These are suggested activities for children at home, published on this site in 2020 during the Covid lockdowns.
Moriya is usually a group activity, and you can click around this site for photos of Moriya groups in action. However, I wanted to share some of our activity lists with other children around the world who are home and looking for good activities. If you do use these activity lists, feel free to have your parents let me know your progress at eschuli613 at gmail.com . I'd like to send you a token of recognition for your achievements.
The themes at the top of the list are very text-based; hands-on themes are further down. So, keep scrolling until you find something that appeals to you.
Hebrew Do two of the following. The starred activity is required. For this theme, you may repeat the starred activity to count as your second activity – using, of course, a different text.
1. Learn Psalms 119 or 145 with a commentary. *2. Complete whichever of the following, in the original language, is a reasonable challenge for you, to be completed over several days. You may use a dictionary, and if possible you should use a chevrusa, but not a translation. a) Read an aliya of Chumash, or 15 pesukim, and translate. b) Read two pesukim with Rashi, and translate. Understand Rashi’s explicit and implicit questions and how his statements answer them. c) Read one aliya or 15 pesukim with Rashi, and translate. Understand Rashi’s explicit and implicit questions and how his statements answer them. d) The same as above, but with three aliyos. e) The same as above, with three aliyos; and add a second Hebrew commentary of your choice. f) Read an entire Hebrew sefer, understanding the ideas clearly. g) Read an entire, difficult Hebrew sefer, understanding the ideas clearly h) Read and translate an Aramaic text: two perakim of Sefer Daniel or two daf of Ein Yaakov. You may use a Hebrew commentary. 3. Learn an essay by an acharon on Hebrew language (e.g., Jewish Weltanschauung in vol. VIII of Rav Hirsch’s Collected Writings.) 4. Learn an earlier source on Hebrew language, e.g., a passage on the subject by a rishon. 5. Do a chesed involving Hebrew language.
Individual Sifrei Tanach Do six of the following. The two starred are required. 1. Learn a pesicha to the sefer. You may count up to two separately. *2. Fulfill the starred Hebrew requirement using material from this sefer. *3. Read the whole sefer in a language with which you are comfortable. 4. Demonstrate that you know the major events or themes of each parsha pesucha in the sefer. 5. Memorize five pesukim from the sefer that you find particularly meaningful. 6. List the questions that occur to you and make a serious endeavor to find answers to them. 7. As you study the sefer, keep track of ideas or stories that “grab” you. 8. Design your own activity based on some item in the sefer that you find particularly meaningful, and do it. 9. When you have finished, prepare a major project relating to one of the major themes of the sefer. It should involve a. further study, b. an original creation, and c. a significant chesed. 10. Learn an extensive commentary on the sefer. You may count up to 3.
Parsha Do five of the following. The three starred are required. *1. Fulfill the starred Hebrew requirement using material from this parsha. *2. Read the whole parsha in a language with which you are comfortable, together with an extensive commentary. As you study the parsha, keep track of ideas or stories that “grab” you. *3. Memorize, in Hebrew, one pasuk from this parsha that you find particularly meaningful. 4. When you have finished, prepare a major project relating to one of the major themes of the parsha. It should involve a. further study, b. an original creation, and c. a significant chesed. 5. List the questions that occur to you on the parsha and make a serious endeavor to find answers to them. Keep track of which mefarshim answer most of your questions: as you continue your studies of Chumash, you will find this list a helpful resource. 6. Learn another extensive commentary on the parsha. 7. Together with your group leader, design some other meaningful activity based on the parsha, and do it.
Rashi Do two of the following. The one starred is required. 1. For one year, learn one aliya per parsha with Rashi, in Hebrew (in ksav Rashi!). (You may make use of a translation to help with the Old French and with his citations from elsewhere in Tanach; otherwise, remember that part of the goal of this theme is skill development.) 2. Learn an equivalent amount of Rashi, in the same way, but on any schedule you like. 3. Learn a complete sefer with Rashi. *4. Do a chesed based on your studies of Rashi.
Piyut Do five of the following. The two starred are required. 1. Learn Ch. 110 of Rav Hirsch's Horeb. *2. Choose two piyutim and learn them so that you know both the translations and the sources and ideas referred to. 3. Learn in this manner the kinna Tzion halo tishali (#36 on Tisha b'Av) by R’ Yehuda haLevi. 4. Learn in this manner one piyut by R' Elazar HaKalir. 5. Demonstrate that you know the definition of the following terms: piyut, kinna, krovetz, yotzer, zemer, slicha, and that you are familiar with examples of each. 6. Endeavor to write one such composition yourself. 7. Subsequent to fulfilling no. 1 above, give a public address (e.g., to your group) whose character is inspired by the line on p. 520 “As they stand… to have been” 8. Learn three tunes you did not know for piyutim or Tehillim, and sing them on an appropriate occasion as a group. 9. Memorize and recite 20 lines of piyut. You may count up to three sets of 20 separately. 10. Write a song. It doesn’t have to be a piyut, exactly, but it should be something to uplift your listeners. *11. Do a chesed involving piyut.
Bekius Do any four of the following. 1. Be able to list in order, from memory, all the parshiyos of the Chumash, and two major items in each. 2. Be able to list in order, from memory, all the sefarim of Tanach, and three major items in each. 3. Be able to list in their six sedarim, from memory, all sixty tractates of Mishnayos, and tell what each is about. 4. Demonstrate that you can make an educated guess at where to find any halacha in Shulchan Aruch. 5. Demonstrate that you can identify and translate, without use of a dictionary or any other aid, 200 of the most common shorashim in Chumash (Elementary school students: 120). 6. Be able to list, from memory, the 613 mitzvos according to any one opinion. 7. Go through a sefer of the mitzvos and list all those that apply to you, nowadays, including those that could apply to you later in life (e.g., those that apply only in Eretz Yisrael, even if you currently live in chutz la'aretz). 8. After having done #7, be able to list those mitzvos, from memory. 9. Demonstrate that you know how to look up a reference in Tanach, in Mikraos Gedolos on Chumash, in Gemara, in Midrash Rabba, in Shulchan Aruch, and in Mishnah Brurah.
Yedios Klalios Do seven of the following. The one starred is required. 1. Demonstrate that you know by heart the following tefilos: al hamichya, asher yatzar, and the brachos on lightning, thunder, and rainbows. 2. Demonstrate that you know by heart: the ten commandments, the ten plagues, the seven species (shivas haminim), the twelve tribes and the mother of each, the months of the year, and the seven Noahide laws (sheva mitzvos bnei Noach). 3. Demonstrate that you know by heart the seven mitzvos midrabbanan, and the six fast days and the reason for each. 4. Demonstrate that you know by heart the 39 melachos. 5. Demonstrate that you know by heart Modim d’rabbanan. 6. Demonstrate that you know by heart the eight bigdei kahuna. 7. Demonstrate that you know by heart the six mitzvos temidios and the six zechiros. 8. Learn Shemoneh Esrei thoroughly. 9. Code an app to help people learn yedios klalios.
Research Project Do eleven of the following. The nine starred are required. *1. List at least five topics of Yahadus that interest you. They may be inyanim, particular mitzvos, middos, people, movements, or events or places or whole eras in Jewish history. Choose one for your research topic. *2. Consult with your group leader or a teacher in a Torah uMesorah school for help identifying acceptable research resources. (Remember: you may not use the Internet to fulfill any Moriya requirement!) *3. Identify a pasuk of Chumash that relates to your topic and learn it, with Rashi if it has one. *4. Identify a pasuk of Nach that relates to your topic, and learn it with at least one commentary. 5. Learn three midrashim relating to your topic. 6. Learn a passage of Ein Yaakov relating to your topic, with a mentor. 7. Learn a passage of Horeb relating to your topic. *8. Learn a passage by a rishon relating to your topic. *9. Learn a passage by an acharon relating to your topic. 10. Fulfill the starred Hebrew requirement using material that relates to your topic. You may count each one separately. 11. Think of a shaila relating to your topic, ask it to a rav, and get an answer. 12. Learn any other three Torah sources relating to your topic. You may count each group of three separately. 13. Make use of other sources approved by the authority in requirement (2) above, to fill in any gaps in your research. *14. If you are researching a person who wrote sefarim, learn at least a page of one of that person’s sefarim, and know the titles of the others. 15. Interview a person whose life is especially relevant to your topic. *16. Compile everything you have learned into a paper, a play, a work of fiction, or a shiur. *17. Do a chesed based on your topic.
Individual People in Tanach Do six of the following. The one starred is required. 1. Fulfill the starred Hebrew requirement using material about your person. You may count up to three separately. 2. Learn the text in one sefer of Tanach about your person with a commentary. You may count each commentary separately. 3. Learn a related text in another sefer; e.g., an entry in Divrei haYamim; or a perek of Tehillim that touches on the person’s life; or the haftora for a parsha in which your person appears; or, if your person appears in neviim rishonim, you may learn a corresponding passage of neviim acharonim. 4. Learn three Midrashim about your person in Hebrew. 5. Learn five Midrashim about your person in any other language. 6. Memorize two favorite pesukim that have to do with your person. 7. Draw a map tracing the person’s travels. 8. Demonstrate that you understand the halachos of a mitzvah that comes up in the person’s life. 9. Interview an expert on some theme in the person’s life; e.g. for Chana, you might interview a woman whose commitment to davening you admire. 10. Memorize a perek of Tehillim or shira from Tanach that pertains to your person. 11. If the person wrote a sefer of Tanach, fulfill the starred Hebrew requirement using it. 12. If the person wrote a sefer of Tanach, learn at least 20 pesukim of it with a commentary. 13. Express some story or lesson of your person’s life in the form of an original story or play, series of paintings, piece of music, or textile creation. 14. Give a shiur about your person. 15. Choose one midda or life-lesson prominent in the story of your person, reflect on how it applies to your life, and set yourself a practical goal to achieve in that area. 16. Find two other places where your person’s name, or a related word, turns up in Tanach, and learn them with mefarshim. 17. Choose another great person of the same name from Jewish history and study his or her life. 18. Fulfill three requirements from another theme that relates to your person. *19. Do a chesed based on your studies of this person.
Tehillim Do five of the following. The one starred is required. 1. Fulfill the starred Hebrew requirement using material from Tehillim. 2. Memorize one perek of Tehillim that particularly speaks to you, and know its meaning. 3. Say one sefer of Tehillim. You may count each of the five separately. 4. Learn a perek of Tehillim with a commentary. You may count each perek and each commentary separately. 5. Learn a perek of Tehillim that was composed on the occasion of an event described elsewhere in Tanach, together with the account of that event. Show what you have learned. 6. Learn Shmuel II 23:1-7 with a commentary (e.g., Rav Hirsch’s hakdama to Tehillim), or another pesicha to the sefer. 7. Organize a Tehillim group 8. Organize a Tehillim event 9. Give a shiur on Tehillim 10. Express some story or lesson of Tehillim that you have learnt in the form of an original story or play, series of paintings, piece of music, or textile creation. *11. Do a chesed involving Tehillim
Pirkei Avos Do six of the following. The one starred is required. 1. Read Pirkei Avos in a language with which you are comfortable. 2. Learn one perek with a commentary. You may count up to two separately. 3. Learn one Mishnah with three commentaries. You may count up to two separately. 4. Fulfill the starred Hebrew requirement with material from Pirkei Avos. 5. Learn a hakdama to Pirkei Avos. 6. Set a practical, specific goal to live up to one lesson you have learnt from Pirkei Avos, and do it. You may count up to two separately. 7. Give a shiur on Pirkei Avos. 8. Memorize two Mishnayos you did not have memorized before. 9. Dramatize some story or lesson of Pirkei Avos in a play or explore it in a written work. *10. Do a chesed involving Pirkei Avos.
Ein Yaakov Do four of the following. The one starred is required. You must also do either no. 3 or no. 4. *1. Learn one masechta of Ein Yaakov in any language. You may count two separately. 2. Learn two daf in the original language. You may count two sets of two. 3. Learn three daf of Ein Yaakov, in the original language, with a Hebrew commentary. 4. As you learn, list questions that occur to you, and make a serious endeavor to find answers to them. 5. Design your own activity based on some item in the sefer that you find particularly meaningful, and do it. 6. Do a chesed based on your studies of Ein Yaakov.
Any Sefer Do five of the following. The two starred are required. *1. Read the sefer in its entirety, in any language. 2. Outline it. 3. Learn a commentary on it. 4. Fulfill the starred Hebrew requirement using it. 5. As you learn the sefer, list the questions that occur to you, and make a serious endeavor to find answers to them. 6. As you learn the sefer, keep track of ideas or stories that “grab” you. 7. Prepare and give a shiur on a perek (or the equivalent) of the sefer. 8. Learn another work by the same author, and compare the two. 9. Learn another work on a related topic from the same era of Jewish history, and compare the two. 10. Set a practical, specific goal to live up to one lesson you have learnt from the sefer, and do it. 11. Express some story or lesson of the sefer in the form of an original story or play, series of paintings, piece of music, or textile creation. *12. Do a chesed based on your studies of this sefer.
Rosh Hashana Do any seven of the following. 1. Learn with commentary (beyond the machzor) the pesukim of malchuyos, zichronos, and shofaros. You may count each one separately. 2. Learn Vayikra 23:23-25 with Mikraos Gedolos. 3. Learn Vayikra 23:23-25 with Rav Hirsch. 4. Learn Bamidbar 10:1-10 with Mikraos Gedolos. 5. Learn Bamidbar 10:1-10 with Rav Hirsch. 6. Learn Bamidbar 29:1-6 with Rav Hirsch. 7. Learn Nechemia 8:1-12 with a commentary. 8. Learn two other places in Tanach where the shofar appears, e.g. in conquering Yericho (Yehoshua perek X) and Shoftim ch. 7, shmule beis 6:15, melahcim beis 9:13, Rashi on Bamidbar 23:21 9. Learn ch. 32 of Horeb, Shofar. 10. Learn any of the following chapters of Horeb: 100, 104, or both 22 and 23. You may count each of the three separately. 11. Learn the Rosh Hashana machzor with a commentary. 12. Learn Rabbeinu Yonah's Yesod haTeshuva with your group leader or with a commentary. 13. Fulfill the starred Hebrew requirement using the Rosh Hashana machzor. 14. Learn one of the Torah readings for Rosh Hashana with a commentary. You may count each one separately. 15. Learn one of the Haftorah readings for Rosh Hashana with a commentary. You may count each one separately. 16. Learn two of the Rosh Hashana piyutim. You may count each two separately. 17. Learn one day of the Shir haYichud piyut. You may count each one separately. 18. Learn the dates and significance of the arbaa roshei shanim. 19. Learn Tehillim 27 with a commentary. 20. Learn Tehillim 47 with a commentary. 21. Learn Tehillim 81 with a commentary. 22. Learn Tehillim 89 with a commentary. 23. Learn the text of Tashlich with a commentary. 24. Memorize any two of the following texts: the shana tova greeting following maariv; the yehi ratzons for the simanim; Tehillim 27; Tehillim 47; Tehillim 81; Tehillim 89; the seven pesukim that precede shofar blowing; the three pesukim that follow it. 25. Demonstrate that you understand the halachos of shofar: how it is made, selected, blown, and heard. 26. Learn how to blow a shofar, so that you can serve as a resource for other women in your community who may not make it to shul. 27. Demonstrate that you understand the halachos and significance of hataras nedarim. 28. Demonstrate that you understand the significance of the simanim; know how to procure a fish or sheep head in your city and prepare it, and how to prepare one other siman that requires cooking. 29. Learn an essay by an acharon on Rosh Hashana. 30. Learn an essay by a rishon that is relevant to Rosh Hashana (e.g., the Rambam on hilchos teshuva). 31. Learn an essay on the aseres yemei teshuva. 32. Learn Ein Yaakov on Rosh Hashana §8. 33. Learn Ein Yaakov on Rosh Hashana §2. 34. Learn any other paragraph of Ein Yaakov on Rosh Hashana. 35. Learn the piyut Unesane Tokef and observe a shepherd inspecting and counting his sheep one by one. 36. Go to a monarchical palace and obtain some understanding of what kingship is. 37. Craft something special for your family or community Rosh Hashana, e.g. a honey dish or white paroches. 38. You may count one requirement from the Yom Kippur theme.
Emergencies and First Aid Do twelve of the following. Those starred are required. Ushmartem me'od Hilchos triage Demonstrate that you have learnt hilchos yehareg v'al yaavor *1. Demonstrate that you have learnt the halachos of common medical and other emergency on Shabbos. *2. Demonstrate that you have learnt how to identify, prevent, and treat the following ailments, as well as which symptoms to expect and how long each ordinarily lasts: insect stings, mosquito bites, nosebleed, debris in eye, diaper rash, splinter, blister, headache, upset stomach, sore throat, nausea, cold, fever, infection. 3. Secure diploma of the Red Cross in x 4. Secure lifeguarding certification 5. Secure CPR certification 6. Demonstrate that you have learnt how to rescue someone from drowning, and how to escort a tired swimmer back to safety. *7. Demonstrate that you have learnt what to do in case of fire, including oil fire on the stove. *8. Demonstrate that you have learnt what to do in case of an electrical storm, electrical fire, a downed electric line, or finding a person in electric shock. -Gas emergency -The difference between a simple and compound fracture, first aid for both, how to make a splint and a sling, how to dress a wound, identify the type of bleeding ad make a tourniquet, stimulants: what they are when not to use them. 9. Demonstrate that you have learnt how to stop a runaway horse. 10. Demonstrate that you have learnt what to do when encountering a rabid animal, in case of attack by a stray animal, and upon finding a bat in the house. *11. Demonstrate that you have learnt appropriate treatment and bandaging of the injured, how to stop bleeding, and how to apply a tourniquet. 12. Demonstrate that you can identify whichever variety of poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac grow in your area; and that you know how to treat their effects. 13. Demonstrate that you can identify both safe and poisonous snakes in your area, and that you know how to treat snakebite. 14. Demonstrate that you have learnt what to do in case of emergencies involving misbehavior by other people, including burglary, mugging, and student violence in both upper and lower grades. *15. Demonstrate that you have learnt what to do in case of ingestion of poisonous chemicals, and bleach in the eye; and what to do with loose lead (e.g. chipping lead paint) and mercury (e.g. in broken thermometers). 16. Demonstrate that you have learnt how to prevent and treat frostbite, dehydration, hypothermia, burns, and heat illness. 17. Demonstrate that you have learnt (without breaking the law) how to take control of a car, steer it to safety, park it, and signal for assistance. 18. Demonstrate that you have learnt what to do in case of getting lost, both in the city and in the woods. 19. Demonstrate that you can transmit distress signals using whistle blasts, smoke, flares, and a mirror. 20. Demonstrate that you have learnt how to check a pulse. 21. Demonstrate that you know how to make a poultice, a hot or cold infusion, &c., and can identify and use three medicinal plants which grow locally, e.g. prunella, witch hazel, lavender. 22. Demonstrate that you know how to take a temperature and what to do with the information 23. Interview an emergency room doctor or nurse about her work. -self-defense *24. Do a chesed involving first aid or emergency preparedness
Honeys and Honeybees Do eight of the following. At least one must be from nos. 1-13. The one starred is required. (You can look at Rav Hirsch on Shmos 16:31, or Musaf Rashi on Devarim 8:8, for an explanation of the term dvash, and why date honey is included in this Moriya theme.) 1. Learn Vayikra 2:11 with Kli Yakar. (no honey korban) 2. Learn Vayikra 2:11 with Rav Hirsch. 3. Learn Devarim 1:44 with Rashi. You may also wish to look at the Ibn Ezra. (pursued us like bees) 4. Learn Shoftim ch. 4 with a commentary. 5. Learn Shoftim ch. 5 (shiras Devora) with a commentary. 6. Memorize Shiras Devora. 7. Fulfill the starred Hebrew requirement with material from Shoftim perek 4-5. 8. Learn Shoftim 14:5-20 (Shimshon) with a commentary. 9. Learn Shmuel Alef 14:25-45 (Yehonasan) with a commentary. 10. Learn Tehillim 5:13 with Rav Hirsch. 11. Learn Tehillim 19:11 with a commentary. 12. Observe a group of bees in the presence of honey, and learn Tehillim 118:12 with Metzudas David. 13. Learn Tehillim 119:103 with a commentary. 14. Learn Mishlei 16:24 with a commentary. 15. Learn Mishlei 24:13-14 with a commentary. 16. Learn Mishlei 25:27 with a commentary. 17. Learn Shir haShirim 4:11 with a commentary. 18. Learn any other three pesukim involving bees or bee products (e.g., Melachim Alef 14:3, Yishaya 7:18, Micha 1:4, Mishlei 27:7). 19. Learn why the Jewish people, or words of Torah, are compared to bees in Devarim Rabba 1:6. 20. Learn any other maamar Chazal involving bees or bee products (e.g., Rabba bar bar Chana’s story involving a river of wax, on Bava Basra 73a-b (Ein Yaakov §3)). 21. Learn an essay by a rishon pertaining to bees or bee products. 22. Learn an essay by an acharon pertaining to bees or bee products. 23. Sculpt or decorate a honey jar for Rosh Hashana. 24. Observe a bee or hive of bees for ten minutes. What habits do you notice? For what middos might bees serve as a model? 25. Observe a beehive. Explain how bees spend their days, and the roles of nectar, pollen, beeswax, and honey. 26. Demonstrate that you can identify, explain the role of, and describe a day in the life of the queen, drones, and workers. 27. Describe the various jobs that a worker bee has, in order, in the course of its life; and how to identify an aged worker. 28. Explain how bees navigate, and one way (e.g., waggle dances) that they communicate with each other. 29. Build a hive. 30. Set up a new hive and introduce bees into it. 31. Demonstrate that you know when and how to open and smoke a hive and investigate it, and what to look for. 32. Observe or assist with capturing or hiving a swarm. 33. Demonstrate that you can find and identify eggs, larvae, capped brood, capped honey, supersedure cells, and swarm cells; and explain what to look for in brood pattern. 34. Demonstrate that you know the differences between three types of hives and three species of bees. 35. Outline responsible beekeeping practices to keep bees hydrated, fed, and good-natured, and the hive ventilated and hygienic. Explain how to prevent swarming, absconding, and robbing; and define CCD. 36. Explain six common ailments or predators in beekeeping, as well as the phenomenon of laying workers; and describe a preventative and remedial measure for each. 37. Harvest extracted, comb, or whipped honey. You may count each one separately. 38. Harvest propolis and use it to create something (e.g., an ointment or varnish). 39. Harvest beeswax and use it to create something (e.g., candles). 40. Use two different techniques (e.g., dyeing, dipping, sculpting a mold, using a mold, sculpting or braiding wax) to make candles. 41. Brew mead or another honey product. 42. Tell some flowers that attract bees. Run a taste-test of at least two different flavors of honey; or guide a colony of bees to produce honey of a particular flavor. 43. Demonstrate that you understand the laws of commerce and hygiene that would attend upon your selling honey to the public. 44. Interview a beekeeper about her work. 45. Interview a honey producer about her work. 46. Interview a person who works with wax (e.g., candle-sculptor or cosmetics producer) about her work. 47. Tour a facility that processes honey. 48. Tour a candle factory. 49. Visit a factory where beeswax is processed for cosmetics. *50. Do a chesed involving bees or bee products.
Leatherwork Do seven of the following. The one starred is required. At least one must be from nos. 1-11.
1. Learn Bereishis 3:21 (clothing Adam & Chava) with Mikraos Gedolos or a Midrash. You may count each separately. 2. Learn Bereishis 27:15-16 and 27:27 (Esav’s clothes and Yaakov’s goatskins) with Mikraos Gedolos or a Midrash. You may count each separately. 3. Learn Shmos 25:5 and 26:14 (hides in the Mishkan) with a commentary. 4. Why, in Yirmiyahu 3:19 and Daniel 11:41, is Eretz Yisrael compared to a tzvi? Learn the pasuk and then find the answer on Kesubos 112a with Rashi or Gittin 57a. 5. Learn Ch. 38 of Horeb, “Tefillin”. 6. Tanning: learn Rashi on Brachos 43b, yafeh lo umanuso. 7. How parchment is prepared for safrus: learn Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Tefillin uMezuza 1:6-11. 8. How tefillin are shaped: learn Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Tefillin uMezuza 3:2-4 and 9. 9. Learn the halachos of the melachos mafshit, m'abed, memachek, meshartet, and mechatech, and demonstrate that you know their practical applications for us on Shabbos. 10. Learn any two other Torah sources that pertain to leatherwork. You may count up to two sets of two separately. (e.g., Gidon’s fleece in Shoftim 6:36-40; and you can check out how R' Yosi bar Chalafta's tanning experience helped to clarify a halacha on Shabbos 49a.) (notes to self -- Skin of the livyasan, Melachim beis 1:8, Zecharia 13:4, Rashi on Bereishis 43:30, rashi on shmos 8:27)
11. Demonstrate that you can identify five different types of leather, and understand the properties of them that make them suitable for specific uses. 12. Skin an animal. 13. Flesh a hide. 14. Make rawhide. 15. Dehair a hide. 16. Tan a hide. 17. Dye or stain and finish a hide. 18. Prepare parchment. 19. Do an experiment involving the chemical aspects of leathermaking, e.g. compare various tanning solutions. 20. Tour a workshop or factory that processes leather. Demonstrate that you understand the processes that you have observed there. 21. Interview a person who processes leather, or a person who prepares parchment, about the work. You may count each separately. 22. Dye a piece of leather. 23. Tool a leather item in an original design. 24. Stamp a leather item in an original design. 25. Create an inlaid or onlaid design in a leather item. 26. Make shagreen, or use some other technique to texture leather. 27. Explain the scientific underpinnings of cuir bouilli, and experiment with making some. 28. Create a burned design in a leather item. 29. Set hardware in a leather item. 30. Skive a piece of leather. 31. Burnish a piece of leather. 32. Create a cutout design in a leather item. 33. Mold a piece of leather. 34. Saddle-stitich a piece of leather. 35. Machine-stitch a piece of leather. 36. Make a leather item that involves lacing. 37. Make a leather item that involves stitching. 38. Make a leather garment. 39. Make a leather garment with a specific fit. 40. Bind a book and make a leather cover for it. 41. Once you have tried some technique of leather crafting, design in detail five items to be crafted of leather. 42. Demonstrate that you know how to maintain a leather item. 43. Make a product for leather or skin care (e.g., shoe polish or a skin lotion). Explain some of its chemical underpinnings. 44. Try writing on parchment. 45. Tour a factory or workshop where leather goods are produced commercially. 46. Interview an expert in tefillin-making about the process. 47. Interview some other leather craftsman about her work. 48. Make an accessory component for something you have made out of leather, e.g. weave your own shoelaces, or forge a metal belt buckle yourself. *49. Do a chesed involving leatherwork.
Pottery Do seven of the following. At least one must be from nos. 1-4. The one starred is required. 1. Learn Bereishis 2:6-7 with Mikraos Gedolos or Rav Hirsch. (adam harishon) 2. Learn Bereishis 2:19 with Rashi. (birds) 3. Learn Bereishis 11:3 or Shmos 5:7, with Rashi. 4. Learn Bereishis 14:10 with Rashi. You may also want to look at Tehillim 40:3 and Yirmiyahu 38:6. (be’eros) 5. Learn Shmos 2:3 with Rashi. (plaster) 6. Learn Yishaya 29:16 with a commentary. 7. Learn Yishaya 30:14 with a commentary. 8. Learn Yishaya 41:25 with a commentary. 9. Learn Yishaya 45:9 with a commentary. 10. Learn Yishaya 64:7 with a commentary. 11. Learn Yirmiyahu 18:1 – 19:13 with a commentary. 12. Learn Iyov 10:9 with a commentary. 13. Demonstrate that you understand the halachos of what you may and may not sculpt out of clay. 14. Learn any three other Torah sources involving pottery (e.g., Bereishis 1:27 with Rashi, Shmos 1:14, Nachum 3:14, Eicha 4:2). Brachos 32a? -yechezkel 8:12 15. Demonstrate that you can identify, and explain the differences between, earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. 16. Explain the chemical underpinnings of pottery. Define plasticity and flux; and refractory, vitrifiable, and fusible clays. Give examples of each. 17. Demonstrate that you can identify, and explain the differences between, the types of clay found in your area. 18. Dig and prepare for use a batch of clay. 19. Define ball clay, grog, and slip. Mix your own clay or slip using a formula. Experiment with at least one variation. Test your clay for absorption and for shrinkage. 20. Explain the purposes of wedging and kneading, and do both. 21. Make a clay pinch-pot. 22. Make a clay vessel using the coil method. 23. Make a clay item using slab construction. 24. Model an item out of clay. 25. Make a plaster mold and cast a piece of pottery. 26. Throw a pot. Demonstrate centering, coning, opening, and thinning. 27. Using any one of the above methods, form a set of dishes, proportioned to each other. 28. Throw a lid, with a specific fit. 29. Throw and apply a spout. 30. Make and apply a handle or lugs. 31. Explain centripetal and centrifugal force, and the physics of using a potters’ wheel. 32. Make an item using plaster of Paris. 33. Decorate a clay piece with any two of the following types of decoration: incised, impressed, relief, inlaid; sgraffito; burnishing; slip-trailing, combing, marbling, painting; resist-work. 34. Paint a piece using underglaze. 35. Define silica, oxide, frit, and flux; gloss and opacity; and crazing and crawling. Explain the chemical underpinnings of glaze. Formulate a recipe for a glaze. 36. Mix two glazes. 37. Glaze a piece of pottery. 38. Explain safe use and storage of clays, glazes, and their various ingredients. Design an ideal pottery studio. 39. Make a plaster slab, kick-wheel, or other useful piece of potters’ furniture. 40. Demonstrate that you can pack, use, and unload a kiln. 41. Demonstrate that you can tell the temperature of a kiln by its color. 42. Demonstrate that you can use pyrometric cones. 43. Fire pottery in a reducing atmosphere. 44. Fire pottery using raku technique. 45. Build and use a kiln for sawdust firing. 46. Fire pottery using a wood-burning kiln. 47. Create an item using millefiori technique. For this activity you may use a polymer clay. 48. Tour an industrial site that is involved in the process of producing clay, pottery, or industrial ceramics. You may count up to two sites separately. 49. Interview a professional potter about her work. 50. Interview a pottery chemist about her work. 51. Interview any other person in the clay, pottery, or ceramics industry (e.g., a pug-mill engineer, or the manager of a clay factory, or a politician involved in concerns about clay-digging operations, or an architect who specifies ceramics) about her work. *52. Do a chesed involving pottery.
Sewing and Clothing Do ten of the following. At least one must be from nos. 1-34. The one starred is required. 1. Learn Bereishis 3:7 with Rashi. 2. Learn Bereishis 3:21 with Rashi, Rav Hirsch, or a midrash. You may count two separately. 3. Learn Bereishis 9:23 with Rashi. 4. Learn Bereishis 12:1 with Rav Hirsch. 5. Learn Bereishis 28:20 with the Kli Yakar. 6. Learn Bereishis 37:3 with Rashi, Sforno, Kli Yakar, or Rav Hirsch. 7. Learn Shmos 22:25-26 with Rashi, Rav Hirsch, or Or haChaim. 8. Learn Shmos ch. 28 with a commentary. You may count up to three separately. You may wish to look at Ein Yaakov §22 on Zevachim 88b. - Rashi on Shmos 32:15 - Rashi on Vayikra 6:4 9. Diagram the bigdei kehuna. 10. Learn Vayikra 19:19 or Devarim 22:11 (shaatnez) with any rishon or acharon (e.g. Horeb ch. 57). 11. Learn Bamidbar 15:37-39 or Devarim 22:12 (tzitzis) with any rishon or acharon (e.g., the Baal haTurim there in Bamidbar, or Horeb ch. 39). 12. Learn Shmuel Alef 2:18-19 with a commentary. 13. Learn Shmuel Alef 15:27 and 24:4 with a commentary. 14. Learn Shmuel Beis 13:18 with a commentary. 15. Learn Melachim Alef 11:30 with Metzudas Dovid. 16. Learn Melachim Beis 2:8 with a commentary, e.g. Metzudas Tzion or R’ Yosef Karo. 17. Learn Yishaya 22:21 with a commentary. 18. Learn Yishaya 59:17 with a commentary. 19. Learn Yishaya 61:10 with a commentary. 20. Learn Yechezkel 16:10 with a commentary. 21. Learn Yechezkel 27:24 with a commentary. 22. Learn Zecharia 3:3-5 with Ibn Ezra or another commentary. 23. Learn Zecharia 13:4 with a commentary. You may also want to look at Bereishis 25:25. 24. Learn Tehillim 22:19 with a commentary, e.g. Rav Hirsch. 25. Learn Tehillim 93:1 with a commentary. 26. Learn Tehillim 132:16 with Ibn Ezra or another commentary. 27. Learn Mishlei 31:21-25 with a commentary. 28. Learn Esther 4:1-4 with a commentary. 29. Learn Esther 5:1 with a commentary. 30. Learn an essay by a rishon that touches on sewing or clothing. 31. Learn an essay by an acharon that touches on sewing or clothing. 32. Learn Ein Yaakov §87 on Brachos 32a (on Shmos 32:10) with the Anaf Yosef. 33. Learn Ein Yaakov §77 on Shabbos 113a. 34. Learn any other three Torah sources that touch on sewing or clothing (e.g., Bereishis 27:16, Bereishis 37:34, Bamidbar 20:28, Yishaya 11:5, Tehillim 104: 1-2, Tehillim 109:18-19, Mishlei 30:4, Iyov 29:14, Esther 6:7-11, Divrei HaYamim II 18:29, Shir haShirim Rabba 5:3.)
35. Outline some halachos that apply to clothes. 36. Demonstrate fluent use by hand of any seven stitches (e.g., running stitch, backstitch, slipstitch, drawstitch, fell stitch, whipstitch, blindstitch, catchstitch, blanket stitch, buttonhole stitch). 37. Demonstrate how to sew three kinds of seams (e.g., French, mock French, rolled, flat-felled, appliqué seaming) and at least two other kinds of seam finishes (e.g., pinked, serged, Hong Kong). Explain the merits of each. 38. Demonstrate that you can thread, use, and troubleshoot a sewing machine. 39. Try out any two of the following: a hand-cranked sewing machine, a treadle sewing machine, any other mechanical machine, a computerized embroidery machine, an industrial machine. 40. Learn how to take apart, clean, oil, and reassemble a non-electric sewing machine. 41. Patch one hole and darn another. 42. Sew a button and buttonhole, and one other type of closure. 43. Alter an existing garment (e.g., take it in, let it out, lengthen a skirt, add a kick-pleat). 44. Demonstrate that you can identify at least ten different materials or weaves of textiles available in your area, including at least four fibers and three weaves, and the advantages and disadvantages of each in character, maintenance, and cost. Explain the terms knit, bias, and selvedge. 45. Explain the characteristics of at least three different knits. 46. Explain the characteristics of at least three different textile finishes. 47. Research, and present your findings on, “smart textiles” or another recent technological innovation in the garment industry. 48. Sew a loose article that does not require very close fitting to a person (e.g., curtains, bed or table linens, a bag, an item for a layette, a smock). You may count up to two separately. 49. Upholster an item of furniture. 50. Sew an article that does require fitting to a person (e.g, a skirt, a shirt, a dress). You may count up to three separately. 51. Sew an article that includes tailoring details (e.g., a jacket). You may count up to three separately. 52. Sew an accessory (e.g., a hat, a dickey, a scarf, a flower, gloves). 53. Sew three types of pockets. 54. Use heat to shrink or stretch a portion of a garment to a desired shape. 55. Design, piece, and sew a quilt. 56. Sew a stuffed toy. 57. Drape a toile. 58. Draft a sloper. 59. Draft an entire flat pattern. 60. Swing a dart or convert it to ease. 61. Demonstrate how to use a commercial sewing pattern. 62. Draft a graded pattern. 63. Outline the mitzvah of shatnez. Explain where shatnez is most commonly found: in which types of modern garments, and where in those garments. Obtain a psak from your local halachic authority on what does and does not need to be checked for shatnez. (You may also wish to obtain some in-depth knowledge, e.g., which countries’ garments commonly contain shatnez; where wool and linen are commonly used in commercial manufacture and where they are never used.) 64. Demonstrate at least two ways that you can identify unknown garment fibers, e.g. using a burn test; under a microscope; how they feel in your mouth. 65. Research, and present on, what constituted Jewish dress in a particular region and era of history. You may wish to look up a set of sumptuary laws. 66. Interview three people on what problems they’d like their clothing to solve; or two mothers on what they look for in well-designed children’s clothing. 67. Draw up four color charts from natural phenomena. 68. Observe and draw at least three different people in at least five different poses (total). 69. Fill at least six pages of a sketch book with “mood pages,” fabric swatches, and croquis. 70. Draw rough sketches (“roughs”) of at least 10 different garment designs for a particular target market. You may wish to draw inspiration from nature; from a particular historical or ethnic style of dress; or from architecture. 71. Draw rough sketches of at least 10 different garment designs, for a particular target market, inspired by a particular historical or fictional story. 72. Draw rough sketches of at least 10 different garment designs, for a particular target market, inspired by this week’s parsha. 73. Develop at least five of your rough designs in detail (“design developments”), both front and back. 74. Draw at least one flat. 75. Draw at least one spec. 76. Use a computer program to aid design. You may count up to three different computer programs separately. 77. Design one garment focusing on each of five of the following design elements: repetition; gradation; radiation; contrast; balance; proportion; line; comfort. 78. Design a set of three garments exploring the design element of silhouette; a set of three garments exploring the effect of color; and a set of three garments exploring the design element of texture. 79. Design a set of three garments exploring the possibilities of different trims or pockets. 80. Design garments for the principal characters in a particular story. 81. Design garments that would be worn by the principal characters in a theatrical production, or in- a black-and-white film, of a particular story. 82. Design a set of three garments for a type of person for which you have not designed yet (e.g., if you have been designing for girls or women your age, design for girls or women of a different age, boys, or men). 83. Design three garments each for any three of the following: formal wear, business wear, maternity, postpartum wear, school uniforms, sportswear, weather protection. 84. Interview someone about her garment preferences and design three garments to suit her particular taste and needs. 85. Compile three pages of inspiration just from natural phenomena found outside. Take a sketching trip as a group and design a garment when you come in. 86. Determine how many garments you need. Design a wardrobe for yourself that reflects your unique taste and needs as an approachable member of society. 87. Use draping to design a garment. 88. Design a suite of accessories to complement a collection of garments you have designed. 89. Create a mood board, have someone else in your group do the same, and then swap and design based on each others’ boards. 90. Submit at least one of your projects for critical evaluation. 91. Visit a shop and make a “shop report”. 92. Interview someone in the garment or sewing industry (e.g., a designer, stylist, store buyer, forecaster, fashion lawyer, museum textile curator, shatnez checker, sewing machine mechanic, or seamstress) about her work. You may count up to five interviewees separately. 93. Tour a fashion industry office, factory, or other workplace. 94. Explain at least three stages in the sale of textiles that intervene between textile mills and designers (e.g., converters, importers, agents, jobbers, PV). 95. Explain how garments are manufactured commercially. Define “sealing sample” and “docket”. Explain how quality is monitored in the garment industry. 96. Research, and report on your findings on, an issue of socially or environmentally responsible garment manufacture. 97. Explain how intellectual property law applies to garment design in the country where you live. 98. Do these three activities: (1) Draw up a calendar showing the major seasons and events of a year in the fashion industry; (2) Trace the progress of a design from haute couture designer to mass dissemination; (3) Identify at least three types of retailers and describe how they market merchandise to their customers. 99. You may count up to five activities from Tsnius/Geniza, Leatherwork, Color, Fiber Arts, Dyeing, Weaves and Knots, Beading and Embroidery, Shoemaking, Millinery, Jewelry, Textiles. *100. Do a chesed based on your studies of sewing and clothing.
Flight Do eight of the following. At least one must be from nos. 1-5. The one starred is required. 1. Learn Shmos 19:4 with Rashi or Sforno. 2. Learn Devarim 32:11 with Rashi or Rav Hirsch. You may count each one separately. 3. Learn Ein Yaakov on Brachos 53b (§117), on why the Jewish people are compared to a dove. 4. Learn three other Torah sources that discuss flight, e.g. Tehillim 55:7. 5. Learn two other Midrashim that discuss flight. Devarim 28:49 Rashi on Bereishis 14:2 6. Observe four species of birds or insects in flight and report your observations. 7. Find and investigate at least one plant part that lends itself to flight, e.g. maple whirligigs, dandelion fluff, or ballistic seeds. 8. Explain lift, thrust, and drag, the use of an airfoil, and how a glider or bird stays aloft. 9. Explain, further, some basic aerodynamics. 10. Build, fly, and compare three shapes of paper airplane. 11. Build, fly, and compare two shapes of kites. 12. Build, fly, and compare three shapes of parachute. 13. Build and fly a glider. 14. Build and fly a model airplane. 15. Build and fly an ornithopter. 16. Design and build a balloon to carry a figure into the air. 17. Visit a cockpit and explain the purpose and reading of at least eight of the informative gadgets found therein. 18. Explain how an altimeter, airspeed indicator, or other pitot-static instrument works. 19. Explain how a bank-and-turn indicator works, and the use of a yaw string. 20. Explain what the sound barrier is. 21. Explain the parts of a hot-air balloon, and how it works. 22. Explain the use of ballonets in a dirigible. 23. Explain how an airplane wing is tested. 24. Build a model steering mechanism, or show on an existing one how the pilot makes the airplane pitch, roll, and turn. 25. Find on an airplane all of the following that it possesses: wings, rudder, propeller, ailerons, elevators, tailplane, wing-warping mechanism; and explain the purpose of each. 26. Explain the differences between three types of jet engines, and the advantages and disadvantages of each. 27. Explain effective design of propellers, fuselage, and landing gear. 28. Demonstrate that you can identify three types of airplanes, from the ground, by their sound alone. 29. Explain the purpose of each rotor on a helicopter. 30. Explain how blade angle makes a helicopter rise, sink, hover, bank, or change direction. 31. Explain which levels of the atmosphere are traversed by air traffic, and the characteristics of each. 32. Fly in an airplane, helicopter, dirigible, or balloon. You may count each one separately. 33. Fly a full-size airplane or similar vehicle yourself. 34. Hang-glide, paraglide, parasail, or sky-dive. 35. Visit an airport and obtain some information about how it is managed. 36. Tour a factory where aircraft are manufactured. 37. Visit an aviation museum. 38. Attend an air show. 39. Interview a pilot, navigator, airplane designer, air traffic controller, parachute engineer, or any other aeronautics-related professional about her work. You may count each one separately. 40. Interview an expert about how airspace is allotted. 41. You may count two requirements from the Weather theme. *42. Do a chesed involving flight.