title: Between Heaven and Earth: An Illuminated Torah Commentary
author: Ilene Winn-Lederer
description: Although cartoonist R. Crumb generated plaudits and attention with his new book, "The Book of Genesis Illustrated" (Norton, 2009) is not the only illustrated bible being released this season. Pittsburgh illustrator Ilene Winn-Lederer's "Between Heaven and Earth: An Illuminated Torah Commentary" (Pomegranate Communications, 2009) though given limited attention has also been received with acclaim. Although as radical as Crumb, her trademark color pencil technique gives her work a distinctive feel and conveys a deep understanding of the text. --Forward.com, October 23, 2009<br /><br />. . . Infusing pop culture and historic events that transpired in the millennia since the Torah was written, the Squirrel Hill-based illustrator depicts selected verses with surrealist imagery and anthropomorphism. Using a pen, a computer and a bit of Hieronymus Bosch, Winn-Lederer's book vividly depicts the Hebrew Bible, creating a child-friendly work that instills the lessons of the original text . . . Citing influences from Rembrandt to Moebius, Winn-Lederer blends ballpoint pen strokes and computer-generated blocks of solid color. It's a method she calls "tra-digital -- a hybrid of traditional drawing and digital media." Her Torah illustrations often weave in contemporary styles and characters, like the Goth chick with facial piercings and purple Bettie Page bangs noshing on a scorpion kabob. Winn-Lederer says the girl, along with her tattooed boyfriend on the adjoining page, illustrates the lessons of Parashah Re'eh about individual holiness in regards to body modification and food choices. In the background, a Holocaust victim leads a lamb on a leash, suggesting that one cannot disguise the Jewish spirit, even with dermal needlepoint or crustacean diets. The book, published by Pomegranate, also includes extensive artist's notes on the Torah verses. With its vibrant depictions of brutal biblical passages, like Dinah kneeling in the blood of her vanquished rapists, "Between Heaven &amp; Earth" is a fascinating introduction for Torah neophytes, and a welcome reminder for lapsed Jews. "I wanted to do this book because when I went to shul, I was bored to death," Winn-Lederer says. "I didn't understand, couldn't fathom the language, I just didn't get it. And so I said, 'I want to come up with something that would help me learn.'" --Lucy Leitner, Pittsburgh City Paper, October 29, 2009<br /><br />"Between Heaven &amp; Earth: An Illuminated Torah Commentary" (Pomegranate) is brilliantly imaginative and magnificent. Artist Ilene Winn-Lederer "dreamed about the book for 20 years," she told this reviewer, "then spent five years researching and creating it." She illuminates all 54 weekly portions, parashiyot, of the Torah by creating a two-page spread for each. The images are a synthesis of her life experiences seasoned by "my native curiosity, my spiritual journeys and my love of stories." For the parsha Toldot, she has portrayed the twins Jacob and Esau as the opposing figures on a playing card. The more spiritual Jacob holds tefillin in his right hand, proffering his animal hair-covered left arm. The bow-and-arrow-decked Esau holds a bowl of lentil stew in his right hand; an eagle perches on his left wrist. For Mishpatim, where Moses ascends Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah, Winn-Lederer created a Torah out of the figures of a man and woman enveloped by a pomegranate tree. She imagines Moses the Scribe with a paintbrush in his hand, communing with God, who is represented by a mask hovering near his face. The enchanting details and powerful calligraphy will delight readers of all ages. Artist's notes on each Torah portion complete the volume. -- NA'AMAT WOMAN Magazine, Winter 2009/2010
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  [Cover](text/cover.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![cover image](../media/epub-to-image.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  A space opera adventure set in a universe controlled and run by Jewish
  religious authorities. An enforcer is sent to a distant planet where he
  discovers an android who changes his mind about what is right and wrong.
  
  
  
  
  
  _“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first
  earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city,
  new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.”_ – The Book of Revelation
  
  
  
  
  
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  The Yom Kippur–class Adjudicator Starship _Vey Is Mir_ left the planet of New
  Jerusalem at twelve oh five hundred hours Temple Mean Time, en route to the
  planet Kadesh.
  
  
  
  
  
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  This much we know. This much is logged.
  
  
  Much of what transpired is guesswork.
  
  
  
  
  
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  “What do you remember?” we ask the man suspended over the sacrificial water of
  the mikv