Vayetze- Coming to a Compromise

The Hachnasat Sefer Torah was beautiful.
Cohava's siddur concert was also very special. Hopefully I will have the video soon so I can share my nachat on the best part of the event.








 Parashat Vayetze starts with the famous sulam Ya'akov. Ya'akov's dream of the angels moving up and down a ladder speaks to people in different ways, across ages and cultures, from Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven to the classic toy. This Jacob's Ladder toy is what I initially planned to do for the project because I love playing with them. I found many instructions on how to make this toy, including one made out of chocolate bars.
But no matter how entertaining this toy is, it does not really capture anything from the parasha, and I decided chinuch points must be higher than entertainment points. I asked the girls what part of the parasha they liked the most and what they felt we should make.
"The ladder! And the angels! And the rock pillows! We should make rock pillows for our project! Twelve, and then like stick them together," Cohava excitedly share her ideas.
"That is not my favourite part," Gabi argued. "I like the wedding! And the two brides. And their dresses. And their thick veils. And the chuppah..." Gabi, the romantic, stared off dreamily. "We should make kallah dresses," she concluded.
"I like both of your ideas, but I don't think we have time to make rock pillows and sew bridal gowns. What if we make clay and from that you can make your favourite parts?" I suggested. Thankfully getting the girls to compromise on this was much better than any of Ya'akov's efforts. The girls excitedly agreed.

We made a batch of bakers clay.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 4 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

Stir the salt into the warm water. Let cool. Add flour and knead for 8-10 minutes.
Form the desired shapes. Cook in the oven at 140 F for about 45 minutes.
Cool. Paint. Marvel at masterpieces.


 Other than supervising clay making, I really let the girls do whatever they wanted. Even Ruti got a ball of clay and enjoyed mushing it around.

Gabi and Ruti made some interesting shapes, but Cohava made something very impressive!

 After cooking, the girls painted their work.

Then they dressed the dolls more appropriately.

I'll get better pictures soon.

Shabbat Shalom!
May agreements in your personal life and those happening in Israel bring about more peace than those of Ya'akov and Lavan.