Overview: 

This hour-long activity introduces participants to kabbalistic symbolism and the spiritual history of tie-dye through communal learning and hands-on creation. 

Materials: 

• Printed copies of the Master Chart and Personal Worksheet for each participant 
• Take-home instructions for each participant 
• You can buy dye kits very easily in the craft stores, which come with everything you need. They include rubber gloves, rubber bands, soda ash, urea and complete, easy to follow instructions. The dyes are already in the squeeze bottles, all you have to add is warm water (not hot). Other alternatives include buying single packages of dyes. These also come with the necessary urea, soda ash and instructions for mixing. However, you would need to purchase some squeeze bottles separately. 

TIP: Check out this website for guides on how to tie dye fun materials like socks, hats, jeans, and shoes. 

TIP: Apply for the Jewish Culture and Jewish Learning grants to help cover cost. 

Program Outline: (60-75 minutes) 

• Introduction (5 minutes) 
• Warm-Up (10 minutes) 
• Crafting (30-45 minutes) 
• Closing (15 minutes) 

Introduction (5 min)

• As people are gathering, have music playing. When you’re ready to begin, pause the music and call for everyone’s attention. 

• SAY:  
  • Welcome, everyone! I’m so glad you’re here. Before we get our hands messy, I want to talk about why we’re putting these two things (tie-dye and Jewish mysticism) together. 
  • Most of us think of tie-dye as a product of the 1960s, and it was certainly popularized then in the US as a symbol of the counter-cultural movement. It was a visual flag of peace, love, and a rejection of the rigid, black-and-white thinking of the establishment. But the techniques of resist-dyeing are ancient, found in the Shibori tradition in Japan and Bandhani in India for centuries. 
  • In a fascinating way, Kabbalah itself began as a kind of spiritual counter-culture within Judaism. For centuries, it was an esoteric tradition, passed down secretly. It offered a path to a direct, personal, and emotional experience of the divine, which stood in contrast to the more structured, legalistic mainstream. It was a revolutionary spiritual technology. 
  • Since their counter-cultural days, both tie-dye and Kabbalah have since been incorporated into the mainstream. Tie-dye has become just a fashion trend from a big-box store, and Kabbalah can become just a spiritual buzzword. Our goal today is to reclaim some of that original intention and to use the creative, free-flowing process of tie-dye as a physical meditation on the deep, flowing, and colorful ideas of Kabbalah.  

Warm Up (15 min)

• SAY: 
  • “To start, we’re going to engage with the core map of Kabbalah: the Tree of Life and its ten divine attributes, known as the Sefirot (singular: Sefirah). You can think of the Sefirot as a map of the divine energy that flows through the universe and also through each of us. 
  • Each of you should come get two sheets. The first is a Master Chart that shows the ten Sefirot. You’ll see the Hebrew name, several English translations for the core idea, and some colors traditionally associated with it. The second is your Personal Worksheet. 
  • For the next ten minutes, I invite you to look at the Master Chart. Don’t feel like you need to memorize it. Just let your eyes scan the words. For each Sefirah, I want you to choose the one English word that resonates most with you today. Then, choose a color from the list, or even one that’s not on the list, that you feel represents that quality. Write your chosen word and color on your Personal Worksheet. 
  • There are no right or wrong answers here. This is about building your spiritual palette. This worksheet will become the intention and color key for the piece you are about to create. Let’s take a few quiet moments to do this. 
• Play some calm, instrumental music such as this Indian-influenced Kabbalistic music. After about 7-8 minutes, bring the group back together. 
• ASK if one or two participants might be willing to share one Sefirah they connected with and what color they chose for it. 

Tie Dye (30 minutes)

• Now’s the time for participants to get crafting! 
• SAY:
  • “Thank you all so much. Now we’re going to get into the hands-on learning by actually doing some tie-dying! Refer to your personal Sefirot map for color inspiration. If you want suggestions or guidance on specific designs, check out the guides on the tables. And have fun!” 
• To signal the start of the tie dye session, press play on some more upbeat music. 

Closing (15 min)

•  Give a 5-minute warning for cleanup. 
• Ask everyone to dispose of their gloves, clean their space, and gather back in a circle, holding their bagged, finished creation. 
• Lower the music volume or turn it off. 
• SAY: 
  • That was so fun! Let’s take a moment to close our time together. 
  • The last, and maybe most important, instruction for tie-dye is patience. You have to let your creation sit in its bag for at least 12-24 hours. The dye needs time in the dark to undergo a chemical reaction, to truly bind with and become a permanent part of the fabric. 
  • Metaphorically, this is our integration time. Think about the words and colors you chose to work with. Let those intentions settle within you, just as the dye is settling into the cloth. 
  • The process of tie-dyeing is a powerful physical metaphor for the kabbalistic goal of unifying aspects of the divine. It transforms separate elements into an integrated, beautiful whole. 
  • When you go home and finally rinse out your piece, the pattern will be revealed. It will almost certainly be a surprise. Some colors will have blended in ways you didn’t expect, and some white spaces will appear where you thought there would be color. This is the beauty of the process. It is a collaboration between your intention and the unpredictable flow of creation. 
• Thank participants for coming and make sure they take home an instruction sheet.