Bar Mitzvah Books

The Ram and Roi Granot Bar Mitzvah Books

Both books created for the artist's sons Ram and Roi on the occasion of their bar mitzvah's in November 1987 and in October 1989 respectively.  Both manuscripts were executed on sheets of hand made 200gm, Fabriano paper and are bound in leather. The first page of each consists of a colored and multi-layered papercut, encapsulated by two texts in Hebrew, with the name Ram/Roi at its nucleus. The design, in cut leather, is repeated on the front cover.

All remaining pages in both books follow the design of the first page and contain the haftarah, (the supplementary portion from the prophets), chanted by the bar mitzvah boy in the synagogue. This text has been enhanced by a decorative border incorporating excerpts from a piyyut, a lyrical composition, for the Shabbat eve, that adorns the Urbino Maftir book, to be found in the Museo U. Nahon Di Arte Ebraico Italiano, Jerusalem. This little known piyyut was composed during the second half of the 16th century by the Italian philosopher and kabbalist, Rabbi Mordechai ben Judah Dato.

The final page of each book also contains a colophon, signed by the artist, that reads: "I hereby give this haftarah book to my son, Ram/Roi, in the holy city of Jerusalem as he accepts responsibility for observing the sacred commandments. I completed the book on the eve of Rosh Hashana, 5747/5750."