Over the past few months, students have been working hard to restore and decorate an old cabinet to be made into an Aron Kodesh, which is the sanctified cabinet that holds the Torahs. This ark is one of two so far to be designed and made by students. This particular cabinet, once used to hold a TV, will become the Aron Kodesh for the middle school.
Students hard at work on the Aron Kodesh. (SSLI Instagram)
Morah Becky, a Jewish Studies teacher and the High School Minyan Coordinator, explained that the idea of making our own Ark was “inspired by [artist] David Moss, who led a variety of Hiddur Mitzvah projects at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin.” Hiddur Mitzvah is the act of making Jewish rituals more beautiful.
Morah Becky added that “it would be really meaningful if we created our own holy objects and could choose the themes that we found meaningful.” Freshman Sara Rosenthal, a participant in this project, noted, “We quickly noticed that the doors are shaped a bit like the tablets of the Ten Commandments.” Thus, the ark will have a theme of receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.
There are many steps to creating a beautiful, yet functional, Ark. Freshman participant Shayna Barak described the process as being “a lot of mini-processes.” Rosenthal elaborated, “We first fixed the hole in the back and covered it using wood covered in fabric, and then sanded.” The group then primed the wood for paint, which is called gessoing, and began to paint the doors.
Barak, who is working on the fabric side of things, thinks “it’s a really nice way to purify this old cabinet into something that we can use for the community.” Rosenthal shared that she chose to participate because she gets to do art, which she loves, with her brother and friends. She concluded, “We get to make something really cool that will be used at the school for years.”
Morah Becky added that “it would be really meaningful if we created our own holy objects and could choose the themes that we found meaningful.” Freshman Sara Rosenthal, a participant in this project, noted, “We quickly noticed that the doors are shaped a bit like the tablets of the Ten Commandments.” Thus, the ark will have a theme of receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.
There are many steps to creating a beautiful, yet functional, Ark. Freshman participant Shayna Barak described the process as being “a lot of mini-processes.” Rosenthal elaborated, “We first fixed the hole in the back and covered it using wood covered in fabric, and then sanded.” The group then primed the wood for paint, which is called gessoing, and began to paint the doors.
Barak, who is working on the fabric side of things, thinks “it’s a really nice way to purify this old cabinet into something that we can use for the community.” Rosenthal shared that she chose to participate because she gets to do art, which she loves, with her brother and friends. She concluded, “We get to make something really cool that will be used at the school for years.”
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