Category Archives: Simchat Torah

Tortilla Torah Scrolls

Posted on 10/04/2015 | 6 comments

Tortilla Torah, by 3rd grader

I wrote about kid-created instant edible Torah Scrolls years ago, back when I could get away with a lot more sugar in the classroom. And, I’ve already talked about the holiday and why an edible Torah Scroll can be a good enrichment activity for Simchat Torah. When kids explore a real sefer Torah as model and special guest, they understand what they are re-creating and why.

This post is a simpler version. Less candy, less time, but actually more fun. And, kids get to be a scribe / sofer with their own Torah scrolls by writing with food-safe ink. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Edible Craft, Simchat Torah

Tagged edible craft, Edible pen, torah scroll

Tootsie Torahs (and how not to make them)

Posted on 03/01/2014 | 4 comments

I Googled “Tootsie Torahs” and came up nil, so I named this post to correct the Internet’s oversight.

Candy Torahs are a thing, I know, and can be ordered in bulk, kosher and trayfe, with personalized wrappers. They are party favors.

I don’t do party favors. Or so I thought. Yet, I ended up on my floor, alone, fiddling with hundreds of 3″ Tootsie Rolls. Worse, no one (else) learned anything from this project, the Torahs are way less cute that they were in the Pinterest Board that lives in my head, and they are destined to be gobbled at a buffet that will again yield no educative outcome. Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Crafts, Edible Craft, Simchat Torah

Tagged Torah

Torah Scroll flannel board

Posted on 10/30/2013 | 2 comments

Here’s yet another post only a Sunday School Teacher could love. I made a portable Torah Scroll for a preschool Simchat Torah family program a while back, to demonstrate “What’s in the Torah.” The idea was to let kids fill the Torah Scroll with objects that represent some of what is—you guessed it— in the Torah. The activity can be tweaked to fit many age groups, and the more irresistible the objects, the better. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Activity, Shavuot, Simchat Torah

Tagged Torah

Edible Ten Commandments, update

Posted on 05/03/2013 | 2 comments

Folks are asking about the chocolate Ten Commandment tablets from my Lag BaOmer post. So easy, I promise. And won’t they look splendid atop Mt. Sinai muffins?

chocolate-esque candy bark

don’t eat these

I made plaster versions, too, for some of my little Israelites on our Lag baOmer Walk. They had to “receive” the Ten Commandments at the mountain, right? But I warn you Continue reading →

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Posted in Edible Craft, Lag B'Omer, Shavuot, Simchat Torah

LEGO Moses on the Mountain

Posted on 05/25/2012 | Comments Off

Moses and the Lego Tablets

Google “Lego Moses” and you’ll get beaucoup hits. But just because he’s been done, doesn’t mean I can’t have a go. This one is in honor of Shavuot.

My Moses wears a do-rag because it is not cool to meet an omnipotent Divinity atop a mountain with your head uncovered. Nowadays, you can’t walk into a synagogue without putting something modest on your keppe, and the tradition had to start somewhere. Besides, it was sunny in the Wilderness.

What I really wanted was a Lego way to incorporate the famous rays of light Moses radiated after the Big Meeting (Exodus 34:29). Thanks to a glitch in translation from Hebrew to Latin (#Saint Jerome) those rays are depicted as horns in countless artworks, and are, in part, the root of the persistent idea that all Jews have actual horns. Continue reading →

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Posted in Shavuot, Simchat Torah

Tagged Lego, Moses

Instant Edible Torah Scroll

Posted on 10/19/2011 | 8 comments

Edible Torah: pretzel rods, fruit leather, Rolos.

Simchat Torah starts Thursday night. The “Rejoicing of the Torah” is a happy holiday, not surprisingly. Every week, Jews read a portion (parsha or sidra in Hebrew) from the Torah, and no matter which schedule we follow, we all finish and begin again on Simchat Torah. The moment the reader chants the last word of Deuteronomy and then the first word of Genesis is one of the highlights of the liturgical year. What are the last and first words? See below.*

At synagogue on Simchat Torah, there is plenty to keep the kids engaged and happy, especially at the evening service. Flag-waving, candy-scarfing kids can also carry toy Torahs on the noisy processionals (hakafot); beat kosher rhythm Continue reading →