"Graphic Jews" and ish Festival

 Had a great time presenting for the third and final installment of the "Graphic Jews" webinar series from ish Festival, HUC Cincinnati, and the Skirball Museum in Cincinnati. If you missed it and you want to catch it on the replay, click here. Meantime, here are some screencaps; we talked about Jewish art, and golems, and comics – some of my favorite topics!

Sharing my "Twelve Tribes" series

Discussing "Wisdom Cries Out in the Streets"

Sharing some of my lockdown golems

"Emet" (truth) powers the traditional golem

My first golem is made of comics featuring Jewish super hero The Thing

Did a live demo!

Me, ish's Marie Krulewitch-Browne (right), and the Skirball's Abby Schwartz (below)

Maccabees and Other Super Heroes: A Weekend with Congregation B'nai Israel

Rabbi Shawna and I spent our Hanukkah weekend at Congregation B'nai Israel in Sacramento for  three days of praying, studying, and creating – and what a great weekend it was!

Getting ready for services (from left: Cantor Julie Steinberg, Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik, and Rabbi Mona Alfi)

Friday night after a delicious latke dinner, Rabbi Shawna led services with Rabbi Mona Alfi and Cantor Julie Steinberg, using the "visual tefillah" service we crafted which is built around my "paper tefillah" series of papercuts. For the drash we explored the idea of Jewish super heroes – what makes a superhero Jewish, and what we can do to be heroes. (BTW, sometimes the only way you know a comic book super hero is Jewish is they have a menorah at Christmas time, but sometimes — such as with Kitty Pryde and The Thing – you get a narrative inspired by the lessons we learn from Judaism).

CBI has a beautiful prayer space – light and airy and bright and open

Saturday we led two workshops, making papercuts to be displayed together in the synagogue. In the morning we worked with CBI's teens and in the afternoon, adults. The workshops were centered around the idea of worship and observance in the synagogue – reflecting on the meaning of the hagim and life cycle events that are the fabric of Judaism, with participants leveraging their personal experiences and memories as inspiration for their papercuts.

With a group of our teen workshop participants and their finished work

With our adult workshop participants and their finished work

Inspired by Rosh HaShanah

Mask, grogger and hamantashen for Purim

Hand holding a yad to read Torah

Rabbi Mona Alfi and her Sukkot papercut

Saturday night the temple hosted an evening of arts and entertainment, bringing in three local artists to show their work (while I showed mine), and then Rabbi Shawna and I gave a "dynamic duo" presentation on "Maccabees and Other Super Heroes."

Sunday every class in the CBI religious school made papercuts with a special lesson we prepared so even the youngsters could participate (WITHOUT KNIVES). Meanwhile Rabbi Shawna and I gave a presentation to the pre-b'nai mitzvah kids and their parents on "Midrash: Jewish Fan Fiction" – and led a mini-workshop with the same papercutting activity, exploring ideas of Jewish values and the heroes who exemplify them.

Working with the pre-b'nai mitzvah students

Students making Torah papercuts

Even the younger grades were able to make "paper midrash"

And one last thing before we got on the road to get back home – a dedication ceremony in the entrance to the synagogue, where we had installed the papercuts from our workshops. Rabbi Alfi said a few words, Cantor Steinberg sang a few songs, and a good time was had by all.

Dedicating the new art in the synagogue entrance

Isaac and Rabbi Shawna with one of the walls of art

And of course, if you're interested in having me and Rabbi Shawna come to YOUR community, check out more info about what we do on our webpage: www.PaperMidrash.com.

Super Heroes, Holy Land: "Fantastic City"

I cut this papercut as a navigable map of the Old City of Jerusalem showing its four quarters and major thoroughfares. My favorite route to the Wall is on here (from the Jaffa Gate, through the Armenian Quarter), and I'm sure you'll find your way as well.

Each of the quarters is represented by a member of the Fantastic Four: The Thing for the Jewish Quarter, Mr. Fantastic for the Christian, the Invisible Woman for the Armenian, and the Human Torch for the Muslim. The Temple Mount is backed with academic texts on these religious traditions.

There are pieces of Israeli comics in it as well – including a bit with the Hebrew for "amen" at the site of the Western Wall.

This papercut includes:

Fantastic Four #17 [trade book] (Aug 1963), #248 (Nov 1982), Annual #18 (1984), #265 (Apr 1984), #272 (Nov 1984), #296 (Nov 1986), #297 (Dec 1986), #300 (Mar 1987), #314 (May 1988), #354 (Jul 1991), #410 (Mar 1996), #542 (Jan 2007)
Fantastic Four: Flesh and Stone (2001)
Fantastic Four 2099 #6 (Jun 1990)
The Last Fantastic Four Story #1 (Oct 2007)
Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #34 (May 2008)
Silent War #1 (Mar 2007)
The Thing #22 (Apr 1985)
Ultimate Fantastic Four #4 (May 2004), #10 (Oct 2004), #42 (Jul 2007)
Life World Library: Israel. Time Incorporated, New York (1965).
Sacred Books of the World. A.C. Bouquet. Penguin Books, London (1954).

"Fantastic City" is in my current show in Los Angeles, "Super Heroes, Holy Land" – in which all of the papercuts are inspired by my recent family trip to Israel. This one is already sold, but there are still pieces available for purchase.

Welcome aboard, Gabriel!

Yesterday we welcomed a new member of the Jewish community – Gabriel Max Roher-Smith – with a ritual brit at the home of his parents. I was pleased to be able to make this papercut marking the date of his birth and to present it to his parents at the simcha.

The rainbow bands are made of cut-up comics featuring (in descending order) Spider-Man, The Thing, Kid Flash, Hulk, and Superman.

Doctrine of Law

This is "Doctrine of Law," a papercut I made for the silent auction at Temple Ahavat Shalom's gala this year. The gala and auction are being held this Sunday, June 2, and support temple activities throughout the year. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, or if you want more information about the auction, click here. A full list of auction items is available as a PDF.

"Doctrine of Law" is an exploration of the role of Torah – the "tree of life" – in our lives, in the past and present. I see Torah as a living document, one that must be read and reread and continuously interpreted and understood for each generation; the tree will always be an appropriate metaphor for Torah. It's backed with cut-up comics and a snippet from Ye That Thirst by David Hausdorff, published by Shulsinger Brothers in Brooklyn in 1940; that snippet is how this cut got its name.

"Number Theory"

I'm pleased to be donating a papercut to ANOTHER fundraising auction happening tomorrow – this one being held at Brave New World Comics on Free Comic Book Day (tomorrow, May the Fourth) to support the Newhall Public Library!

"Number Theory" is built on a structure of the ten basic Hindu-Arabic numerals (0123456789), and it's about the power of individuals working together. Each person has their particular strengths and skills and backgrounds, and they become magnified by the presence of others. We can all be heroes, and so the background texture for the cut is a collection of superheroes, representing the strength of diversity.

Interested in bidding? You do NOT have to be present to bid; just call the shop at 661 259 4745!

Number Theory
10" x 18"
Mixed media