The Comic Torah: Reimagining the Very Good Book [Hardcover]

Aaron Freeman (Author), Sharon Rosenzweig (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2010

A hilarious, gorgeous, off-beat graphic version of the Bible's first five books! In the Comic Torah, stand-up comic Aaron Freeman and artist Sharon Rosenzweig reimagine the Torah with provocative humor and irreverent reverence.

Prepare to meet God (referred to by the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH) imagined as a female with green skin, a love of grilling (see Leviticus for menus) and a bloody awful temper. Moses plays her romantic lead, part of a multi-ethnic cast of characters featuring celebrities such as Barack Obama playing Joshua ( Yes, we Canaan! ). Each weekly portion gets a two-page spread. Like the original, the Comic Torah is not always suitable for children. This is a Torah experience like no other.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An irreverent and occasionally amusing interpretation of sacred texts, this imagines the Jewish Lord as a green-skinned woman, one of many deities; a god whose personal failings are all too human, more akin to those of a spoiled child playing with its toys than the actions of an all-knowing, all-powerful god. Familiar stories are recast in this light; we see JHWH manipulating both Moses and Pharaoh to make them play the roles she has assigned for them and her interest in the Land of Milk and Honey--personified as an open-minded platinum-haired blonde--is not territorial but rather overtly sexual. Some people may find this imaginative approach offensive, even heretical; although not as specifically focused or as detailed about this specific period as this work, Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe covered similar ground decades ago and did so more skillfully. While theologists may be puzzled, the hyperactive, colorful art brings the story to life far more than more reverent versions. (Oct.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Review

Houston Chronicle
Beneath the surface of the irreverence, informality and seemingly
random interpretations lies a serious, personal and very contemporary
struggle with the meaning of the text.

Comic Book Resources
Move over R. Crumb, here's the Comic Torah!

Bleeding Cool News
Sensational!

Comics Alliance
Snarky, strange and hilarious as all get-out, and while it might be
irreverent, it still reflects the creators' genuine love and honest
engagement with the text.

The Jewish Reporter
Anyone looking for a humorous and thought-provoking take on the
parasha of the week will find themselves challenged by the authors'
irreverent look at the biblical text. The graphics make the lessons
vivid, particularly those outlining the rules of sacrifices in
Leviticus. Deliberate anachronisms serve as additional commentary
while offering fresh insight to overfamiliar stories. While not for
everyone, 'The Comic Torah' features a unique look at the good book.

Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill, author, 'Judaism and Other Religions: Models of
Understanding'
Blends serious personal midrash with risqué comedy to create a hip,
piercing Biblical retelling for our post-ironic generation

Harold Ramis, writer, 'Ghostbusters'
If God was a comic artist, this is what She would have drawn.

Alison Bechdel, cartoonist, 'Dykes to Watch Out For'
Awesome!

Navidad Arnett
Blaspemous! Wrong! Accurate! Addictive!

Paul Krassner, editor, 'The Realist'
Sacred and profane at the same time

Rob Kutner, author, 'Apocalypse How'
Finally, a Torah reading you are guaranteed not to doze off during.
Puts the 'rash' back in Midrash.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Ben Yehuda Press (October 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193473053X
• ISBN-13: 978-1934730539
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,338,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Torah for Today is Comic Torah, October 22, 2010

By 

Daivd Aaronson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Comic Torah: Reimagining the Very Good Book (Hardcover)

Modern, contemporary, witty, intelligent and thought provoking. This is what Torah should be. Forcing one to re-think what they thought. Considering new insights. And because it is both graphic and terse there is much to be filled by the viewer. Brilliant, provocative and most of all really fun.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What really happened to the unicorn., November 28, 2010

By 

David Holzel - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Comic Torah: Reimagining the Very Good Book (Hardcover)

Moses is black and God is green -- and a she -- and both bear a strong resemblance to their real-life creators in "The Comic Torah," a graphic reimagining of history's enduring bestseller.

Husband and wife Aaron Freeman and Sharon Rosenzweig have written and illustrated a biblical midrash that is colorful, deep, funny and mind-blowing -- just like the original.

As the Five Books unroll -- with each Torah portion presented in a sumptuous double spread - the relationship between God and Israel develops in all its glory and chaos. What caught my imagination was the shifting relationship between God and Moses, sometimes like parent and child, other times like mistress and servant, and still others as mismatched lovers, even as Moses dreams of the Promised Land.

Those dreams are not so innocent and holy. Rosenzweig and Freeman depict the Israelites' ultimate quest as a blonde bombshell called Honey "The Land" Milkand. Other characters include an oily Jacob, with a suit, narrow tie and pencil moustache, and a dreadlocked Aaron. Other gods, dwelling in the etymological mists of the biblical text, make an appearance, including Zeus, who God turns to for advice. "You have a pantheon of support," she complains. "I'm a single parent."

"The Comic Torah" doesn't disparage the tradition that has grown up around the Torah. Freeman and Rosenzweig have clearly wrestled with the text. But they have also tapped into one of the secrets of the Torah's resilience, it's weirdness and primalness. "The Comic Torah" reads like a strand of tradition that never made it into the canon.

And it's often sharply funny. As God reveals to Moses her plans for a Tabernacle in the desert she conjures the image of a unicorn. "To cover the ceiling -- Tachash skin!" she says. "Wow, it's beautiful," Moses says, gazing at the creature whose non-existence has broken every child's heart. "Can I have one?" "No," God says, "I'm only making one. But you can kill it for me."

I wonder how some of the jokes will hold up, particularly popular references such as "Jew Tube" and to the Obama presidential campaign. (Joshua is a ringer for the president.) On the other hand, the Torah comes around every year, and is new every year, as Freeman and Rosenzweig acknowledge. "The Comic Torah," they write "is a snapshot of the arguments we had this year. Next year, different arguments."

And let us say: Amen.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Irreverential holiness, November 2, 2010

By 

Dr. Why? (Upstate NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Comic Torah: Reimagining the Very Good Book (Hardcover)

In The Comic Torah, Aaron Freeman and Sharon Rosenzweig
illustrate key sections from each weekly Torah portion
in an offbeat, contemporary, loving interpretation that some may find
irreverent and many will find delightful. But the authors take the text
seriously--with a great deal of spice, and sass reminischent of Abraham's
backtalk to God in defense of Sodom. They depict God as a green woman--a jealous
God? a God who cares profoundly about Her earth?--which I find no more disrespectful than
Michelangelo's depiction of God as an old man with a long beard. Depiction of authority figures have to change with the times.

YHVH is demanding, giving, protecting, challenging, pushy, loving, kvelling (bragging), kveching (complaining) and more. The ultimate Jewish mother on a strong tea, sweet kugel, steroid high.

The portrayal of the Land of Israel as a beautiful, voluptuous woman echoes the
eons-long dream of the Jewish people to be restored to their heritage. Moses as a
black man (who looks remarkably like the author) brings to mind the black spiritual, "Go
down, Moses." Rosenzweig's vivid art work is replete with side bar allusions to
Star Trek, the Hobbit, and texting. Who knows what I'll find in a more careful second and
subsequent readings?

The Torah was originally delivered (or redacted for the modernists) to reach
the people of an ancient society. The Comic Torah "reimages" those stories and
injunctions for a wry 21st (or 57th)century comprehension.

Two caveats: Readers unfamiliar with the full text of the Five
Books of Moses may have trouble finding the continuity in
these two-page selections. The Comic Torah includes some things that your
Sunday school teacher skipped right over. Second, according to the urchins on the back cover,
it is "recommended for mature readers." With those
caveats, I strongly recommend The Comic Torah. You'll
never visualize the Good Book the same way again!

Dr. Why?

PS Just like the old "Levy's rye bread" ads in NYC, you don't have to be Jewish to love the Comic Torah.