MITZVAH KNITTER Alex Mansfield shows off a few of the skeins of donated yarn and some of the hats people made in honor of his bar mitzvah.

Beth Israel teen comes of age knitting

By JEWISH REVIEW

article created on: 2009-04-01T00:00:00

Last month, two Congregation Beth Israel members dedicated their b’nai mitzvah projects to knitting for the needy.

Alex Mansfield and Margot New are both seventh-graders at Portland Jewish Academy where they each took knitting as a middle school exploratory class. New became a bat mitzvah March 7 and Mansfield celebrated his bar mitzvah March 14.

New’s mother Terry New taught her to knit in third grade. Mansfield learned to knit in the exploratory class.

New knit hats, scarves and made blankets out of fleece for Streetlight Shelter, a shelter for homeless kids. She also asked her friends in PJA’s knitting class and her National Charity League class to help by making blankets and knitting. Centerpieces at her bat mitzvah luncheon were baskets of yard and knitting needles that people could take home to use to knit a scarf or hat.

New chose to knit for Streetlight Shelter because she believes “handmade scarves, hats and blankets will make kids feel like people care for them because they knit things for them. They will feel good as a result.”

New said she hopes that if she was in that situation Streetlight would be there for her.  

Mansfield decided to knit hats and collect yarn for the CBI’s Knit-A-Mitzvah group.

“Cantor Judith Schiff gave us the idea for this Mitzvah Project when I showed her some of the hats Alex was designing and knitting for himself, his brother and cousins,” said mom Jemi Kostiner Mansfield. “She invited Alex to come select yarn from the Knit-a-Mitzvah closet and work on the hats that are then donated during CBI/NWPM’s (Northwest Portland Ministries) annual Let’s Do Something Jewish for Christmas event.”

Scarves, sweaters, blankets, socks and mittens are also knit and donated. Many people brought hats and yarn to the bar mitzvah. Some people, including his mother and grandmother Priscilla Kostiner, learned or relearned how to knit to help with the project.

Mansfield said he likes being able to knit while doing other activities, like watching TV or even riding a recumbent exercise bike. He said knitting is not a mitzvah project that ends—he plans to continue to knit.

Mansfield can finish a hat in about two days, and he enjoys adding fun touches like bright stripes, waves or even letters to make them more interesting. He hopes the kids who receive the hats will like the design.