Growing up, I always thought that the story about Abraham smashing his father's idols was found in the Torah. I later learned, however, that this story, like many others, was a form of Midrash, creative interpretation of the Torah, written by the rabbis. The rabbis wrote Midrash in order to fill in gaps in the Torah, and make the Torah more accessible to us, with creative twists and stories.
For more than a decade, I have been engaged in creating hands-on Midrash, by painting my fingernails according to the Torah portion or holiday of that week. Each week, after studying the Torah portion and its accompanying Midrashim (plural for Midrash), I decide how best to capture the Torah's message on my fingernails. For example, for Parashat Re'eh, the Torah portion that lists the laws of keeping Kosher, I painted Kosher animals on one hand, and non-Kosher animals on the other.
For more than a decade, I have been engaged in creating hands-on Midrash, by painting my fingernails according to the Torah portion or holiday of that week. Each week, after studying the Torah portion and its accompanying Midrashim (plural for Midrash), I decide how best to capture the Torah's message on my fingernails. For example, for Parashat Re'eh, the Torah portion that lists the laws of keeping Kosher, I painted Kosher animals on one hand, and non-Kosher animals on the other.
My most popular holiday MidrashManicure is the ten plagues, with one plague for each fingernail. A few years back, Jon Stewart asked for example of one of the plagues on my nails, to which I replied: "I have the slaying of the first born on my pinky." Stewart retorted: "Well I have a tattoo of Pharoah on my thigh!"
I recently launched MidrashManicures.com, a portal through which my MidrashManicures, could reach a larger audience. My hope is to continue to inspire people to find ways to make Torah and Judaism more accessible for themselves, be it through MidrashManicures or other forms of art and media. I also facilitate MidrashManicures workshops at synagogues and teach a middle school course entitled Midrash Manicures at the Solomon Schechter School in Westchester.
I recently launched MidrashManicures.com, a portal through which my MidrashManicures, could reach a larger audience. My hope is to continue to inspire people to find ways to make Torah and Judaism more accessible for themselves, be it through MidrashManicures or other forms of art and media. I also facilitate MidrashManicures workshops at synagogues and teach a middle school course entitled Midrash Manicures at the Solomon Schechter School in Westchester.
I hope that you enjoy MidrashManicures.com, naturally-grown Judaica! Feel free to sign up to receive a weekly MidrashManicure, and in the meantime, enjoy Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech by clicking here!
RSS Feed