Va'era . Middah/ Jewish Value Activity Early Years & Foundation Stage 0 - 5 Hashem punishes the wicked Egyptians in lots of different ways. There is blood in the water, frogs all over the ground, lice on the people, wild animals everywhere, animals dying all over the place, horrible boils on people and huge hail stones falling from the sky - Hashem protects the Jewish people (they didn't suffer from the plagues) A 'no touching' game. Divide the group so that some children are Bnei Yisrael and others are the wild beasts or frogs, or whichever plague they fancy. (They must tell their choice before the activity starts.) Bnei Yisrael mime doing their everyday things - wash, get dressed, have breakfast, clean teeth, go to school/work etc. - while plagues roar, jump etc (for a few seconds) powerlessly from behind a row of chairs or an 'invisible line' (depending on the children's understanding). An 'invisible line' is a better representation of Hashem's power. Roles can be swapped depending on the time available. Key Stage 1 5 - 8 Hashem tells Moshe to go and ask Paroh to let B'nei Yisrael leave Mitzrayim/Egypt. Moshe does not speak clearly, so he is worried that Paroh will not understand him. Hashem tells Aharon to go with Moshe and speak on his behalf - Helping each other Activity One: Prepare three sets of 'Plagues' cards - one set of Hebrew words, one set of English words and one of pictures - a pack of postcards would serve the purpose. The pictures could be drawn or clipart/pictures used. See Resource Pages 1 - 3 for flashcards of plague words in English. Place cards face down on table or floor. Divide the children into small groups of 2/3. One group is selected to match up the three sets of cards. A second group acts as 'timers'. As timing and measuring is not permitted on Shabbat, the 'timer' group will sing a designated song of a certain length (monitored by the leader) and when they finish singing, the group matching the cards must stop. Swap groups, the winners being those who make most sets. Key Stage 2 8 - 11 Moshe does not bring about the first three plagues, his brother Aharon does. Why? When Moshe was a baby the river protected him. When he killed the Egyptian he hid him in the sand. Moshe was grateful to the river and the sand. Moshe did not want to harm the two things which had saved him - Showing gratitude Have a discussion on why the world has reason to be grateful to the following famous Jews: Albert Einstein Jonas Salk Robert Winston Bob Dylan Simon Marks Steven Spielberg