PARSHA PROJECTS

PARSHAT MIKETZ 2

2010-11-29T03:21:00.000-08:00

Fat and Skinny Cows

PARSHAT BERESHIT

2010-10-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

CREATION WHEEL

Bereshit is obviously a great parsha for crafting but it seems to get lost in the shuffle of the end of all the chagim. After making Sukkot decorations and Simchat Torah flags, I don't usually have energy or time left for Bereshit. So, we finally got around doing my Bereshit craft this week (even though it was Parshat Vayera!)

I knew I wanted to do a Creation Wheel. I must have seen such a thing at some point in my life because the image was stuck in my head. I found that you could BUY a creation wheel craft at Oriental Trading (that place has EVERYTHING!) but why buy when you can make???

I have been saving cereal boxes because they make great cardboard for all sorts of crafts. For this craft, I just needed a cereal box, paper, glue, markers, and a paper fastener. I had never bought or used a paper fastener before but I knew that they were great for all sorts of projects and that I had to get them in my stash. The only problem is that I had NO IDEA how to say "paper fastener" in Hebrew! Thank G-d for google images. I printed out an image of a paper fastener and brought it to the craft store, yes I did. I showed the guy the picture, told him that it was what I needed and asked him how to say it in Hebrew. Get this - he knew exactly where they were in the store but he couldn't remember how to say it in Hebrew! So, I didn't feel so stupid. A box of paper fasteners in hand, I went home to experiment with a model.

I just cut out two circles from the cereal box (using pot covers to trace). Then, I had to figure out how to equally divide the circle into 7 sections for the 7 days of the week. Here, I got stuck. I needed some kind of geometry compass thing. Or, at least Andy. Since I didn't have either of those, I divided the circle into 8 equal sections instead - much easier - and decided I would live with one extra section (no perfectionism allowed).

I used whatever stickers and paper we had at home to create images for each day.

Then, I cut out a piece from the top circle, covered it with paper, decorated it and attached it with the paper fastener so that it could spin to reveal each day.

Somehow, even with all of my measuring, the wheel was not perfect but it was fine, fine, fine. To keep and use it long-term, I would definitely suggest getting it laminated.

There are pros and cons to having an example project for the girls to see. Pros - they understand what we are trying to make and they get excited to try make their own. Con - it definitely limits their creativity somewhat. Maya really wanted her "triangles" to look just like mine, even though I encouraged her to design them however she wanted.

Maya was pretty much able to cut the circles by herself although the cardboard is a bit thick for kids' scissors:

Yes, they are both wearing ballet outfits. No, they do not go to ballet class. Here is Maya's work in progress:

I was thoroughly surprised and impressed by her new ability to draw a dog! They probably most enjoyed using the star stickers (leftover from Lech Lecha) as earrings:

Maya really loved spinning her final project and going through the days while singing one of our favorite songs "Seven Days" originally recorded by Peter and Ellen Allard and recently recorded by Elana Jagoda

Shabbat Shalom!

PARSHAT VAYERA 2

2010-10-21T04:29:00.000-07:00

WELCOME MAT

Of course, we brought our Parsha Welcome Mat to Israel with us but it is too big for us to use for our front door. Instead, it has found a home at the foot of our kitchen sink. So, we had to make a new one for this week's parsha:

PARSHAT LECH LECHA 2

2010-10-21T01:56:00.000-07:00

FOOTPRINTS AND STAR GLOBE

Parshat Lech Lecha "take two".

Encountering the parshiot for a second time, I wasn't sure if I would just do the same projects again with the girls (which they would be perfectly fine with) or if I would "challenge" myself to go bigger and better. I still don't really know but I was motivated to come up with some new ideas for Parshat Lech Lecha.

Parshat Lech Lecha is particularly significant for us this year since it is our first living as a family in Israel. We have done "Lech Lecha!" We have left our homeland and entered the desert (literally). So, I wanted to focus on this aspect of the Parsha - on the journey. My first thought was to do something with footprints. I googled "footprints in sand craft" but all of the projects involved Plaster of Paris which intimidated me, especially since I have no idea what it is called in Hebrew! So, I decided to do something more basic and make painted footprints, something that is apparently done as an activity at baby showers (lefi google)!

The girls were thrilled to do anything with paint since I am typically fearful of this art supply! They especially loved being able to paint their hands and get good and messy...

Although we enjoyed the footprints, I still think that STARS are a great theme from this week's parsha for kids. So, I wanted to come up with a new star project (even though my kids would be perfectly happy just gluing glitter all over the place). In flipping through this craft book that my mother-in-law gave me, I saw an idea for how to make a glitter globe. I LOVE glitter globes! Many glitter globes are really snow globes (made using smashed egg shell pieces, who knew?) so I decided that we would make a star globe instead. I went ahead and tried to make an example before the kids came home. The instructions called for "distilled water." I wasn't sure what that was but Andy said that we had lots of it from our dryer. Perfect. It also suggested adding a drop of glycerin. Again, I wasn't sure what that was but I was sure that we didn't have it so like in cooking, I just left it out. Then, I just added a bunch of big glitter pieces. The real problem was sealing the jar closed. I tried to hot glue gun it but it still leaks.

When Maya came home from school, she desperately wanted to make one too so Andy cleaned out a "schug" jar and we got to work.

PARSHAT NOACH

2010-10-21T00:08:00.000-07:00

RAINBOW NECKLACES AND COOKIES!

We have entered our second year of Parsha Projects. Last year, we started with Lecha Lecha so we missed the colorful opportunities that Parshat Noach provides! So many options for crafts - arks, doves, animals, water. But, I went with the most obvious - rainbows! First, I dyed one bag of pasta. It is so easy and comes out so beautiful! We now have a huge bag of colored pasta that we can use for all sorts of projects - jewelery, mosaics, etc.

Since the girls are pretty into beading, we first made rainbow necklaces:

We had so many noodles that we also made a rainbow just by gluing them onto a piece of cardboard...

As if we did not have enough rainbows around, I was determined to make rainbow cookies for Shabbos. Someone cited this recipe
on Challah Crumb's Facebook page and it looked easy and fun. The first step, dyeing the dough was definitely fun and easy:

But, when it came time to work with the dough, we were in trouble. The dough was just sticky and mushy. It was just a mess, a disaster, a flop. So, as often happens in times like this, Andy stepped in to try to save the day.

He froze the dough which helped a bit but it was still incredible frustrating to work with. We managed to put together some things that sort of looked like rainbows...

I was especially proud of this one that brought back San Francisco memories...

As always, what I considered to be a flop, the girls considered to be a masterpiece!
Perspective.

PARSHAT HAAZINU

2010-08-20T04:17:00.000-07:00

ISRAEL DIORAMA

We are finally in our new home! And, more important, our "stuff" has arrived. And, along with our stuff came the hundreds of BOXES that it was packed in. Andy and I worked like maniacs to unpack everything with the goal of just getting everything OUT of the boxes.

In the midst of all of this, I still wanted to produce a parsha project - both for the girls and for Challah Crumbs. I knew that I wanted to focus on Moshe looking into the land of Israel but I was not sure how I wanted to depict this scene. It was Andy's idea - maybe inspired by the boxes around us - to make a diorama. I wasn't sure what a diorama was (or how to spell it) but I quickly found out that it is basically making any kind of scene using a box. Since I had plenty of those around (but not much else except some scrapbook paper), I got to work.

This is what I came up with...

I added a figure of Moshe looking into the land. The girls had fun folding Moses up and down, alternating between saying "Moses is dead" and "Moses is alive" -

The girls each made dioramas of their own but I let them do whatever they wanted which meant they made...princess castles. Oh well.

PARSHAT NETZAVIM-VAYELECH

2010-08-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

TORAH SCROLLS

PARSHAT KI TETZEI

2010-08-01T04:01:00.000-07:00

EDIBLE BIRDS NEST

This is our second week of trying to do Parsha Projects under less than ideal circumstances. First of all, it is crazy hot!!! More importantly, we are still unsettled, living out of suitcases, in someone else's space. But, this parsha presented a no-brainer in terms of subject matter. I knew that I wanted to do something with the beautiful mitzvah of "shiluah haken" or sending away the mother bird. I started google-imaging "birds nest craft" and came across the idea of an edible birds nest. There were a number of different versions. I knew the girls would love the kind that seemed to be a popular Easter treat - a bird nest cookie made with Chow Mein noodles. But, alas, no Chow Mein noodles easily accessible in Israel, at least not in the Gush. So, I had to come up with an alternative. I bought a bag of pretzel sticks but I was worried that they would be too thick. Then, in the cereal aisle, I saw bran cereal sticks - they were perfect!

We melted peanut butter and chocolate chips together and mixed in the bran sticks. Then, we just made balls, made an indentation with our fingers in the middle, and stuck them in the freezer to firm up.

At the supermarket, I pondered what to use for the eggs. Most recipes called for white jelly beans. Those were not easy to find around here. But, Israel had lots of alternatives in the candy section - I bought white mentos, tic tacs, and kliks - so we had lots of different tastes, sizes, and shapes of eggs!

PARSHAT SHOFTIM

2010-07-30T03:50:00.000-07:00

HANDPRINT TREE

This is my first attempt to do a parsha project while living in someone else's house in Israel, without our stuff, feeling very unsettled. My connection to the internet is sketchy. I don't have any of my basic art supplies. And, I am not a car ride away from Michael's! But, thankfully, Israel does have a surprising number of little craft stores. At this point, I limited myself to buying some basic paper and paints. I don't even know what kind of paints I bought, if they are washable, etc, but we will use them outside and they will have to do.

In this week's parsha, there is the prohibition against destroying fruit-bearing trees because "haadam etz hasadeh." We talked about how trees and people are alike and how we have to be kind to both. We made these pretty tree prints using our forearms, hands, and fingers.

On Shabbat, a bunch of kids were whacking a tree and Maya came over to me and whispered in my ear: "They are not being nice to the tree like it says in the Parsha." That's my little Goody Two-Shoes!

PARSHAT DEVARIM

2010-07-21T03:45:00.000-07:00

GLITTER STARS

PARSHAT MATOT-MASAI

2010-07-14T03:20:00.000-07:00

COTTON BALL SHEEP

In an email to the editor of Challah Crumbs, I wrote "Parshat Matot stinks for kids crafts ideas…Ill see what I can come up with but I am not optimistic…" The parsha spends alot of time on vows and war and I was not very inspired. For preschoolers, I am looking for concrete objects like people, stars, food, clothing, or animals - especially animals. So, I looked again and I found...sheep! In Parshat Matot, the tribes of Reuven and Gad ask Moshe for the lands east of the Jordon so that they can have more land for their cattle. So, all I had to do was figure out how to make lots and lots of sheep!

Thankfully - yet again - not only do Christian Sunday School teachers love donkeys, they also love sheep (Jesus is the good shephard, the parable of the lost sheep..) Lamb crafts are especially popular for Easter time.

So, luckily, I had an easy time finding a sheep craft that used all stuff that we already had at home - toilet paper rolls and cotton balls. I wanted to do a model one for Challah Crumbs but I couldn't exactly remember what a sheep should look like. Andy reminded me of the image from the mattress commercials:

Our version came out super cute:

I used a mini-plastic kiddush wrapped in black felt for the nose. I have no idea why we had this grassy material in the house but it made for perfect pastureland...

PARSHAT PINCHAS

2010-07-14T03:02:00.000-07:00

DAUGHTERS OF TZELAFCHAD PAPER DOLL CHAIN

Since my "classroom" is made of two little girls- who also happen to be my daughters - it was a pretty easy decision for me to focus on the story of the Daughters of Tzelafchad narrated in this week's parsha.

I decided to do paper dolls again since they are easy and the girls just love doing dress-up doll things. This time though I decided to get some scraps of materials so that we could make them fancy skirts and dresses.

For some reason, Maya really enjoyed learning the names of the five girls - Machlah, No'ah, Chaglah, Milkah and Tirtzah. She decided which "doll" was which girl and we wrote their names on their backs. On a whim, I put a few pieces of magnet tape on the back of the dolls so now they hang on our fridge and we are reminded and inspired by their "feminist revolution!"

PARSHAT BALAK

2010-07-01T02:46:00.000-07:00

DONKEY PUPPET

We are big fans of this Parsha since Andy is its g-dcast narrator. Check it out! Needless to say, the girls have watched their father's cartoon numerous times so they know this parsha has something to do with a donkey.

Anyway, you can't NOT do a donkey craft for Parshat Balak! Thankfully, there were a million donkey craft ideas on the internet, thanks yet again, to the Christian Bible. Apparently, Christians are very into donkeys since Jesus apparently spent alot of time riding on one. There is even an entire website called Bible Donkeys.

Kids love talking animals and they love puppets so this seemed like the perfect opportunity for a good old-fashioned paper bag puppet. I think that he came out super cute. I would listen to what he had to say...

PARSHAT CHUKAT

2010-06-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

PAPER PLATE SPIRAL SNAKES

Crafting a red heifer (or a parah adumah) seems like the most obvious idea from this week's parsha, especially after seeing Julie Seltzer's parah adumah challah! But, I couldn't imagine trying to explain the concepts of tumah and taharah as they relate to this ritual!

So, instead, we focused on another weird animal story in the parsha. Its short, so I will just quote the whole thing here:

And G-d sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit the nation, and many perished of the people of Israel. And the people came to Moshe, and they said, “we have sinned, because we spoke against G-d and against you; pray to G-d that He take away from us the snakes.” And Moshe prayed on behalf of the nation. And G-d said to Moshe, “make for yourself a snake and put it on a pole, and it will be that anyone bitten will see it, and live.” And Moshe made a copper snake (nachash nechoshet), and set it on a high pole, and it was that if a snake bit a man, and he stared at the copper snake, that he lived. Numbers 21:6-9

The most obviously problematic aspect of this passage is that the copper snake seems kinda idolatrous-y, no? Well, apparently, as long as the command to fashion objects out of precious metals comes directly from God - like the Keruvim - then it is not avodah zara.

So, it was snakes for us instead of cows. I found this VERY easy and fun way to make snakes. All you need is a cheap paper plate. My original plan was to make just the copper snake but that didn't go so well. First of all, I didn't have any copper-colored anything. So, I used the leftover gold glitter paint that we had (close enough). But, I was impatient and didn't wait for it to dry so it was a big mess but you can get the idea...

Then I decided that this project was so easy that we should just make a whole bunch of snakes, poisonous and all. I realized that the easiest thing to do is to use markers when the paper plate is still intact and THEN cut it in a spiral shape. The results are really cute:

We made and hung lots of snakes and they are still up in our dining room. And, now I have a package of paper plates that are great for puppets, masks, etc.

I was very excited to see another "mama" do this parsha project over at Adventures in Mama-Land - yay!

PARSHAT KORACH

2010-06-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

AARON'S BLOSSOMING STAFF

Yes, I am a little behind schedule. But, it is not because we haven't been doing Parsha Projects around here. Lehefech - just the opposite. We have been all Parsha, all the time. Between working for g-dcast and helping out at Challah Crumbs, there seems to be only so much time I can dedicate to thinking, writing, and crafting about the Parsha. So, actually working with my own kids on Parsha has suffered a bit - mainly in my taking the time to photograph their works in progress, which of course I think is the best part of this blog!

My first idea for this week's parsha was to somehow recreate the earth swallowing up Korach and his followers. Some kind of volcano or earthquake science project? But, I decided (once again) that this wasn't one of the narratives I was jumping to tell my kids.

So, instead I focuses on a brief episode in the Parsha in which Aaron's rod of staff, representing the holy tribe of Levi, "puts forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds (Bamidbar 17:8). My kids already think of staffs as very biblical objects - they associate them with Pharaoh and Moses.

Making the staff was SUPER easy. I just used electrical tape to wrap two paper towel rolls and attach them together:

Then, I glued on pink tissue paper flowers and leaf and almond shapes cut out of foam paper.

It came out very pretty and it now lives in the playroom where the girls use it in various forms of dress-up and make believe.

In retrospect, I might have chosen to use real leaves, flowers, and almonds to decorate the rod. That certainly would have expanded the project since we could have spent time collecting these things outside. But, on the other hand, such a project would have been trashed by now...

PARSHAT SHELACH

2010-06-02T11:33:00.001-07:00

ISRAEL MAP MOSAIC

Two public service announcements:
1) I have added a sidebar that lists the entries from this blog according to CRAFT which I think is a nifty idea.
2) I have received a very nice shout-out from homeshuling. Thank you!

This week's parsha is all about the 12 spies being sent into the Land of Israel to check it out. Basically, the Land gets mixed reviews. I assume that the timing of this parsha with the controversial news now coming out of Israel will be the source for many a Rabbi's sermon this week.

This parsha is especially relevant for our family since we are moving to Israel this summer. In addition, we feel somewhat like "scouts" on behalf of other American families who we hope will join us in building a new community in the Negev. (Please come!!!)

So, I wanted to make a map of Israel with the girls this week. A long time ago, I had flipped through Rosie O'Donnel's book Crafty U at Barnes and Noble (no, I didn't buy it) and came across this project and it had stuck with me ever since. So, one sleepless night (there are many of those nowadays), I decided that I would use dried beans and the like to design the map of Israel.

I did a trial run of this without the kiddos since I had to get the idea into Challah Crumbs and I wanted to experiment a bit.

First, I tried to figure out what I could use for the blue of the waters. When I came up empty, I decided that I would have to dye or paint the food items. Having no idea how to do this - guess what - I googled. I learned that the best method for dyeing dried pasta is to put the pasta in a big ziploc, add a few drops of food coloring, and one teaspoon of rubbing alcohol. Priding myself in actually possessing (and locating) all of those items in my home, I tried it and it worked easily and perfectly. I dyed white rice blue and Israeli couscous (I thought that was a cute touch) green.

I then cut up an old Huggies diaper box as my base.

I drew an outline of the map of Israel - copying from images that I found online.

Then, I just starting gluing section by section...

...until, walla -

I was surprised and thrilled by how it came out. The girls freaked out when they saw that I had "done Parsha" without them. We ultimately did do this project together but, let's just say that they used a little more poetic license than I did.

Maya decided that she wanted to do a rainbow, but she said that it was a rainbow IN Israel. Close enough, I guess.

Avital, well, she just went freestyle...

Although, as always, it was challenging for me to "let go" and allow them to play, I did let them do as many mosaics as they wanted and we now have a nice collection.

Now, how do I tell them that these will NOT be going with us to Israel...

BEHAALOTCHA

2010-05-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

Menorah Shapes and Game

Exciting news for those of you who would actually like to USE the ideas that I post here but are frustrated because they are always posted only AFTER the week's Parsha...my Parsha crafts will now be available on a new website called "Challah Crumbs!" This website was recently created by a friend of mine who lives in Israel and she asked me to contribute my Parsha craft ideas. I am thrilled to do this but the only catch is that I have to get them to her a week IN ADVANCE - challenging for me since my ideas have typically been brainstormed the night before or the morning of... So now, I I will just continuously be teaching my kids the parsha for the upcoming week (they don't know the difference!) So, check out the website and you can already see NEXT week's project...amazing. You will still have to look at this blog if you want to hear my parental and educational musings and photos of my cute kids.

Parshat Behaalotcha is chock-full of good stuff but I decided to focus on the first few verses which describe the commandment for Aaron to light up the Menorah in the Mishkan. The Menorah seemed like an obvious choice for a project. I immediately started googling images of the Menorah but realized that I wouldn't be able to use any of them for the "Challah Crumbs" website because of copyright issues. So, I a proud to say that I just went ahead and designed my own in a word document using auto-shapes. I think it came out pretty darn good for someone who is not a graphic designer!

My idea was to make the Menorah using basic shapes like circles and triangles and let the girls cut out and glue these shapes onto the Menorah to fill it in.

Maya was able to do this but Avital was happy just coloring in the picture...

Then, we were ready to play the game - "Pin the flame on the Menorah!" Since we did this project on a Sunday morning, it was a family affair...

BAMIDBAR

2010-05-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

TRIBAL FLAGS AND MUFFINS

It feels good to start a new sefer! I feel relieved and re-energized by starting Sefer Bamidbar. This parsha has lots of lists and numbers but it also introduces us to the concept of the 12 tribes and the design of the encampment in the desert which is fun and interesting.

The girls were already familiar with the concept of the 12 sons from Parshat Vayetze so I now wanted to introduce them to the concept of the twelve tribes that ultimately descended from those original twelve. The word "tribe" was surprisingly tough to explain to Maya - I used lots of metaphors like family, group, etc. We looked at pictures of how the Machane (camp) was laid out. I mainly used this one that I found in the text of a dvar torah on Bar Ilan's website by Gabi Cohen:

Then, we moved onto flag making. I found these great little images of the tribes' symbols. We simply colored them in, cut them out, and attached them onto toothpicks.

This made for a great project but I also wanted to demonstrate where the tribes were situated. In a stroke of genius, I realized that muffin tins contain the magic number 12! I was going to make cupcakes with frosting but since we always have rotting bananas laying around, we made chocolate chip banana muffins instead (at least they sound healthier)

When the muffins were cool, we placed three muffins (we pretended they were tents!) to the North, three to the South, three to the West, and three to the East.

Finally, we put our flags into our muffin-tents.

I am not always thrilled with how our projects turn out, but this one was definitely a winner. As always, the best part of the project for the kids was EATING it!

EMOR

2010-05-12T17:08:00.001-07:00

OMER CALENDAR

Sometimes I think that I am learning more about Christianity working on these projects than Judaism. Let me explain.

In contrast to Parshat Tazria, when doing an Omer project would have been a cop-out, this week's parsha actually includes the mitzvah of counting the days between Pesach and Shavuot:

"And you shall count from the next day after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete; To the next day after the seventh sabbath shall you count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to the Lord."

So I decided that - although we were already more than half way through the Omer - better late than never to do an Omer project. The inspiration for this project came straight from the blog Homeshuling. After googling "chocolate omer advent calendar," Amy Meltzer found this Omer Counter on Jewschool.

I loved the Omer charts on Homeshuling and Jewschool but I didn't actually know what "advent" was. Enter Wikipedia. "Advent is the season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas." Basically, a month-long countdown to Christmas. Apparently, advent calendars are very popular, especially homemade crafty ones! I spent an hour looking at great advent calendars. Here are some of my favorites:

Dixie cups and tissue paper:

Mini-muffin tin:

Envelopes:

But, as usual, my time and energy were limited so I didn't do anything this fancy. Instead, I bought a big bag of Hershey kisses and otherwise used recycled materials.

I printed two coloring pages - one for Pesach and one for Shavuot.

Then, I divided a piece of oak tag into 49 squares:

Then, I wrapped two Hershey's kisses (one for Avi, one for Maya) in red cellophane (leftover from Shmot) and gold ribbon (leftover from Terumah)MANY times. This was way too time-consuming and the girls couldn't do it themselves. Next time, I will use tins, or cups, or envelopes or something that they can fill easily themselves.

The idea of course is for us to happily and diligently count Omer together every night as a family and then eat chocolate. Although the chart hangs prominently on our front door, we STILL haven't been consistent! But, when we do, it is fun. Better next year.

ACHREI MOT-KEDOSHIM

2010-04-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

MITZVAH JAR

I knew that we would focus this week on Parshat Kedoshim (lots of nice sweet mitzvot) and not Achrei Mot (the Azazel-goat). First I selected a handful of the most accessible mitzvot in the parsha - respecting elders, respecting parents, not speaking lashon hara, loving your neighbor, etc. (cleverly omitting the prohibitions again incest and child slaughter) - to review and discuss. Originally, I thought that we would make a "mitzvah tree" so that we could keep track of when we fulfilled any one of these. I nixed that because they (and every other Jewish preschool) have a mitzvah tree at school and I generally try to avoid having the walls of my home look too much like a preschool bulletin board. So, my revised idea was to create a "mitzvah jar." If you google "mitzvah jar" (which I did), you will find many ideas for Bar Mitzvah favors - jars filled with jelly beans customized with slogans like "I partied at Justin's bar mitzvah" - this is not what I was looking for.

There was only one that was relevant to my project - a facebook group - this is the description of the group:
“Mitzvah” means good deed, in Hebrew. When my children were very young, one and three years old, we began using what we called a “Mitzvah Jar” to encourage good behavior. When a good deed was done, we’d write it down on a piece of paper, fold it up, and put it in the Mitzvah Jar. Every so often, we’d take all the pieces of paper out and read them, to remind us of all the good they’d done. Reading all the good deeds was inspirational, no matter how simple the nice gesture was (one of my favorites…“Zachary helped Joshua open the refrigerator”), and motivated the whole family to be kind and helpful to others. Let’s take helping others to a new level! Share your acts of kindness and let’s inspire each other to make a difference! Do it in groups, do it alone, something big, something small. If you have an idea but need more manpower, post it! Who knows? Maybe through this group you'll connect with people in your area that would like to be a part of your project! Let's inspire and be inspired!

I don't know who Sue Naiditch Mirman is but this is just what I had in mind so a "mitzvah jar" it was. No shopping required. In my endless and futile attempts to have my home look like the Container Store, I have plenty of extra storage jars for dried goods.

First, I found lots of fun "google images" to represent the mitzvot we were discussing like:

Then, we got to work coloring, cutting, and pasting.

Avital decided to cut something other than paper - her hair!!!! - when I wasn't looking... but that is for another blog...

Our finished project is not gorgeous but it sits next to our shabbat candles and will hopefully gradually fill up with "mitzvah notes." On Friday, we put in the following notes:

"Maya helped her teacher do the dishes"
"Avital listened to her imma and left her bag in the car"
"Imma helped a friend cook Shabbat dinner"

While I like this project, I am somewhat wary of becoming the overly enthusiastic mother who is constantly saying in a sing-song voice things like "Who wants to be a mitzvah girl?" and "Someone did a mitzvah!". You can take the girl out of yeshiva, but...

TAZRIA-METZORA

2010-04-25T08:32:00.000-07:00

NOTHING.

Yup. We skipped Tazria-Metzora. My bat mitzvah parsha. As I read through these parshiot, I recalled the torture of coming up with a relevant dvar torah about leprosy and menstruation over twenty years ago. Of course, I am aware of the rabbinic connection between tzaraat and lashon hara and that that is the most common, relevant, and inspiring way to go. But, I just couldn't do it. First of all, it is nowhere in the text. The parsha simply has nothing to do with lashon hara, so I cannot justify dedicating a "parsha lesson" to something that is completely midrashic. And, more importantly, I am concerned about transmitting the message that we assume people with physical external ailments (such as swellings, rashes, and discoloration) have committed some morally offensive act(like lashon hara) and therefore must be banished (albeit temporarily) from the community (outside of the camp). This seemed like dangerous, uncomfortable, morally problematic territory to me. Not to mention, it makes for a weird craft. Of course, I did find the following "leper puppets" online as a way to teach the Christian Bible story of Jesus healing the ten lepers:

But, that was just not my thing. It doesn't seem to appeal to other Jewish educators either. The parsha sites that I visited generally used this week to teach Sefirat HaOmer or Yom Haatzmaut (both timely cop-outs) instead of touching this Parsha's unseemly topics. I however, in my unwavering commitment to the parsha, would rather skip it altogether than pretend it is about lashon hara, the omer, or Israel. Ok, fine, it was also Maya's 5th birthday and I had tea parties to plan and pinatas to stuff.

TZAV

2010-04-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

KETORET SPICE BAGS

Ok, so I have to admit that the combination of Passover chaos and Leviticus gore has not been very conducive to consistent Parsha Projects. But, the girls were home from school the Friday before Pesach so I was determined to get back on track (despite the fact that we had plenty of Pesach-related projects to keep us busy!)

On Thursday night, I opened up to read Parshat Tzav. In short, it is about korbanot, ritual sacrifices - the burnt offering, the meal offering, the guilt offering, the thanksgiving offering...It is not that I don't appreciate that there may be deep significance in this ancient form of worship, it is just that I am not equipped to even begin to convey what that might be to two preschoolers!

So, I zoomed in on one of the early verses that describes the "ketoret" or the incense that was burned on the altar as a "pleasing odor to the Lord." I have always liked the idea of sending sweet smells in God's direction (even if practically it might have been necessary to cover up the smells of burning animal flesh and skin). I was able to explain to the girls that the Israelites wanted the Mishkan to always smell special and beautiful - they got that.

For the project, I originally thought that we would recreate the Ketoret. Nothing like a multi-sensory craft. First, I looked into the ingredients. It says in Exodus 30 (this would probably be a better project for that parsha - Ki Tissa): "God said to Moses: Take fragrances such as balsam, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense, all of the same weight, as well as other fragrances. Make the mixture into incense, as compounded by a master perfumer, well-blended, pure and holy..." According to the Rabbis, the ketoret was comprised of 11 spices:

Clove
Galbanum
Frankincense
Myrrh
Cassia
Spikenard
Saffron
Costus
Aromatic Bark
Cinnamon

My first idea was to run to Rainbow Grocery and try to find as many of these whole spices as possible (not even knowing what half of them were!). Then I thought, "Emily, it is four days before Pesach, just use what you already have at home. They won't know the difference!" So, on Friday morning, we gathered together what we already had in the house - cardamon, cinnamon, vanilla, cloves and rosemary.

We had fun smelling each of them individually and then combining them into organza drawstring sachet bags (10 for $1 - best purchase ever!)

I decided that I wanted this project (like the welcome mat and kohen aprons) to be something that we could actually use regularly and not just throw out. So, we turned our ketoret into besamim or spice bags for havdalah. I still have the puffy fabric paints from the Kohen aprons so they used them to decorate their bags.

The whole project didn't take very long and there were plenty of bags and spices so I let them make as many as they wanted. In the end, we probably made about 10 bags. Maya was SO excited to give the extra bags out as gifts.

It is a regular tradition that friends gather at our home in the late afternoon on Shabbat and stay with us for Havdalah. On the rare week that nobody is around, both Maya and Avital moan "when are our friends going to come???" Thankfully, this week, our home was filled with guests and Maya was able to distribute spice bags to everyone for Havdalah and to send each of them home with this sweet gift.

VAYAKHEL PEKUDEI

2010-03-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

MISHKAN CAKE

It has been a few weeks since I posted because Andy and I were in Israel working on our plans for aliyah to Beer Sheva this summer. I did not intentionally plan the trip in order to miss more Mishkan-related parshiot, but that was certainly a plus :). When I got back, I was determined to finally attempt a Mishkan cake with the girls, especially since I had already bought all of the very "chametzdic" ingredients weeks ago and had to get rid of them!

First, we made two brownie mixes (in retrospect, cake mixes would have worked better). Having two of everything does wonders for sibling rivalry.

After they baked, we frosted one of them and sprinkled it with graham cracker crumbs to resemble the sand of the desert:

Now we had to try to make it look something like this:

I had a few ideas for how to make the planks surrounding the mishkan. I wanted to use rolled wafers like these but I couldn't find any with a hecsher except for these which were so tempting but would have been a FORTUNE to buy 60 I would need for an accurate replica of the mishkan. So, instead we settled on good old cheap pretzel sticks.

For the ohel, we just used a piece from the second cake and covered it with a red fruit roll up. This is when I got kind of lazy and uncreative (or maybe just tired and jet-lagged). For the entrance to the mishkan and the mizbeach/altar, we just used some graham crackers. If anyone has any brilliant ideas for other ways to represent these parts of the mishkan or for the curtains, please let me know and I will try it next year!

As usual, I was the only one who was a bit disappointed with the final outcome. The girls thought it was amazing and more importantly...delicious...

TETZAVEH

2010-02-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

KOHEN GADOL APRON

It is great to have Parshat Tetzaveh the same week as Purim since much of the Parsha is dedicated to the "costume" of the Kohen. I knew right away that I wanted to make some kind of Kohen Gadol costume with the girls this week. I didn't want it to be a full-blown costume since we already have their Purim costume to worry about! Of course, a Kohen Gadol would have made a great Purim costume but there were other plans already in place...

I decided that we would focus on the Choshen Mishpat which is the most colorful part of the Kohen's uniform since it was made up of twelve different jewels to represent the twelve tribes of Israel.

This project could have been made very simply using different color paper and it would have looked great. But, I knew that if we made it out of paper, it would end up in the trash at some point. I was inclined to make something that we could keep and actually use, like the welcome mat. So, instead we made aprons. This was actually an old idea of mine. Years ago, before we were married, I made Andy a Kohen Gadol apron. Andy happens to be a Kohen and a serious cook. So, back then (when I was still making him cute gifts), I decided to buy him a white apron and chef's hat. The two items reminded me of the hat and garb of the Kohen Gadol so I bought some puffy paints and painted a design of the choshen onto the apron. I added the words "BIG KAHUNA" since we have always wondered if this expression relates to the Kohen Gadol. Anyway, I decided that the girls could do basically the same thing for themselves. First, we looked at different illustrations of the Kohen's clothes.

I bought plain child-sized aprons and puffy paints. I drew the outline of the Choshen for them in gold (as you can see from the photo, I accidentally made 9 squares instead of 12 at first which required some fixing later...)

Then, I let the girls start painting. I let them choose whatever colors they wanted for the different squares.

The results were super cute:

We even added jingle bells on to the bottom of the aprons. My hope is that these little aprons will actually get used in dress-up and play.

We had time to do a very fun and easy Parsha snack. Graham crackers, peanut butter, and jelly bellies make a great Choshen...

TERUMAH

2010-02-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

ARON KODESH

Here we go... the Mishkan! The parshiot we have all been dreading, I mean, waiting for!

The truth is that this was actually one of the easier Parshiot to come up with a project since the Mishkan and its vessels are themselves artistic designs.

Before we started our project, we looked at lots of visual examples of the Mishkan and its vessels. First, we did the coloring pages from Aish which had nice illustrations of the mishkan, the menorah, the aron, etc. We also looked at the photos in Olam Hatanach from this week's parsha.

We also watched the g-dcast for this week's parsha which is always enjoyable and educational. It is particularly fun when, like this week, we actually know the narrator!

I basically explained to the girls that the mishkan was a portable kind of shul. I did not mention anything about the altar or the sacrifices since I have no idea how to explain killing animals as a form of worship to a four year old.

I was a little uneasy about doing an actual model of the Mishkan. There are actually tons of (mostly Christian) Model Tabernacle kits out there.

It is amazing how Christian things sounds when you translate them. The "Mishkan" is Jewish; the "Tabernacle" is very Christian. Anyway, even making a model of the "Mishkan" reminded me a little too much of The Temple Institute.

So, I settled on making just an aron. I was giving a "grown-up" shiur on Shabbos about the Keruvim so it was on my mind anyway.

I spent 30 minutes at Michael's and bought everything that was gold, sparkly, and cheap. I came home with gold glitter paint, gold foil candy wrappers, gold pipe cleaners, gold ribbon, and gold sticky beads. I also bought a wooden jewelery box for $1.00 and we were ready to go.

Of course the girls loved painting with the glitter paint but it was messy, looked more yellow than gold, and did not dry quickly (all things that did not phase the children, only the mother).

Then, it was time to decorate. By this point, I had lost Avital. The sticky beads became her earrings, the candy wrappers were stuffed inside her box, and the pipe cleaners were wrapped around her wrists. I guess this was not really a two-year old friendly project. Maya was mostly patient and interested as we used the glue gun to attach the poles and decorations.

During the week, I discovered a website called Naaseh VeNilmad which sells lapfolders (lapbooks are apparently the hot thing in the homeschooling world) for teaching Parshat Hashavuah. In the lapfolder for Parshat Terumah, they included a design for a Mishkan cake that I desperately wanted to make this week. I even bought all of the ingredients but I accidentally thought that candle-lighting was at 5:56 instead of 5:36 and we ran out of time. I had a tantrum (yes, me, not the toddler) but Andy reminded me that there will be many upcoming Parshiot for which a Mishkan cake will work. :)

Ok, on to Purim...

MISHPATIM

2010-02-14T21:09:00.000-08:00

TORAH SCROLLS

This week's parsha has ALOT in it.

These were the topics that I ruled out right away:
1) Laws of the Hebrew Slave
2) Punishments for those who kill, injure, steal, etc.
3) Bestiality
4) Seduction of a virgin
5) Driving the Canaanites out of the Land
5) Sprinkling blood on the altar

I did briefly consider doing a project about the laws of the goring ox since there are a number of ox projects online because of the Chinese New Year. But, after rereading this section, I decided I didn't think that they needed to learn about killing oxes that kill people...

I then thought about doing something on the important value expressed in this parsha to take care of the widow, the stranger, and the orphan. Although we did discuss this message, it didn't make for an obvious craft.

So, on Friday morning (yes, this was all very last minute!) I decided that we would make Torah scrolls since the end of the parsha explains that Moshe wrote down all of the commandments (presumably in a scroll?). Then, "he took the Book of the Covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, All that the Lord has said will we do, and obey - Naaseh Venishma."

While the girls watched Dora, I Googled "Torah craft." Two similar projects popped up - one Christian and one Jewish. I got a sense from these sites of what I wanted to do but I thought that I would have to make a special trip with the girls to Michael's to get dowels, paper, washers, etc. It was raining out and I wasn't going anywhere for anything. So, I got resourceful and I am proud to say that everything I used for this project was already in the house.

First, I printed the words "Naaseh Venishma" on a regular piece of white printer paper on the landscape setting. I let the girls cut them out so that they were a long strip.

They used water colors to paint over the words to make the paper look more like klaf (parchment). The fact that Maya's tore down the middle made it look even more authentic :).

I already had a printout of how Hebrew letters look in a Sefer Torah because of my work with the current exhibition at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. We discussed which letters had "crowns" and I added them in on the printout.

It dried quickly and I used the glue gun to glue each side to wooden skewers that I broke in half for the "eitzim." The final touch was picking four beads to glue onto each of the sides. Avital spent most of the time just playing with the beads which is by far one of her favorite pastimes, as you can see by her designer necklace.

From the same bead set, we just cut a string to tie up each of the Torahs.

Since we were going away for shabbat, I wanted them to have something to carry the Torahs in. We found a jewelery box and a sachet bag that made perfect cases.

The jewelery box makes for a nice little aron kodesh.

The girls were very proud of their little Torahs and held them throughout the weekend. Some of these projects end up in the trash but this one is a keeper.

I am gearing up for the mishkan...

YITRO

2010-02-04T23:51:00.001-08:00

TEN COMMANDMENTS & MOUNT SINAI

When I told Maya that this week's parsha was about Har Sinai, she quickly responded, "but, Imma, we already did Har Sinai!" She was referring to the Har Sinai that we created last Shavuot out of torn grocery bags for the mountain, cotton balls for the clouds, foam stickers for the flowers and dot paints for the sky. I guess that was actually our first Jewish craft project and I was so excited and proud that it has been hanging on the wall in their bedroom ever since.

So, this week, we focused on the Aseret HaDibrot, or Ten Commandments, that were given on Har Sinai. The first thing that I realized was that I was going to have to decide how I was going to translate, both literally and into kids terms, the meaning of the commandments. For example, we have a kids book at home from the PJlibrary called Ten Good Rules that lists the commandments in the following kid-friendly way:

1. I am the one and only God.
There is just one Hashem - fine.
2. Do not pray to other gods.
I also mentioned something about not having idols. Maya remembered that King Antiochus had idols. She needed some reminding about exactly what idols were though. Not an easy concept for someone who has never actually seen an idol.
3. Do not say bad words.
This is really just not what it says or means. One kid-friendly translation I saw online was "Use God's name with respect." At least that's a little closer to "don't take God's name in vain." The two mainstream understandings of this verse are either that it refers to one who swears falsely using God’s name or to one who uses God's name unnecessarily. So, I told her that we shouldn't just say "God, God, God, God." To which she said, but Imma, you just did! Argh.
4. Celebrate Shabbat.
Check.
5. Love your mother and father.
Major pet peeve of mine. I was very adamant about translating "kabed" as honor or respect. Very different than love. "Kabed" means that you have to listen to what they tell you to do, whether or not you are feeling the love!
6. Do not hurt anyone.
I did mention the "kill" word which was not a big deal for my overly sensitive and gentle four-year old daughter but I could imagine avoiding this word with a violent four year old boy obsessed with guns and bows and arrows.
7. Married people should love each other.
This one was a bit complicated. Andy overheard me saying that married people should love only each other. He didn't think that sounded quite right. I also thought about saying "you can only marry one person" but then Andy told me that I might have trouble explaining Yaakov, Rachel and Leah.
8. Do not take anything without asking.
I didn't think that this version was clear enough - what if you ask and they say no? I went with the straight-up "don't steal," explaining that you can't take things that aren't yours.
9. Do not tell lies.
I was a bit more specific since the original commandment is to not bear false witness. I said that you should not say things that were not true about another person. The example I gave to Maya was that she shouldn't tell me that Avital pooped on the floor if she really didn't. In retrospect, a weird example, I admit.
10. Be happy with what you have.
At first, I said something like you shouldn't be jealous but I realized that I probably should not be censoring or limiting her emotions. In fact, one of our favorite books "The Way I Feel" validates all emotions including jealousy - "I want to play with you right now - I don't think taking turns is fair - I'd rather have you to myself - I'm jealous when I have to share." So, instead, we said that you shouldn't always be saying "I want, I want, I want, I want." A common phenomenon in the life of small children.

Once we figured out what the ten commandments WERE, we had to figure out how to make a craft out of them. Of course, I turned to google. I found different versions of the same thing and decided to keep it pretty simple by just creating our own cut out luchot pretty much like this one. The girls mostly enjoyed all the cutting and pasting, sticking and coloring.

For some reason, I was determined to make a Har Sinai cake. Babaganewz.com had instructions on a page called Munching on Mount Sinai that gave me some good ideas and guidelines. Also in googling "Har Sinai Cake," I found the website "Torah4kids: A Multimedia Approach to teaching kids parsha all year long" (hello?!?! Perfect!) so I immediately ordered their book - "Morah Morah Teach Me Torah!" Anyway, I am very proud of how the cake came out but I was most excited because it was EASY and stress-free. The stress-free part came mostly from the fact that I actually made and frosted the cake when the girls were sleeping. I was pretty thrilled by graham cracker luchot (it even has that little perforated line down the middle!) and the lightening cut from a disposable aluminum tin.

I was very worried that Maya would be upset when she saw the cake had been done without her. But, all she said was "Imma, I love your Har Sinai cake! It's beautiful." Score. She was very happy with the job that I left for her. She was in charge of inserting the plastic birthday cake candle holder flower things (that I actually had in a drawer at home!). The finishing touch to the cake came on shabbat itself (thus not shown in photo) when we added dabs of white fluffy cool whip to the top to represent the clouds engulfing the mountain. It looked great!

Once again, the kids' Parsha Project was useful at our grown-up Shabbos dinner table. The "ice-breaker question" that all 18 people had to answer was "Which of the Ten Commandments would you most want to delete?" or "What would you add to the Ten Commandments?" People decided to expand this question to all of the mitzvot - which of the (613) mitzvot would you get rid of or what would you add to the list of mitzvot. Getting rid of the prohibitions against milk and meat, pork and shellfish were very popular...but, that's next week's parsha.

PARSHAT BESHALACH

2010-01-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

TAMBOURINES AND MANNA COOKIES

This has gotta be one of the best parshiot for kids.

I knew that I wanted to repeat our Passover tradition of creating Kriat Yam Suf in the doorway. The girls love running through the streamers, pretending to split the sea.

I was also excited to make some kind of tambourine with the girls based on Exodus 15:20: "And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines, dancing." Artistic tambourines have become a new Jewish feminist symbol.

Thankfully, I found a simple craft version on Crayola's website. Unfortunately, I accidentally bought cake pans instead of pie pans which would have worked better but we managed.

This parsha is also very food-friendly. The miraculous food of the desert included water, quail, and manna. No lamb last week and no quail this week. But, I was determined to reproduce manna. Andy's suggestion was to use tofu since Rashi writes that the manna "tasted like whatever the person eating it desired." But, I was more interested in the description in the text of the manna which is that it was like "coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers made with honey." I found this easy recipe online for "manna cookies":

MANNA COOKIES
1/2 c. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. flour
2 tsp. honey
Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and mix well. Add honey and vanilla. Add flour slowly. Drop by half teaspoon on cookie sheet then bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes or until done. We rolled the cookies in powdered sugar so that they were white like Manna.

I totally forgot about the end of the parsha in which the Israelites have their first encounter with Amalek. But, Maya asked me about it because in the parsha coloring pages, there was a picture of Moshe with Chur and Aaron on either side of him supporting his arms. I had her get my Tanach so that I could read her the story since I forgot the details of this event. Basically, I explained that when Moshe's hands were lifted, the Israeliltes were able to defeat Amalek with Hashem's help. This description was promptly followed by Maya's question: "How can Hashem help them? He doesn't even talk. He doesn't even have arms or legs!" And I immediately called for Andy to come in from the kitchen. He's the Rabbi; let him answer this one! Andy explained to Maya that there are some times when something seems really hard or even impossible for her to do but then somehow she can do it and that power that helps her to do it is Hashem. Or something like that. It was sketchy. Talking about God does not seem to be getting any easier.

PARSHAT BO

2010-01-24T21:38:00.000-08:00

The Plagues Continued...

I was happy to find out that I was not the only person disturbed by the great variety of toy plagues. Check this out - there are even chocolate plagues!

With just three plagues left, we were ready to finish our parsha book. The locusts page was designed with grasshopper stickers (some other bugs snuck in there too).

For darkness, I stole a pair of Andy's eye masks that he probably got on an airplane. We made a little black foam pocket to stick them into. Maya was pretty intrigued by the idea of not being able to see anything.

Finally, I had to come up with something to do for the "slaying of the Firstborn sons." I searched and searched for some kind of appropriate crafty representation of this one. I came up empty. There was nothing that I felt comfortable with. I did not want to depict the angel of death. I did not want to depict dead babies. So, instead, I left it up to Maya. I asked her how she thought we should illustrate this page. She said that we should make a very sad person and that she would draw the face and that I should draw the tears. I couldn't have come up with a better idea on my own.

This week, I also printed some new coloring pages that I found online of the ten plagues. Of course, my very observant four year old noticed that one of the plagues was depicted differently than we had learned. In the new coloring pages, the fourth plague "arov" was depicted as swarms of flies. We had depicted "arov" as wild animals (or in our case, wild things). Since I had downloaded these new pages from Christian websites, I thought that maybe this was a particularly Christian understanding/translation of the plague. But, I later found out that there is actually a traditional rabbinic machloket (debate) about what the "arov" were. In Shmot Rabbah 11:4: Rabbi Nechemia says that arov denotes flies, and Rabbi Yehudah states that it denotes a mixture of wild animals. Most later commentaries accept the interpretation that arov is wild animals but there are still many sources that interpret arov as flies (specifically dog-flies or blood- scukers, gross!) At least I am learning some new Torah in all of this too!

This parsha presented a very easy food opportunity. In chapter 12, the Israelites (Hebrews? Jews? I know that I am not supposed to call them Jews, but it is so hard to say Israelites to a four year old. I might have to start saying Bnei Yisrael. This will not come naturally either) are commanded to eat a whole roasted lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. On Passover itself, there is a strong custom that prohibits eating roasted lamb or any meats, lest it appear that we are offering the korban pesach, which is forbidden since the destruction of the Temple. But, no such prohibition exists on the week that we read this parsha! So, on Friday morning I called the local kosher story but alas there was no lamb, not even frozen. Next year, there will be lamb, and it will be roasted.

VAERA

2010-01-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

THE TEN PLAGUES

Every Pesach, I am ambivalent about how (or if) to teach the ten plagues. But, they are always prominently featured in kid-friendly seders. There are songs ("frogs here, from there, frogs were jumping everywhere"), masks, finger puppets, and toys about the plagues. But, I am not comfortable teaching (and especially not trivializing) stories of collective divine punishment. Yet, last week, I heard the words coming out of my mouth, "Hashem sent the plagues to punish Pharoah and the Egyptians for not letting the people go." Who am I, Pat Robertson? Lately, I have to wonder what my kids must be thinking about "Hashem." When I started to tell them the story of the Parsha, Maya kept trying to fill in the blanks. "In this week's parsha, we learn about the ten..." "Commandments!" Maya screams. Close. "In this week's parsha, Hashem sends..." "The flood!" Maya screams. Close. So, so far, Maya knows that Hashem creates terrible disasters in the world to punish and torture bad people. I couldn't help thinking of this story that I read in the most recent edition of Brain.Child:

When I'm rushing around in the morning with my children trying to get to school on time - I say, "The sweet cheerful bus driver will meet you in the car by 7:45 am. The angry, bitter, yelling bus driver will meet you any time after that. On Sunday morning, we extended this line of humor when trying to get to church on time. "The God of the New Testament with meet you in the car at 8:30 am. The God of the Old Testament will be meeting you any time after that."

Ouch.

So, despite my theological struggles about teaching the Biblical God, we make frog cookies.

For our art project, we made a book of the ten plagues, only doing the first seven that appear in this week's parsha. For "Blood," they just colored the page red. For "Frogs," they used LOTS of frog stickers:

For "Lice," they glued on a piece of sandpaper that felt itchy and scratchy. For "Wild Beasts," they cut and pasted pictures of the "Wild Things" from the Sendak Exhibit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum.

For pestilence, they stamped cows and sheep upside down. They told everyone that they were "dead cows." For boils, they used circle stickers. They told everyone that they were "boo-boos"

Finally, for hail, we glued on kosher salt. I thought that this was a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, there were grains of salt all over the house all weekend. Next time, maybe rock salt would work better.

Well, the good thing about this project is that I already know what we will do next week - locust, darkness, and death of the firstborn, oh my! Of course, I have no idea how these will be depicted, especially not the last one. Wish me luck...

SHMOT

2010-01-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

BABIES, BURNING BUSH & BRICKS

While we were on vacation in LA, Maya asked "Ima, what happens when we are on vacation. How will we do parsha project?" Whoops. I was kind of hoping that she wouldn't notice that in fact, we missed two parshiot while we were away. But, of course, she did. So, I promised her that we would make them up (and we will). But, in the meantime, we were ready to dive into a new book, Sefer Shmot. At the beginning of the week, I told Maya that we would be making a Baby Moses and she immediately asked "is it Pesach?" I realized that this would continue to be a confusing issue for her. It is difficult to explain why we are doing all of what she considers to be Pesach stories now. But, she was happy to have a chance to revisit these familiar narratives. I knew that I wanted to do a Baby Moses project with them because they loved making a Baby Moses centerpiece (using an Easter basket at Passover time!) for the Seder last year. I found lots of versions online but chose to follow this one that I liked the best. The girls loved playing with the little tiny cake decorator babies and taking them in and out of the egg carton basket.

Maybe because of my guilt for falling behind in parsha projects, I felt compelled to do three different projects this week! Truthfully, there were a number of striking visual images in the parsha that had easy project potential. So, in addition to Baby Moses, we made a burning bush poster. The girls just cut and paste pieces of red, orange, and yellow cellophane and tissue paper.

Finally, I wanted to do something edible. My first thought was to make charoset, to symbolize the mortar. Every year on Pesach, someone says about the charoset, "this is so good, we should eat it during the year." So, this could be the other time of the year that we eat Charoset. But, Andy came up with an idea that was much more fun (and fattening). We made Pithom and Ramses using Hershey's nuggets as the bricks and peanut butter as the mortar. It was fun, messy, and delicious.

MIKETZ

2009-12-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

FAT COWS AND SKINNY COWS

This week's parsha project had to be fast and easy since we had to complete it before lots of people showed up at our house for a 4:30 pm Chanukah candle-lighting. The most visually exciting scene from the parsha was Pharoah's dream of seven skinny cows eating seven fat cows. First, we talked about how sometimes we have strange dreams (Maya's was a ladybug jumping off a rock) and how sometimes dreams have special meaning. Then, we got right into making our cows. I felt a little guilty that this project did not allow them much, if any, creativity. It was basically just cutting and pasting. I used old oatmeal containers for the fat cows and toilet paper rolls for the skinny cows. We just covered them with white paper and black paper spots. I printed out the adorable cow face from Danielle's Place.

I had high hopes of making cow cookies since I actually now OWN cow cookie cutters! But, alas, time was not on our side (though I was exceedingly proud of the persimmon sauce that I made for our latkes - delicious!) Then, right before shabbos, my friend asked me if we were going to have Skinny Cow ice cream this week. Brilliant....For next year.

VAYEISHEV

2009-12-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

MULTI-COLORED COATS AND COOKIES

Maya said something yesterday that totally made me smile. She sometimes reports to me what she is "into now," with an understanding that her interests and likes in food, tv characters, and clothing shifts. Yesterday, from the back seat of the car, she pronounced: "Ima, do you know what things I am into now? Now, I am into Dora, Michael Jackson, and Parsha!"

Maya has been looking forward to this Parsha since we began our projects. One of the things that Maya used to be very "into" was the musical "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat." So much so that this was the theme of her fourth birthday party.

There were multi-colored snacks:

The kids made Joseph's coat from pre-cut pieces of felt:

Most importantly, Andy dressed up as Joseph!

But, Joseph's coat seems to provide endless crafting possibility. This week, we will make Joseph's coat our of colored tissue paper and Joseph sugar cookies.

The idea for the tissue-paper coat comes from yet again from a Christian website. The story of Joseph and his coat seemed like a particular favorite for Christian Sunday Schools. I had some vague idea that Joseph was a significant character in Christian faith more than others in Genesis but I wasn't sure why or how. After some googling, I now understand that Joseph is viewed (like many biblical heroes) to prefigure Jesus. In particular, Joseph's coat is understood to prefigure the robe that was stripped from Jesus. Apparently, the parallels between the two characters are many. Well - lucky for me - that makes for some good Joseph projects.

The sugar cookies were simple. I found a cookie cutter (yes, a Christmas angel, I think) that looked like it was wearing a coat and then we got decorating.

You might be able to tell which ones I did and which ones the girls did...

The tissue paper project was easy and fun. I prepared small squares of colored tissue paper and the girls just started pasting them onto their Joseph template which I printed from DLTK's Crafts for Kids.

One of the hardest parts about doing these projects is for me to "let go" and not dictate to them that they do it the "right way." I think that I am managing this by allowing myself to do every project in my own type A way so that I can see how it is "supposed to look" and let the girls do it in their own messy, disorganized, chaotic, out-of-the-lines way. I have to remind myself to breathe many times in the process.

VAYISHLACH

2009-12-09T13:29:00.000-08:00

HEBREW NAME COLLAGES

It was clear to me that I was not going to even mention most of the events of this week's parsha, namely the rape of Dina and the violent revenge of Shimon and Levi. It actually seems pretty strange to me that these stories are even alluded to in childrens' coloring pages. I was particularly shocked that Aish chose to depict Dina hidden in a box behind Yaakov when he greets Esav. This is a reference to the Midrash that relates that Yaakov hid Dina in a box because he was fearful that Esav might want her hand in marriage. The Midrash goes on to say that this was a mistake. Had Esav married Dina, she would have transformed him into a righteous man. For the sin of withholding this opportunity from his brother, Yaakov was punished with the rape of Dina. Why or why would Aish choose to evoke this disturbing Midrash in a childrens' coloring page???

So, I thought to focus instead on the reunion of Yaakov and Esav. This seemed like a preschool-friendly idea - brothers making up. Of course, in order for me to tell the story in that way, I had to ignore the slew of Midrashim in my brain that interpreted Esav as manipulative and deceptive.

Finally, Andy had the idea of focusing on Yaakov's name change. In the beginning of the parsha, the man/angel/Esav that Jacob wrestles with informs him that "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." We talked about how many names, especially Hebrew names, have special meaning. Maya already knew that Yaakov came from the Hebrew word Ekev, or heel, because his hand grasped Esav's heel at their birth. It was more difficult to explain that his new name Yisrael meant to wrestle with God. Although the idea of wrestling with God may be very inspiring for adults, it is pretty meaninless for a 4 year old. But, she did appreciate the idea of names meaning different things. So, our project was to illuminate the meaning of the Hebrew names in our family. I prepared examples using my Hebrew name, Sarah, which can be translated as princess and Andy's Hebrew name, Aryeh, translated as lion.

Then, it was Maya's turn to make her Hebrew name sign. She already knew that he name meant water (in Aramaic). So, we found lots of old photos of her in playing with water, at the pool, or on the beach. She cut and pasted the photos into a collage.

The best thing about this project is that it gave us a great ice-breaker for our large shabbat dinner. Everyone spoke about their name or names and what it meant literally or personally.

VAYETZE

2009-12-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

CHILDREN OF JACOB PAPER CHAIN DOLLS

The parsha begins with Jacob's famous dream of angels ascending and descending on a ladder between the heavens and the earth. Of course, this image has great craft potential. I considered making a Jacob's ladder folk toy or other ladder projects. But, the truth is that I didn't want to have to talk about angels! Maya would inevitably ask me if angels are real or pretend and well...I dunno! So, I decided to focus on the expanding family of Jacob and Rachel since I knew that I wanted them to learn about the twelve sons/brothers/tribes. I thought about making a family tree but realized that that is a pretty advanced concept. So, we made paper chain dolls. I used white cardstock and cut out thirteen dolls (one for Dina).

I wanted the girls to be able to dress the dolls with shoes, hair, and clothes. I finally found paper doll clothes that looked biblical. Where? Nativity scene dolls. This was actually pretty funny since every time Maya sees a nativity scene (surprisingly often), she says "look, Imma, Israelis!" I guess it is the sandals and headpieces. All I know is that I think that it is hysterical. And this website had PERFECT clothing that I printed out and cut out for the girls to use to dress their dolls - canes, sandals, headdresses, etc.

Which brings me to an interesting point. Alot of the good bible craft ideas that I am finding out there are from Christian sources - Sunday schools, churches, religious moms. It reminds me of when I used to teach Tanach classes and often found great helpful material on-line from non-Jewish sources. I've never felt completely comfortable using non-Jewish Bible materials; it somehow feels wrong, like stealing. But, if they've got a good outline of the book of Joshua, a good map of the Mesopotamia, or a good craft of Joseph's coat...???

The girls enjoyed dressing the dolls in their biblical garb. We learned the names of all of the children and hung them up.

From December 09

TOLDOT

2009-12-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

PAPER PLATE PUPPETS AND RED LENTIL SOUP

This week's project really only dealt with the very first part of the Parsha where we meet the twin brothers Yaakov and Esav, born to Yitzchak and Rivka. My goal was just to introduce the girls to these characters and to the differences and strife between them. Two of my greatest pet peeves as a teacher of Tanach were always: 1) conflating the pshat (literal text) with midrash (rabbinic interetation) and 2) villainizing certain characters while glorifying others. But, I realized very quickly that it was almost impossible to teach the girls the story of Esav and Yaakov without doing just those things! I found myself, like the midrash and like most coloring books and school teachers, making Esav the "rasha" and Yaakov the "tzadik," even though that is a very far cry from the simple reading of the story. I am still uncomfortable with this approach but struggle with how else to teach these narratives with relevant meaning or morals.

I knew that I wanted to make Esav and Yaakov masks or puppets. I decided that paper plate puppets would be easy and fun. I bought a cheap roll of thick red yarn for Esav's beard and hair. We cut out mouths, noses, and eyebrows from felt and used googly eyes and pom poms.

From December 09

Maya's puppets looked more like clowns than Biblical heroes, but she was so excited to be able to really use them like puppets. She actually asked if she could make more puppets of Rivka and Yitzchak so I let her. I basically made Avital's puppet for her but let her draw all over it just for fun...

From December 09

When we came home from shul, Maya and I did a fun puppet show for our guests about Esav and Yaakov. OF course, the food for this week's parsha was a no-brainer - red lentil stew!

From December 09

We served the soup as a starter at shabbat dinner. But, before we ate it, three of the grown-ups did an impromptu dramatic reading of the beginning of the Parsha:
19. And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son; Abraham fathered Isaac;
20. And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah for his wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Padan-Aram, the sister to Laban the Aramean.
21. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22. And the children struggled together inside her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord.
23. (K) And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
24. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25. And the first came out red, all over like a hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
26. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27. And the boys grew; and Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.
28. And Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his venison; but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29. And Jacob cooked pottage; and Esau came from the field, and he was famished.
30. And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I beg you, with that same red pottage; for I am famished; therefore was his name called Edom.
31. And Jacob said, Sell me this day your birthright.
32. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point of death; and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
33. And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he swore to him; and he sold his birthright to Jacob.
34. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way; thus Esau despised his birthright.

CHAYEI SARAH

2009-12-09T11:01:00.000-08:00

WELLS AND CAMELS

The most kid-friendly episode in this parsha is meeting Rivka at the well. It is an easy positive message that they can understand. Rivka was chosen because of the kindness and generosity that she displayed in feeding the servant and the camels. So, our focus was on wells and camels. The internet is amazing...by googling for well crafts, I discovered this beautiful blog "Inna's Creations" that had a tutorial on how to make a toy well out of a milk carton - perfect!

From well

I made the one above (with my husband's help designing the actual pulley system!)When I did the project with Maya, I added a fun element by having her glue on brown shapes to the carton so that it looked like bricks.

From well

I also had photos available so that she understood what different water wells actually looked like.

From well

We used the two wells that we made as centerpieces on our Shabbos table which sparked conversation between the kids and the guests about their significance.

Then, we needed camels. My inspiration for making camel cookies came straight from Juggling Frogs. This woman is amazing and makes cookies and cakes for every parsha. She didn't have camel cookie cutters so she made her own!

I could not be bothered with making tin foil cookie cutters so I just cut out a paper template and used it over and over again to cut out the shape of a camel from the cookie dough. To be honest, this was a total disaster. Again, my husband had to come to the rescue in order to prevent me from having a complete meltdown. He was patient and precise and made it work. Some of the cookies looked more like elephants or hippos but we also had some good results and they made for a fabulous dessert and the girls loved it. Below you will see the good, the bad, and the beheaded...

From camels

I have since found and purchased a Noah's ark cookie cutter set that has a camel! I am ready for next year!

VAYERA

2009-11-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

PERSONALIZED WELCOME MAT

This is not a very kid-friendly Parsha. We have Lot who sacrifices his two daughters to the men of Sodom and then ends up sleeping with them himself. Then, we have Sarah who expels her surrogate son and maidservant. Finally, we have Abraham who nearly slaughters his son on the altar. I decided that my kids do not need to learn any of these stories just yet. Better to stick with the beginning of the Parsha when Avraham and Sarah welcome the three strangers (aka angels) into their tent. This story is the basis for associating Avraham and Sarah with the great Jewish value of Hachnasat Orchim or welcoming guests. First, we colored and hung the relevant pages from Aish.com.

I thought about making model tents but could not really figure out a good way of doing it. So, instead, I found the great idea of making a personalized welcome mat at chinuch.org. I bought a mat at Ross for $7.00 and bought paint markers at an art supply store. I did a few squares on my own just to try it out.

At first the kids were intimidated by the project but then they started drawing away.

We put the welcome mat outside and after havdalah we had a few of our friends add their own artwork.

LECH LECHA

2009-11-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

SPARKLING STARS AND STAR COOKIES

I began this process with Parshat Lech Lecha. I decided to start with the famous verse from Genesis 15:5: "And He brought him (Abraham) outside, and said, Look now toward the skies (shamayim), and count the stars (kochavim), if you are able to count them; and he said to him, So shall your seed be." My girls already love the preschool song "Twinkle twinkle kochavim, way up in the shamayim" so they already knew two of the Hebrew words from this verse! I thought that it would be sufficient to introduce them to the character of Avraham and the idea that Hashem promised that he would be the father of a large and important family.

STEP #1: I started by taping down coloring pages about Parshat Lecha Lecha from aish.com. While they were coloring, I told them the basic plot and the name of the parsha.

STEP #2: When they were done (bored of) coloring, I put out paper stars that I had cut out of colored construction paper. They were excited to pick which stars they wanted to decorate. They were especially excited to use glitter! I watered down some glue and had them use paint brushes to apply the glue before shaking on the glitter.

STEP 3: I printed out the Hebrew words of the pasuk (verse) from Genesis 15:5. I had not intended it, but they wanted to decorate these pages as well.

STEP 4: My kids love to decorate the house for any occasion - for birthdays, homecomings, etc. So, I had them hang their projects up so that they would be Shabbos/Parsha decorations. They loved showing them off to everyone who came over.

STEP 5: We made star cookies with sprinkles. Since it was very late in the afternoon, I took the easiest route possible and used Pillsbury refrigerated dough! Of course, they loved making, decorating, and eating these! The best is that they called them "Kochavim Cookies" all weekend.