Shai and Nurit

Shai was turning 19, so his mum asked me to make him a card. He loves to sing and leyn she told me. When the Torah is read in the Synagogue it is often chanted. This is described as leyning, which comes from the Yiddish word 'leyn', which means to read. He also plays the guitar, enjoys board games, and - according to Mum - has an incredible general knowledge of geography, including places, countries, cities, and capitals. He always walks around with headphones on too, she added.

I decided to show Shai playing the guitar. He is wearing a black knitted kippah on his head, and has his beloved headphones on too! In the background I added a map of the world to illustrate his interest in different places and countries, along with a picture of one of his favourite board games, Catan. Finally, I crafted a small Torah scroll and a yad. The Torah scroll contains the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The yad, meaning "hand" in Hebrew, is a pointer used during its reading to avoid direct contact with the sacred text.

Not long after, Shai's sister Nurit was also about to celebrate a birthday. She was turning 14. Mum told me that she also loves board games, and that Ticket to Ride is one of her favourites. She plays the piano, loves notebooks and journals, and enjoys popcorn and movie nights with her friends.

I have shown Nurit playing a tune on the piano. In the background are a couple of notebooks and a pencil, a picture of her favourite board game, and some popcorn in a red-and-white striped container. The container is very commonly associated with movie theatres and movie nights. Who knows? Maybe Nurit pulls one out when hosting a cozy movie night with friends at home.

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade and Busy Monday.