Storahtelling is a
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
based
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
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.
Mission and 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 education and training institute.
In 2013 Storahtelling launched Lab/Shul, which organizes and hosts experimental events centered around Jewish community and learning.
In addition to performances at synagogues or Jewish community centers, the group has also performed at theaters and nightclubs.
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. Intensive Torah study is also involved, to understand the spiritual meaning and weight of the text.
Programs
The Maven Method uses performances and training programs to revive the
Torah Service
Torah reading (; ') is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll (or scrolls) from the Torah ark, chanting the ap ...
in local communities for audiences of all denominations and ages.
Raising the Bar is a program that reclaims and reshapes the
B'nai Mitzvah experience for the wider, mostly unaffiliated Jewish community, by infusing it with the Storahtelling methodology.
StorahStage are fully staged theatrical performances, touring internationally, focusing on biblical narratives through a modern lens.
External links
Official WebsiteAn Article about Storahtelling in Time Out New York (defunct link)An article about Storahtelling from Israeli GLOBES magazine (defunct link)
{Dead link, date=January 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
References
Theatrical organizations in the United States