Storahtelling
Storahtelling is a New York City based Jewish non-profit organization with the goal of advancing Jewish literacy by bringing the tools of theater and stagecraft to bear on traditional Jewish texts and stories. The organization trains professionals and lay leaders in its methodology, offers classes for adults, and performs in rituals, ceremonies, and staged dramas at synagogues and community institutions around the world.
 | |
| Formation | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Type | Theatre group |
| Purpose | Jewish ritual |
| Location | |
| Website | storahtelling |
Mission & History
Storahtelling was established in 1999 by Amichai Lau-Lavie, a Jewish mythologist, educator and performance artist. In its early years, Storahtelling was a theater troupe, but by 2008, it had articulated a methodology for studying Jewish source texts and integrating study with Jewish rituals. The Maven Method, as that methodology became known, emerged as the organizing principle for Storahtelling's future activities, and turned it from a theater troupe into a professional education and training institute.
The Maven Method draws from the ancient tradition of Torah reading alternating with a translation in the local language. Storahtelling Mavens learn to translate not just the words of the Torah, but also the social and historical contexts of the stories of the Torah into contemporary terms.
Storahtelling has been identified as a "trailblazer of the Jewish World" (B'nai B'rith magazine), inspiring "reverence and relevance" (the Washington Post) and hailed by Time Out NY as "Super Stars of David."
Programs
- Maven Training Performances and training programs that revive the Torah Service in local communities for audiences of all denominations and ages.
- Raising the Bar A program that reclaims and reshapes the B'nai Mitzvah experience for the wider, mostly unaffiliated community, by infusing it with the Storahtelling methodology.
- StorahStage Fully staged theatrical performances, touring internationally, focusing on biblical narrative through a modern lens.
External links
- Storahtelling's Official Website
- An Article about Storahtelling in Time Out New York (defunct link)
- An article about Storahtelling from Israeli GLOBES magazine (defunct link)
- Amichai Lau-Lavie - MIPtalk.com Interview
- Leland, John (14 March 2014). "Synagogue, rebooted. Lab/Shul Is an Experimental Jewish Gathering Still in Its Beta Phase". New York Times.