A group of campers in Shoafim (entering 8th grade) had the opportunity to participate in a unique and amazing program this past week called Kesher Tefillin, led by visiting artist Noah Greenberg. During the week-long intensive program, the campers learned about the mitzvah of wearing tefillin. 
Then they took a raw piece of parchment and cut, molded, folded, embossed and colored it to create their very own tefillin. They selected and inserted the parchment scrolls, then attached and tied the straps. The boys and girls studied the sources reviewing the holiness of the tefillin and the Halacha of making and using them. When completed, the campers proudly wore their own tefillin.
This is the second time that we've welcomed Noah and the Kesher Tefillin to Ramah Wisco nsin and nearly 20 enthusiastic Shoafim campers participated this summer!
Jacob L. (Shoafim): We learned that tefillin can actually take years to make, but the way we did it we were able to do it in a week using a special method. We sewed everything together, cut and wrapped the parchment and filled in all the little details. It was an intense process, but at the end it was so cool to have my own set of tefillin that I had actually made.
