper and pencil and draws a game board, like the one shown below; if played in groups, set a time limit of two minutes.
When the leader says, “Go,” players fill in as many blanks as they can (working from the top left, across the categories).
When any participant finds that s/he cannot fill in any more words s/he yells “Stop.” Everyone then stops working and points are counted.
Then a new round is played, by choosing a new word and categories (and a new game board).

POINTS SYSTEM
15 points for a word nobody has
10 points for a word which more than one person has
5 points for a word the majority has

Sample Board

J.14. Shiriah (Variation)

The leader splits the group into two or three teams.
He or she calls out a (Hebrew) word on a Jewish theme.
The first group sings a song with that word in it.
The second group goes next, and so on until they can’t think of any more songs.
The last group to think of a song gets a point.
The leader then calls out another word.

Variation:
Use Hebrew words, Hebrew songs, or a combination of Hebrew and English.

J.15. Hebrew Bingo

Requires writing materials and a board or poster board.

Each participant receives a copy of the form below and a pencil.
At the sound of the word “Go!” everyone is to fill in his/her chart.
Either:
The first person to fill in five squares (horizontally, vertically, or at a 45 degree angle) wins!
Or, the first person to fill in one horizontal or vertical line wins.

The game stops and the winner is asked to read out his/her answers. While the winner reads the words aloud, the leader has someone write them up on a sheet of poster board, using an enlarged chart.
Then ask others in the group to help complete the whole chart. The leader goes around the room to see if the entire chart can be completed by contributions from group members contribute.

Sample Board

J.16. Jewpardy

The leader prepares a Jewpardy board. (See example). Participants are split into two teams.
A representative from Team 1 chooses a category and a level of difficulty.
The leader turns over the card and reads out the question on back.
If the participant answers correctly, his/her team receives the number of points on that card.
If not, the card is turned over until someone else answers it.
Each person in each team should have a turn to answer a question.

Sample Jewpardy Board

Possible Questions:

Jewish Holidays

* 10 Which are the three Pilgrim Festivals? Pesach, Shavu’ot, Succot
* 20 In which city did Mordechai save the Jews from peril? Shushan
* 30 How many days do we celebrate Succot? Seven days in Israel
* 40 Which Jewish holiday is directly connected with the modern State of Israel? Yom Ha’atzma’ut; Yom Yerushalayim
* 50 Name the four names of Pesah. Zman Cheirutenu, Chag Ha’aviv, Chag Hamatzot, Chag Hapesach

Jewish History

* 10 Which period in Jewish history saw the death of the most Jews? Holocaust
* 20 On which mountain was the Torah given? Sinai
* 30 When was the Six Day War? June 1967
* 40 What was the fate of the Jews of Massada? They killed themselves.
* 50 In what years did the destruction of the First and Second Temples take place?
First: 586 B.C.E.; Second, 70 C.E.

Jewish Personalities

* 10 Which great Jewish leader stuttered? Moses
* 20 Who wrote a diary of his/her experiences during the Holocaust, which later became a famous book? Anne Frank
* 30 Which Jew formulated the theory of relativity? Albert Einstein
* 40 Who was a Jewish Supreme Court judge? Louis Brandeis
* 50 Name the Jewish philosopher who was put under cherem (excommunicated) from Judaism. Spinoza

Israel

* 10 Who was the father of modern Zionism, a man whose actions helped to create the State of Israel? Theodor Herzl
* 20 Who was the first Prime Minister of Israel? David Ben Gurion
* 30 Name the country from which Jews were saved in Operation Magic Carpet. Yemen
* 40 Name five Israeli wars and give dates.
War of Independence 1948
Sinai Campaign 1956
Six-Day War 1967
Yom Kippur War 1973
Lebanon War 1982
* 50 Name the first kibbutz. Degania

Bible

* 10 Which character was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back at Sodom and Gemorrah? Lot’s wife
* 20 Name the five Books of Moses. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
* 30 Who committed the first murder? Cain
* 40 From which city did Avraham come? Ur Casdim
* 50 Name the twelve sons of Ya'acob. Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehuda, Issachar, Zevulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naftali, Gad, Asher, Joseph

J.17. College Bowl

Note: The leader should prepare a quiz which will suit the level of knowledge of each group.

The leader divides the group into two teams and reads out a question.
The first group to make the sound of a buzzer (leader can provide bells or buzzers) answers the question.
- If correct, the team gets ten points.
- If incorrect, the other team has ten seconds to answer. If they answer correctly, they get 5 points.
The team that finishes with the most points wins.

J.18. Line up By Jewish History

The leader gives each participant a card with the name of a landmark event in Jewish history and the dates of the event.
Participants have an allocated amount of time to line up from the earliest to the latest date.
After the line-up, participants read off their cards and their dates.

Example:
Israeli Independence 1948
Capture of Eichmann 1960
The Six Day War 1967
The Yom Kippur War 1973
Operation Yonatan (Entebbe) 1976
Sadat Comes to Jerusalem 1977
Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty 1979
The Lebanon War 1982
Operation Moses 1984
Exodus from the USSR 1990-1991
Operation Solomon 1991
The Oslo Accords 1993
Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty 1994
Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin 1995
Centennial Zionist Congress 1997
Israel's Jubilee 1998

Related Games