Paper Midrash in North Carolina

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.

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.

God calls to Abram and Sarai: "Lech L'cha!"

Abraham is a super hero, surviving being thrown into the fire by Nimrod.

Sarah has her own super hero: she talks directly to God and saves Abraham!

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.

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.

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.

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.