Storahtelling
Encyclopedia
Storahtelling is a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
based Jewish ritual theater company.
Mission & History
Storahtelling is a NYC-based pioneer in Jewish education via the arts and new media. Through innovative leadership training programs and theatrical performances, Storahtelling makes ancient stories and traditions accessible for new generations, advancing Judaic literacy and raising social consciousness.Established in 1999 by Amichai Lau-Lavie,a Jewish mythologist, educator and performance artist, 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."
Storahtelling models change and trains change agents, equipping professionals and lay leaders to reinvigorate Jewish education and ritual life. Schools, synagogues, theaters, community centers and summer camps throughout the world are using Storahtelling’s methodologies, bringing 5,000 years of Judaic heritage and vitality to the 21st century.
Story
In the beginning, story mattered. Woven through the generations, sacred stories charted community courses and mapped individual life journeys. Today, many are denied access to the relevance and transformative power of their inherited legacies. The People of the Book often don't know what's in it.Bridging past and present, Storahtelling makes story matter again. Using an innovative fusion of scholarship, storytelling, performing arts and new media, our programs reclaim the narratives and traditions that define Jewish life yet have failed to adapt to modern times.
Torah
The Torah Service is the world's oldest continuous ritual of sacred storytelling. Conducted for more than 2,500 years, it was once the primary source of Judaic literacy for the wider community. Today, the Torah Service is still conducted weekly and continues to serve as the main event for the initiation of youth into the adult community. Yet, for the majority of world Jewry, the ritual has lost much of its power to inform and engage—and the Torah, core to Jewish identity, remains a closed book.Storahtelling restores the Torah Service to its original stature through a revival of the lost craft of the Maven, the traditional storyteller who translated the Hebrew Torah into the local language. Rooted in biblical text and ritual practice, Storahtelling uses dramatized interpretations, traditional chanting, original music and live interaction to bring the Bible off the page and onto the global stage.
Storah
Storahtelling models change and trains change agents, equipping professionals and lay leaders to reinvigorate Jewish educational and ritual life. Schools, synagogues, theaters, community centers and summer camps throughout the world are using Storahtelling's methodologies, bringing 5,000 years of Judaic heritage and vitality to the 21st century.Programs
Maven Performances and training programs that revive the Torah Service in local communities for audiences of all denominations and ages.StorahLab An annual training institute for supplementary school educators towards integrating the Storahtelling methodology of dramatic translation and interpretation into the classroom.
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.
RituaLab An alternative an inclusive worship experience for multi-generational audiences, celebrated with music, storytelling and interactive liturgy, presenting an innovative model for community building and personal access to the sacred.