Torah Toons I

Book Summary

This textbook applies the dynamics of inquiry teaching to recreate an authentically rabbinic study environment. Students read a summary of each parashah, focus on specific verses involving a character's behavior, answer questions derived from those verses, and explore midrashim that address the same question. The text covers 36 parashiot (Bereshit through Be-Ha'alotekha). (From the author/illustrator) When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time doodling on the back of the handouts they always want you to take home from Hebrew School, and in the margins of old homework assignments. I did it often, because I just wanted to figure out how something might look, or because I wanted to create my version of something I read. Since then, I've done a reasonable job of growing up and the doodling has turned into a way of earning a living--drawing cartoons to go with the books I write. A bunch of years ago, when I was teaching for the Los Angeles Hebrew High School, I began doing a thing called 'Torah Toons.' I'd draw these huge poster-sized drawings of some verses from the weekly Torah portion. We hung them on clotheslines during Shabbat morning services--so we could study Torah as a mob. The cartoons were a lot of fun and worked well. When we started TORAH AURA PRODUCTIONS, we turned Torah Toons into a filmstrip and a book. Now, more than ten years later, Torah Toons is on video and C.J. and I are redoing the book. Just like the first doodles I used to do in class, Torah Toons is my way of figuring out how things in the Torah might look, and a way of working out my own version of what the portions mean. Have the same fun with it we did in producing it--draw your own doodles and figure out your own versions. Also available: Torah Toons II - ISBN 0933873026 The Torah: Portion-by-Portion - ISBN 1891662945 Torah Aura Productions publishes books for Jewish schools and families that help celebrate our heritage and our faith. We have over 25 years of experience as the leading creator of high quality educational materials that enable Jewish children to become empowered Jewish adults. Our books guide and enhance the Jewish knowledge, spirituality and identity of children and their families, and our innovative tools bring Judaism alive in synagogues, Hebrew schools, and day schools. Torah Aura Productions was founded in 1981 by a group of innovative Jewish educators who looked out at the field of Jewish education and found materials that were shallow and dull. They started a company to create new tools for families and teachers that would be exciting and meaningful. For more than two decades, Torah Aura has revolutionized the way Jewish schools enable their students to become empowered Jewish adults, and has helped families make Judaism a meaningful presence in their homes. Some of the areas we publish in: - Torah and Bible - Talmud - Jewish teaching - Jewish parenting - Jewish ethics and values - Jewish holidays - the Jewish lifecycle - Israel - Hebrew - Jewish prayer Torah Aura Productions: Making success in Jewish education an achievable reality.

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