What if you could experience the opening chapters of the Torah as a graphic novel—without losing the depth, complexity, or ambiguity of the original text? In this episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down with writer and creator Jordan B. Gorfinkel to discuss The Koren Magerman Tanakh Graphic Novel: Bereshit, Volume 1: The Beginning (Koren Publishers, 2026), a visually stunning reimagining of Genesis.

From the first light of Creation through Eden, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel, the book brings the opening chapters of Bereshit to life in an entirely new way. But this is more than an illustrated Bible. Gorfinkel and his creative team ask a fundamental question: What kind of human being can become God's partner in creating a just and compassionate world?

Working alongside Israeli artist Yael Nathan, Gorfinkel combines cinematic storytelling with traditional Jewish interpretation, drawing on Tanakh, Midrash, archaeology, history, and centuries of Jewish commentary. The result preserves the full Hebrew biblical text while using the visual language of graphic novels to illuminate details, tensions, and layers of meaning that readers may have overlooked.

Together, Gorfinkel and Katz explore what happens when one of the world's oldest stories is told through one of its newest visual forms—and whether seeing Genesis differently can help us understand it differently, too.

About the Guest:
Jordan B. Gorfinkel (“Gorf”) is a cartoonist, musician, producer, and storyteller best known for his nearly decade-long career managing the Batman franchise at DC Comics, where he oversaw more than 2,000 stories across multiple media. His work has inspired comics, films, television, and games, including Birds of Prey and The Dark Knight Rises. He is also the creator of the bestselling Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel, which combines traditional Jewish text with the visual language of comics. Through his studio, Avalanche Comics Entertainment, Gorf creates and teaches storytelling across entertainment, education, and Jewish life. He is the writer and producer of The Koren Magerman Tanakh Graphic Novel, bringing his decades of experience in visual storytelling to the ancient stories of the Bible.

About the Host:
Rab­bi Marc Katz is the Senior Rab­bi at Tem­ple Ner Tamid in Bloom­field, NJ. He is author of the books Yochanan’s Gam­ble: Judaism’s Prag­mat­ic Approach to Life (JPS) cho­sen as a final­ist for the PROSE award and The Heart of Lone­li­ness: How Jew­ish Wis­dom Can Help You Cope and Find Com­fort (Turn­er Pub­lish­ing) which was cho­sen as a final­ist for the Nation­al Jew­ish Book Award.

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Katrin Kogman-Appel is a professor of Medieval Jewish history with research focusing on book culture, readers, and reading practices in medieval Europe and beyond. In The Kennicott Bible: A Masterpiece of Jewish Book Art (Bodleian Library, 2023) she discusses the text of the 24 canonized books of the Bible that is paired with David Kimchi's grammatical treatise “Sefer Miklol”. Katrin discussed the Kennecott Bible, a medieval Hebrew manuscript that contains unique illustrations and Masoretic text annotations. She explained that the manuscript draws inspiration from various sources including the Severa Bible and playing cards from the Rhineland and Netherlands, with some illustrations depicting animals in unusual positions and a political allegory involving hares, wolves, cats, and mice. Katrin described the Masoretic text as a lexical apparatus designed for precision in transmitting the canonical Hebrew text, and emphasized that the Bible served as a status symbol and public art piece for Jewish elites despite having no public art in synagogues.

A collection of reproduced images from the Kennicott Bible, a remarkable artifact from the Middle Ages. The Kennicott Bible is one of the most celebrated Hebrew Bibles that survives today, having delighted readers since its creation in 1476. Originating from La Coruña in northern Spain, it features lavish carpet pages, gold leaf silhouettes, and abundant marginal decorations. This extraordinary manuscript is a treasure trove of history, culture, devotion, art, and cross-cultural collaboration. This book features reproductions of the decorated pages of the stunning manuscript, accompanied by four chapters authored by experts in the fields of Bible study, book history, and medieval Jewish art. The authors discuss the Bible from several perspectives, explaining the Hebrew text of the Bible, the scribe who created the pages, the layout and paleography, and the illuminator who produced the Bible's decoration and its imagery. This volume also includes an analysis of the early medieval commentary on the Old Testament, the Masorah. Richly illustrated throughout, this beautiful book makes a treasure of Jewish art available for a new audience, alongside the latest scholarship on its origins, provenance, and creation.

Analyzing these ancient texts in historical context helps to enrich our understanding of the effects and reactions to historical and cultural events.

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What happens when you read the weekly Torah portion alongside the strange, fascinating, and sometimes uncomfortable story of modern Jewish history? In this episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down with Rabbi David Bashevkin to discuss I Read This Over Shabbos: Reading Jewish History in the Parasha (Maggid, 2026), a book that turns Shabbat reading into an intellectual journey through the Jewish past.

Bashevkin takes familiar Torah stories and places them in surprising conversation with the events and ideas that have shaped modern Jewish life. Noah’s ark leads to the Industrial Revolution. The biblical census opens a window onto the modern haredi draft debate. Korah’s rebellion becomes a lens for understanding the rise of Marxism. Along the way, Bashevkin explores questions that remain deeply relevant: Is the founding of Israel a messianic moment? How should we understand rabbinic authority centuries after its emergence? Can political disagreements justify divisions among Jews? And how did the revival of Hebrew transform Jewish identity?

The essays move freely between Jewish history, philosophy, psychoanalysis, literature, and traditional sources. They aren't conventional Torah sermons or academic lectures; instead, they are invitations to make unexpected connections and to see both the Torah and Jewish history with fresh eyes. Each essay also ends with suggested books, turning Bashevkin's own reading into an invitation for listeners to keep exploring.

Together, Bashevkin and Katz explore what happens when the weekly parasha becomes a doorway into the Jewish historical imagination—and why Shabbat might be the perfect time to slow down, pick up a book, and reconnect with the story of our people.

About the Guest:

David Bashevkin is founder of 18Forty, a media and educational platform leading conversations on Jewish faith, identity, and community, and host of its flagship podcast. He serves as Assistant Clinical Professor of Jewish Values at Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business and is a rebbe at Isaac Breuer College. David has been rejected from several prestigious fellowships and awards.

About the Host:

Rab­bi Marc Katz is the Rab­bi at Tem­ple Ner Tamid in Bloom­field, NJ. He is author of the books Yochanan’s Gam­ble: Judaism’s Prag­mat­ic Approach to Life (JPS) cho­sen as a final­ist for the PROSE award and The Heart of Lone­li­ness: How Jew­ish Wis­dom Can Help You Cope and Find Com­fort (Turn­er Pub­lish­ing) which was cho­sen as a final­ist for the Nation­al Jew­ish Book Award.

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