Parshat Vayakhel-Pekudei: Weaving!

Initially, I was dreading weeks and weeks of parshiot about the Mishkan but I finally realized that the endless descriptions of the Mishkan are actually the PERFECT material for art-making. The Mishkan itself WAS an elaborate piece of artwork. Not only that, it was communal collaborative art! It is described that every man and woman brought their precious and colorful metals, stones, wool and linen - and transformed them into artistry. Specifically Betzalel (for whom the art school in Jerusalem is named), is described as being imbued by God with all manner of craftsmanship. He, and his assistants, were "imbued with wisdom of the heart, to do all sorts of work of a craftsman and a master worker and an embroiderer with blue, purple, and crimson wool, and linen and of weavers, those who do every manner of work, and master weavers."

לֵּ֨א אֹתָ֜ם חָכְמַת־לֵ֗ב לַֽעֲשׂוֹת֘ כָּל־מְלֶ֣אכֶת חָרָ֣שׁ | וְחשֵׁב֒ וְרֹקֵ֞ם בַּתְּכֵ֣לֶת וּבָֽאַרְגָּמָ֗ן בְּתוֹלַ֧עַת הַשָּׁנִ֛י וּבַשֵּׁ֖שׁ וְאֹרֵ֑ג עֹשֵׂי֙

כָּל־מְלָאכָ֔ה וְחֽשְׁבֵ֖י מַֽחֲשָׁבֹֽת:

Since I have spent a bit of time skimming the millions of AMAZING art blogs out there, I was somewhat aware that doing "weaving" with young kids is very common and considered excellent for their fine motor skills. I read over and over again that weaving was fun, challenging, and of course it has a long, historic tradition across world cultures.

And, of course, I still remember making a million of these potholders as a kid!

So...weaving it was for this week!

There are many different types of projects I could have done. I could have made cardboard looms, I could have used yarn or fabrics which would have been much more "authentic." But, I wanted to keep things cheap and easy since this was my first attempt at this technique so I opted for "paper weaving."

First, we talked about all of the different things that needed to be woven for the mishkan like the parochet and the bigdei kehunah. We talked about how today if we want a carpet or a blanket or clothes, we just go into a store and buy it but that their great-great grandmothers would have sewed everything from scratch and that is what they did for the Mishkan.

I prepared a simple "loom" for each kid by cutting five slices with an exacto knife (you could make straight lines or curved lines which makes it more interesting). I encouraged the kids to use different color and size paper strips.

As always, it was interesting to see which kids "got it" right away and which kids really struggled to understand the "over-under" movement and alternating the pattern direction. But, most kids did finally"get it" and enjoyed the process and the results.

I have chosen to do a completely different and self-standing project each week (masochistic) but weaving projects could (probably should) be done over many class hours so that the kids can really improve their skills and concentration.

I would definitely consider doing a "part 2" of weaving. I would LOVE to do an outdoor collaborative weaving project with yarns or fabrics...something like these...so cool...

SHABBAT SHALOM!