Making Micrography and Text Study at Camp

This Summer I taught at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires (Chinuch Staff, Yahadut for those of you playing along in Ramah Hebrew).  I was excited but nervous---I have loved my two previous years in the art room (omanut), and was not sure what to expect with the switch.

In true Jewish Leaning Thru Art form, I wanted to make sure that my classes included both real art creation and meaningful Jewish learning.  I worked with incoming 7th graders (Tzeirim) and 9th graders (Bogrim).

Our first project was based on the art form known as micrography or microcalligraphy.  I taught students about the history of the form, which developed in Egypt in the late 9th century, as a response to the Halackhic (Jewish Law) prohibition against creating graven images (images that could be used in idol worship). The rationale behind micrography was that an image created out of holy words could never be used in idol worship.  Interestingly, at the same time, and completely independently, this same art form arose in the Muslim world, as a response to a similar prohibition.  It seems that all cultures have the same need to create, and given a prohibition that attempts to block this urge, artists will go to great lengths to work around it.

Omer Calendar (detail)

Italy, ca. 1825 Micrographic text: Five Megillot (Esther, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Lamentations) B (NS)Mc43

My campers looked at traditional micrographic images and talked about the reasons for the development of the art form. Then we looked at modern images and played with the technique.
Then, we pulled out the siddurim (prayer books).

Each student chose a prayer or text from Siddur Sim Shalom to study.  they talked about the prayers in Chevruta (study partnerships) to help them deepen their understanding of the prayer and its meanings:

After studying they created images using watercolor paint and pencil, and filled them in with the words of the text using sharpie markers.

These campers worked really hard, they learned a lot, and had a chance to slow down and really consider the words of prayer and their meanings.  I was so proud of them and really loved working with them!