The Bar Mitzvah Boy

This young man, who lives in London, celebrated his Bar Mitzvah last month and I was asked to make one of my Customised Guest Books for him. Though I do not know the Bar Mitzvah boy personally, I learnt a lot about him along the way! I now know that he likes tennis, reading and swimming, is proud of his Jewish identity, his family, oh and he collects old atlases as well!  How to portray all of that on the cover of one album?

Well, a few more e-mails and it became clear to me that tennis and reading are his main hobbies, whilst the Jewish theme could be dealt with quite easily by showing him wearing his kippa (skullcap) and tefillin (phylacteries, or boxes containing Biblical verses). My customer also thought that the Bar Mitzvah boy would like his Hebrew name on the cover. I added the words בר מצוה (Bar Mitzvah) directly below.

I am told that he usually wears a colourful Bukharan kippa, traditionally worn by Bukharian Jews, whose name comes from the ancient emirate of Bokhara. His tefillin are being worn on the 'weaker' arm (since he is right handed, then that is his left arm) and are placed on his head, above the forehead, as well as on the arm.
The tefillin are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah and are worn by observant Jews during weekday morning prayers. Putting on tefillin is the first mitzvah assumed by a Jewish male upon his Bar Mitzvah. Usually boys are trained to start wearing them one to two months before their thirteenth birthday. During this period they put on tefillin but do not recite a blessing. Subsequent to the Bar Mitzvah, a specific blessing, "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to put on tefillin," is recited whenever they are worn.

The Bar Mitzvah boy is holding a blue book in his left hand (above). This book is a tikkun,  a study guide used when preparing to chant the Torah reading in the synagogue. I illustrated his overall love of reading by adding the small pile of books by his side and he is seen playing tennis, with the yellow tennis ball flying through the air nearby.

Whilst tennis, reading and his Jewish faith were portrayed on the album cover, his other hobbies and interests were included inside. Above, clockwise from the top right, you can see how I illustrated his collection of old atlases, his love of reading, swimming, Judaism and finally, below, playing tennis. Each page also shows a Tallit (Prayer Shawl), worn by Jewish men after they have reached Bar Mitzvah.

Last but not least, I sprayed the album cover with an acrylic sealer to protect it and then it was ready to go! I package my guest books up in a matching presentation box and they are wrapped in tissue for safekeeping. 
This order arrived at it's destination well in time for the celebration and my customer wrote to tell me that she loved it and was very excited about giving it to the Bar Mitzvah boy. I do hope that he liked it.