Parshat Mishpatim: Sapphire

Thankfully, I have been recycling many projects lately. In the early part of the week, I did the always-fun "tablets of stone" from salt dough with two different classes. But, by the end of the week, I was ready to try something new. I quickly reviewed the parsha again and as I reached the end, I was stunned by a verse that I don't think I have ever actually read before! The Parsha describes how Moshe, Aaron, Nadav, Avihu, and the seventy elders ascended the Mountain and...

"they perceived the God of Israel, and beneath His feet was like the forming of a sapphire brick and like the appearance of the heavens for purity."

Wait...What????? What is happening here? I was so confused. I remembered the sapphire image from the psychedelic visions of Ezekiel: "The likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone (1:26)" but I had NO recollection of this image appearing in the Torah itself. Of course, I had no idea exactly what this text meant, but my visual brain was struck by this powerful image and was certain that I wanted to use this verse as my starting point.

I started thinking about the significance of the color BLUE in Judaism and in the Torah. I remembered from teaching about luchot, that Chazal actually say that the tablets themselves were made out of sapphire stone:

I was also reminded of the "techelet" in the tzizit, the blue of the Israeli flag, and the blue doors and windows of the holy city of Tsfat.

Turns out that Rabbi Meir in Talmud Menachot talks about the significance of the color blue: “Why is blue different from all other colors? Because blue resembles the sea, and the sea resembles sky, and the sky resembles God’s Throne of Glory…as it is written: ‘Above the sky over their heads was the semblance of a throne, like sapphire in appearance…'”

So, the color blue reminds us of the sky and the oceans and ultimately of the Divine. I just love this idea and thought that the kids would too. Of course this mystical vision of God is a bit lofty to talk to kids about, but I feel like they really got it. They themselves offered the idea that blue reminds them of the sky and the sea - both which seem to be forever and endless - the closest concept we can get to God.

So, I wanted to do a project that was all BLUE. I was happy to have an excuse to do a monochromatic lesson - first of all, it makes my life much simpler and, I also love focusing on the beauty and variety of just one color.

This was a VERY last minute plan but somehow it actually WORKED. The kids were very into it and I felt like it was pretty educational - both in terms of Torah and art. Artistically, we talked about how just adding different amounts of white would create a variety of different shades of blue. We also talked a little bit about the lines of the geometric shape I used to represent the sapphire. Finally, they enjoyed (as always!) the tape resist method. There are so many different directions that could be developed here (geometrical shapes, hues and tints, painting the sky and sea, gems and jewels...)

I wish I had had more time and I would have done the tape more along the lines of the photo above. But, alas, I was in a BIG rush and it is a miracle that I even got a chance to get all the tape on the papers at the last minute!

SHABBAT SHALOM!