Pirkei Avot 3:17
.אִם אֵין קֶמַח, אֵין תּוֹרָה; אִם אֵין תּוֹרָה, אֵין קֶמַח
Where there is no bread, there is no Torah;
Where there is no Torah, there is no bread.
In the new year, as we increase sustenance, may we increase learning,
and, as we increase learning, may we increase sustenance…
leading to a more integrated, unified, and balanced world.
The image on this year’s card uses the word קמח (flour/wheat/sustenance) in script rather than block letters, to form an open Torah scroll, while the word תורה (learning) has wheat “growing” from the “crowns” of the letters.
When writing a Torah scroll, Ashkenazi scribal tradition places “crowns” on the letters ש ע ט נ ז ג צ (as well as the “final” letters ן and ץ). I’ve taken the liberty of having wheat appear as crowns growing from letters that do not normally have them.
the printing process
The first block “קמח (flour/wheat/sustenance)” as an open Torah scroll:
The second block “תּוֹרָה (learning)” has wheat “growing” from the “crowns” of the letters:
While I had a color scheme in mind, I was not sure how it would work out. I used only those colors that I had available when I was ready to print. The מ that fills the open Torah scroll is the first letter of the word “מִלָה” which means “word”… the Torah is filled with words. The colors of the Torah scroll block rise, in a gradient, from the dark brown of the earth to the deep indigo of the sky. The colors of the wheat also rise in a gradient from the fresh green of growth to ripe wheat berries.
Linoleum cut produced by Mark, Summer 2025
©Mark Hurvitz 2025
