By Dotan Appelbaum, Rosh Nagarut
This summer in the woodshop we are offering more experiential learning opportunities than ever before. Campers now choose to come to Nagarut for two weeks at a time to learn specific skills or how to make a certain project. In addition to the wood burning offering that we began two summers ago, we now teach challah board making, wood jewelry, wood carving, pinewood derby and more. By engaging with each step of the project as a group, campers learn the basic skills necessary for every woodworking project. A chanich in challah board making does not only leave with a challah board to take home, but also with the skills necessary to design and build their own projects in the future.
A few special offerings bring together a group of chanichim to create ritual objects that will be used or appreciated by many around camp. This reva, in Bogrim (9th grade) campers are working together to design and build a set of boxes to hold mincha and maariv cards. Since the beginning of camp, the Machon intensive (10th grade) has been working on a folding wall that an aidah can use to create a more meaningful prayer space. Our Nivonim interns (11th grade) are working an installation of wood art above the aron hakodesh in the Ohel Yitzhak.
These offerings give the campers a chance to engage with Judaism in a way only available to the craftsperson and artist. The chanichim work together to bring an object into the world that adds to their own Jewish practice, as well as their peers.
