Machanayim

Machanayim is a team dodgeball-style game most frequently played in North American Jewish day schools and summer camps. Its Hebrew name, meaning two encampments, describes the game's basic setup: two teams face off across a divided playing area and attempt to eliminate opposing players by hitting them with a thrown ball, commonly a soccer ball or volleyball. A ball only counts toward an elimination once it has been activated, thrown between teammates without touching the ground first, which adds a passing and timing element beyond a straightforward throwing contest. Players who are eliminated are not sent out of the game entirely; instead they move behind the opposing team's side and continue throwing from there, keeping the whole group in continuous play. A round typically ends once the opposing team's designated captain has been eliminated multiple times, usually up to three lives. The game closely resembles the German and Austrian playground game Volkerball, and a Yiddish-language version known as Tzvey-fayern has also been recorded.