May 30 - June 1
Get ready for an inspiring weekend of art, community, and creativity at KBI!
Get ready for an inspiring weekend of art, community, and creativity at KBI!
We invite you into a creative and immersive exploration of Jewish texts through art, pop culture, and thoughtful conversation. Led by artist Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik and Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik, the weekend includes hands-on workshops, dynamic talks, and inspiring moments of learning, where comic books meet Torah, and tradition meets imagination.
Please note that all the Paper Midrash activities are at no charge for the KBI community. (Except Shabbat Dinner on Friday, May 30th)
FRIDAY, MAY 30
5:30 pm Erev Shabbat/Pre-Shavuot Services
6:15 pm Shabbat Dinner – REGISTER HERE
7:15 pm “Open studio” Fingerprint Mosaic project-community Talit
8:24 pm Candle Lighting
SATURDAY, MAY 31
9:00 am Shabbat morning services & Rabbi Shawna will deliver a sermon
10:45 am Musaf Club
12:00 pm Torah Readers Appreciation Kiddush Lunch – REGISTER HERE
12:00 pm Pop-up gallery experience
SUNDAY, JUNE 1
8:30 am Morning Minyan
9:45 am “Torah Study with Knives,” a three-hour papercutting workshop for adults (Limited to 30 participants — REGISTER HERE)
3:30 pm “Fold-and-Cut Torah” workshop at OTT school
6:00 pm Mincha
6:00 pm “Street Art Prophecy” spray paint workshop for teens (Gr 8-12) (Limited to 30 participants — REGISTER HERE)
Experience the joy of creating Torah-inspired art with the community. Contribute your unique touch to a collective masterpiece that reflects the diversity and unity within our community. This program is designed for all ages, from the youngest member of our congregation to the oldest. This is more than a project; it’s a social experience that transcends the boundaries of traditional art workshops.
A three-hour papercutting workshop for adults (limited to 30 participants) on the theme of Shavuot. Step into a world where tradition meets pop culture in our one-of-a-kind papercutting workshops, a unique form of text study through art. Participants immerse themselves in the rich tapestry of Jewish texts while crafting intricate papercuts using knives and comic books. Unveil the magic of Torah in a visually captivating way.
Inspired by the words of our prophets and the Tel Aviv graffiti scene, our two-hour “Street Art Prophecy” spray paint workshop is a hands-on program perfect for high school teens. We start with a lesson on Jewish prophetic teaching and Tel Aviv street art. Participants then learn how to use materials to create and spray their own stencils; they make individual prints for themselves, and create a “wall” as a group displaying all of their work.
Husband and wife “dynamic duo” Isaac and Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik create new pathways into Torah, combining deep Jewish scholarship with comic books and pop culture for a unique take on traditional texts. They are the perfect fit for a community that wants to engage with Torah personally and deeply, with dynamic visual presentations and engaging hands-on workshops. They met at Jewish camp in high school, and have three children.
Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik cuts up comic books and reassembles them into papercuts that explore the stories of the Jewish people, connecting popular culture with sacred texts. He has shown his papercuts in galleries across the globe, and has commissions in museums, synagogues, hospitals, and private collections. Isaac regularly speaks and writes about the intersection of art and Judaism, and is on the Executive Board of Jewish Artists Initiative, committed to fostering visual art by Jewish artists and promoting dialogue about Jewish identity and related issues. His work is frequently featured in print and online, including recent articles in The Forward, The L.A. Weekly, Cleveland Jewish News, and KCET’s “Artbound” series.
Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik adapts traditional Jewish concepts to a modern Reform context, and brings that synergy to students of all ages. She is an engaging teacher of Torah, bringing text to life with her unique, modern perspective. She received a Master of Hebrew Letters in 1998 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, and was ordained in 2002 as a member of HUC-JIR’s first Los Angeles class. Shawna has been adjunct faculty in the Rhea Hirsch School of Education and Rosh Tefillah at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s Los Angeles campus, and is adjunct rabbi at Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas, California. Before starting Paper Midrash she served as an Associate Rabbi at a Southern California congregation for 13 years. Shawna has been a member of the faculty of URJ Camp Newman since 2008 and was Porter Creek Site Director in the summer of 2019.