A Picture Worth More Than a Thousand Words

From afar, Daniel Miller’s drawing appears to be a simple picture of the Twin Towers, reaching high into the sky. But closer up, the pen-and-ink drawing by the 15-year-old student at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville, Maryland, reveals that it has much more to say. What appear from a distance to be black lines are actually letters spelling out the names of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Also embedded in the illustration are Daniel’s personal dedication and six poems inspired by the tragedy, most of them written by other teenagers.

Jewish artists like Daniel have created pictures out of words for centuries using an ancient technique called micography.