This week, we see Yaakov fleeing from Esav. On the way, he lays his head on a rock (or 12 small rocks that fought to be under his head and were transformed into 1, according to midrash) and sleeps. Hashem visits his dream of angels on a ladder, and tells him he will bless him. Yaakov goes to his uncle, meets Rachel, and works as a shephard for 7 years to get to marry her. Only the next morning he realizes that he married Leah instead, and he agrees to another 7 years for Rachel. He has 6 sons and a daughter with Leah, plus additional sons with his wives’ handmaidens, and finally a son with Rachel. (These sons are fathers of the 12 tribes we know today!) Yaakov leaves Lavan in secrecy, but Lavan finds out and catches up with him. Hashem says not to hurt him, and Lavan and Yaakov make a treaty.
Links: Here are the Aish, Torahtots, Torah.org, and Chabad pages on Vayetzei (Vayetze?). Here are some coloring sheets, a parsha song, and a fun video from Itche Kadoozy (my older boys love this series).
Other ideas (click on photos for links):
Here is a link to some preschool craft ideas like angel tube (see below)
some parsha math (no photos available, but it’s gematria, sodoku, and more)
ladder and paper doll crafts
We’re making monkey bread for the twelve rocks turning into one (midrash). And breakfast! 😉 We make ours using bread dough, butter, cinnamon, and sugar, but click the photo below for another version and step by step directions.
We’re also planning to find rocks to use and sculpting Yaakov sleeping on the rock for some different art mediums, or maybe even making a rock to hide something in, like this:
Since we hear about the births of most of Yaakov’s sons, you could also do a craft on the twelve tribes like this
or make a challah cover or worksheet based on this template
Even a family tree? In English or Hebrew.
Ladders are also a good option – something tangible for the kids! That might be a challah project for this Shabbat.
What are your plans? Any other cool ideas that I missed?
