Noa Mishkin's debut graphic novel, As a Burning Flame, tells the story of the first known female rabbi, absent from major histories of pre-Holocaust German Judaism written by men. Mishkin connects Regina Jonas's story to her own development as a religious feminist unhappy with the status quo, even in her liberal Modern Orthodox family, in which women were barred from participating in certain religious activities.
Mishkin begins with a short introduction positioning herself as a spiritual descendant of Jonas. She then uses direct quotes from Jonas's 1930 master's thesis to narrate her quest for rabbinic ordination, denied by the seminary. The next section details her ordination by a liberal rabbi, her service to her community, her continued work in Nazi Germany, and her eventual murder in Auschwitz in 1944. In the final section, Mishkin returns to her own journey from Modern Orthodox feminism to egalitarian feminism, thanking Regina Jonas for her inspiration. A glossary defines Yiddish and Hebrew words, and a bibliography of academic essays and news articles concludes the book.
Mishkin's illustrations in shades of blue and orange, peppered with hints of Marc Chagall's style, powerfully convey both emotion and information. In one particularly affecting sequence--an artistic interpretation of arguments for the permissibility of female rabbis used in her thesis--Jonas begins dancing until she is skipping across the rooftops and then flying on the back of a bird. Appropriate for Jews and non-Jews of all ages, As a Burning Flame is a testament to the long tradition of Jewish feminism. --Dainy Bernstein, postdoc in children's literature, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign