Half a Grapefruit for Dinner

Saba and Safta (the Hebrew names for grandfather and grandmother respectively) eat half a grapefruit each before their meals. It was Saba's birthday and his children asked me to make him a special card showing them at the Shabbat (Sabbath) dinner table, eating their grapefruit halves!

Safta is left-handed so I showed her on the right, with a grapefruit spoon in her left hand. Saba is on the left so that they won't elbow each other when eating! They are seated at the Shabbat table. It is covered with a white tablecloth, a custom which began in the Middle Ages when wealthy homes began using ornate white tablecloths for festive meals. Two challot and two candlesticks are also on the table. The two loaves are placed on the table to reference the Jewish teaching that a double portion of manna fell from heaven on Friday to last through the Shabbat.

The two candles are lit in honour of Shabbat and in some homes, including my own, an additional candle is lit for each child. The lighting of Shabbat candles has a dual purpose: To "honour Shabbat" (כבוד שבת) and create shalom bayit or domestic peace (שלום בית).
Both Saba and Safta loved the card.

Another customer contacted me with a request for an 80th birthday card for her dad. "It would be great if you could have him wearing a blue button down shirt and khaki pants" she wrote to me. She also wanted an 80 on the card. She mentioned that her dad is a retired maths professor. I suggested adding a few maths symbols in the background and she liked that idea too.

I showed dad in the requested outfit. He is holding the number 80 in one hand, whilst the maths symbols are dotted all around him. My customer reported back that dad liked the card!

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