Minecraft Judaism - Holidays and Independence - Level 2

Masada
Take the cable car to the top of Masada and take in the beautiful view. Then explore the site ruins and learn about the Jews who once lived there. Then defend the Minecraft villagers through a recreation of the siege that took place on this historical mountain

Kabbalat Shabbat
Prepare for Shabbat while building a communal Minecraft synagogue. Once night falls and the synagogue is complete, gather to light candles, drink grape juice, eat challah, and say the brachot. Celebrate with Block Party, a competitive minigame Havdalah Come together for a virtual rendition of the transition into the new week with this

Havdalah
Participants first mark the end of the “day of rest” with BedWars, a popular team-based minigame that emphasizes cooperation, competition, and material collection. They then learn about and collect the items needed to celebrate Havdalah in a points-based minigame. Finally, after working together to build a bonfire, they observe a summer camp-style Havdalah, welcoming in the new week!

Passover 1
Players will explore a Minecraft creative, desert world with exciting builds of sphinx and pyramids, while hearing the story of the Jews exodus from Egypt. Then they will experience the plagues and finally, after Pharaoh tells them they can leave, they will compete in a boat race through the split Red Sea.

Passover 2
Players will review some of the information they learned about the Jews exodus from Egypt while exploring a giant sized Passover seder plate. Discussions extend to the items on the plate and what the meaning and representation is to our history. Then they will build their own seder plates in their private creative world. Lastly, they will compete in Skywars, a mini game custom built with a Passover themed map, including matzoh balls and a seder plate.

Kotel
One of the highlights of any Minecraft program, kids visit the Kotel (Western Wall). They learn about this holy site and have the opportunity to write notes, which are placed in the Minecraft virtual wall. These notes are then printed and put in the actual wall in Jerusalem. Then they travel through the hidden tunnels and while they dig, they learn about the many archaeological artifacts that were found all over Israel.

Yom Hazikaron/Yom Haatzmaut
Independence! Before we can celebrate Israel’s 75 anniversary, we must first review the difficulty the Jewish people have had. Through activities, participants will be shown a review of the many familiar stories of Hanukkah, Purim and Passover, where the Jewish people were not able to celebrate and observe our religion. Like in Israel, where there is a time of mourning, Yom Hazikaron, every year, before the celebrations of Independence, Yom Haatzmaut, we too will take a moment of reflection. Then the participants will enter a creative world to build their own party, BBQs, cakes, fireworks and anything else they imagine.