This week, Ruthie came home from Sunday School with Shabbat.  In a box.  With a combination of resources from Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies and the creativity of her religious school principal, the box was filled with Shabbat crafts, ritual items, and ideas for making Shabbat a crafty family affair.

I imagined a calm and civilized Shabbat craft session after school next Friday before Shabbat begins.  However, as I watched Ruthie and Chaya exuberantly dive into the box before I even got a chance to take my coat off, I decided to let them take control of both timing and crafting.  They made quick work of decorating challah covers, painting a decorative kiddush cup, and rolling beeswax candles.  Ruthie raided the spice drawer and returned from the kitchen with a sweet smelling Havdalah spice bag.  Impressed by their efforts but a little disappointed by the lack of available teaching moments in their artistic frenzy, I crossed my fingers that their Shabbat enthusiasm would last the whole six days between Sunday morning and Friday dinner time.

So far, so good.  Every time a new visitor has come to our house, Ruthie has sprinted into the dining room, returning with a pile of challah covers to show off to our guest.  I have caught Chaya singing “Bim Bam” quietly in the regular litany of songs she sings when no one else appears to be listening.  They are excited for Shabbat.

I also have a new hope for the items from the box.  The craft projects engaged the girls in thinking about Shabbat – What are the ritual items?  Do the kinds of candles we use need to be special in some way?  What is different about Shabbat dinner and Havdalah?  In this way, the box accomplished what it was supposed to, I think, teaching more about Shabbat through age appropriate activities.

The results of the activities mean something more.  Now, when we set the Shabbat table, the girls will physically own the space.  The dishes may be ones Eric and I acquired long before they were born, and we may assign drinking glasses based on breakability and appetite.  But the challah cover they see, hopefully covering the challah they have baked, will be theirs.  The candles we light together were rolled between their own fingers.  In these very concrete ways, often the ones most obvious for children their age to grasp, the holiday requires, and engages, something from everyone around the table.  Because of this, I can’t wait to set it this Friday!