Soon, I was working at ArtScroll as the company designer and general manager. We printed Jewish invitations and cards, and I gained a lot of technical knowledge. On the side, I continued to design bespoke kesubos, and in the early 1980s, I was also commissioned to produce the Holocaust Haggadah, a project involving mostly calligraphy and some writing to tie the themes of the slavery in Egypt to the Holocaust. That went on exhibition at Yad Vashem.

But then, it all got too much. I had to be in Manhattan at 8:45 every morning, which was taking a toll on my life, my learning, and my growing family. Working in an office and dealing with customer relations were not for me either. I wanted to be an artist, but not a starving one. I wanted to leave the company, but where would the orders come from? Could I pursue my creative dreams, while fulfilling my responsibilities to my family?

Thankfully, my wife a”h encouraged me and believed in me. I left ArtScroll on good terms, and not long afterward, they sent me a client who was looking for an especially artistic bar mitzvah invitation. Then, when they spoke about designs for a bentsher, I mentioned my dream of a calligraphic illuminated bentsher. With siyata d’Shmaya, they commissioned me to create it, and this became the Manuscript Shiron, which has sold hundreds of thousands of copies to date.

Hashem sent me projects involving my love of artwork, Torah research, and writing. For three and a half years, I worked on a very large illuminated Pirkei Avos, which sold as a limited edition, and went on exhibition as a vehicle to teach and share Torah values with several outreach organizations —an opportunity to use my skills for kevod Shamayim.

Rabbi Yonah Weinrib is an author and artist who specializes in elaborate manuscript illumination. His designs and writings are an interplay of artistic imagery and research based on traditional texts and sources.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 830)