The students of the Torah Academy of Milwaukee, an Orthodox day high school for girls, had “a tremendous learning experience” from February through March, and it was about more than only Jewish texts.
“These kids will know how to use drills and jigsaws for the rest of their lives,” said TAM principal Sora Rauch.
What the 52 students in grades ninth through 12th did was create elaborate displays about the Five Megillot (scrolls) — the five books in the Writings section of the Jewish Bible that are read in the synagogue during Jewish holidays.
The result was “Manuscripts of Majesty” that was displayed at the school March 2-10.
The books and their associated holidays are: Song of Songs for Passover, Ruth for Shavuot, Lamentations for Tisha B’Av, Ecclesiastes for Sukkot and Esther for Purim.
According to Rauch and Miriam Saltzman, a teacher of special education mathematics and one of the three adult project managers, the idea arose last November from a desire to pay tribute to Lauren Anton, 46, who died of cancer July 16.
Anton taught for 19 years at TAM and her classes included the Five Megillot, so a project on that theme was appropriate.
The girls were divided into five groups of 10 students each, with two — 10th grader Esti Anton (one of Lauren Anton’s children) and 12th grader Chava Miriam Lensky — serving as student leaders of the project.
Each group researched its assigned megillah, consulting Midrash and other commentaries. Then they brainstormed how to translate the interpreted meanings of the texts into visual form.
Rauch emphasized that the students strove to focus on aspects of the texts that are not well-known. For example, much art about the book of Esther uses the “beauty pageant” theme suggested by chapter two, but the girls of the Esther group decided to focus on other things like the Persian king’s throne, which midrashic text Esther Rabbah says (1:12) was originally King Solomon’s throne.
The other two adult project managers were Karen and David Reiffman. Rauch and Saltzman said that David was particularly active in the construction work, especially the woodworking, and “he taught the girls how to use the tools and technology” for the exhibits.
Construction began in mid-December, inside five rooms of the school, one for each megillah. As the opening date came closer, the students and managers worked longer hours, sometimes until 2 a.m., said Saltzman.
They also had to learn to adjust or rethink plans that didn’t seem to be working. For example, the Ecclesiastes group wanted to build a world globe as part of its display and originally tried to use a weather balloon.
However, the balloon exploded during the process, which forced the group to rethink the item. Eventually, the group did create a globe, building it around hula hoops.
Once completed, the girls of each group then became guides for each display, three per room per shift.
When this writer visited on opening day, March 2, dozens of people, many in family groups, were going through the rooms. Rauch and Saltzman said that many groups from Jewish schools locally and from Chicago visited the exhibit.
All photographs here by Leon Cohen.
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