Parshat Tetzaveh

It has been years since I made Kohen Gadol clothing with kids, I was happy to have the opportunity to do so this year with three different groups of kids. Of course, the most colorful and artistically interesting element is the "choshen" or breastplate. Kids love learning about the 12 precious stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel. There are so many learning opportunities here - the names and qualities of the different stones, how to measure the columns and rows equally, the various materials used in creating the choshen - including gold, wool and linen.

After some research, I was very determined to do a project using gold metal embossing sheets. There are MANY awesome ideas and different techniques out there on how to use this material and the results are just great. It took me awhile to figure out what this material is called in Hebrew - דפי חמרן - and to learn that it was actually available in Be'er Sheva. In fact, this is a nice Jerusalem craft using the material and technique - https://www.maayanart.com/%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%A2%D7%9C-%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%9F.aspx

So, by the time I figured it all out, I tried to keep the project as simple as possible. Again, there are many ways to get the "bolded" effect - you can use hot glue, glue and yarn, tracing paper, etc etc. I had them put a soft towel under the gold sheet and press with a wooden dowel on the opposite side. The only "engraving" we did was the shape of the columns and rows. The rest of the time was spent coloring in the squares with markers and using very fancy sticker stones for added effect. All the kids were able to finish their projects and take home something to add to their Purim dress-up collection :)

SHABBAT SHALOM!