Judaism Unbound Episode 415: Rebbe Nachman’s Lost Princess - Jessica Tamar Deutsch
Jessica Tamar Deutsch is an artist whose work explores the connections between ancient Jewish tradition and contemporary creative culture and expression. Her newest visual story, Rebbe Nachman’s The Lost Princess, will be released in February and is available for pre-order through Ayin Press. In this episode, Deutsch joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about Hasidism, the creative process, and art’s potential to open up Jewish text.
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[1] Learn more about Deutsch on her website, and keep tabs on her ongoing creations and general whimsy by following her Instagram, @jessica_tamar_deutsch. And don’t forget to pre-order her newest publication, Rebbe Nachman’s The Lost Princess, an illustrated retelling of a classic Hasidic tale.
[2] Dan says Deutsch’s book, The Illustrated Pirkei Avot: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Ethics, is his go-to B Mitzvah gift. Order one for yourself – or the 13-year-old in your life – here. (P.S. It’s really, really awesome.)
[3] Explore Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s original telling of “The Lost Princess” via this translation and commentary by Aryeh Kaplan from his book, Rabbi Nachman’s Stories.
[4] Deutsch shares that she sees a similarity between The Lost Princess and the Purim story (aka the Book of Esther), in which God remains hidden but we attribute the outcome of the saga to divine favor. Read the Purim story and see for yourself.
[5] We’ve discussed Jewish illustration in our episode with Liana Finck, Episode 350: God as a Woman – Liana Finck. Dan also mentions learning about illustration in Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud, which Dan and Lex spend some time with in Episode 270: We Are Torah.
[6] Deutsch describes communities of Breslov Hasidut – the strain of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov – as listening to trance music, driving around in painted vans, and, Lex adds, enjoy doing psychedelics. Intrigued, right? Here’s a Vice article about it.
[7] Deutsch self-identifies as a “Nachman stan and a Zalman Schachter-Shalomi fangirl.” Read more about Schachter-Shalomi, the founder of the Alliance for Jewish Renewal (the movement that ordained Lex), here.
[8] Lex shouts out BimBam, the now-defunct video project that made animated videos corresponding to each Torah portion. See Episode 24: BimBam – Sarah Lefton for Dan and Lex’s conversation with the platform’s founder. Plus, check out JU’s collaboration with them, Parshat Vayikra featuring Judaism Unbound!
[9] Lex alludes to the fact that we’ve covered Jewish psychedelics in past episodes. See Bonus Episode: The Jewish Psychedelic Summit – Natalie Ginsberg, Madison Margolin. (Curious about psychedelic Judaism? Check out Shefa, an organization that provides psychedelic support and resources in a specifically Jewish framework.)
[10] Deutsch cites Miriam Anzovin’s funny TikTok videos about Talmud (@miriamanzovin) as an example of illustrating Jewish text through the medium of performance. Listen to Dan and Lex chat with Anzovin about her approach to social media in Episode 406: Talmud TikTok – Miriam Anzovin.
