 Papercutting has been a common Jewish art form since the Middle Ages, connected with various customs and ceremonies, and associated with holidays and family life.Paper cuts often decorated "ketubot" (marriage contracts), "Mizrahs", and for ornaments on festive occasions.A story tells of Rabbi Shem-Tov ben Yitzhak ben Ardutiel, finding that his ink had frozen, continued to write the manuscript by cutting the letters into the paper.