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A new mosaic at Akiva greets students and guests, offering a view of Jerusalem.

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The completed mosaic offers a "Welcome. ,,

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor

y

eshivat Akiva is putting out a
new welcome mat — on the
wall. The Southfield-based
school recently dedicated a mosaic, cre-
ated by Akiva parent Michelle Sider
working with students in grades 2
through 7.
The mosaic, located in the school's
front lobby, reads brachim ha'baim (wel-
come) and focuses on the themes of
Jerusalem and kindness.
Thousands of bits of Jerusalem stone
tiles and stained glass, which glisten like
stars, were used to create the 8-foot-long
mosaic. The work shows a view of
Jerusalem from the Damascus Gate —
and had its roots in the city itself.
After a trip to Israel, Sider wanted to
create an art project that would involve
children of all ages at Akiva, along with
incorporating a theme of Jerusalem.
"Akiva is so much about Zionism and
enthusiasm for Israel, so this just seemed
like such a natural fit," says Sider, of
Huntington Woods.
Working with a grant from the
DeRoy Testmentary Foundation, pro-
vided through the Jewish Federation's
Alliance for Jewish Education's Artist in
the Schools program, Sider began meet-
ing with students to learn what elements
of Israel they would like to see in the
design. She learned quickly that children
had definite ideas. They wanted the
Kotel (Western Wall) to be included, and
they liked the idea of using a flag of
Jerusalem. Students also asked that the
mosaic reflect their hopes for peace.
Sider made preliminary sketches.
Akiva teachers, meanwhile, added extra
learning about Jerusalem and new les-
sons about the importance of showing

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kindness to others.
As she worked on the design, Sider
constantly returned to the theme of
home. A school is an extension of home,
she explained, and so, too, is the very
center of the mosaic — Israel — home
to the Jewish people. She also wanted to
emphasize the idea of "how important it
is to make persons feel welcome when
they enter your home."
At last, the design came alive. Now it
was time for the hands-on work.
One of Sider's favorite aspects of the
project was that it allowed older stu-
dents to mentor younger ones.
She began by teaching high school
students how to place pieces into
the mosaic pattern. They then helped
the younger ones learn to do the
same thing. All this required a
great deal of coordination, for which
Sider credits Akiva's Vice Principal

Rabbi Eleazar Durden.
In no time, the older children —
those very same boys and girls who, on
other occasions, might regard younger
ones as the most annoying creatures on
earth — were happily working with
2nd- and 3rd-graders.
"They kind of had to step outside of
themselves," Sider said.
Physical work on the project began
Nov. 2 and required several weeks to
complete. The final version was placed
in the front hallway of Akiva earlier this
month.
"I can't tell you how much joy it
brings to my heart to see the children
looking at the mosaic, identifying which
aspects they created and talking about
what they learned about Jerusalem dur-
ing this project," Sider said. "This was
an incredible project and I feel blessed
to have been able to participate."

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AFTERNOONS

Working on the Akiva mosaic are Mikhal Shamayev, 8, of Farmington; Program
Coordinator Michelle Sider; Yosef Sobol and Tova Skoczylas, both 8, of Southfield; Noa
Jersusalem, 13, and Elen Peysakhova, 8, both of Oak Park.

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12/31
2004

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