The Great Israel Challenge

The Great Israel Challenge

START

Independence Hall

CHOOSE YOUR DESTINATION

Sde Boker

The Dead Sea

Haifa

The Kotel

As you visit each place, pay close attention to all clues. You never know which ones will be needed to unlock the safe.

TRY AGAIN?

TRY AGAIN?

Formerly the home of Tel-Aviv's first Mayor, Meir Dizengoff, the house became an art museum before being the location where Israel's independence was declared on May 14, 1948. Go inside

Welcome to Independence Hall in Tel-Aviv

There are three clues hidden in this room. Search around and see of you can find them

After you've found all three clues and completed each challenge, click here to move forward.

My picture hangs in Independence Hall just as it did on May 14, 1948, when Israel was born. Do you know my name?

Theodor Herzl

David Ben-Gurion

Moses

Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) was a journalist, lawyer, and playwright. In 1897 he convened the First Zionist Congresss in Basle, Switzerland. At the Congress were nearly 200 delegates from across Europe and as far away as the United States. The delegates represented a variety of Jewish backgrounds and interests.For three days, the delegates dicussed the status of Jews in different countries, existing Jewish communities in the Land of Israel, and their desire to create a national home for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. As a result of the Congress, the World Zionist Organization was created with Herzl as its leader. A plan of action, called the Basel Declaration, was outlined with four immediate next steps.

Here is an entry from my diary on September 3, 1897, just a few days after the First Zionist Congress. It is in German, my native language.Search the entry to find how long I thought it would take until the Jewish state became a reality.

Click here to move to the next page

Maybe in five years

In Basel, I founded the Jewish State

In fifty years, it will be seen

According to my diary, in what year did I think the Jewish State would be created?The correct answer will take you back to Independence Hall. Remember the answer as you will need it to move forward in the game.

1902

1947

1897

TURN THE PROJECTOR ON & Press play on the video

Watch the video and respond correctly

The Declaration took place on which day of the week?

Monday

Question 1

Wednesday

Friday

Who declared Israel's Independence?

David Ben-Gurion

Question 2

Golda Meir

Harry Truman

Remember the answer as you will need it to move forward in the game.

Congratulations

Click here to return to Independence Hall

In the first decade of the 20th century, many of the Jewish immigrants to Palestine were settling in the city of Jaffa. Jaffa was the port of entry for those arriving to the Land of Israel, and many immigrants, fresh off the boat in a new and strange land chose to settle there. As the second largest and most important port city in Palestine, it offered economic advantages for new immigrants, many of whom wanted to live in a city and not on a farm. By 1908, the population of Jaffa, which had been a relatively small town grew to over 40,000, 8,000 of whom were Jews.As the population increased, conditions in Jaffa deteriorated. The city lacked running water and proper sewage; streets were unpaved and dirty. These conditions combined with the overcrowding in Jaffa, led to the spread of disease.

These are photos of Jaffa taken between 1900 and 1911

Source: Harvard University

Go to the next page

In the summer of 1907, a group of 60 Jewish families living in Jaffa formed a company called Ahuzat Bayit (Homestead). The company’s purpose was to establish a new suburb outside the crowded conditions found in Jaffa.

Return to Independence Hall

On April 11, 1909, sixty-six families gathered on the sand dunes of their newly acquired land and selected lots for property in the new neighborhood. The following year, the name of the community was changed to Tel-Aviv.

Thank you for visiting Independence Hall. The second number of the safe code is:1. The last number of the year Herzl predicted the Jewish State would be created PLUS 2. The number of letters in the first name of the man who declared Israel's Independnece MINUS 3. The last digit in the year that people selected lots on the sand dunes in what became Tel-Aviv.

Return to the Map

Welcome to Kibbutz Sde Boker

Located in the middle of the Negev Desert, Kibbutz Sde Boker is best known for being the place where David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, retired in 1963. Ben-Gurion was inspired by the founders of the kibbutz who were committed to creating viable Jewish settlement in the desert.

START

Welcome to my home. This "hut" is where my wife Paula and I lived from 1953 until my death in 1973. (Paula passed away in 1968)Come inside

This is my office. There are two clues hidden in here. See if you can find them.

After you have found the clues and visited the additional pages, click here.

The photo on my desk is of my friend and mentor Berl Katznelson. Like me, Berl came to Israel during the Second Aliyah which took place between 1904 and 1914. Between 35,000 and 40,000 Jews came to the Land of Israel during the Second Aliyah, mostly from Eastern Europe. Berl and I believed that in order to create a Jewish state in Palestine, we needed to work together and share our resources and skills for the greater good. It was Berl's ideas about collective farming communities that became the basis for the Kibbutz movement.

"The first Kibbutz in the Land of Israel did not start with people who came and said, 'We want to settle the land and therefore we shall do this and that,' rather it was an expression of creating a large community, of a dream of cooperating, of equality." Quote by Berl Katznelson

Next page

Play the newsreel to see how even as a retired Prime Minister, I put Katznelson's ideas of equality and cooperation into action when I moved to Kibbutz Sde Boker

Return to my office

Many of the books in my bookcase are volumes of Tanakh, or the Hebrew Bible. I was a great student of the Tanakh, and could quote many verses from memory. More than anything else, the Hebrew Bible represented, for me, a blueprint for Jewish national life in our ancestral land. Open the Book of Isaiah and press play to hear me reciting one of my favorite biblical quotations

Return to my office

Isaiah 42:6

CONGRATULATIONS

The first number of the safe code is:The last digit in the first year of the second aliyah and/or the first number of the chapter of Isaiah which Ben-Gurion quotedHint: They are the same number

Return to the map

The Western Wall, or Kotel, is the last remnant from the compound of the Second Temple which was destroyed in the year 70 CE by the Romans. Due to its connection to the Temple, it is considered to be one of the holiest sites in Judaism. Jews pray regularly at the wall and leave notes of prayers in its crevices.

Visit the Kotel

Try Again

Back

As you just read on the previous page, one of the customs when people visit the Kotel is to place prayer notes into the cracks of the wall. Search the prayer notes hidden in this wall to learn more about them (There are six clues). Then, click here to move to the next page

Want to leave your own note in the Kotel? Click here

Removed with a stick

The Chief Rabbi of the Kotel

Before Passover and Rosh Hashanah

Twice per year

Buried

Mount of Olives Cemetery

Using a special stick, the notes are removed three times a year, on the pilgrimage festivals: Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot, by the Chief Rabbi of the Kotel and buried on the Mount of Olives.

Which of the following most accurately describes what happens to the prayer notes. left in the Kotel?

Using a special stick, the notes are removed twice a year, before Rosh Hashana and Passover, by the Chief Rabbi of the Kotel and burned as an offering to remind us of the Temple sacrifice.

Using a special vacuum, the notes are removed each week before Shabbat by a group of soliders and sent to the Prime Minister or Israel to try and answer.

Using a special stick, the notes are removed twice a year, before Rosh Hashana and Passover, by the Chief Rabbi of the Kotel and buried on the Mount of Olives.

CONGRATULATIONS

The third number of the safe code is:The first digit in the year the second Temple was destroyed by the Romans

Return to the map

Welcome to the Dead Sea

With a surface and shore lying 1,388 feet (423 meters) below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth. Not only is the Dead Sea a geographic wonder, it is an important ecological and scientific research site, a rich historical place, and an important tourist destination.

START

“Again if, as is fabled, there is a lake in Palestine, such that if you bind a man or beast and throw it in it floats and does not sink, this would bear out what we have said. They say that this lake is so bitter and salty that no fish live in it and that if you soak clothes in it and shake them it cleans them” –Aristotle, Meteorology, 2:3 (350 BCE)

Next page

As you float in the Dead Sea, search around you to find two clues related to this site.

After you have found the clues and visited the additional pages, click here.

In 1947, not far from where you are floating, a Bedouin shepard, trying to recover a stray sheep, came across this cave in Qumran. Inside, he discovered a number of old scrolls inside of clay pots. Over the next few decades, hundreds more scrolls were found in the area. The scrolls contain biblical and other texts and are estimated to be approximately 2,000 years old.Enter the cave and find the hidden scroll. After you have found it exit the cave and return to the Dead Sea.

As a result of being the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea is full of minerals and elements that have numerous benefits and uses. Minerals mined from the Dead Sea are used for fertilizer, medicine, and as fire protection.These beneficial elements are not just found in the water, but also along the shore. Dead Sea mud is valued for its use in skin treatments and maintenance.

Continue

QUESTION 01

Which book of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) has not been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Exodus

Esther

Ecclesiastes

TRY AGAIN

QUESTION 02

Dead Sea minerals are used for the following purposes except:

Skin Treatments

Fertilizers

To make smart phones

CONGRATULATIONS

The fourth number of the safe code is:The second digit in the year Aristotle wrote about the Dead Sea

Return to the map

Welcome to Haifa

Located on the country's north coast, Haifa is the third largest city in Israel and a major port due to its natural harbor

START

In Haifa we are going to visit the Shuk Talpiot, a market where you can get everything from fresh produce, nuts and spices to meat, chicken and fish. Click on the chicken to continue

Time to shop. Prices are per kilogram for each product. You need:

• 1/4 Kilo of Pistachios
• 1/3 Kilo of Walnuts
• 1/2 Kilo of Red Beans
• 1/4 Kilo of Pumpkin Seeds
• 1 Kilo of Sunflower Seeds

Red Beans

שעועית אדומה

Sunflower Seeds

גרעינים

Pumpkin Seeds

גרעינים

Pistachios

פיסטוק

Walnuts

אֱגוֹז

Click here to pay for your items.

Please pay for your items using exact change only. Drag the correct coins and bills to the cashier.After you've paid, click next.

Next

CONGRATULATIONS

The last number is:The number of bills you used to pay for the items in the shuk

Return to the map

Enter the correct password

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CONGRATULATIONS!