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The Works

Lineage scrolls and yichus sefarim,
and how a commission proceeds.

Two kinds of work leave this studio. Both begin in the archives and end as a single object made for one family. What follows sets out what each contains, how a commission proceeds from a first conversation to delivery, and what has been made so far.

The lineage scroll — מגילת יוחסין

A scroll sets a family’s whole line out at once, to be installed and read. It is made for a room — a chasunah, a family gathering, a wall at home — where people stand in front of it and find themselves on it.

Every scroll carries the date of birth and the yahrzeit where they are known, and a generation count beside each person, so that a reader can see at a glance how far back a line runs and where they stand within it. The tree is drawn and set by hand rather than generated, and printed once, to museum standard, on stock intended to last.

A surname index can be added where a tree is large enough that finding a particular family within it would otherwise take time.

The yichus sefer — ספר יחוס

A sefer is for documentation rather than display: a hardcover volume, bound to be kept on a shelf, opened, and handed on. It carries the same tree, with the same dates and generation counts, and then everything a scroll has no room for.

That means comprehensive footnotes citing the source behind each connection, and Hebrew translations of the vital records the line rests on — birth, marriage and death registers, often in the language of whichever authority kept them.

Where a family wants them, a sefer can also carry indexes of names, surnames, sefarim, yahrzeiten and towns; an archival facsimile section reproducing the documents themselves alongside ancestor portraits and gravestone photographs; and a leather binding.

How a commission proceeds

  1. Initial review. A conversation, to understand the family, the work intended, and what material is already held. Some families arrive with a great deal; others with a name and a town.
  2. Scope estimate. An estimate is prepared, as accurately as the information allows, of the likely size of the final tree and the work required to reach it.
  3. Research. The main stage. Further details may be asked for as the work develops, and significant findings are shared as they emerge rather than held back to the end.
  4. Planning and production. Once the research is complete the work is planned as a scroll, a sefer, or both, and proceeds through design, layout, printing, presentation and delivery.

Where a line needs specialist research to complete — a particular archive, a particular language — suitable researchers can be engaged as an additional service.

Preliminary research

Some families cannot be scoped without research first: there is not yet enough on the table to say how large the tree will prove or how far it will run. In those cases research is done in blocks. After each block the findings are reported and a recommendation given as to whether further research is advisable.

This buys research time and assessment. It does not promise that a particular connection will be found — no honest researcher can promise that. Where the work does proceed to a full commission, what has been found shapes the scope and structure of it.

On sources

First-hand sources where they exist. Reliable sources where they are needed. Anything that cannot be verified does not enter the work — not as a footnote, not as a dotted line, not as a family tradition set down as fact. A tree is only worth the sources beneath it, and a scroll hanging at a chasunah will be read by people who know the family.

Works by Kwadrat Legacy Studio

Lineage scrolls — מגילת יוחסין

Yichus sefarim — ספר יחוס

Photographs of finished works

Film

Interviews and press

1,250 זיידעס אויף איין מגילה: א ריזיגער יחוס בוים ארויסגעלייגט ביי א חסידישע חתונה

היסטארישע 'מגילת יוחסין': א ריזיגע יחוס בוים מיט איבער 1,250 נעמען ציט אויפמערקזאמקייט ביי א חתונה אין אמעריקע

אן אויסטערלישע און ריזיגע יחוס בוים וואס רעכנט אויס מער ווי 1,250 זיידעס און עלטער-עלטערן האט געצויגן גרויס אינטערעסע ביי די חתונה פון א זון פון הנגיד ר' יצחק לעפקאוויטש אין אמעריקע.

אין א ווידעאו וואס איז פארשפרייט געווארן פון די חתונה, קען מען זען א מאסיווע מגילה אויסגעצויגן אויף א גאנצע וואנט, אנגעפילט מיט טויזנטער נעמען און פונקטליכע יחוס קייטן וואס ציען זיך צוריק דורות נאך דורות. לויט די באריכטן, איז די ריזיגע אויסשטעלונג געווען אומגעפער 10 ביי 33 פיס גרויס (3 ביי 10 מעטער).

די הערליכע און קאמפליצירטע ארבעט איז צוזאמגעשטעלט געווארן דורך דעם באקאנטן לאנדאנער אמן ר' יוסף נחמיה הכהן קוואדראט, וועלכער האט ספעציעל אויסגעארבעט דעם הערליכן יחוס בוים לכבוד די גרויסע שמחה.

בילדער און ווידעאוס פון די שמחה צייגן ווי די פילע באטייליגטע שטעלן זיך אפ און באטראכטן מיט וואונדער די אויסשטעלונג פון דער נאנט, וואס גיט אן אומגלויבליכן בליק אויף א רייכע היסטאריע פון א משפחה וואס פארמאגט איבער 1,250 זיידעס און עלטערן.

כזה עוד לא היה: מגילת יוחסין ענקית שהדהימה את האורחים בחתונת בן הנגיד

כזה דבר עוד לא היה: גימיק ענק בחתונת בנו של הנגיד הרב אייזיק לפקוביץ מבורו פארק, שנערכה השבוע באולמי 'לעיק טערעס' בלייקווד שבניו ג'רזי.

בחתונה נבנתה מגילת יוחסין ענקית 'זר לחיל' עם למעלה מ-1,250 סבים וסבתות של המשפחה, המייחסת את החתן חנניה יום טוב לפקוביץ וכלתו ריסא זיכרמן עד אברהם אבינו.

המיצג, בגודל 3 על 10 מטרים, נעשה על ידי האמן וחוקר היוחסין הרב יוסף נחמיה הכהן קוואדראט מחברת 'Kwadrat Legacy Studio' בלונדון.

מדובר במיצג ששימש למחיצה באולם, וכל מי שנתקל בו היה בהלם. בין היתר ניתן לראות בווידאו את הנגיד יואלי לנדא מסייר ליד המחיצה.

Your Family Tree — Your Heritage at a Glance

I recently had the privilege of creating one of the most ambitious genealogy projects I have ever undertaken.

For the wedding of the Lefkowitz and Zicherman families, I researched and designed a monumental Megillas Yuchsin measuring approximately 10 × 30 feet. The finished work traces more than 1,250 ancestors, following the family lines through many prominent Gedolei Yisroel and, generation after generation, back to Adam HaRishon.

Hundreds of hours went into researching both families, documenting names, dates, yahrtzeits and places of residence wherever available, and then transforming that research into a single visual composition.

The Megillah was not displayed as a side feature. It was built directly into both sides of the wedding mechitzah and became one of the central visual elements of the event.

From a distance, it reads as a large-scale piece of graphic art. Up close, it reveals an intricate network of family lines, names and historical connections spanning centuries.

One of the most rewarding parts was watching guests stand in front of it, trace branches, recognize family names, search for their own ancestors, and discover previously unknown connections between families.

This project brought together the two areas at the heart of Kwadrat Legacy Studio: rigorous genealogical research and visual storytelling.

Massive Family Tree Tracing Chosson and Kallah to Avrohom Avinu Stuns Guests at Lakewood Wedding

Guests attending the wedding of the son of noted philanthropist Mr. Isaac Lefkowitz were greeted by an extraordinary sight this week: a massive genealogy display tracing the ancestry of the chosson and kallah through more than 1,250 ancestors all the way back to Avrohom Avinu.

The wedding was held at Lake Terrace Hall in Lakewood, New Jersey, for the chosson, Chananya Yom Tov Lefkowitz, son of Mr. Isaac Lefkowitz of Boro Park, and the kallah, Risa Zicherman.

One of the most talked-about features of the wedding was an enormous family-tree scroll titled Zer LaChayil, which documented more than 1,250 grandparents and ancestors from both families across the generations.

The elaborate genealogy traced the lineage of both the chosson and kallah back through centuries of Jewish history, ultimately reaching Avrohom Avinu.

The enormous display measured approximately three meters high and 10 meters long - nearly 10 feet by 33 feet - turning the extensive family history into a striking visual centerpiece at the wedding.

The project was created by Reb Yosef Nechemia HaKohen Kwadrat, an artist and genealogy researcher with Kwadrat Legacy Studio in London.

Rather than simply being displayed on a wall, the enormous genealogy chart was incorporated directly into the wedding setup, serving as the mechitzah separating the men's and women's sections of the hall.

The unusual display attracted considerable attention throughout the wedding, with guests stopping to examine the names and generations represented across the massive family tree.

Works by Rabbi Yossef Nechemya Kwadrat — also written Yossef Nechemia Kwadrat, Yossef Nechemya Quadrat and Yossef Nechemia Quadrat; ר׳ יוסף נחמיה הכהן קוואדראט — of Kwadrat Legacy Studio Ltd, London.

Each work is scoped individually according to its material, the depth of research, its format and finish — and is prepared as a single, unrepeated object. By appointment; each enquiry is read personally.

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Private Yichus Works · Prepared with precision, documentation, artistry, and care.