Storahtelling

Storahtelling makes ancient stories and traditions accessible to new generations, promoting Judaic literacy through performance and education. Storahtelling’s mission is no less ambitious than to bridge the chasm between modern, often unaffiliated Jews and ancient Judaism, a mission pursued by personifying the rituals that accompany Jewish stories and allowing audiences to explore them in modern contexts. 

Originally a performance-based theatre company, Storahtelling now works by developing leadership on a local level. By training clergy, educators, artists and community leaders based in synagogues and congregational schools, Storahtelling’s fresh methodology is brought to bear on ritual life. B’nai mitzvah, for example, are enlivened by ancient stories and traditions brought to life through the 1,500-year-old maven, or translator/storyteller, tradition. Since its founding in 1999, more than 1,000 Storahtelling presentations and educational programs have been held across the US as well as internationally in venues ranging from museums to synagogues, touching more than 150,000 people. A strategic plan calls for a 400% increase in programs by 2012, with the majority being delivered by Storahtelling-trained community leaders. Starting this fall, Storahtelling is happy to announce a strategic partnership with the 14th Street Y to help both organizations share infrastructure costs and enhance their ability to deliver innovative programs. 

Founder and Executive Director Amichai Lau-Lavie has been called an “iconoclastic mystic” and recently received a fellowship from
the Mandel Leadership Institute in Israel. Now back in the US,
he and his staff continue to refine a “model and service [that are] dynamic, vital and innovative..., deeply embedded in tradition.” Such creativity and success in revitalizing the old make Storahtelling one of the few organizations to be featured in Slingshot for five consecutive years.