Expedition Maker

Week 1 : Episode 1


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Masking Up

Feb 21-27, 2021

Make a mask or costume that taps into something that has been brought into the light during pandemic. This could relate to your identity or personality and skills, Jewish community, society at large, etc.


  • How do masks or costumes reveal aspects of ourselves that may otherwise be hidden? Or, what do they allow to shine through more clearly even as they cover or obscure?

  • How does special clothing or garment create different senses of role & identity both internally and externally?

  • How does fashion reflect and/or affect what’s happening around us? How do we relate to what’s “in fashion” both in terms of clothing and otherwise?



  • Torah Portion

    TETZAVEH: “Commanding” — Key themes: making of special Priestly garments, ritual inauguration & olive oil for lamps (more info)

  • Holiday

    Purim (14th of Adar | Feb 25-26) — Costuming, hidden identity, playfulness, joy (more info)

Week 1 Projects

Click to learn about each maker’s project!


Alix Kramer

History Has Its Eyes on You

A political statement piece encouraging Jewish people to use their privilege and whiteness to be allies to the people of color in the US who currently need our alliance and support.


Eli Kaplan Wildmann

The Nahafoch Hu Mask: Turning the Tables

While this mask initially shows a globe with a pandemic, full of hot spots and a medical mask, a quick spin turns it into a disco ball Purim costume. Mirrors help us reflect on what within ourselves was revealed during this period of isolation.


Eugene Zeleny

Crouching Tiger, Armored-Dillo

This leather and 3D printed wood mask offers layers of adjustable protection while illuminating the wearer. A representation of the new layers of protection we’ve all acquired during COVID, but also a reminder that we are the highlights of our own quarantine.

(Eliminated Wk 1)


Hadar Cohen

The Velvet Experience

How can masks reveal and conceal who we are? This piece explores the relationship of the self with the clothes that interact with it.

(Eliminated Wk 1)


Hillel Smith

Emotion Decoder Breastplate

This version of the Kohen Gadol’s (High Priest’s) breastplate helps look under the masks people put up so you can better understand how they’re feeling and be there for them in tough times. It’s made of cardstock, foam core, chandelier chain, and lens filters that decode colorized photos.


Kayla Ginsburg

The Just Missed You Mask

A mask that tells a story of all the missed connections, the longing, and the isolation of the pandemic. Pull the curtain and wind the scroll to see a figure reaching down but always just missing a parade of figures.


Mia Schon

Botanical Boom

Houseplants are trending! This costume and mask highlight the physical and mental benefits of surrounding yourself with plants during the pandemic.


Noam Mason

Mycelium and Human Interconnectedness

My mask is the mushroom, the myth of independence, and beneath is a silk tichel (Jewish headscarf) dyed with chestnut and turmeric and printed with a block print pattern of mycelium, our sprawling networks of support, care, and mutual aid that we all engage in to survive and flourish.


Rachel Jackson

Writing Your Own Destiny

Esther wrote her own Megillah! Inspired by my work as a scribe, I made a mask and jewelry set out of materials used to create holy scrolls (parchment, quills, ink). Let this be the year we all write our own destinies!


Yehoshua Hooper

Peeling the Klipah

I created this mask to represent the various experiences I’ve had during COVID and the process of shedding the attributes that kept me in the dark. The mask has three layers, representing Nefesh, Ruah, and Neshama – the three levels of the soul in which we are given an opportunity to refine.

(Week 1 Winner)

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