PARSHAT KORACH

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...