Goals:

• Getting acquainted with the resources and uses of water in Israel.
• The encouragement of creative thinking via the water challenges in Jerusalem.

The activity order:

1. Water games – ODT.
2. The story of the settlement of Jerusalem.
3. The water challenges and solutions in Jerusalem.
4. summary.

ODT activities that deal with water games and solving problems in creative ways.

Game 1:

On one side of the room we will put two buckets filled with water. On the second side of the room, we will put two empty buckets. We will split the group into two groups and each group will receive a sponge.

Aim – to transfer the water, using the sponge, from the full bucket to the empty one, and to finish first.

Important: As soon as one of the groups finishes, the game stops and you should check, using a wooden stick/ruler which bucket holds more water and according to this the winner determined! If the group that finished first lost a lot of water by water leaking from the sponge, then the second group wins because they have more water in the bucket!

Discussion: How did you feel when you had to transfer water from one place to another? What could have helped and made the task easier? (E.g. a better tool than the sponge? To tie a number of sponges together? Try to think of creative ideas).

Game 2:

To transfer water using cups and straws.

Game 3:

To transfer water from a high place to a low place.

Each group will receive two topographic maps of Jerusalem; ancient Jerusalem and Jerusalem with a perspective of the whole country.

Afterwards, you will tell a story that describes the Jewish settlement in Jerusalem in the days of King David and its importance for the Jewish people. The topographic descriptions of the story can be illustrated using the map showing ancient Jerusalem.

The story:

3000 years ago, King David arrived in Jerusalem. In those days, it was not called Jerusalem, but Yevus.

The Yevusi people lived there and David conquered the city from them, built his palace and the capital city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was built on a mountain slope and a wall was built around the city.

Why did David build Jerusalem there? On the mountain slope? Why not build it on flat land? By the sea?

According to what is written in the Tanach, the Temple was to be built on the top of a mountain, with Jerusalem built at the foot of that same mountain. The mountain is called Mount Moriah, Har HaMoriah.

Let’s think together what a place needs to have in order for it to be inhabitable?

Answers: water, food, protection, economic development (crops, trade) etc. Water is the basic 

need- in order for there to be life, there must be water.

But where is the water situated in Jerusalem?

Answer: as can be seen on the second map, the water is concentrated in springs situated around Jerusalem, such as the Gihon and Lifta.

At the foot of the mountain – the rainwater that seeps into the ground is called groundwater and it accumulates in an impenetrable layer.

These two answers are the beginning of the survival challenge of the residents of Jerusalem.

After this, the participants should receive seven cards with challenges related to water in Jerusalem and the surroundings. Every card will describe a challenge, and an accompanying picture. The participants need to think and come up with solutions for the challenges described, while relying on various topographic maps and pictures of Jerusalem. We recommend setting a certain amount of time for the task and making it into a competition.

The challenges:

• First Temple – water outside of the city wall
• First Temple – the expansion of Jerusalem and distancing from the spring
• Second Temple – Herod the Great – the population growth and the need for another water source
• Lack of access to the Gihon (under Arab control) in the nineteenth century and water shortage in the Old City cisterns
• Siege on Jerusalem in the War of Independence and the rationing of 10 liters of water per person per day
• It isn’t possible to grow crops on the mountain, because the roots can’t reach the groundwater, and rainwater flows down to the bottom of the mountain.

After the participants have finished, in the given timeframe, the activity leader goes through the solutions of each group and presents the actual solution that was found.

Throughout the different time periods, the Jewish people put a lot of effort into being able to continue living in the holy city of Jerusalem, and found interesting solutions for the water challenge in Jerusalem.