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Got a little bit of extra time? ChallahCrumbs is taking your family to Sunday school. This week we’re talking about Bayit NeEman, or the beauty of building a loving home.

Learn

Set up a mini-study session with our three sources and the guided questions.

How lovely are your sanctuaries, people of Yaakov, your study houses, descendants of Israel. Your love inspires me to enter Your house, to worship in Your holy sanctuary, filled with awe for You. I love your house, the place of Your glory….(Morning Prayer Service)

Why does God choose to enter homes?

Why would people choose to say this prayer every morning? What value does it promote?

Make for me a mikdash (sanctuary) and I will dwell in their midst,” (Exodus 25:8)

In the time of the Bible, the mikdash was used for worshipping God. Why did we need a specfic place to connect to God?

If the mikdash no longer exists, where else can we create a space to connect with our Jewish side?

“and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” (Shema)

Can we learn at home!? When we walk around? How do you learn outside of a classroom?

How can we create a place of study and learning wherever we are according to this text?


Discuss.

Did you know that on Friday December 17 we commemorate the Fast of the 10th of Tevet? This is one of the days that was significant in the process of the destruction of the Temple. Can you think of some of the ways that we try to create connections with Judaism even without a Temple? What examples can you think of around your house, synagogue, or school? Can you think of a new way?

Create.

Make a mezuzah cover! The third source is from the Shema and is the text that we place inside the mezuzah cover.

Materials:

  1. Plastic case
  2. Polymer Clay
  3. Tools, molds or stamps for use with polymer clay

Directions:

  1. Begin with the shape of the scroll, which is usually about 3 inches long and tightly rolled.
  2. You will need to hollow out the back of the case for the scroll to fit inside, so make that the basis for your design.
  3. Then, use your imagination: Make small animal shapes to decorate a mezuzah case that will hang on a child’s door frame, or use abstract swirls of color for a more adult look.
  4. Add a small clay panel at the top and bottom, and poke a hole in each with a nail so you will be able to hang it without breaking it.
  5. Double check that there is enough space hollowed out in the back for the scroll, and then bake it. (Not with the scroll inside!)
  6. If you used uncolored clay, you can then paint it before hanging it up.

 

Rivky Schramm Krestt has taught in Hebrew Schools, Community Schools, and Day Schools. She loves finding a way to take the words of a text and make them tangible, relatable, and relevant. She is the Chair of Judaics at the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School and lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband and three children.