“You two really are beyond the dynamic duo — engaging our students and faculty in the usual amazingness that is the Paper Midrash experience – and it always feels extraordinary!”

– Dr. Miriam Heller Stern, Ph.D.
(Vice Provost for Educational Strategy and National Director, School of Education at HUC-JIR)

“There is an art to the Judaic experiences we design for camp and an art to being able to empower the participants to create a beautiful moment of their own. Shawna and Isaac captured the perfect blend of both creating meaningful Jewish moments and bringing out the artist in each participant. It is so satisfying to watch people who do not believe they are capable of producing art surprise themselves with the piece they create and offer beautiful Midrash through the work of their hands. Our Shabbaton participants thoroughly enjoyed learning and creating with the depth and humor that Shawna and Isaac offer.”

– Rabbi Rick Winer (Temple Beth Israel – Fresno, CA)

“Thank you for sharing your incredible art and insights with our Temple community. I loved seeing how you wove our Jewish tradition into the art you helped us create! Thank you for spending a Shabbat with us at our Shabbaton. You rock!”

– Rabbi Denise L. Eger, D.D. (Congregation Kol Ami – West Hollywood, CA)

“Studying Torah through pop culture with Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik and artist Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik was a scintillating intersection of unique midrashim and contemporary commentary juxtaposed with well known and old time comic book archetypes. The resulting repartee, between these two scholars of the ancient and modern, illuminated truths that were at once fascinating, uncomfortable and totally relevant to our current conundrums. Study with paper midrash and your head will be sweetly spinning for days!”

– Rabbi Paul Kipnes (Congregation Or Ami – Calabasas, CA)

“We were so blessed to have them for the weekend. Their teaching, art direction and artwork, and informative words will long reside in our community. Isaac and Rabbi Shawna made Torah and comic books come to life with great meaning. Combining yad and X-acto knife — they go boldly where no artist and rabbi have gone before and I recommend them to you all.”

– Rabbi Mark Cohn (Temple Emanuel – Winston-Salem, NC)

“Thank you for leading and teaching our congregation. People are still talking about how great the weekend was and how much they enjoyed the paper midrash project... What a powerful experience for our community!

– Rabbi Molly Plotnik (Peninsula Temple Sholom – Burlingame, CA)

“I want to thank you again for creating such a meaningful and wonderful Sholars-in-Residence Shabbat experience. It’s so obvious you put in a lot of work and preparation into each of the presentations! Everyone who was lucky enough to participate sang your praises, and loved the two of you and everything you did.”

– Rabbi Jason Gwasdoff (Temple Israel – Stockton, CA)

"The Paper Midrash duo brought engaging and fun learning to our community. They offered one of the best explanations of midrash I’ve ever seen, and the workshop was a hit. I only wish more people could experience Paper Midrash for themselves."

– Rabbi Sam Pollak (The Community Synagogue – Port Washington, NY)

“...a meaningful and enriching experience... Your teachings were both interesting and inspiring, and the opportunity to create art was fabulous.”

– Rabbi Mona Alfi (Congregation B'nai Israel – Sacramento, CA)

“The paper midrash event was all our hopes and intentions x10! The well-prepared presentation, knowledge, humor and inspiration yielded five framed pieces of art made by our congregants that are proudly displayed on our building entrance wall. A great success!”

– Cantor Samuel Cohen (Kehillat Ma’arav – Santa Monica, CA)