Remembering The Holocaust - זיכרון השואה

Peula:

Game #1:  Telephone Charades – This is a combination of the game of telephone and charades.  To start this game, ask for three volunteers to leave the room.  The rest of the chanichim should choose one chanich/a who will act out a scene of their choice in front of everyone else (for example, washing an elephant, Moshe coming down with the Luchot, robbing a bank, getting married).  After the person and the scene have been chosen, bring in volunteer #1 from outside to watch the chanich/a act out the scene.  This person will not know what scene is being acted out.  After the chanich/a has finished acting, volunteer #2 is called in to watch volunteer #1 act out what he or she thought she saw.  When volunteer #1 has finished acting, it’s volunteer #2’s turn to act it out for the last volunteer. Then have each volunteer explain what they were acting, starting with the last person, and moving back in the order.

Game #2:  The Chair Game – To play this game, you will need many chairs that the chanichim can stand on.  After you get the chairs, split up the kids into two teams (maybe boys against girls).  Each team will have line up on one end of the room, with a line of chairs going towards the center of the room.  Each person should stand on a chair.  The object of the game is to get the whole team across the room without having any member of the team touch the ground.  The challenge for the chanichim is to figure out that they must pass their chairs forward, starting from the person in the back of the line. 

Sicha:  In the first game, were the three people all able to act out the exact same scene that the first person acted out? As the game went from person to person, it was harder to grasp exactly what was supposed to be acted out.  Why was it so hard?  Possible reasons:  the person acting it out was not the best actor; the volunteer was not paying enough attention to the actor, etc.  Whatever the reason, they were never able to act out the same exact scene the whole way through.  Can you think of an example of something else that’s passed down from generation to generation, or from person to person? Does it change when it does this? One thing that’s passed down from generation to generation is our history. Sometimes the message gets messed up if we’re not careful enough.  During the Holocaust the Nazis unfortunately killed many Jews and committed many atrocities.  However, there were also many Jews that were able to escape to tell their amazing story. How can we make sure that we tell our kids everything that happened then? Do you feel like you’re able to do that now? Do you know enough about what happened? How can you find out?  There are still people living who survived the Holocaust. They can give us details about the many bad things that the Nazis did.  It is important for us to listen and to remember what those who survived the Holocaust tell us. The truth is, unfortunately, these Holocaust survivors will not be alive much longer, so it is our job to make sure that the memory of the Holocaust stays going, even after their death.  We must not let anyone forget what happened to the Jews in Europe.  Many of them died Al Kiddush Hashem and therefore we must view them as heroes and those who we must not forget.  Just like we passed the chairs in the second game from one end of the room to the other, so too we must pass down the memory of the Holocaust from generation to generation. Do people here know any survivors who are willing to tell their stories? Do you know their stories?

Story:

It was December, and a group of Jews in Auschwitz desired greatly to have a candle lit on the upcoming holiday. Obviously, there was no way the Germans would allow this to happen, and candles were impossible to come by in the camp. However, this did not deter these Jews. They saved small portions of fatty butter every day until they had enough to make a small candle. On the eve of Chanukah, they gathered in secret, a group of emaciated bodies who had given up their sole sustenance, around one rabbi. The rabbi then made the three blessings that one recites on the candles the first night of Chanukah. After the blessings were made and the candle was lit, one of the assembled approached the rabbi and asked "How could you make the third blessing? In the third blessing, we thank Hashem for bringing us to this day! How can we thank G-d for bringing us to this day while we are standing amidst horrors, death, and torture! Aren't the dead better off than those alive?

The rabbi responded that he too questioned as to whether this blessing should be made. "However," he said, " when I looked around at the assembled crowd, I saw the glow on everyone's face, and I perceived that faith was burning bright in their hearts. I, therefore had to bless Hashem, for allowing me to live to see this assembly to martyrs who sanctify the name of G-d in public, who keep their faith amidst the flames."

We need to take advantage of the opportunity we have to speak to people who went through such experiences, to hear their stories, because that’s all we’ll have soon…

Story:

This is a story about the importance of keeping the story alive.

When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple...had occasion...to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say 'Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer.' Again the miracle would be accomplished.

"Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Lieb of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say: 'I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient.' It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished.

"Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: ' I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient.'

"And it was sufficient."

Game #3 – Dizzyness – For this game, you will require two baseball bats.  Give each chanich/a a card with a name of a country, and have them spread out around the room.  Choose two chanichim to be the players in this game.  The two of them should stand in the center of the room, with each of them holding one baseball bat.  At the madrich’s command, the two players will hold the bat to the floor and spin around it ten times, only moving their bodies and not the bat.  This should make them extremely dizzy.  Once they have finished this, start calling out names of chanichim who are spread out throughout the room.  The players will try to run toward each chanich as they are called and take their card.  Try calling out names of 5-10 chanichim.  The player with the most cards at the end of the game will be the winner.

Sicha:  After the Holocaust, there were many Jews who were unfortunately without families live with.  They were very “dizzy” and could not figure out where they were supposed to be.  They were also alone, with no one to care for them.  At first, these people were put in Displaced Persons’ Camps (DP camps).  However, after a while, what country did many of these Jews go to?  Many Holocaust survivors went to Israel with the dream of creating a place where Jewish blood would not be cheap, a state that would look after the safety of Jews everywhere. Many of these survivors were the people who fought in the War of Independence, to make that dream a reality.