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THE JEWISH REVOLT GAME

GOAL:

To learn and/or review facts relating to the events between the destruction of the second Temple and the Bar Kochva Revolt

AGES: 11-13

MATERIALS:

Oak tag, cards or construction paper 2 different colors3" x 5", one die, pawns

DIRECTIONS TO PREPARE THE GAME:

  1. Color the game board and mount it on oak tag.
  2. Cut out the questions and facts and mount them on cards one color for fact cards, one for questions cards.
  3. Mount the answer sheet on construction paper.
  4. Laminate everything you have prepared game board, question cards, fact cards, answer sheet.

DIRECTIONS TO PLAY THE GAME:

  1. Each player rolls the die in turn. If the number on the die is odd, the player moves 1 space. If it is even, the player moves 2 spaces.
  2. Player landing on a "?" takes a question card and reads it aloud. If the player can answer correctly, s/he stays on the new square. If no, player must return to his or her previous position.
  3. Player landing on space with a square inside takes a fact card and reads it aloud. Player then follows instructions on the card. (If player fails to read the card so that all can hear, s/he goes back 2 spaces)
  4. The winner is the first player or team to reach the target.

THE JEWISH REVOLT GAME QUESTION CARDS

 
  1. Before 70 C.E., what did the Zealots think was the best way to respond to Roman rule?
  2. On what Jewish date do we mourn the destruction of the Temple with fasting and, prayer?
  3. What great Rabbi supported Bar Kochva, and why?
  4. For what purpose did Yohanan ben Zakkai sneak out of Jerusalem in 68 C.E.?
  5. During the 49 days between Pesah and Shavuot Jews count the Omer. Why is this period a sad time?
  6. Why is Lag BaOmer a joyous day?
  7. Why did the Romans forbid the  Jews lighting the fires which signaled the beginning of each Jewish month?
  8. Who was the leader of the revolt against Rome in 133 C.E.?
  9. Why do we light bonfires on Lag BaOmer?
  1. How did Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai's students study Torah with him even though it was prohibited and punishable by death?
  2. Who were the three major Jewish sects who lived before the destruction of the Temple?
  3. Name Bar Kochva's last stronghold against the Romans.
  4. How did the Rabbis feel about Rabbi Akiva's full support of Bar Kochva and the revolt against the Romans?
  5. What laws did Hadrian enact that caused the Jews to revolt against Roman rule?
  6. In what year did the Romans conquer Jerusalem and destroy the Temple?
  7. What is the period between Pesah and Shavuot called?
  8. What city did the Romans call "Aelia Capitolina"?

THE JEWISH REVOLT GAME  FACT CARDS
  1. Rabbi Akiva was a staunch supporter of Bar Kochva because he believed that Bar Kochva was sent by God to deliver the Jews from the Romans.
    Advance 1 space
  2. During Roman times, teaching the  Torah was forbidden.  Those who dared to teach or learn were persecuted.
    Retreat 2 spaces
  3. In the spring, students would go to the hills to visit and learn from Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai who was hiding from the Romans. In order to avoid suspicion, the students carried picnic lunches and bows and arrows.  If  they were caught by the Romans, it looked as if they were simply enjoying the spring weather.
    Move ahead 2 spaces
  4. When the Romans made the Land of Israel a part of their empire, one of their first acts was to prohibit the lighting of the signal fires which were used to designate the start of the new month.
    Move ahead 1 space
  5. When Bar Kochva started the revolt against Rome, one of his first acts was to light signal fires.  This is one reason that today some people light bonfires on Lag BaOmer.
    Sparks push you ahead 1 space
  6. One reason for the mournful mood of the sefira period (counting of the Omer) is that there was a plague  then which killed 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva's students. Rabbi Akiva was one of our greatest scholars even though he did not begin studying Torah until the age of 40.
    Retreat 2 spaces
  7. Pompeii, one of the rulers of the Roman Empire, had the nerve to enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple in 63 B.C.E.
    Go back 2 spaces
  8. Until the destruction of the Temple there were three major sects in Judaism: The Pharisees stressed the needs of the common Jew in Jewish law; the Sadducees were the elitists, who interpreted Jewish law literally, regardless of its impact on the common Jew, and the Essenes were the group who withdrew in order to remove themselves from the pleasures of daily life.
    Move back 1 space
  9. Lag BaOmer is one of the only joyous days during the otherwise mournful period of Sefirat HaOmer. Some scholars say Lag BaOmer is joyous because the Jews won a major battleagainst the Romans on that day.
    Advance 2 spaces
  1. The Romans refused to allow the Jews to light the fires which signaled the beginning of each Jewish month. In this way the Romans wished to emphasize to the Jews that they were no longer sovereign even over their own calendar.
    Retreat 2 spaces
  2. Bar Kochva led the Jews in courageous revolt against the Romans.
    Advance 2 spaces
  3. The Romans destroyed the beloved Temple in 70 C.E. Many people died. Retreat 2 spaces
  4. Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans in 70 C.E.
    Retreat 3 spaces
  5. Yohanan ben Zakkai left Jerusalem in 68 C.E. to set up a school for Torah study at Yavne. He did so to preserve the continuity of Jewish study even after the destruction of the Temple.
    Advance 2 spaces
  6. Hadrian instituted cruel persecutions against the Jews and planned to rebuild the Temple for Roman worship.
    Retreat 2 spaces
  7. Bar Kochva's tiny Jewish army was able to wage war against Rome for 3 years. Although they eventually lost, their courage was g reat.
    Advance a space
  8. The Jewish revolt ended in 135 C.E. with the fall of Betar. At that time many Jews moved to different parts of the world so they would not have to continue to live under Roman rule.
    Retreat 2 spaces
  9. The Zealots were a group of Jews who were determined not to surrender Jerusalem to the Romans under any condition. In 70 C.E. the Romans forced the Zealots to flee from Jerusalem to Masada.
    Retreat 2 spaces
  10. After the destruction of the Temple, Jerusalem was renamed "Aelia Capitolina" by Rome, to signify that Jerusalem was now a Roman city.
    Retreat 1 space

Directions: Color in only the shapes which contain false statements. Please be careful to color each shape completely and you will eventually see what Bar Kochva's name stood for.