Glory Glory Man United

This card was made for a grandma to give to her youngest grandson when he recently celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. It shows a black and white striped tallit (prayer shawl) on a dark blue background. On top of the tallit lies a Sefer Torah, which is a long scroll containing the entire text of the Five Books of Moses: the biblical books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It is rolled up around two wooden shafts attached to either end of the scroll. Below these items are a light blue kippa (skullcap), a Star of David and the number 13, to mark the age that a Jewish boy becomes Bar Mitzvah. On the first Sabbath following his 13th birthday a Bar Mitzvah boy is called up to read the weekly portion from the Torah. He wears the tallit and kippa whilst reading, my reason for including these items on this Bar Mitzvah card.
Grandma was delighted with the card and declared that it "had to be framed". (If anyone would like to order a picture from me, rather than a card, there is an option to do so in my shop.) The card opens the Hebrew way, from right to left. The Hebrew greeting says "Roey, congratulations on your Bar Mitzvah".

Roey is a big fan of Manchester United. Not only did grandma want a card for her grandson's Bar Mitzvah, but mum wanted one too! This card, which also opens from right to left, was to be football themed. Football is huge here in Israel - with basketball coming a very close second - so it was really no surprise to be asked to make a Manchester United card (the club's international fanbase is a mind-boggling 659 million!). I created a red Manchester United shirt with a big number 13 on the back and added the club crest, a football and some black football boots. Finally, I cut out the Bar Mitzvah boy's name in Hebrew letters to personalise the card.

Then his auntie wanted a card as well! This is one of my smaller cards and of my favourite Bar Mitzvah card designs. It shows a boy wearing a red kippa, with a Torah scroll open in front of him. The words Mazal Tov ("congratulations") are written on the open scroll which, I hasten to add, would actually never happen! A Torah Scroll is the holiest book within Judaism and must be written by a specially trained pious scribe called a sofer. A sofer must know more than 4,000 Judaic laws before he begins writing a Torah Scroll. The entire Torah is written by hand, each letter is inscribed and individually formed with a quill and specially prepared ink. Even a single missing or misshapen letter invalidates an entire Sefer Torah, so writing Mazal Tov on there would probably not be the best idea! It makes a cute card though.

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