Mira Z. Amiras was raised on her mother’s accounts of the Inquisition and Holocaust, and her father’s tales of the Hebrew aleph bet letters and their role in the creation of the universe. She is Professor Emerita of Comparative Religion and Middle East Studies at San Jose State University. Mira received her PhD in anthropology from UC, Berkeley. She is author of
Development and Disenchantment in Rural Tunisia, and writer and producer of the animated movie,
The Day Before Creation. She lives in San Francisco with her family.
Josh Baum was born in London and grew up in Bristol. He studied painting at the Masana School in Barcelona then moved to Sfat to study in a Hasidic yeshivah where he trained as a Hebrew scribe. After writing a Torah scroll in Jerusalem, Josh attained an MA in Fine Art from Central St Martins in London, for which he was awarded the Future Map prize. In his work as both artist and scribe, he explores the Hebrew letters as sacred signs as well as objects of profound beauty. Josh is a published author and illustrator and lives in Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, where he is director of the art school.
