Yael's mum wrote to me about a Bat Mitzvah album for her daughter not many
months after we lost Gadi. I had not been working during that time and certainly
did not feel very creative, so my initial response was to say no. However, I
have made albums for her three older daughters -
Avital,
Tehilla
and
Emuna - and realised that it would not be nice for the youngest not to have one
of my albums as well. Feeling it or not, I decided to make Yael an
album.
Yael likes drawing, so mum asked if I could show her holding a pencil. Before
I started sketching, I checked whether she is right or left-handed and it
turns out that she is left-handed. Good job I thought about it! She also has a teddy
that she loves, and a cuddly duck too. Mum mentioned that Yael loves
hamburgers, chips and sliced pickles. Finally, she asked if I could put the
flag of Israel on the cover of the album.
The colour scheme for Yael's Bat Mitzvah celebration was going to be light blue. I
added a
Magen David, or
Star of David, on
the top left and bottom right of the cover, surrounding them with shades of
blue. The letters of her name in Hebrew and the words Bat Mitzvah underneath
are in gold, as well as the Hebrew year of her celebration, תשפ״ג, or 5783.
According to tradition, the Hebrew calendar started at the time of creation,
placed at 3761 BCE. The current (2023/2024) Hebrew year is 5784.
The album opens the Hebrew way, from right to left.
I decorated five pages inside Yael's album, each page embellished with a
gold Star of David as well. The first page has a plate with a hamburger,
chips and sliced pickles on it. The next page, below, shows her favourite
teddy bear in his blue dungarees.
I carefully copied Yael's cuddly yellow duck for the following page, making
sure to include his tuft of white hair and his rather "loved" shape. Next I
added some sheets of paper and pencils, to illustrate her love of drawing and
finally, the blue and white flag of Israel.
Yael's mum was delighted with the album. "Thank you. It's amazing." she wrote
to me. A good few weeks later she followed that up with another message:
Hi Lisa. I just wanted to thank you so much. We had Yael’s Bat Mitzvah last
night and her album made it so special. Her friends absolutely loved writing
in it and it really added to the excitement of the simcha*. Thank you so
much again.
*
Simcha is a Hebrew word that means gladness or joy. It may also refer a
joyous event in Judaism, such as a wedding, Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah.
