This year, since High Holidays, Rabbi Shawna and I have been in Manhattan
(NY), North Hollywood (CA), Cleveland (OH), Milwaukee (WI)... and we're
just getting started! This past weekend we were in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, bringing Paper Midrash to Temple Emanuel – and we had a great time, as usual.
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| Rabbi Mark Cohn leading Erev Shabbat services with "Paper T'filah Visual T'filah" |
We started the weekend with a pop-up gallery for an intimate gathering of temple leadership, then in to services which Rabbi Mark Cohn led with "
Paper T'filah Visual T'filah" (which I made in cooperation with CCAR Press).
Rabbi Shawna and I gave a visual sermon on this week's Torah portion, which we called "Lech L'cha: Boldly Go," which referenced Abraham and Sarah (of course) but also Star Trek, The Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and more.
Saturday morning we led a Paper Midrash workshop, in which participants created beautiful and meaningful midrashic interpretations of Lech L'cha, cutting up comic books just like I do in my studio.
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| God calls to Abram and Sarai: "Lech L'cha!" |
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| Abraham is a super hero, surviving being thrown into the fire by Nimrod. |
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| Sarah has her own super hero: she talks directly to God and saves Abraham! |
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| Sarah being carried into Egypt by Abraham, disguised as his sister, IN A COFFIN. |
Saturday night Rabbi Shawna and I presented "People of the (Comic) Book," a visual history of Jews and comic books, from the very first comic book in the 1930s up to present-day Jewish creators and characters.
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| Ready to talk about the patriarchs: Jerome, Joseph, Stanley, and Jacob |
It's such a fascinating subject, and we have so much fun revealing the semi-secret Jewish world behind Superman, Batman, the Marvel cinematic universe... so much good stuff.
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| Religious school students making "Fold-and-Cut Torah" projects in the Lamed Center |
Sunday morning we brought our "Fold-and-Cut Torah" project to the Temple Emanuel religious school – Rabbi Shawna and I led a special program for the fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students and their parents, while the K-5 classes used our lesson plan to create their own Torah focused on the values held in common with comic books.
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| Learning and praying with the "Twelve Tribes" papercuts |
Sunday ended with a special service for the religious school led by Rabbi Cohn that incorporated my papercuts, including my "Twelve Tribes" series – so proud to have my work used in this beautiful studying/praying/learning experience!
Want more information about bringing Paper Midrash to your community? Contact us at
info@papermidrash.com for details.
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