Jewish Media Hub · 03 · Tales of Talmud · סיפורי התלמוד

Talmudic stories interpreted through contemporary film and media

Short animated films for children, each told faithfully from its source with the daf cited on screen. Three films are complete, more are in development, and the storybooks are available to license as audiobooks and visual media.

Type: Film · Story
Films: 03 · 08:35
Format: 16:9 · Animation
Series began: 2019
Rights: Available

Films3

01 · Film · 02:54

How tzedakah saved Rabbi Akiva's daughter

Shabbos 156b · שבת קנ״ו ע״ב

Star-gazers told Rabbi Akiva that on the day of his daughter's wedding she would be bitten by a poisonous snake. On the night of the wedding she pressed her golden hairpin into the wall for safe-keeping. In the morning she pulled it out and found a dead snake on its point. While everyone was busy with the feast, a poor man had knocked and gone unheard; she had given him her own portion.

Tzedakah tatzil mimaves · Published 09.04.26

02 · Film · 01:58

May your children be like you

Taanis 5b · תענית ה׳ ע״ב

Rabbi Nachman asked Rabbi Yitzchak for a blessing and received a parable: a weary traveller rests under a tree in the desert, eats its sweet fruit, drinks from the stream at its roots, and wonders how he could bless a tree that already has everything. "May all the trees planted from you be like you." You already have Torah, wealth and children; may your children be like you.

Published 09.04.26

03 · Film · 03:43

Yosef who honored the Shabbos

Shabbos 119a · שבת קי״ט ע״א

Yosef Mokir Shabbos would buy the finest fish and meat for Shabbos whatever the price. A wealthy man in his town, warned by astrologers that all his wealth would fall to "someone called Yosef", turned everything he owned into a single jewel and sewed it into his hat. One windy day on the riverbank the hat blew into the water. That Friday, fishermen brought Yosef the largest fish they had ever caught.

Published 09.04.26

Stills and storyboardsFrom the production files

Storyboard sketch from Rabbi Akiva's Daughter — 01 · Storyboard · 2019

Painted frame: the traveller and the tree — 02 · Painted frame · 2019

Painted frame from Yosef Who Honored the Shabbos — 03 · Painted frame · 2020

Painted frame from May Your Children Be Like You — 02 · Painted frame · 2019

Storyboard from Yosef Who Honored the Shabbos — 03 · Storyboard · 2020

Licensing

The storybooks are available to license for audiobooks, animation, illustrated books and other visual media, for publishers, studios, schools and Jewish media organisations.

Licensing options →

In development

New tales are being scripted and storyboarded. If there is a story from the Gemara you would like to see told, or you would like to sponsor a film, say so on the licensing page.

Series title card · 2019