What is "birchon"

A birchon also birkon (plural: birchonim or birkonim) is a booklet of prayers based around a particular event such as the Jewish sabbath. The most common form is Birkat Hamazon often titled סדר ברכת המזון - Seder Birkat Hamazon (Order of Grace after Meals) in Hebrew. Some editions actually have the Birkat Hamazon prayer in the back, appearing almost as an afterthought. Birchonim are commonly known as bentchers in Yiddish in the Ashkenazi community, and in places heavily influenced by Ashkenazi Jews.

Birchonim are used widely in the various religious and traditional communities of Jews, such as Orthodox, Sephardic, Conservative, Mizrahi, Chassidic, Orthodox Feminist, as well as other communities.

Birchonim are often decorated with scrollwork, illuminations, pictorial backgrounds on each page, photo pages and by other means. This is in the tradition of hiddur mitzvah, or beautification of the mitzvah.