In the days before 2020, a group of parents and grandparents would bring their knitting needles, hang out and craft in the lobby of Congregation Ner Shalom on Sunday mornings after dropping their kids off at religious school. They called themselves the Yarn Yentas.
Though the Yarn Yentas no longer get together, Rabbi Lizz Goldstein is trying to bring that energy back within the Woodbridge synagogue’s youth group.
The idea for crafting days came up in December 2024 when Goldstein asked members of the Ner Shalom youth group what they wanted to do in the upcoming year, and they responded with a list of movies they wanted to watch.
“That’s great, but you can watch movies at home,” Goldstein said, adding that she tries to encourage the teens towards more community-oriented initiatives.
Goldstein asked the teens if they would rather host a clothing drive or make no-sew fleece blankets; one teen said her goal was to learn to sew over winter break.
A rotating group of five teens and mostly younger adults gathered at Ner Shalom on Sundays and some Saturdays from late December through January. One teen and one 20-year-old brought in their own sewing machines, while others knitted, crocheted or made no-sew fleece blankets.
Regardless of skill level, the group is working towards a common goal: to fill up a donation bin to help neighbors in need.
“For the youth group, I think it’s a really good opportunity to do something that matters,” Goldstein said. “Our box is pretty full now already: blankets, scarves, hats, socks, mittens.”
The handmade donations will benefit residents of ACTS Homeless Shelter a few miles down the road in Dumfries, Virginia. Goldstein said she wanted to do something to help provide warm clothing to people in need this winter, but wasn’t sure that learning to sew in one week was feasible. She said she was pleasantly surprised to see the teens following through and completing crafting projects.
“It’s just really nice to see young people rise to the challenge like that,” Goldstein said.
As knitting needles clacked and sewing machines whirred, one teen put on a playlist, which sparked a conversation between two 14- and 15-year-olds about their music tastes while they worked.
“It opens up this space to talk about their lives more than movie marathons would,” Goldstein said, noting that crafting together is more of a social activity.
“Having to focus on the craft with their hands allows them to speak more freely about personal interests; they’re not looking at each other, so that [avoids] the sense of embarrassment that a lot of teenagers would feel about being too ‘real’ [with one another].”
Goldstein said giving back to the community in this way not only reflects Ner Shalom’s values, but Jewish values as a whole, such as tzedakah, or charity.
“We’re the only synagogue in Prince William County, so it’s very important for us especially to uphold Jewish values and bring them out into the world and show other people in Prince William County what we stand for,” she said. “Our 70 members might be the only Jews a lot of these people know in the community.”
Goldstein added that Ner Shalom’s smaller membership has affected its style of charitable giving.
“We like to do tzedakah projects,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of money; we’re a very small community, and we try to collect money every other month. … But when the other houses of worship and interfaith organizations try to do big fundraising stuff, we just can’t contribute in the same way. So I think it’s really important for us to find other ways to contribute.”
Every fall, members of Ner Shalom participate in a food drive, and for some winters, a warm clothing drive. Community members have also collected dog toys and peanut butter for animal shelters in the past.
“It’s a lot easier to fill a box of stuff and feel like we’ve really contributed something than it is writing a big check,” Goldstein said.
As crafting days come to a close, Goldstein isn’t sure if she’ll organize the initiative again next winter: “I don’t know, but I hope so.”
