Game Changers: Teaching Jewish Values through Play

By Rabbi Paul Kipnes and Rabbi Elana Rabishaw

How do we teach young people to abide by Jewish values in ways that do not just land in their heads but seep into their souls?

This past weekend, Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas, CA tried something both simple and radical. We played games.

Through one shared retreat at camp, our 4th–6th graders and teen leaders built community side by side. Each group took on age-appropriate challenges and responsibilities designed to help them grow. Together, they explored what it means to be game changers in how we play, how we interact with others, and how we live.

At first glance, it looked like pure fun. Deal or No Deal. Human Scrabble. A Jewish Olympic torch ceremony, complete with spirited, Olympic-style events. Laughter echoed. Teams huddled. Cheers erupted. But as the games unfolded, something deeper emerged. 

These were not games for games’ sake. Each activity required teamwork to succeed. Each surfaced a quiet tension we all know well: How do we balance nitzachon (the desire to win) with a commitment to chesed (kindness), savlanut (patience), and rachamim (care for one another)?

Jewish texts, Torah and beyond, gave language to that struggle. Reflection followed play. The question was never just who won, but how we treated one another along the way. What choices did we make under pressure? Who did we lift up? Who did we notice?

At the heart of this double retreat were the 7th through 12th grade teens. They served as junior counselors, helping lead activities, mentoring younger participants, and modeling what it looks to be kind, compassionate while competitive. They also modeled what it’s like to love being Jewish. The teens were team leaders even as they were participants in a real time social experiment, living and teaching Jewish values through play while younger eyes watched closely.

Game Changing matters deeply right now. In a moment of rising antisemitism, our young people need more than reassurance. They need role models for living proud Jewish values. They need guidance on how to be counter-cultural in a moment that often dismisses such values. They need to see teens who wear Jewish identity with pride, joy, and confidence. They need to glimpse who they themselves are becoming.

What unfolded was more than a retreat. It was the building of a kehila kedosha, a holy community of caring. Young people who elsewhere have struggled to settle in found themselves held in the warm embrace of community. Teens who often take time to warm up discovered a safe space to dive in. No one was rushed. No one was pushed aside. Everyone mattered.

There were moments when winning took a back seat to encouragement. Moments when a team paused so everyone could catch up. Moments when a teen quietly coached a younger participant through frustration instead of celebrating a personal victory. These were small choices. They were also everything.

In a world that feels increasingly unsafe for our young ones, this weekend offered something grounding and protective. It created a richly Jewish, exceedingly embracing, uplifting, and musical experience that reminded our youth (and us adults) that Jewish community is still a place of safety, strength, and joy.  

On these retreats, we practiced being the kind of people our tradition calls us to be. We learned that the truest victories are measured not by points scored, but by kindness shown, courage modeled, and community built. We played games that were not just playing games.

Perhaps that is how values seep into souls. One game. One choice. One young person at a time.

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These retreats were the result of collective care and collaboration. Rabbi Elana Rabishaw, Andrew Fromer, and Brooke Botwinick brought vision, creativity, and heart to every detail. Their work helped ensure that play became purpose and fun became formation.

We are also deeply grateful to the partners who made this experience possible:

The Harry and Judy Friedman Youth Enrichment Fund,

The Michael Oshin Alcohol Awareness and Prevention Fund,

The Neshama Initiative, established by the Judovits Family, and

The Rosenbluth Family Charitable Foundation.

Their collective generosity, invested both in a weekend and in our Jewish youth, planted the seeds of a hopeful Jewish future.