Storahtelling

Storahtelling & Conservative Principals' Council: Challenges & Inspirations

2012-01-23T11:58:00.001-05:00

by Jake Goodman

This last week, I had the privilege of facilitating a 2-hour Storahtelling workshop with the Conservative Principals' Council (CPC) at Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn Heights, NY. The attendees were all principals or educational leaders in various settings, very experienced, knowledgeable and hungry for innovation - if it fit within their understandings of what is responsible Jewish education. I so respect them for their rigor and passion, and teaching Storahtelling's methodology to them was an exciting challenge because I was constantly asked to reflect upon Storahtelling's philosophy: why do we make certain choices? For us, what is the difference between translation and interpretation? Do we care at all about teaching values from our "style" of Jewish text study? If so, what? If so, how? How can our Maven Method be translated for a wide range of learners, from high school all the way down to kindergarten?

These questions were not easy to answer, but trying to do so was great fun! I really felt that the principals and I were engaged in an important conversation and, miraculously, we all seemed to be on the same page at the end, laughing, inspired by each other. For me, this was proof of Storahtelling's universality and power. The access this methodology creates is relevant and vital to Jews of all stripes and colors, to humans of all stripes of color - regardless of denomination, experience or preexisting content knowledge.

As a side note, it also reinforced for me how much I love being an educator - especially when the learners are unafraid to voice their concerns, challenges and curiosities.

Night 8 of 8 VS. hate: Repair the despair

2011-12-27T12:07:00.001-05:00

Tonight it's done. All eight candles are lit and the task is complete but is it ever? never. We are the light at the end of each others tunnel - and tonight's - it's bright. I need yours and I hope mine has been helpful to you. Here's the final touch:

(For this blog's overall intention: 8vshate:why & how )

I dedicate tonight's fully lit menora to the ongoing intention of adding light to where it's dark: in our hearts and mind, the fears that grip us in the night, tunnel visions of hatred that marginalizes others in the name of religion or dogma or privilege; the acts of violence that enrage and hurt;the greed; the invisibility of loneliness.

Can rituals help? something as silly and symbolic as a candle? I choose to say yes. I choose to name this ceremony of candle lighting as the oldest and newest technology of fighting despair - with repair. Turn on the lights - tonight, every night, little gesture of great possibilities. How else can hate be fought if not with love?

My intention tonight, on this eighth night is that our intentions matter, and the stories we choose to tell ourselves about what matters most and how we can change the world will matter more. Our sacred stories - such as the one of the little jar of oil that could - the triumph of the few against the many - are the victory of hope. Then and always. We are the light at the end of each other's tunnels.

On this cold night, in the middle of a conference in the UK with thousands of people, strangers and friends, alone together I light with hope for love.

And one last Chanukah gift, the gift that keeps on giving - away to make sure that sacred stories are told with awareness and intention and a radical commitment to change: I donate online tonight - last minute tax free gift - to the community I founded, with hundreds of wonderful people worldwide trained to be storytellers for change, storahatellers for transformation. Help me turn on the lights for good: //Gift to Storahtelling

Lights On. Lights Out. Thank you for joining my journey and lighting my way with your kind comments and thoughts.

To light!

Night 7 of 8 VS Hate: Occupy Death

2011-12-26T12:03:00.001-05:00

Defiance of death was not what I planned writing about tonight but an hour ago I got a message from Jerusalem: My father's older brother, Uncle Shiko, died peacefully today, in his early nineties, surrounded by his wife, and many children, grand and great children. Baruch Dayan Emet.

Like my father, Shiko survived the Holocaust - he left early and made it to Palestine. Unlike my father, who though religious has many doubts about God - Shiko lived a life full of faith, little doubt in God, a true Hasid, with commitment to the Zionist ideal - he was a big fan and a leader of the settler movement. We didn't see eye to eye on that one, but in the big scheme of things it didn't matter. He also liked to drink, esp. Slivovitz, the plum brandy of champions.

So tonight, night #7, my intention is to honor his death and to honor all deaths of loved ones in my life and on the planet this past year. I'll raise a glass of Slivovitz in his memory as the candles are lit. Occupy death by lighting a candle - yahrtzeit or chaunkah. Occupy death by living strongly, not afraid of mortality, honoring life, celebrating our now, sending light and love to my father, who will now sit shiva for a brother, as he had not sat for the brother who died in 1942 or for his parents who died in those dark years.

In the photo attached - the last picture of my uncle Shiko, along with my father - Shiko, fragile in on the left. How how giants are humbled.. May his memory be a blessing to all.

L'chayim. To life.

Night 6 of 8 VS. Hate: Occupy Violence

2011-12-25T08:38:00.001-05:00

This sixth 6th night of Chanukah is another chance to take a deep breath, focus on the flames and make an intention for less darkness and more delighted light in simple moments, more safety, more joy to the world.

(For this blog's overall intention: 8vshate:why & how )

Tonight's intention: Occupy Violence - within our selves, and in the world - words and actions, born of hate, lead to death. Each candle is a memory to victims of violence, a vigil of vigilance.

What's a Maccabee? someone asked me this morning. It really means 'one who is armed' I had to explain. More specifically - 'one who holds a big mallett' - one of those effective scary weapons of days long ago. And though Judah and co. are named thus for their fight for freedom against religious oppression it is not hard to imagine them described by the Greek press as as dangerous terrorists. Its all a matter of perspective. sometimes you gotta fight. Sometimes the fight is right. So often it isn't. What can we do reduce the rage within our own selves in the world around us?

here are six sad facts for the sixth night. Food for thought: occupy violence.

Fact #1: Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted.

Fact #2: One out of every six American women have been the victims of a rape or attempted rape

Fact #3 Of the 6,624 single-bias incidents reported in 2010, 47.3 percent were racially motivated, 20.0 percent were motivated by religious bias, 19.3 percent resulted from sexual-orientation bias, 12.8 percent stemmed from ethnicity/national origin bias, and 0.6 percent were prompted by disability bias.

Fact #4 91.5% of LGBT students in the US report hearing homophobic remarks, such as “faggot,” “dyke”

Fact #5 90% of 4th through 8th graders in the US report being victims of bullying

Fact #6 Estimated each year in the US 31,225 people are killed due to homicide, suicide and unintentional shooting. This is the equivalent of more than 85 deaths each day, or three death each hour.

Thank you freedom fighters and activists for a safer world.

Peace.

Night 5 of 8 VS> Hate: Occupy Ignorance

2011-12-24T13:43:00.001-05:00

Night 5 of 8 VS. hate. Merry Chanukah! Billions of people are celebrating the power of miracles tonight all over the planet, Christians, Jews and those who love them are publicizing their faith (or at their least love of tradition) with the best of intentions. But what's joy for some if oy for others and sadly so many choose to focus on what differences we have instead of what we share in common. Intolerance is born of ignorance. This is why is there so much violence and hatred in the name of religions, in the so called name of God. How can we turn the lights back on? Start with understanding that this hatred comes from ignorance. Ignorance can be fixed. Tonight's intention is to occupy ignorance.

(For this blog's overall intention: 8vshate:why & how )

Tonight's intention: I honor all beings, and all faiths, and human paths, and respect all those who are looking for ways to add light to the darkness that descends on our brightest intentions. We will take on ignorance with kindness, one smile at a time. I honor all those who strive for truth and dignity, and respect all paths, EVEN the ones that I have no patience for or piss me off. (such as the angry man who came up to me tonight, just a bit ago, right after I publicly lit the fifth candle at the Limmud Conference and added the matriarchs - imotineu - to the second blessing, and he was quite cross, in that British way and said how he wished I didn't mess with the original blessing and spoil it for the rest of them. Ahem. Even him. I get it. changes are never simple. I smiled and thanked him for his feedback and told him how important it is for many of us to honor our mothers and grandmothers and heroines and that times are changing and have a good night.) I will strive to be more compassionate and patient and respectful, while still striving for dignity and honor for ALL humans.

I dedicate this holy night to my friends in faith who are working hard to minimize ignorance and educate all people about other people' religions: http://www.faithhousemanhattan.org/

Tonight let's be the light in each others tunnel of ignorance. And celebrate the hope of co-existence - the only hope we got.

Holy Night. High Five.

Night 4 of 8 VS. Hate: Occupy Loneliness

2011-12-23T09:34:00.001-05:00

Night 4 of 8 VS. hate. Lighting up the fourth candle of Chanukah and the two candles of Shabbat = sending a ray of light to the darkness of loneliness, where shame lives, and the broken hearted. Every light here matters.

this blog's context: 8vshate:why & how

Tonight's intention: Hello Darkness my old friend. Mid-way, mid-night over the Atlantic, the cabin lights are off, and only the flickers of small screens light up random faces. In this cozy darkness, with that-kind-of-romantic-drama-that-was-made-to-make-me-cry - I cry. Again. Secure in this darkness of anonymity, relishing the moment.

Look. I don't know who's reading this, not a whole lot of you if FB likes are any indication so I'll allow myself to follow through with my commitment to go private in public (and thus force myself do this) with 8 nights of shining a spotlight on the spots of darkness that need illumination in my life and the lives of others. So let's be honest here. I'm single right now and I don't like it. I used to. But now it's annoying and the dark truth is that even the lovely gesture of someone putting a hand on the hand of their lover in, say, an airport, reminds me of how it used to be and how I yearn for it again. I am not alone in this single solitude. So many with whom I share this sentiment come out as well - gay, straight, old, young, divorced, widowed, unlucky in love, etc. Somehow the digital age has given us so many options for connection but is also robbing us of real intimacy. Are we doing enough to help each other find love? Can we strike a match tonight to light a candle and take this match-making ritual to the next level?

I plan to. Tonight - mid way through Chanukah, lighting among many strangers at a the limmud UK conference 2011 somewhere in the middle of the UK, I will take a few minutes to think of those in my life who are lonely, for whatever reason and dedicate myself to what I can do about it: a phone call, email, smile, hug - even if to self. I'll think of ONE person who I want to help set up. Please do the same. Seriously, please ACTUALLY take a few minutes to think of one person in your life who is single and then go through your lists and gently kindly offer them a set up. You never know. Not unless we all try. Feel free to contact me for details...; )

My gift tonight is not a donation to a light agent in the world: It's a commitment to honoring the darkness and all and each and every phase of life - while celebrating the power of light and love to change it all for the better.

Peaceful Sabbath

PS: Lit third candle at JFK, right after security - thanks to Binyamin, a lovely Chabad guy who didn't like that I added the matriarchs to the blessing but agreed that it wasn't the end of the world.. My first chabad of choice positive moment in a very long time if not ever. Sweet. Thank you Binyamin.

NIGHT 3 of 8 VS. HATE: Occupy Disease

2011-12-22T14:10:00.001-05:00

Night 3 of 8 VS. hate. Taking time to focus on the darkness of disease, mind and body and soul, and how to shine a light at the end of these tunnels.

this blog's context: 8vshate:why & how

The longest night of the year is behind us but for many, long nights are still ahead, in and by sickbeds, and in it for win it and the ongoing noble fight for health and wellbeing.

one good way to start is by eating mindfully and with moderation during these holy days and nights. Easy on the latkes.

Next, continue by taking a few minutes after the candles are lit to think of who in our lives would need some light right now, and what do we ourselves need to be in better health?

Which darkness of disease will you light up tonight?

My gift tonight goes to The Children's Tumor Foundation , with prayers and hopes for all our children. What's yours?

And in the fight for civic and financial health - the comrades are of occupy judaism are in back at Zucotti Park tonight to light candle#3. 6pm: occupy chanukah

I'll be in JFK this evening, off to the UK. I will light a virtual candle on my iphone and for the first time in my life am thinking maybe it will be nice to have a chabad guy at the airport with tin menorahs and a license to light?

Gezundheit. To health. To light.

Night 2 of 8 VS. Hate: Occupy GREED

2011-12-21T15:34:00.001-05:00

This is night 2 of the 8 vs. hate Chanukah blog that was started yesterday. read the intro here: http://amichai.me/eight-vs-hatechanukah-2011-occupy-darkness.html

Last night, as the candles met gravity at the third and last of my candle lighting parties I took the time to sit and stare and found myself sobbing, oh, for all sorts of reasons. I was kindly held by a good friend and it helped a lot.

The darkness, we agreed later, is also beautiful, a chance to 'go there' and note what is the personal/spiritual work we have each to take on so that days and nights are brighter for ourselves - and for each other.

I don't wont to just be the downer this Chanukah - just to take a few minutes out of each night for this fragile focus and fix. Then party on.

Tonight is the second candle. I will light with my children and family, and then with the Storahtelling crew, and gifts will be shared. I didn't grow up on Chanukah gifts - def. not one for each night. And I'm glad that my children aren't getting those either. Excess is greed's sister. We can all do with less of both.

Tonight's intention: Occupy Greed. Take a moment to think of where in your life is the darkness of economic injustice, need, rage - and where is the opportunity for healing?

Like many other strong voices for social justice and equal opportunity for all, the Occupy Movement, now worldwide, is fighting the fight of the ancient Maccabees for freedom, dignity and justice. I choose to support my siblings fighting this good fight tonight here: http://occupywallst.org/donate/

In the fight against greed - what is your cause/action tonight?

Lighting the Chanukah candles, like with most candles, is about as close as we get to magic: something actually happens and the light in the room really changes. Especially if one makes sure to turn off the lights. While the actual moment of lighting is not the best moment for serious reflection - the 30 min. or so that follow the lighting are ripe for the picking of serious focus, if brief.

http://amichai.me/eight-vs-hatechanukah-2011-occupy-darkness.html

FIRST NIGHT of EIGHT VS. HATE - OCCUPY INDIGNITY

2011-12-20T20:53:00.001-05:00

Lit the first night of Chanukah tonight at the Educational Alliance's Weinberg Nursing Home in the East Village - Russian-Jewish, Chinese- American seniors - and a bunch of families celebrating a B Mitzvah with Storahtelling in the next year. We sang in Hebrew, English, Russian, Yiddish and two dialects of Chinese. Tonight's version of Chanukah was about all people seeking freedom and dignity - all over the world and at all times.

Tonight's intention - be each other's light at the end of the tunnel - combat loneliness and what is so often the lack of dignity of old age in our culture.

My charity of choice tonight: my friends at The Educational Alliance - a non-profit org. restoring people's dignity all over downtown NYC for over 100 years.

http://www.edalliance.org/

$18. Here we go. My little gIft to agents of light each night.

Match me. What's YOUR cause to occupy darkness of dignity worldwide tonight?

One more candle lighting to go in Brooklyn...

EIGHT VS. HATE/CHANUKAH 2011/ Occupy Darkness

2011-12-20T20:39:00.001-05:00

It starts tonight.I’d like to invite you to join me, on each of the upcoming eight nights of lights, for a simple intention:With each of our lights let‘s offer each other a light at the end of a tunnel,  a ray of hope.Each night, starting tonight, I will post a specific intention for the lighting of the candles and invite your conversation.
Each night offers an opportunity for focus on one form of darkness that we may want to name – and do something about.Imagine this intention as one that can accompany your lighting of the candles, privately, or in conversation with others.The goal is to make more meaning of this sacred ritual, rededicating ourselves each night to bringing on more light, with clearer focus and intention.Scroll down for WHY, HOW,  list of eight intentions, sources and links to real actionTo Light!
Amichai
WHY:Candles are the oldest physical – metaphysical technology we got.
The lighting of the candles of Chanukah is about the power of light to diminish darkness.
Darkness has many faces: terror, tyranny, anxiety, depression, despair, illness, poverty, hatred, discrimination,violence, loneliness. Tunnels of darkness.
Chanukah candles are lit publicly, for all to see and remember the power of the possible.
The role of the candles is to remind us to turn on the lights for each other, to be each others’ ray in the dark. a light unto others.
Candles are public smiles.  a single candle defeats darkness with ease just as simple acts of kindness can do so much to
alleviate hatred. The way a smile lights up a face.
HOW: 1. Each night, light. From one to eight candles or the other way around.
(For basics refresher : How to Light Your Menorah )
2. Once the candles have been lit, take a moment to think of a specific darkness you want to  focus on. (see one list below)
3. What can you do about it?  See list of links below to chanukah and social justice activism, ideas, programs and opportunities 
Consider: An intention, conversation, phone call, email, hug, donation, public call to action.
4. Occupy darkness. discuss, but don’t stay there. It’s a holiday. move on to focus on how the light can change.
5. Repeat eight nights.
MY LIST OF INTENTIONS 2011 (subject to change)
  Night 1: The Darkness of Dignity: human rights, human dignity and freedom – where is the darkness that troubles me? who are the sources of light? how can I help?  
Night 2: The Darkness of Greed: In this climate of calling for more economic justice – what do I recognize as the darkness, sources of light, and how can I help?Night 3: The Darkness of Disease: What darkness related to health is on my mind tonight? in my heart? What can I do to help?Night  4: The Darkness of Love:  When intimacy and love and relationships and sex go wrong – where in my life? where is the light switch.Night 5: The Darkness of Literacy: What forms of educational darkness do you recognize, and what can you do to help repair?Night 6: The Darkness of Rage:  Have I come close to violence, abuse, hostilities? In my own behaviour or those I know. What can be helpful to diminish these rages in the world?Night 7: The Darkness of Direction: Who are our leaders and where are we in the dark? Whom can we support?
Night 8:The Darkness of Soul:  How have so many of our sacred traditions and religious paths become shrouded with dark rags of rage and righteousness? How can we help restore the spirit? 
 
Occupy Darkness – online links
 (thank you Dara Kessler for putting this together. Got more? Please share!)

AJWS Chag v’Chesed
AJWS From the Sources
AJWS Got Gelt
Ikar An Enlightened Chanukah 5769
Meditations for Chanukah 5772 Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, Evanston, IL
Rabbi Michael Lerner:  Occupy Hanukkah and Christmas
Sustaining the Light a Social Justice Program for Chanukah
Make this a real season of change. occupy darkness. turn on the lights. 

Personal Renewal in a Conservative Synagogue in the Midwest

2011-11-08T15:57:00.002-05:00

Storahtelling at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, MI
by Jake Goodman

Emily Warshaw and I just got back from a mega-Storahtelling weekend at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, Michigan. In just over 48 hours, we presented a whopping six Storahtelling programs: Setting the Stage, Like a Prayer, a Maven Torah Reading Ritual about Parshat Lech L'cha called "Sister Act," a Havdallah ritual (in collaboration with their fab Hazzan Dan Gross and Rabbi Rachel Shere), a mini-Maven and an educators' workshop called Meet the Maven. I suppose it was intense, but it was also reenergizing to me in that this hamish, passionate community near Detroit reminded me how important Storahtelling's work is, and how much it can touch people.

After performing "Sister Act" on Shabbat morning, congregants spoke to us about how meaningful and "utterly transformational" the Maven Torah Reading experience was for them. Without any cues from us, one congregant spoke of how inspired he was, and how we provided "access" to Torah stories, for kids and adults, in ways that he had never seen. (One aspect of Storahtelling's mission is to "make ancient stories and traditions accessible to new generations," so the fact that the first thing he mentioned was about experiencing "access" to the stories was...rewarding and fulfilling to me!). Another man saw our Maven in one service and then went to a different service where the rabbi was giving a sermon on the whole of Lech L'cha (if you can believe it), and he reported back that, as he listened, he visualized our telling of the tale as the rabbi was speaking and it was infinitely richer. A pre-Bat Mitzvah girl told her parents that she wanted Storahtelling to train her for her Bat Mitzvah. Clergy, educators and congregants all spoke about wanting something this transformative in their community on a regular basis.

There are so many individual stories to tell, but I'll just leave off by saying that it takes a lot of work to prepare a weekend like this. I've been doing Storahtelling for awhile now. While I always believe in the mission, sometimes it cannot help but feel like just another job. This weekend reminded me that, no, our job is to try to change lives through this sacred technology of translation. Our aims are very high and, while Emily and I were certainly not perfect this weekend, I do think we were successful. And I do want to do it again. I do want to continue being in the business of providing access to meaning - especially when I get to do it with such an extraordinary community.

Speaking of which.... I am so grateful to Elissa Berg (Director of Education), Rabbi Bergman, Rabbi Shere, Hazzan Gross, Jodi Gross, all the educators - and the entire Adat Shalom community. (Meeting Rabbi Jason & Elissa Miller was an added bonus.) They really do make up a special, warm, intelligent, dedicated community.

Please read Rabbi Jason Miller's blog about Storahtelling's visit to Congregation Adat Shalom.

PREPENT5772 DAY FORTY WHERE ARE YOU, NOW?

2011-10-11T17:56:00.001-04:00

40/40

This is the last day of this PREPENT journey. The mountain has been
climbed, declimbed and goal achieved: I found more focus, entered the
new year with more clarity, intention, presence of heart and mind, and
more in the body. Check! I'm pleased and proud, and relieved.

Where am I now?
At home in NYC, sitting at my desk, in between building a succah in
the backyard, doing homework for school and getting ready for the rest
of the year.

40 days ago I was in love and in the beginning of what seemed like a
serious relationship but now it's clearly over and the heart is
mending. Lots to learn here.

37 days ago I started Rabbinical School. Going strong.

35 days ago I stopped eating meat and converted to pesactrian - still
happening. Weight lost, feeling's great.

27 days ago Wall St became occupied. Getting bigger.

18 days ago I got an Ipad. Easier on the commute to school.

14 days ago the new year began.

Today, I am here now. Grateful, a little gassy, super busy, but
feeling grounded and ready for the year. I think this PREPENT process
helps. I have no idea if anybody read each day or even many of them
(will you please let me know? thanks! your feedback really means so
much!!) but I'm glad I did it for me. Had there not been the public
duty I would have likely cut out earlier or missed a day or two. Thank
you all, for the encouragement, comments and support. I am so glad
this was helpful to others on the path.

so, to close -

Here is what I wrote 40 days ago, in the first post:

"Ayeka - Where are you?

On a blank screen or a sheet of paper, or anywhere and anyway you’d
like – ask yourself this ancient question and listen to what your soul
says and what is the one primary task ahead of you this year. The
journey begins, like all journeys, with a finger pointing at the map:
’you are here now.”

The 40 days are up, the journey begins, again, right now, with a
finger pointing at the map - where am I now - and where am I going?

See you there.

Shana Tova. Over and out.

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTY NINE WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

2011-10-10T17:54:00.001-04:00

39/40

A. asked me an excellent question this morning: 'did you learn anything from your PREPENT process'?

I had to pause.

I guess that if one takes 40 days to explore 40 ways in which more focus can be be found, clarity of intention is cultivated and a year is launched into being with attention to detail - learning SHOULD happen, in, at least some way. Otherwise, it's just mental masturbation. But the learning only happens when we really stop to listen to what we now know, or feel, and how it may be different, even with changes as subtle as smiles.

With one more day to go, with careful time for closure, this is the time to ask this question - as one asks a kid who comes back from school: what did you learn today?

So during this year's PREPENT journey:

I learned to take things slower, much slower, lower expectations, reduce speed, esp. with romance. patience.

I learned, yet again, to be less dependent on love/feedback from others and feel good about my own achievements. self love.

And I learned that there is a pattern to my failures, becoming more obvious as I take the time to analyze each painful fragment of collapse. Walk in another street, avoid the same pitfalls.

And I learned that I can survive heartache. have faith.

None of these are new lessons yet each of them is back for more. I guess it's what I have to learn this year, and what is on my plate as I begin this year of new beginning and intentions.

I know that there are some of you are reading this - have been reading this - and THANK YOU to those of you who wrote, responded, shared intimate learning and thoughts. I invite you to wrap it with me - with a list of three things you learned from this season of atonement, these 40 days of focus-finding and perfection of self.

Every thing I need to know I already learned in kindergarten, and even then, when I came home, it was hard to answer the question 'what did you learn today'.

But I'm not a toddler anymore. And I take responsibility for my own good time, and my own hard earned learning, never, I hope, taken for granted.

what did I learn and how can this make me live better?

One day to go.

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTY EIGHT NOW WHAT?

2011-10-09T16:04:00.001-04:00

38/40

The day after anything significant and anticipated is a delicate day, a decompressing zone. I don't get to be in those places too long usually, the next thing comes and grabs my attention. So it's good to pause. Worked hard and long to get here - yom kippur - 37 days in preparation, as 'soon' ' becomes 'now' and then becomes 'then'. A powerful, emotional experience, many tears, deep prayers, beautiful singing, promises made, time for real reflections: deadline met - success! atonement! shofar blast! eat something!

Now what?

how does a spiritual experience translate into a spiritual - aware and conscious - life?

what of the new promises and resolutions and responsibilities - how do I retain, remain connected to the urgency and depth of the commitment to change that I, with so many others, took on this yom kippur, just yesterday?

intentions fade so fast.

Jack Kornfiled wrote this great book "After the Ecstasy,Laundry" - all about the spiritual path and the little ways of cultivating awareness on both the holy days and the simple days of our lives. He writes about the wisdom of small goals, doable, simple every day moments of intentional awareness.

Maybe the challenge is not to ask now what but to just imbue each 'now' with a very clear 'what'.

The day after yom kippur, with some definite ecstatic moments, I am indeed doing laundry. quiet time to decompress.

But then later I'm also starting to build a succa in my backyard. Just got the lumber. The day after is also the day of prep for next. in a good way.

There's this Jewish custom to start building the succah right after Yom Kippur - as soon as you've broken your fast. I remember Yom Kippur nights in Jerusalem, where within hours of the fast's end you'd hear hammers and aluminum pipes dragged out of storage, late into the night.

From one religious experience to another, from one symbol to another in this replayed drama of the soul's growth, each season and year, from the courtroom of kippur to the cozy womb of succot, into the shelter of peace.

Whoever came up with this custom knew something about the 'day after syndrome' and introduced a transformational therapeutic way to channel the powerful energy of kippur into the rest of our lives - build something. A way to make sure a spiritual experience is in some way grounded in the cultivation of a spiritual life.

Building a succah - a glorified dining room, really - is a commitment to starting this new year of a spiritual life with the friends and allies we want around the table. It's a good thing to build.

In the now what of post kippur is a process of reckoning and wrapping up, reviewing goals I set out for myself during this prepent journey to the high holidays- commitments, questions, regrets, changes. Got three days to complete a 40 day pilgrimage, and build another succah and another year, a better model even yet.

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTY SEVEN DO YOU LOVE?

2011-10-08T07:58:00.001-04:00

Today is the day of at-one-ment.

we live it with silence, self control, sacred words, soul songs, tears, smiles, moments of true reflection.

Barefoot, famished, rehearsing our grand departure from this flesh filled living, wearing shroud-like whites we take the time to highlight, delete, restart our lives.

We ask for change. We stand alone, all together. It is a rare treat.

Every relationship needs this reminder of why it even matters. Romance must be rekindled. So must our love of self. Of others.

Today is about that. In the mythic liturgy the High Priest enters the holy of holies today, only once a year. That's what love is about, when truly entered, a holy of holies, an intimacy within intimacy. Not just once a year.

Yesterday on the street I first noticed one sticker on a wall - it read 'Love Me'. An hour later there was another sticker: "Love Yourself".

Just add a question mark to these two statements and there's today's questions, task and mission. Do I love?

May this day bring clarity and focus and more love - to ourselves and to all around us.

Easy and beautiful day. Meet you in the pages of book of love.

See the full gallery on Posterous

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTY SIX HUNGRY??

2011-10-07T11:39:00.001-04:00

36/40

Oh how we say words we don't really mean.

'im starving' is one of those easily tossed expressions, right there with 'love you' and 'whatever'.

It's not that big of a deal, but when there is real hunger in the world and we just skipped lunch - we are guilty of excess, almost dishonesty. Can we make sure that comes out of our mouth is as wholesome and intentional as what goes into our mouth?

There is real hunger within us, real starvation - for meaning.

"We need to declare a moratorium on old, hallowed, and overused words: a linguistic fast... Paul Tillich, the Protestant theologian, said that the great words - faith, hope, love, grace, sin and salvation - sometimes become so trivialized and degraded that we need to cease using them for a generation." (Sam Keen)

Yes to the more attention to what we say, and how and what we eat. More control on mouth traffic this coming year.

This is the busy day in prep for the big day - but it's a big day on its count - the day of finishing unfinished business, and the day of the feast that leads to the fast.

In chadisic traditions, the eating before the fast is the most important meal of the year. "With the intentional eating on the ninth day of Tishrei" wrote the Sfat Emet back in Poland in the late 19th century, "we fix all the unintentional eating of the entire previous year."

Fast food, like quick txt messages gets the job done but is low on nutrients. Quick eating - at the desk, on the train, standing up in the kitchen, 'grabbing a bite' is sometimes fun and delicious and all we can handle - but when it becomes a regular habit we are depriving our souls and bodies of true nourishment.

Let alone eating all kinds of crap.

So today's intention, in prep for the fast, is focus on the feast. I started this PREPENT journey with a commitment to more healthy eating and so glad and proud to report that it's going great. For the last six days I've eaten nothing but raw fruits and veggies, I think this detox is helping coz my energy is good and I must have lost a couple of pounds. Today's pre fast feast is going to be pomegranate, and mango and maybe some greens. The breakfast is going to be apples. with honey.

It's not just the what - it's mostly the how.

Prepare for the new year with good intention, more slow, more focus, more love of self, more feast, more in the here and now.

delicious feast, easy fast.

Gmar Tov.

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTY FIVE PAPA CAN YOU HEAR ME?

2011-10-06T15:11:00.001-04:00

35/40

"Nothing shapes our lives so much as the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never dream of asking. " (Sam Keen)

Steve Jobs, of blessed memory, asked hard questions, challenged the accepted norms and created a new universal language fusing art and science, transforming the way we live. I watched an interview with him once where he said that he only had one question 'how can this be better'?

Great leaders know how to challenge their communities, asking hard questions that change the collective narrative, sometimes for better sometimes for worse.

Reflective thinkers take time to ask themselves questions that are equally important to their inner lives and growth.

One day to go before the feast and the fast of kippur, and another chance to pause and ponder the questions that guide this journey, which is almost over: How's life? why am I writing (or reading) this? how can I make life better - for me and all around me? what do I need to learn? and finally, how do I take these high and holy days and make them truly transformational, meaningful, real?

This PREPENT process is all about asking real questions. The answers matter less. At its core, this process of teshuva is all about the courage to challenge the status quo and ask hard questions. Teshuva means 'return' or 'reply' - but first must come the questions, honest and demanding.

In "The Absence of God", the book by Sam Keen that I've been reading during this journey and quoting from, he writes about the importance of questions. Reading it this morning, on the subway to school, I underlined a passage and added a note:

"The men and women who made an enduring mark in history ignored the accepted worldviews, values, and myths of their time and chose to pursue their own answers to their deepest questions.Here's a random sample.

How we can put an end to suffering? - Buddha

What is eternal and unchanging? - Plato

Of what may I be certain? - Descartes

Why were men born free but are everywhere in chains? -- Karl Marx

What is the meaning of dreams? - Sigmund Freud

How is a woman unlike a man? -- Betty Friedan"

And I add my question - "papa, can you hear me?"

Not just coz it's Barbara singing, as Yentel, in the over the top super kitschy final scene of the movie, but also because somehow, for me, this question is a deep yearning for what's beyond the here and now.

All of our liturgy can be found here.

Any body out there? Is there rhyme or reason? Can I find comfort and guidance in the quiet place inside my heart where, maybe, the divine is present?

What is the one question with which you will enter this day of atonement?

Perhaps teshuva - the process of finding answers to our greatest questions can happen only we are willing to risk the questions that define our lives, regardless of the outcome?

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTY FOUR THE G SPOT?

2011-10-05T21:58:00.001-04:00

34/40
"We who have been unsatisfied by any traditional religion have spentour lives in quest of a rose, but the closest we ever get is entering a room still redolent with the scent of a rose that was removed before we arrived."

It's unavoidable: the god factor, yes or no or other or what? Yom
kippur is here again and this prepent process, almost over, sends me
back again to probe the big one: does god matter? (and does the no
capital G use matter?)

I'm pretty sure that this entire repentance process can be succesfuly
completed and be totally devoid of theological land mines - virtually
god-free. We take stock of the year that was, focus on what matters to
us now and plan ahead for the future, full of high hopes. Humans
striving to do/be better.
We ask each other for forgiveness, deal with our shame, regret, rage,
responsibilities. We fast because our ancestors used to, we cry when
the liturgy rips at our heart with memory and manipulative poetry, and
god's got nothing to do with it. If we pray we use allegory,
psychological convictions, Contemplative tools. It's not about god -
Creator, source, judge or imaginary friend. If we address anything at
all in our pleas for help or rants of rage or simple thank you's it's
some vague sense of the universe, the life force, nature, or perhaps
our inner selves.

Semantics?

Over drinks a few days ago G. Asks me about god - "does faith give you
comfort"? He wants examples.

The best that I can do is tell him that yes, there is comfort here,
there is a powerful sense of being part of a plan bigger than self, a
plan that is both chaos and cosmos, random pain and intentional
pleasure, all blended up, no sense or rhyme or reason - but real and
larger than life.
I may be fooling myself but prayer helps me; at times of great need
and vast awe I reach out higher and it feels - and sometimes thinks -
important, connected, not alone.

G., ever the journalist does not relent: " do you believe in god"?

I promise him an answer after yom kippur.

And I take these remaining days of prepenting to wrap up as many
unfinished friend related tasks as possible and focus on the g spot
and my relationship with IT circa now.

What's the role of god in whatever form in your life? ( not a
rhetorical question. I'm really curious, dear readers, fellow
prepenters, do tell??)

"We who have been unsatisfied by any traditional religion have spent
our lives in quest of a rose, but the closest we ever get is entering
a room still redolent with the scent of a rose that was removed before
we arrived. We cannot easily locate God in the house of our longing,
yet we remain haunted; God's missing presence echoes throughout the
empty rooms. In the void we hear faint hymns of an ancient faith for
which we no longer have room among the endless quarks, waves and
subatomic particles identified by science. We exist in a God-shaped
vacuum. That which is no longer present (but is not completely absent)
gives shape to our aspirations and longing."

In the Absence of God, Sam Keen

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTY THREE HELP?

2011-10-04T17:46:00.001-04:00

33/40

Do you find it difficult to ask for help when you really need it? I
do. I need help to be able to ask others for help, esp. with
difficult personal stuff. This is one of my PREPENT discoveries, as I
go through this past year's inventory of actions and behaviours in my
life that need, well, help.

I can go for a long time in a strange city with a map and not ask for
directions, and finally figure it out. Asking for help can be awkward.
I am not the best fundraiser out there - even though I know it's not
about asking for help - its about inviting someone to be a partner in
a great idea. Still.
I'm getting better with those, but it's the real vulnerable sort of
asking for help that i'm focused on. The deep cry of the soul.
Where do I reach out and ask for help when I'm stuck or alone, scared,
sad or confused, or heartbroken. Who does one turn to, and how does
one ask for help when things come undone?

I count my blessings - the friends and loved ones who are there when
help is needed, and hope that I too can hear others when they ask for
help from me. At various difficult moments this past year, different
friends were there for me, helping out, helping in.

And during one of those difficult moments, alone on the street, I
asked for help from God.

Faith or not, this face of the divine or that or all, at times, on my
knees in some puddle, the reach out for help reaches far into all that
can be possibly there to make things better. It's a low place that
knows to rise and needs the help of all that is out there, in here.

A private prayer, an intimate conversation, imaginary friend, alone on
the street, plea for help in rising up, finding focus, finding love,
remaining present. Thank you. Amen.

In class today we examine liturgy and the meaning of prayers, and what
works or doesn't in public worship settings where so much intimacy is
lost. Spoke about the role of prayer in our lives - alone or with
others, why and how and what it is or is not for us. In another class
we studied a midrash about God as the collector of the broken hearted,
whose prayer for help sound sweetest.

I think about that real moment of prayer that erupted for me, out of
need, alone on the street, a need for guidance and help at large.
I think about all these high and holy days when we gather to do
together something so intimate - asking for help together, from a
grander source that we do or dont' believe in. and still.

Learning how to as for help - from friends - from myself - from the
universe - is, for me, still an important lesson in learning. This
period of reflection helps me focus on that, and the experience of the
public prayers, so intense, these high holidays - adds a serious spin.
a lot to work on. I'll need some help.. and I'll hope to know how to
simply ask for it.

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTY TWO TIME OUT?

2011-10-03T15:05:00.001-04:00

It's business as usual at school, homework and tasks and fall to-do's, all the accumulated emails of work and such, and in the middle of all this life - who's got time to do this sacred inner work and truly prep for Yom Kippur?

Need a time out? Could you use a retreat from the distractions of this overburdened style of life and make room for quiet self examination? Not the time out of errant children, not exactly - more like the time out of errant grown up who choose to take the time alone and figure it out - what can be done better?

Need it?

I do. Even this PREPENT blog has become a 'to do' task, and the original flavor almost lost inside the mechanics of daily obligation and the looming deadline, real or not.

So here's my re dedication to a daily practice, just FIVE minutes, morning or night, quietly, alone, reflection, time out, check in - at least through the end of this 40 day process, till some more focus is found. It's easy to lose sight of the goal so close to the finishing line, but I think this is where I need it most - the boost, the reminder, the time alone to process and prepare.

My friend and teacher David Wolkin shared with me a 5 step exercise for making more of these ten days of return - a time out for reflection, a reality check:

Imagine if you had to spend 10 days in a room confronted with all of your sins/mistakes/wrongdoings of the past year:

Read David's full text on his blog here: http://wolkin.com/2010/09/1270/rosh-hashanah-has-nothing-to-do-with-comics/

and see the basic 5 questions below:

1. What would that room look like? How big would it be?

2. Who or what would be in this room? Would there mostly be people in that room? Actions? Thoughts? Decisions? Ideas?

3. What what you say to them/what would they say to you?

4. What would it feel like to spend 10 days in there? Could you handle it?

5. What would you do with the time that you had in there? What would you address first, last?

So many ways to check in and make time out work for our souls. I hope this is helpful.

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTY ONE DETOX?

2011-10-02T18:15:00.001-04:00

31/40

Feeling good in your skin? in the body? I am feeling physically better than I have in a long time mostly thanks to the now 30 days long pescatarian diet - but still feel the need to cleanse - body and soul. Detox time.

This prepent 40 day process ends with the Kippur 24 hour fast - a cleanse for body and soul, a focused meditation on craving and discipline. I think I need a longer version this year. Starting today, thanks to Shira, I'm on a seven day raw fruit and veggie detox diet. It will end as I break the fast on Yom Kippur, probably on a mango. (ok, and then a single malt)

I want to lose the weight of the rage, the heavy fear, the terrible loneliness that tags along to the lack of faith that it will be ok when my heart mends and I don't feel so lonely and left behind. I want to use these last ten days of teshuva, this manipulated return process to the max. Sins are sometimes vague and repentance a big word - this feels simple and grounded in truth - purify, clean, shed.

I want more clarity of gut feelings, a plumbing job for all that is stuck.

I started this PREPENT period thirty days ago with the very least intention of change in the form of nutrition upgrade. I took on a healthier breakfast, a pesactarian diet and more home cooked meals. Check on all three.

I'm pleased to be still on this wagon - but I want also to bring into this journey the awareness of the emotional baggage that has made these days of reckoning so much more meaningful and dreadful than ever before. Eyes wide open to the pain of disappointment and the fears of being alone.

If any of you reading this feels like this is remotely interesting - find your own way to focus on food this week, on detox (coffee?) or cleansing in some way the balances mind and body and soul.

There's this beautiful liturgy for these days: "The soul is yours, and the body is your creation - have pity on all this creation. "

So, detox. simplicity. a harsh, limiting, disciplined matter of self control. One week. Go.

What should young people do with their lives today? .. the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured - Kurt Vonnegut

I know what Vonnegut is talking about - we all do. Sooner or later we all expeirence terrible lonelienss, for longer or less. Dealing with loneliness - in ourselves and in the lives of others - is a big part of what our culture is about, for better or worse.

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTY IS IT WORTH IT?

2011-10-01T23:50:00.001-04:00

I didn't get arrested, but it was close. Truth is, I didn't want to. This fight is right - but not all fights are worth the price of freedom - not for everyone, not always.

what would you go to jail for, today? what fight? if any?

Down at the Wall St. protests today, there to show support and solidarity with the anti corporate greed movement, he winds turned cold quickly and the march on the Brooklyn bridge gets wild and before we know it there is confusion and commotion and people get pushed and there's yelling and shoving and I find myself out of there before I know it. The friends I came with are split up. Some stay. we all txt to confirm ok. none that we knew then get arrested - and I decide to leave right away. Can't handle the heat and tension and the noise. Sorry. Been there, done that, not today. I hail my friends who are out there, fighting, reporting, passionate, tireless.

I ended up walking alone for several hours, thinking about what it means to be part of a movement, or a march or a nascent budding moment, like drops of water in a wave, and then what does it mean to separate from 'it' as the wave crashes and become - wanting to or not - what we are - I am - ultimately about at the end of the day - alone.

It doesn't help that the rain came and the first real chill of winter in the air.

The moody lighting of a fading Sabbath sun, sometimes romantic, sometimes mysterious, today was a picture of Gothic gloom.

It did help that in the context of these days of prepenting I had a framework with which to process this emotional street scene, so different than the summer protests I was part of in Israel this past summer - such a different sense of 'we'.

Embrace the aimless walking, the slow pace, the temporarily-no-obligation-to-anybody-else situation that you are now in, I say to myself, somewhere between Chinatown and Nolita and I start walking even slower, umbrella in hand, and think about what's worth it in my life - what would do I go to jail for? what would be worth it that much? What change would I fight for with as much energy and determination as to risk my freedom? - this which I have right now as I walk here, totally free to be whatever I want and make every decision?

Being part of a 'we' - from a couple to a nation, will always restructure the sense of the 'me', of what it means to be an individual - of how it feels to sometimes feel alone. So much of our social structures are built around this notion of support systems so that we are not alone.

but at the end of the day, aren't we always?

A question with which to go to sleep, on a rainy night, privileged, dry, home, and safe, and alone, and free.

is THIS worth it?

ten days to go, finding focus, clarity, within.

PREPENT5772 DAY TWENTY NINE DID YOU SAY THANK YOU?

2011-09-30T11:59:00.001-04:00

Kids get that line a lot, a cultivation of good manners: did you say thank you? Grown ups, it is presumed, oddly, remember to pause and thank - a compliment, a gesture, gift, favor from friend or stranger or host or lord of hosts. But grown ups too can benefit from such reminders. I know I can. On this second day of a new year - a focused pause to make a list of thank you's. to focus on what is.

And not just pause and thank for the good stuff - also pause and say thank you for the hard stuff - the hard lessons, harsh truths, slaps and surprises, critical words and act of betrayal and transgressions: how else would we grow.

On the river yesterday, discarding the crumbs of the past into the world, the kids learn how to make little balls from bread and aim into the water as they shout 'goodbye!' and 'thanks!' and 'shana tova!'

thanks for all the kicking and screaming? yes. 'one must bless the hardship just as one blessed the goodness' said Rabbi Meir back in the dark days of the Talmud, during one of the revolts. There is this way of cultivating gratitude for all that is, and was, sweet and bitter both, honey and onion. Lofty goal - be grateful for all.

Out of the blue, in the midst of crumb throwing, one of the kids turns to me and says 'Thank you for my gift! - six hours after getting it. Never too late to melt some one's heart with joy with a sincere thanks for anything or nothing at all. Great way to start a year.

Many Thanks.

Shabbat Shalom.

To a sweet year, honey, and onions. and more.

PREPENT5772 DAY TWENTY EIGHT TRASH?

2011-09-29T08:30:00.001-04:00

28/40

boker tov. shana tova!

New contact lenses in my eyes this morning. Out with the old, flush.

It's a day of replacing old with new, long live the next.

It begins grey today, this new year, thunderstorms expected, rain water coming down from above to meld in nicely with the tears coming down below. I don't know about you but I do get emotional on these days, a lot. Last night, at our beautiful prayers in City Winery, I basically started tearing from the moment the first chord was played, all the way to the end. It felt good, cleansing, releasing, letting some of the pent up emotions go.

The first day of the new year is about that. Letting go. That's why in the afternoon we go down to the river to shed away the year - not sins exactly, despite the popular belief, but simply, the symbolic trash of our lives. Breadcrumbs are the leftovers of our feasts, the memory of hunger, for more. Each crumb is emotion, hope, regret, mistake, rage, yearning, wrong.

Imagine the flight attendant walking up the aisle with a big plastic bag 'may I take your trash?'

it's the river speaking, the waters of the world, taking our trash, recycling bread crumbs into fish food, into nutrition that will enter our systems and so again.

The mere act of not just handing the trash over but flinging it, perfect throw, into the water, activates some distant memory of active loss - of determined shedding, of the will to lose this psychic weight and commit to better, lighter, more focused.

The actual walk to the water - an ancient, pagan, nature driven ritual taking us to the boundary between culture and nature, city and wild, human and beyond. Down to the river, down to where everything begins.

Like tress in this season of fall, we let our leaves go. Others will grow. And they too will gather. I am the tree, not these leaves, and maybe, maybe not even the tress, just the idea of a being in a bigger dream, inside a river, a single tear drop or a wave crashing into a shore, strewn with the crumbs of the past?

Trash? Shed.

Tashlich today at a river near you. (Join me south of Spring St. and the Hudson at about 2pm, rain or shine)

Shed bread. shed tears. Let it go. Start again.

Shana Tova. Enter in Peace.

PREPENT5772 DAY TWENTY SEVEN FORGIVE?

2011-09-28T14:10:00.001-04:00

27/40

'I'm sorry' S. said. I believe it. But can I, truly, say "I forgive you?" the most I could - can - say is " I understand'. I can't even say it's OK. It's not. Not yet.

But today is the day of forgiveness - an extra effort at cleaning up the psychic debris, tying up loose ends.

I want to forgive the hurt. I want to let it go.To open up the options of release, let go of resentment and pain that gets trapped inside when we don't have the words to express raw emotions and hard truths.

If not fully from the heart - at least in words, in some formulas of release that will help me find more focus, balance, peace.

"Forgiveness is the final form of love." said Reinhold Niebuhr.

I want to forgive myself for all the stupid stuff and waste of time and worse. forgive myself for not being more careful, more patient, more kind.

I want to forgive those at whom I'm mad, and hurt by, and haven't for what ever reason confronted yet.

I want to ask forgiveness from those whom I've hurt this past year, in any form, whether I know it or not.

I want to enter the year with these intentions, even if they are far from being completed. I want to pray for the ability to have more room for forgiveness in my life, and more of it on the planet, in each heart.

In orthodox circles there is a ritual that happens around mid-day today - rosh hashana eve: its the preview of Kol Nidrei - a private, at home, 'annulment of vows' ceremony. In small groups of three, people gather (it's not co-ed, but women do this too) and recite the 'release from vows' formula, serving as each other's witnesses. The release from vows is one way to ritualize forgiveness, letting go. There are others. Find yours.

See link to the full text of ANNULMENT OF VOWS here:

release of vows ceremony

Enter in peace. Shana Tova.

PREPENT5772 DAY TWENTY SIX LOOSE ENDS

2011-09-27T17:16:00.001-04:00

26/40

The fringes on my prayer shawl are frayed and coming undone. I bought a new set of linen fringes many months ago, with the intention of replacing the fringes - like strings on a guitar - before the New Year. Deadline. A perfect moment for tying loose ends, completing at least a token of my many goals and intentions this past year.

The last night of a year is a night of completion. Like before going on a long journey, tying up loose ends. There's already cooking going on for tomorrow night's dinners, and outfits planned and prepared, and a barrage of emails with the latest in clever shanatova vids - the eyes are on the future. But tonight is one last check out on the past: 5771 is now becoming year filed under 'history'.

I want to take a few minutes to sit quietly and think of 5 big moments from this last year, 5 postcards, whatever the memory drudges out, and list them, and note, and learn and reflect and thank and file and save and close and move on.

And after that I want to wrap up another procrastination or two, send out a few of those long overdue draft emails, make that overdue phone call , deal with two debts. Take the time to honor time and the boundaries and benchmarks that are these high and holy days and just get stuff done. Tonight. Deadlines.

Not everything can be completed tonight, last night of year or not. Things break and it's never clean and clear and cut in life - frayed, loose ends of conversations and dreams, goals and desires and failures and triumphs, lots of unfinished business - we carry it all across the threshold of time with us, more to do and perfect and change in the coming year. There are always loose ends, and not all can be attended to - physically, emotionally - perhaps not possible, perhaps not now.

But still, in some symbolic, elusive mythic way, some sort of personal, private closure, slate cleaning, completion and gratitude for the year that was, for our own survival for another whole year! - seems an appropriate gesture for the night. It feels like an act of kindness.

Maybe in some way, when we wish each other shana tova we don't just make a wish for the future - but also celebrate - despite it all - our past?

Shana Tova.

PREPENT5772 DAY TWENTY FIVE WHERE DOES IT HURT?

2011-09-26T14:12:00.001-04:00

Day 25/40

I just checked into 'the heartbreak hotel', far away from Graceland but maybe not that far from grace. Been here before, may be here again, and, surprise, I am here now, disappointed and bitter and taking it one day at a time. Deep breaths. Deal now, heal later, and maybe figure out what the hell went wrong and what I can do to feel better and avoid this, if possible, from happening again. Is that even possible?

What's astonishing about heartaches of all kinds is that they actually do hurt more or less vicinity of the physical heart. I don't know the medical data but I have no doubt that a great many of our physical ills - including the high rate of heart attacks in the West - are deeply connected to our emotional dis-ease and reflect the hurts, and pains and disappointments that are part of our human diet and modern social reality. So much loneliness and sadness and rage and quiet despair.

With two days to go before the new year begins ( I know, GREAT timing) and this PREPENT process under way, my reflection today is on what hurts, and where, and maybe, why.

And here's what to do with it:

Collect the hurting, the places of pain, list them, name them, thank them, own them - and ask for help in releasing them back into the world. Every pain is a scar - and scars don't vanish - but with time, they hurt less. Nature helps out.

I don't know who's reading this but I'm pretty sure that being human means collecting scars of all sizes, and hurts of all kinds.

So to my friends who are reading this I want to suggest that we take comfort in knowing that we are all, in some way, hurting, and that there are, in some way, methods to help us get over it, get better and stronger.

And one of those ways is asking for help. I don't just mean therapy or a friend with whom to confide, scream, cry and dream. Those are terribly important and I'm grateful for mine. I'm talking about talking with God. If there's ever a time when a one on one conversation is due is when the poop hits the fan and we need answers or at least the excuse to melt down and belt out our woe and needs and pleads and highest hopes. It may just be a glorified and often cheaper form of therapy but I want to suggest that finding comfort in conversation with the unknowable creator with the specific focus of asking for help can be helpful. Not that it takes us off the hook - on the contrary. I take it on myself to do the work (which is what true love and relationship is always about anyway) and commit to being here, ready for the next attempt at love. But I'm not alone, and I can't do it alone, and there is some force in the universe, call it what you want, that is in favor of things working out for the best and happiest and is a source of comfort. I think. Maybe. I hope so anyway. One of my favorite lines from the psalms is "GOD HEALS THE BROKEN HEARTED AND BINDS THEIR WOUNDS".

Perhaps it is just about the process of articulating our needs and fears and hurts and perhaps there is nobody out there listening and helping - but even that is a good start - the mere act of conversation, release. So with a heart aching I am getting more prepared for the prayers and liturgies and sweetness (which right now makes me want to vomit) of the holiday, taking stock of all that is hurting in my personal archive - determined to not wallow but move ahead, kinder, stronger, ready for more.

Poetry, the noble form of prayer, helps a lot too. Here's one of my favorite heartache poems, by the grand lover of soul, Rumi:

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

I'm on PBS's short list of NYC’s Hippest Rabbis for the High Holidays. Ha.

2011-09-26T11:36:00.001-04:00

Check it out: Too Cool for Shul?: High Holidays with NYC's Hippest Rabbis:

channel 13's metrofocus on the high-holidays

Join me for Storahtelling's High Holidays 5772 at City Winery

PREPENT5772 DAY TWENTY FOUR RETAIL THERAPY?

2011-09-25T15:45:00.001-04:00

24/40

Attention shoppers: ready for the holidays? It's customary to start the new year with new stuff: a new flavor, fruit or delicacy for the first feast of the year, something new to wear, fresh flowers, gifts to those you love. Doesn't have to be expensive or fancy - it's about the intention. Less is more.

But this type of holiday shopping doesn't have to be just about 'stuff'. It can also be an opportunity for healing our relationship with consuming material goods and how bad that relationship sometimes becomes - excess, greed, impulse purchases that accumulate in the back of our closets, more stuff, more guilt. Can I take this time to think about being a more conscious, responsible consumer? Is there a spiritual lesson here waiting to be learned? Can this be part of our prepenting process? prep for the holiday with sacred intention - and a dash of sensible style?

My oft-morose, quite brilliant second cousin Daphne Merkin may kill me for this, but I think that in her

fabulous article in the NYT Styles Magazine published yesterday, she IS talking about the spiritual dimension of shopping. "The poetics of shopping sing out a song of eternally replenished beginnings...," she writes, describing her summer in Jerusalem, not a shopping Mecca by any means. For Merkin, this provided an opportunity for reflection on what shopping does, or could mean, to the individual in search of reflection and personal growth, even in unlikely contexts:

" I’ve always thought that the prospect of consumption brings a flash of hope to the grayness of the daily grind even more than actually buying something does, when the possibility of disappointment sets in even as you are handing over your credit card or cash to pay for your purchase. The idea of adding something new to your repertory of belongings — be it as tiny as a modish bottle opener or as large as a cashmere winter coat — seems to suggest by some process of osmosis a change bigger than itself: Life might open up with you in possession of this new item, or you yourself might be ever so slightly revised and adopt a whole new worldview."

So. shopping? I am going for a new white shirt, maybe a tie, new plants for the garden, treats for the kids, and lots of little organic honey jars as gifts for friends. Plan ahead. Less IS more. more or less. enjoy.

PREPENT5772 DAY TWENTY THREE HAPPY YET?

2011-09-24T20:17:00.001-04:00

23/40

happy yet?

The Bar Mitzvah Boy's grandma is crying this afternoon, mascara running, as he stands up to wear his late grandpa's prayer shawl:"I couldn't be happier!", she sobs.

The boy, too, once his big performance is over and his tie is loosened is proud and pretty happy.

funny thing, happiness.

Can you remember the last time you were simply, capital H Happy? Happy enough to pause and say - yeah! I'm Happy. Not necessarily the big moments of life's transitions. Just a mundane moment of happiness?
Z. tells me of the cupcake he stopped to buy today, after a gruelling morning, took a bite, and smiled: Happy.

And I guess I'm thinking more about happiness tonight perhaps because I'm so aware of it when it's absent. Have had a few of those days now, for reasons that make me think of how and when I'm happy or not and how much this has to do with the love I get - or don't - from others, and some others more than others.

The goal is more happiness.

But what does that even mean?

Assuming that 'happily ever after' mostly works out in fairy tales, many smart people have researched the nature of happiness. just try googling 'happy.' (you'll find for instance, this quick how happy are you quiz. I scored 60%, and rather surprised myself.) One of my recent favorite books on the topic is The Happiness Project with paradoxical tips as corny and correct as "One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself."

For many observant Jews, tonight's Slichot/Forgiveness service, often held at midnight, is the official start of the High Holidays. With Rosh Hashanna less than a week away, the inner housekeeping is in full swing on day 23 of prepenting, now focusing on more of the big items on the 'make life better' list. The happiness factor is probably on most of our lists. Am I happy? How happy have I been this past year? what makes me happy, and what doesn't? what factors in my life support or don't this elusive happiness thing, and what can I do about it this coming year?

Tonight's a good night to think about this, maybe even a short writing exercise:

The short list: 5 things that make me happy and 5 things that make me unhappy.

The question: what's one thing I can change in my life that will help me be happier?

If not ever after, at least day by day?

starting, let's say, now.

PREPENT5772 DAY TWENTY TWO COM-PROMISE?

2011-09-23T12:08:00.001-04:00

Uptown at the UN they are still debating, secret talks and public
statements and no compromise. hard lines in the sand, sacred sand
hardened by too many empty words and too much fear and too much blood.
Why is compromise so hard?

Downtown, here, at home, a long painful night of conversation and hard
truths, and finally, at dawn, perhaps, a compromise.

Trying to be together, people or nations, to live, and thrive and grow
together while retaining a strong self - requires that the 'together'
is defined and redefined, again and again. Without losing sight of our
inner most needs - can we learn to also compromise - towards the
greater good that is larger than the sum of our parts?

It means to 'make a mutual promise', to 'promise together'. Why is it
do hard? What can help us negotiate our truths and needs better?

Is there one area in your life where conflict happens and compromise
could help?

I am entering this third Sabbath of this prepent period of
perfection-of-self with a promise, a com-promise, to try a together.
Outcome unknown, but intention solid.

Uptown in the UN the conflict continues. Please insert your hopes and
prayers for more compassion, courage and compromise among our leaders
and people, and each of us, for the promise of a better future, peace,
dignity, freedom, for everybody already.

amen.

shabbat shalom.

PREPENT5772 DAY TWENTY ONE ANGRY??

2011-09-22T17:55:00.001-04:00

21/40

Angry reactions to Ahmadinejad speech at the UN today, angry reactions to Obama's yesterday, online and on the streets- rage against the occupation wars of the middle east and the occupation of wall street - there's an edge in NYC today, an angry buzz. It's like everyone's playing Angry Birds...

Anger comes up all the time for everyone, everywhere - no? who doesn't need rage management? how I'm dealing -or not -with my anger says a lot about how I live my life. I'd like to deal with it better. Past mid way through this prepent journey, with the eyes on the prize of self improvement and honey cake not too far away, it's time to take out the big guns - the transgressions, public and private, that makes it to most people's 'top ten sins' list. Anger is on my list, for sure.

This morning on the subway, a heavy teen boy spreads over three seats with a big bag and legs wide open, refusing to budge, in a crowded car of cranky passengers. It's a long ride and I'm tired, and got reading to catch up on for class, and I ask him politely, but firmly, if he doesn't mind moving a bit as I sit down, and he moves an inch and glares at me, then looks away. I sit, barely, pissed off, and I almost say something nasty to this kid who is sitting so tight next to me I can actually feel his ribs breathing - but check myself at the last minute, and let it go, mostly because I'm too tired to deal with it, but also because I pause to think - who knows what his story is, what's pissing him off so much that he needs to take this space in some way place where perhaps he, sort of, can? anyway. anger averted. Not for long. An hour later, in the middle of some email exchange on some crisis I send a quick acerbic note and immediately regret it. too angry, too quick? The indignation was, I think, justified, just the tone.. so easily slips to anger, which is so harder to manage as it snowballs on.

"everyone gets ticked off all the time but we just learned how to internalize and smile our way through it," says my Talmud teacher (Mordy Schwartz) in class today, "but sooner or later it's gotta be dealt with." We're reading a Talmudic fragment

that deals with God's anger management problem and offers a solution that may just work for humans, too.

God, apparently, gets angry only once a day - for a nanosecond, early in the morning, but long enough to make things terrible for the world. Can this rage be curbed? There is a solution - hidden in a story - here's my super-short synopsis and loose adaptation: One year, during the terrible wars of Jerusalem, on Yom Kippur, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies of the Temple and saw God. "Bless me, my son", requests God, and the High Priest blesses God poetically, providing us for posterity with this elegant prayer which is actually a four-steps method for dealing with, and reducing, anger:

1. Use your will to allow compassion to overcome anger 2. Acknowledge, with compassion, all your other voices and needs 3. Deal with others with more compassion 4. go beyond strict justice in your dealings with others.

The High Priest's blessing would become, according to the sages, God's very own prayer, because God, according to their mythic imagining, has very serious anger issues, all the time. We, in the image of the divine, have the same fantastic challenge, and this fable is a reminder that the key to dealing with the anger is the balance of compassion, or kindness, or mercy, or plain good will.

Anger is essential for change - but it can channeled creatively, powerfully - not just through kickboxing or heavy metal- and sometimes into public righteous indignation and protests for progress.

My friend Justin Wedes, a local activist now down on Wall Street is one fine example of someone channeling anger into peaceful rage - non violent, armed with compassion.Justin got arrested yesterday, was released and released a powerful statement about free speech, anger free. I'm not yet sure I understand all that's going on down there yet - but I do know passion when I see it. This CALL TO ARMS video gives one peek into what's happening on Wall Street right now.

Angry? Breath. Deal. etc.

May compassion overcome anger tomorrow in the UN, and in NYC, and everywhere, if only for a moment, right now.

PREPENT5772 DAY TWENTY GOT CHANGE?

2011-09-21T14:34:00.001-04:00

20/40

It takes balls, and enough despair, to ask for money in the middle of a very crowded early morning commute subway train - and this guy had both. 7am on the uptown R train seemed way too early for these sort of social interactions - but here he was in front of me, holding a hat, looking me in the eye: 'got change?'

I did. we smiled, he thanked and moved on, leaving me with a seemingly simple question that is anything but: got change?

Change is often a stressful factor in our life and we often face the other way, hoping it will just vanish. It rarely does. These days it's looking me in the face, like this guy did.

(I know - I'm once again guilty of taking an innocent phrase from a very specific context and taking it in a different direction. Call it Midrash.) On this twentieth day of a forty days journey towards greater focus, generosity of spirit, more clarity and positive energy- this beggar/angel shows up to remind me of the core value of this process, these high and holy days: the only constant is change. got it?

Am I ready to change anything at all in my behaviour so that my life is lived better and with more integrity and wholeness? And let's say that I do 'get' the scope of changes that are needed in order to improve my life and those of the people I love and care for - how do I go about manifesting the kind of change that is sustainable and solid?

The only way to make change happen and last, I think, is by being very specific, goal oriented, and disciplined. Also - baby steps, and peer support.

(My main goal for this PREPENT period, now exactly at half-mark, remains better care of my body - through nutrition, exercise and careful time management. Midterm report? I'm still pescaterian, cultivated a good breakfast routine, cooking often at home, and feeling much better about overall nutrition and wellness. Baby steps and peer support continue to be essential ingredients. I'm not doing so great on workouts and gym. damm. School hours have been too demanding. Soon I hope to balance better. The over all goal - change how I live so that I can be a better change agent in the world. Nothing less. thanks everyone for helping me do this by reading, responding and cheering on. Hope it's helpful)

One more specific note on the concept of change: In its most literal sense the 'change' that the guy asked about this morning was not a character trait. It was loose change, coins, money, currency, what's left over from big bills, the coins we use for parking meters and cups of coffee and street charity and piggy banks, or in this case - breakfast. The little things that amount to the big stuff.

What do I do with my loose change? How often do I ignore those in my life who need help? (and with what justifications?) how can the role of money in my minutia of every day life be treated with more dignity, utmost care, responsibility, kindness?

Tonight's task: Gather up the loose coins from all over the house and get them ready for daily handout to those for whom it's no small matter. (save some quartes for laundry) Or maybe it IS time for a new and improved piggy bank that will gather up resources towards bigger goals of worth? Your call.

Count your blessings, keep the change.

PREPENT5772 DAY NINETEEN WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET?

2011-09-20T20:19:00.001-04:00

day 19/40

what's in my wallet? I found myself sitting this morning for a full
five minutes with an emptied out wallet, carefully inspecting the heap
and figuring out what of the contents need to go or require attention
and whether the wallet itself is perhaps on its way to the heap of
history.Just a tiny, private housekeeping moment, prompted by a
practical need, but, as I reflected on it later, quickly becoming part
of my PREPENT journey, an active meditation on the effectiveness of
the central finaincial tool that I use, and through that process - the
beginning of some attention and intention on the ways with which money
happens in my life and between us all and how this exchange, like my
wallet, could do a better job.

This focused wallet thinking happened, btw because of really
negligible practical problem, that nevertheless needs to be solved for
maximum elegance and efficiency in my life: This is it: as I now enter
my school building each morning at 7:45am I have to swiftly and almost
simultaneously 1. show the contents of my bag to the security officer
2. scan the id card over the scanner 3. hold on to my hot cup of tea.
and sometimes umbrella. It's a bit of a cumbersome dance, and since I
don't have another hand it requires creative adjustment. The
bottleneck is, I think, my wallet - where the ID card is stored and
takes the longest to get out, wave, return. possible solution: better
wallet. One with those flaps that just pull out with id badges.

of course cleaning out your wallet is a spiritual exercise in
cleansing: in god we trust. there's work to be done here with regard
to our financial dealings - and our fiscal containers. This too is
part of the clean-up crew for kippur.

o the spiritual/existential exercise which is basic personal banking!

what's in your wallet?

PREPENT5772 DAY EIGHTEEN SORRY?

2011-09-19T14:09:00.001-04:00

I got a lovely email this morning from Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix. It started with: "Dear Amichai, I messed up. I owe you an explanation."

I realize of course that millions of Netflix users got the same letter but I still took it personally, opened it, and read it. I think it had to do with his opening line - refreshingly honest. Or at least - compelling.

Saying sorry and taking responsibility for blame is not easy and is sometimes super hard. I'm learning how to do it better from observing the kids.

Day 18 of PREPENT wraps up a week of looking closely at the quality of relationships in my life: who is gone, and who is dear, how do i handle the social networks , whom to apologize to and where do I need to be kinder. To be on the safe side and err on the side of excess I recommend reaching out to all within the margin of doubt. If you THINK you need to have a check in with someone and apologize or request a conversation - assume you are not making it up. Just do it. (And unless you are a CEO and your screw up involves every one of your clients - I wouldn't go with the mass email approach, FYI..)

Saying sorry gets harder the longer one gets entrenched in one's position of right or wrong. Take Israel for example. Netanyahu's government continues, adamantly to refuse an apology to the Turkish government over the Flottila fiasco over a year ago. Diplomatic channels went public and sore over this issue in recent weeks. Turkish and Israeli politicians were quite clear over the issue: it's about honor and pride. Very Middle Eastern. Israel's refusal to admit that excess force was used and that other solutions could have saved lives is in line with the hard line that defines the Netanyahu/Lieberman regime. Politics aside - and I think it can sometimes be done - this is indicative of a deeply non Jewish and non humane way of dealing with one's past and one's errors. Sometimes, as a sign of strength - you gotta say 'sorry'. To refuse this is to refuse the ability to admit human nature, to block change, to dis-honor progress.

This is my personal bias of course, but as the world gets ready for whatever happens at the UN tomorrow, hopefully in the favor of more freedom and dignity to the Palestinian people - Israel's stance is on the line, including its official refusal to recognize its role in the escalating violence and terror.

The British have a soft way of asking 'sorry'? when they think they misunderstood you. I like the fact that saying 'sorry' can begin with asking 'sorry' - of one's self - where am I responsible for the difficulty? what can I do to help? and go from there. These days of Elul are all about 'slichot' - the art of saying 'sorry' - to yourself, loved ones, friends and foes alike.

Always be like a reed, and never like a cedar, wrote the sages in the Talmud. Reeds bend better with the changing winds. Thank you Reed Hastings for this reminder. (and thanks for Neflix!)

PREPENT5772 SIXTEEN AWAKE?

2011-09-17T19:57:00.001-04:00

Day 16/40

September 17, 2011

My new school life regime requires a 6am rise 4 times a week, and it's quickly become the daily norm. I still set an alarm, but hardly need it anymore and wake up just before the harp starts to gently play on my iphone. (there's a legend about King David's harp - he would hang it up in his room at a particular spot and it would catch the wind and starts playing by itself at midnight, and David would get up and play the harp and compose the psalms.)

How we wake up and how we wake up others is one of those areas that could always use some more kindness and creativity. We don't talk about it much, but my guess is we could all trade ideas and tricks for turning rude awakenings into what ever the day brings into a better crafted daily launch into what's next.

There's horrible ways to wake up. In the army they used to just turn on the fluorescent lights. I dated someone who would wake up early to AC/DC. people make odd choices when it comes to the art of crafting our jolt into awareness.

I may be making more of this than is required, but: What kind of alarm sound you choose to maximise positive morning energy is one good thing to ponder during these days of PREPENT. Am I giving myself the best tools at my disposal to enable a healthy sleep and wake up routine? and - the really big question related to waking: what's the first thing I do first thing in the morning? the first few minutes? I am going to observe for the few days ahead, note, reflect. (no judgement, but, check out: how long before digital device?)

For the spiritually minded, 'waking up' is about the soul's journey, from the dark nights of the soul to the lighter side: rising up into higher consciousness. In mystical Jewish circles this process is known as 'Hitorerut' - Waking Up - and though it is recommended for year round usage, it's on particular high gear this time of year. At the heart of the High Holy Days is the invitation for the private process of Teshuva - Return to Self. It is often referred to as an 'awaneking of the soul' - a private process of perfecting a more awake and aware existence.

Pious Jews wake up even earlier on these days of Elul and gather to chant the Slichot - hymns of forgiveness. When I walked by a synagogue yesterday I heard someone practicing the shofar. I paused to listen. If this is the time of waking up then the Shofar is the alarm clock - an ancient spiritual device, howling a hollow primal cry that sends a jolt of recognition through the body. wake up! Tomorrow - Sunday - my friends at the KIBBUTZ ART are launching a Shofar Mob all over the world - I'm taking the kids to Lincoln Center at 2:30pm, shofars in hand. Check out for a location near you: shofar flash mob

And back to the practical side: are you giving yourself enough time to wake up and get up in the morning? Gotta recalculate margins of morning emergence.

(Such as: Reb Roly invited me to join him in the Moroccan Syn. on the UWS at 6am any day of the week before Rosh Hashana - he says it's amazing - and I want to but that would mean that I have to set my electronic harp to 5am which is possible but really pious and super early. TBD. (or as the Talmud would say: Kashya: that's a hard one. TBD.)

PREPENT5772 DAY FIFTEEN DELETE CONTACT?

2011-09-16T15:26:00.001-04:00

Day 15/40

September 16, 2001

Yes. Please. Delete contact.

I threw away 1,000 business cards last night, accumulated over a decade in a big plastic folder. No offense - and I'm sure many of yours are in there, but seriously - I'm in touch with those I need to be in touch with and there's databases and address books and I have no room for this folder in my drawers and that's that.

Next on the agenda - going through my email inbox and unsubscribing from some groups that I somehow once upon a time got on. Delete. Make room for new.

PREPENT is great for taking stock of what matters most and what's gotta go. Fall cleaning. Finding focus means having to make hard decisions about choices that may not serve the new me as well as they served the old me, just this past year. Meat for instance, or a certain types of language, or some people who are no longer in my life for various reasons. Some passed on, some just slipped out of close proximity. I'm working on the list of the people I care for most and to whom I want to reach out and wish a good year - and by definition that means de-prioritizing others. It's harsh but true, and can and should be done quite privately as each of us begins the reckoning of who we are and how and why. Focus. Delete. Improve.

It can be cruel. A former lover de-friended me and must have blocked me on FB and changed email addresses and I have no way of contact. It's a rare exception and I guess it's what has to happen so that our breakup, not that long ago, is complete. But I respect his choice and I get it and I wish him all the balance and joy and love in the world. We do a lot of different things so that our souls survives - and thrives.

I'm getting ready for the third Sabbath of this prep period with fresh flowers and a cleaner home and two big bags of garbage full of past and one more trash can on my desktop - ready to go to where no files return.

delete.

Shabbat Shalom.

PREPENT5772 DAY FOURTEEN Digital Damage?

2011-09-15T20:01:00.001-04:00

14/10
sep.15.11

Anthony Wiener's wiener pic cost a career and now a tightly held
Democratic Congressional seat. It's just one sad example of a new set
of sins, crimes and social transgressions - the digital do not's.
Guilty? who's not?

Last night at dinner in some diner S. pulls out the iphone half way
through the veggie burger (still pescatarian two weeks later!) and
check out some email or txt or whatever and a full 90 seconds or
whatever later I tap, ungraciously, on the table: 'hello? do you
mind?'
OK - admit it - have you ever gone to the bathroom in the middle of a
meal with someone just to check your emails?

It's like there's this whole new human category of social sins and
transgressions. When the sages of blessed memory debated the mechanics
of repentance in Talmudic tomes they paid a lot of attention to social
sins. One cannot stand before God on Yom Kippur having not done the
hard work first with the people in your life: make emends, ask for
forgiveness, reach out to those you love, embrace the other and
commit to being a better friend, a better person. People first, then
God. Peace begins within and at home. Wise words. But could they have
imagined the number of people in one's modern digital life and the
magnitude of the modern repentance project? How many people did any of
my grandparents communicate with on a regular basis when they were my
age, back in Poland and England, London in the mid 1930's? How many
people am I contact with now, daily, in one form, tweet, txt or
another? Just the thought of a 'contacts' inventory check is
overwhelming.
This multi channeled multi social media lifestyle rocks - and this
very blog is happy proof - but it's also rocking the boat of our
already pretty fragile co-existence. Don't you think? A very partial
list of digital do-not's that have become part of our collective bad
behaviour: email addiction, tagging without asking, multi-tasking
while on a conference call, hitting 'reply all' with a really personal
note, cyber bullying, sending around youtube clips of kittens, messing
with privacy, piracy, just basic crass behaviour - please add more:

I'm taking on a 10 min. focus-thought on digital damage in my life and
if there's any intention or action required to improve.

and then I'm probably going to write it up on my iphone and blog it
out and check, too often, to read reactions, or:
not.

PREPENT5772 DAY THIRTEEN WANT TO BE ALONE?

2011-09-14T18:50:00.001-04:00

"want to be alone?" I am sitting by myself at an empty table in the
quiet JTS cafeteria, early morning pre class, cup of tea, eyes closed.
I open them - R. one of my classmates smiles, indicating an empty seat
across from me. 'actually , yes, I do - do you mind? I need some quiet
time' - I surprise myself and maybe R., with the honesty. "no
problem". He sits elsewhere, I close my eyes for another two minutes
and smile thinking about my newest resolution - more intentional alone
time.

Alone is not the same as lonely, but they are linked. I think that we
are so afraid of loneliness we hardly remember how to approach the art
of being alone.
Part of this PREPENT process for me is figuring out what I need to
improve in my life, what's gotta go, and if so - how. Day 13 is midway
on the quality of relationships in my life. And with all the balls of
obligation juggling in the air - family, home, school, work, friends -
and so little time to 'myself' - I want to focus on a healthy way of
cultivating my aloneness. I know that it is in these precious moments,
even a few, that I find my recharge and nourishment. Quality alone
time. Not easy in a wireless reality. But I have to try. I know I need
it. Even if it can sets up as an occasional sociopath.
On the subway this morning on the way to school I try: don't take out
the assigned reading, don't check emails or work on to do lists or
journal and take the time to just sit and watch and 'space out' (space
in?) I cheat half way through the R train uptown and check my inbox.
Then I repent, close my eyes for a bit, breath. When I get to school I
take those few more minutes in the cafeteria, and when I walk to class
I think - is this is the core of the experience called prayer?
Regardless of God/Faith - is the root of focus the finding/making of
alone time?

And then, surprise: The first class of the day, Bible in Context, is
about the original alone-time. Genesis 2, one of the Biblical
creation stories, sets Adam, a male, alone in the Garden of Eden,
apparently miserable. The Creator notices that something is wrong and,
for the first time in history, identifies something in creation as
'not-good'. 'It's not good that man is alone,' says God, and tries to
pair Adam with various animals. No go. Then comes the first woman.
Success. Aloneness, or perhaps loneliness - the Hebrew word Levado
could mean either, is prevented perhaps, but it remains at the core of
this primal story -and at the core of our human experience.
Loneliness will come and go, more or less, for all of us. But can we
work on the art of being alone to deal with it - and other life
lessons - better?
How do I do this? How much alone time a week, a day is good to combat
the 'not good'? how much is enough?
One good tip comes from the popular 'Artist's Way' manual for creative
living where Julia Cameron suggests the weekly 'artist date' - going
alone on some inspiring solo time for the soul.
It's been a while.. (Does gym count??)
Want/need to be alone?

PREPENT5772 Day 12 Can We Talk? tags: PREPENT 5772, Joan Rivers

2011-09-13T13:37:00.001-04:00

If you see something - say something. But sometimes it's really hard.
I've been biting my lips for the last two days: Gotta say something
important to someone special and don't know if and how. It can rock
the boat. It's my truth about what is difficult for me in our
relationship but the words are hesitant. What to say? how? when? is it
wise to get it out and try and resolve or let it go and let time
deliver the solutions?

Can we talk? It's sometimes a terrifying question. when I get asked
this I know it will lead to a 'serious' conversation that my be
painful or difficult. When I ask it of others I try to sound as
disarming as possible, and smile, but sometimes it's hard and big
issues that have to rise to the surface over-rule smiling and unwisely
over-ride taking a deep breath and trusting in the outcome and the
honesty of heart.

But there are times when the question must be asked. This period of
PREPENT is one of those times, prompting us to ask of ourselves and of
the ones in our lives and deal with the difficult places that are mute
and stuck.

Regardless of this PREPENT process or perhaps encouraged by it and
with more attention to the need to process I am determined to launch
one such conversation today - stop biting my lips. As part of this
week's focus on my 'black lists' and the people in my life I want to
make amends with and improve our relationships - it's gotta be done.

Gulp. Breath. Ask: Can we talk?

It could be an email (maybe a txt msg? maybe FB? not sure) and it's
definitely better as a conversation. you know, TALK. eye to eye. 95%
of our communication is non verbal. This is esp. important at these
serious moments of conflict resolution.

And look - humor is ESSENTIAL here. Take Joan Rivers - the queen of
'Can we talk' - here she explains how she came up with the expression.

http://tinyurl.com/joanriverscanwetalk

Can we talk?

PREPENT5772 Day ELEVEN Am I My Brother's Keeper?

2011-09-12T20:42:00.001-04:00

Day 11/40

September 12, 2011

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Christians and Jews from Union Seminary and JTS gathered this afternoon inside a sun lit chapel on the Upper West Side to mark 9/12. 9/11 is already in our vocabulary, said JTS Chancellor Arnold Eisen, who opened the ritual - It's time to work on 9/12 - the day after - the day of moving forward and healing the wounds. We are our brothers' keepers.

From back in time the hurt is hurling back at us - the first human question in the Bible - Am I My Brother's Keeper? Cain, the first killer, the first to be mortally wounded by lack of love, is watching the blood of his brother Abel spill on the earth. In response to God's question - what have you done - he recoils from responsibility - I'm no body's keeper.

But yes, he is. And yes, we are.

And most of us, like Cain are finding it hard, so hard, to rise up to the challenge of responsibility for another, for the other, not just the ones we love - but also for the ones we don't. Often our actual siblings, flesh and blood, or our lovers or children or hurt friends. And more often it is the others of whom we know nothing at all, and we are not their keepers. But yes, we are. The stranger in the subway, the victim faraway, as much as our closest friend whom we have hurt, or our parents, or ourselves.

9/12 is the 11th day of this 40 days journey to more focus, responsibility, a better life. The first ten days were a lot about our inner angst and yearnings - where we are and who we are and how we greet and what we eat. But the greater part of this PREPENT process is in considering how we are in relationships with others in our lives. Who have we hurt this past year? Who has hurt us? Where do we carry wounds and rages, and what can we do about it? How can we heal? how we can begin a new year with a cleaner slate?

I start tonight to make the black lists. Those I have hurt this past year - start with the ones I remember. There will be more lists - of those at whom I am angry, like Cain, the ones with whom I would like an eye to eye moment of acknowledgment or maybe a hug, a letting go, a moving on. a truce. a reconciliation. The lists of those to whom I need to say I'm sorry. The ones I ignored.

Not all will happen, but it starts tonight.

I know the first letter I must write tonight, to one brother, beloved, hurt: I am his keeper.

9/12 is already a special day of responsibility, a day of interdependence. Check out this brand new 4 min. short vid - a declaration of INTERDEPENDENCE, curated by my friends Tiffany Shlain and Ken Goldberg - premiered today: interdependence: the film

Are your your brother/sister's keeper?

Start your list.

PREPENT5772 Day Ten: WHO BY FIRE?

2011-09-11T22:55:00.001-04:00

10/40
September 11, 2011

Who by fire? And who by water, or by jumping, or quietly, or not.
all the old questions came back today, no new answers.

Over breakfast at a cafe on the tip of Long Island early this morning, we share stories of 'where were you that day'. On the flat screens live scenes of the ceremony downtown reveal the hypnotic immense pools of memory, and the ticker-tape roll-call of all the fallen that seems to never end. (one of us asks: how many died that day and since that day and still today, aftershocks and ripples of the terror?)
We talk, then argue about god and what it means to look or not for 'higher power' in times of crisis; we drive away in silence and I am sad and keep hearing in my head Leonard Cohen's Who by fire
and I remember how, on Yom Kippur 2001, just days after, we sang this as the sun was setting and kept on singing and it seemed to never end.

but it did end. everything does. and that's what we are so are afraid of I think - the ends. and why these rituals are so helpful to help us deal with death.
Is that what memorials are there for? tools for helping us cope with the concept of endings? Yom Kippur - a memorial in time, just as the World Trade Center is a memorial in space. Each of them like other sacred times and places invite us 'in' for a temporary meditation on the grand themes and usually avoided theme of life and death, a glimpse into our relative place on the map of history, complete with the meaning and the meaninglessness that is part of the total package.

Imagine taking a walk into the grave yard, honoring your ancestors, friends, loved ones, and checking out your own grave. Memorials in time and place are meditations on death.

Why visit the dead? enter a grave yard, fast, remember? Can these visits to the yards of graves help us better live a fuller life? I think that is the intention. All the liturgies and rituals of atonement, of these days or repenting are there to help us be more here while we are, and better at it.

Today felt like a visit to the grave-yard. a check in on the big questions, life and death stuff. what is it all about.
No big ideas, just sad and silent. a still small voice. listen to what is, think of what and who is not any more.

Who by fire? As I drove I started my mental list of this past year's beloved and departed - a list that was not as easy to compile as I would have thought and not yet completed.

I didn't leave any stones on the grave yards, but I did leave a single wooden block, an ode to that day. (scroll down to read 'still small voice' my 9/11 tribute as part of Toby Kahn's exhibit at the Educational Alliance:
embodied light 9/11 in 2011

9/11 /MY MAP
Still Small Voice
by
Amichai Lau-Lavie

(Presented as part of Embodied Light 9/11 in 2011)

There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of God; but God was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but God was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake—fire; but God was not in the fire. And after the fire—a still, small voice.
(Kings I Chapter 19)

1. I watch the 1st tower go down from my office window on the 11th floor. I think of a mastectomy. Confusion. Orders on the PA system to evacuate the building. I run down the stairs.

Location: 14th street and 8th avenue

2. I try calling P. but the cell phone doesn’t work and neither do the payphones. People are running in all directions in the middle of 14th Street. I run home, worried. Where is P.? Did he go downtown today? We parted ways only an hour or so earlier and the sky was so blue. Panic. Tears.

Location: 14th street and 6th avenue

3. A crowd gathered on the corner of 10th Street and 5th Avenue – all heads turned south. I stand there with them, looking, silent, when the 2nd Tower topples. Shrieks. But louder: Still Small Voice. People start running up the avenue, covered with ashes. I know that this is Kali’s work. The Hindu Goddess of Destruction, dear to me, whose worshippers smear the ashes of pyres on their entire bodies in awe of the power of demise. This, I know, and am terribly calmed, is a creation of Divine proportions. God is here. Still Small Voice.

Location: 10th Street and 5th Avenue

4. It’s 5pm, P. and I, and B. who ran to our house in her socks from her Tribeca apartment and a few other friends head out to Ground Zero to try and help. It starts to rain. They tell us to leave, they can’t search for survivors. Rage and helplessness. I scream at the heavens – why the rain? But I remember Kali and know that the rain is as right as ravage and the voice, still, small, is silent within. In Union Square the first ‘missing’ posters go up.

Location: Union Square

5. One year later, I sit in the back of a cab and we drive downtown and I notice the new Taxi map and the grey twins are gone and the map is different. The map is the city. But the city is not the map.

Location: here, now.

PREPENT5772/Day Nine: Marry Me?

2011-09-11T01:34:00.001-04:00

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Day 9

September 10, 2011

Marry me?

There was a wedding tonight, on the beach, under a full moon, and I remember meeting the couple the day after A. proposed to L. and how happy they were then and how happy now. We danced all night.

Now I think about the big question – ‘the proposal’ - and the courage it takes to really ask it and the courage it takes to honestly reply – either yes or no or later or maybe.

And I’m thinking that to propose is not just about love or marriage. Asking someone to share a life, knowing full well that 50% or so of such unions fail is a vote of confidence in the possibility of hope and happiness and simple stuff like holding hands. It’s a YES to the human project, no matter how messy. It’s a YES to life, the will to risk, the courage to commit: To anything really– a partner, a project, a dream, a 40 day journey towards self. On your knees in front of a piece of the puzzle that will make more sense of your life: aiming for a reality that is bigger than self –private and public, and rare and precious, and totally terrifying.

What if L. would have said no?

The thing about this big question is that it isn’t just about love and our hope to not be alone – it’s also about our deepest fear of being left all alone. The more I think about human unions and experience and witness the successes and failures of all sorts of relationships the more I realize how at the core of it is the fear of loneliness and the desire to overcome this fear.

How many proposals are rejected? Do most people propose when they’re really sure the other will say yes? Or is it often a crazy risky leap of faith?

I’ve not yet asked and I haven’t asked either. Yet? I haven’t really thought about it much, which is funny considering how many weddings I’ve officiated and the number of serious relationships I’ve been in. Maybe soon..

Maybe I’m getting less afraid of being alone, and of being alone together.

In the context of this PREPENT journey to focus, clarity, a cleaner slate with which to start the new year and be happier and more helpful and kind and successful – I think today about the simple ways of courage, the faith that comes with trust, and the last rays of the sun hitting the ocean as two lucky people look each other in the eye and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and the journey continues.

What am I ready to propose tonight? What commitment do I take on with the same fervor and delicious excitement? Or- what proposal am I saying YES to today?

Propose something. Say Yes.

I'm glad L. did.

PREPENT5772/Day Eight: UNPLUG?

2011-09-09T16:43:00.001-04:00

Day 8/40

September 9, 2011

Unplug?

I’m probably about 40 emails behind at the end of this ‘summer’s over week’, the important ones anyway, and now there’s homework, and deadlines, and friends in from out of town, and the week’s up, and lots of weekend plans, and crazy though this is I really am going to unplug and de-digitize for the full Sabbath. Everything will wait. Unplug. Really?

Living without an Iphone, even for just 24 hours, is a huge pain in the ass and

Totally interrupts my flow of daily living, heavily digital. It involves a lot of planning ahead and firm arrangements. And, besides, I’m addicted. Then there’s the payoff, true and tried: slow down, focus, recharge.

Why is it so hard to unplug? Why do so many of us find it so difficult to turn off phones or computers, even when we get the concept and love the idea, and tried it and love it? Myself, of course, included.

I was recently told that there’s even a ‘texting on shabbes’ crisis in some very Orthodox communities – mostly among the teens.

There’s a lot posted all the time somewhere online about what really is happening to our hyper digital minds in this virtual age– and what this is doing to our souls.

I think the Sabbath - custom made to suit our needs - can help the soul survive the digital divide.

Seriously. There are tons of ways to figure out what unplugging means to each of us, and how we recreate, and plug-in to what this unplugging day is all about. My comrades in the Reboot factory came up with the super useful ten tip guide - the

sabbath manifesto and with YELP! the rousing hymn to unplugging with a loving nod to Allen Ginsburg’s Howl: “Unplug! I’m with you to cut the umbilical cord of data. To disconnect from the info sphere. Unplug!”

unplug?

Shabbat Shalom.

PREPENT5772/Day Seven: WHATS UP?

2011-09-08T15:57:00.001-04:00

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Sep 8 2011

Whats up

Early morning walk to the subway and a stranger smiles at me and says good morning and I greet her back, and then without thinking pass it on to the next person coming up the subway to stairs: good morning, what’s up?

Random, casual, lovely communication.

There’s this Semitic demon called ‘Belial’, referenced in the Bible and usually translated as ‘worthless’ or ‘breaker of yoke’. The Dead Sea Scrolls names Belial: “An angel of hostility. All his dominions are in darkness, and his purpose is to bring about wickedness and guilt. All the spirits that are associated with him are but angels of destruction.”

Another way to translate Beli-Al is as ‘none-above’, or ‘the anti-up’. Yesterday’s demons are today’s disorders and moods.

The rabbis associated, and frowned upon, belial-like behavior that included the urge to worship idols, but maybe what Belial is about for us today is the situation in which we forget to look up – attempt to see the bigger picture of reality, the complex paradox, gain perspective, trust?

What’s up is one of them cool greetings, and I don’t know where its from but today I think about it - as I use it - and I think about the art of looking up, the vast sky, the size of the universe, and humble and bigger than me.

On the subway, take off the headphones, look up and about. Catch people’s eyes. What’s up? Everything.

What’s up? Pause to ask the question and see what comes

Up.

PREPENT5772/Day Six: FIGHT OR FLIGHT?

2011-09-07T18:46:00.001-04:00

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Day 6/40

Sep 7 2011

Fight or Flight?

G. is now 5 days smoking free. Change happens. How?

Changing a habit or owning up to some behavior pattern that actually isn’t good for you anymore, no matter how big or small, takes a fight. G. writes me this morning about his quit smoking project and how this intense 40 day period helps ground it in real terms. He writes, aware of the complexity:” It’s a war against myself and I intend to win.”

There are gentler (and perhaps more effective?) methods and metaphors for coaxing ourselves into healthier living modalities and not beating ourselves up for the stupid stuff, no matter how awful. But the vocabulary of combat and warfare as spiritual steps to recovery is a familiar and ancient one, resonating in Jewish sources as well as in many other religious, mystical and psychological traditions.

Spiritual work as a holy war.

The rabbis of the ancient east portray a similar outline to that of the modern cowboys of the wild west: there’s a good guy and a bad guy and they’re going to fight it out and eventually the good guys win. In the rabbinic mapping of the human soul, the good guy is the Yetzer Hara our “Good behavior button, while the bad guy (in the black shirt, and sexier) is the Yetzer Hara – “bad behavior button.” The name of the game: How do we keep our fingers off whatever it is that pushes our ‘bad’ button? How do we let our better behavior prevail?

The rabbis suggest a fight. G., not smoking, agrees.

One of these rabbis, Ben Lakish, knows what he is talking about: He was a gladiator in a Roman arena, or perhaps a mercenary solider, before changing his ways and becoming a renowned Jewish scholar. He is advocating for war on self and provides a four step repentance strategy that was recorded in the Talmud, “: ‘One should always agitate the good inclination against the bad inclination’ and if one wins, good, and if not – one should then engage in study, then pray, and then think about the day of death.” (BT, B’rachot 5)

For the record, it is possible that he is discussing the specific bad behavior that may happen when one is in bed at night – thus the recipe for avoidance. But context aside – he does suggest taking on a desirable change with the full gusto of confrontation: ‘agitate’ the source of your displeasure.

“Your evil inclination is your biggest enemy”, said the Keeper of the Good Name – the Beshet, 1,500 years later the gladiator rabbi. “And if you fight this enemy you will not only triumph but also take captives – subjugate the forces of the yetzer hara towards the service of the Divine.” (Can you tell I’ve had two days in Rabbinical School and am privy to great texts already?)

I’m sure there are many modern and ancient wise ways of dealing with this fragile topic of personal change, central to this conversation, this public time.

For me, this year, the fight beckons. What is the enemy and how to go about it is becoming clearer each day.

I was a solider. I can do this. Focus on careful nutrition, plan ahead, avoid distractions. I hope G. can.

But to succeed I got to be super focused on what it is I am fighting and why. What’s my fight about? Watch that bad behavior button closely and learn its ways.

Fight of flight?

What’s your fight about? IS it a fight?

(And: do you have thoughts about this ‘fight’ metaphor? And any suggestions for questions that may arise during this process? I’d love some ideas. Thank you.)

PREPENT5772/Day Five: What's Working?

2011-09-06T19:52:00.001-04:00

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Day 5/40

Sep 6 2011

What’s Working?

It’s been raining all day and the picnic was cancelled. The kids were disappointed but that’s life. Instead we made a mural: a big sheet of paper glued to the wall on which we drew and scribbled the best things we did this summer. There were ice cream cones, and sea waves, and a sea turtle and an airplane and lots of grapes, and kites.

“What about the time I fell off the scooter?” A., almost five, asks.

“Is it something you want to remember?”

She crinkles her nose and shakes her head. The scooter doesn’t make the mural.

This PREPENT season is a mural of sorts, taking stock of what a year has brought and what’s hot, and what’s not, and what’s there to work on and improve and perfect or forgive and forget.

It’s so easy and compelling to start with the list of the nays. What’s wrong – what’s ailing me, preventing me from that feeling-good sense of being powerful in the world? This process is based on the premise that there is wrong that may be turned right.

But even before that – what’s good? What is worthy of the mural of memories we want to honor, celebrate, keep, delight in?

No Pollyanna here, I take today to focus on the glass half full, or even more than that. I know what I want to work on and improve – nutrition and wellbeing and better care of self. But I’ll start with the list of top ten things I do RIGHT when it comes to this department in my life.

Top ten things I’m proud of and take responsibility for in my life. Ten replies to the question – what’s working?

There will be time for the list of what’s wrong next. Today, even while it’s raining on the remains of the picnic, we focus on the fun facts.

What’s working for you? Top ten.

PREPENT5772/Day Four: What's The Plan?

2011-09-05T13:12:00.001-04:00

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Day 4/40

Sep 5 2011

What’s the Plan?

Labor Day: a last stretch of leisure before the tans fade and the sleeves lengthen and the year begins for real. Over brunch I explain this to S., an Israeli who just moved to NY and is getting accustomed to the American way of life, the calendar, the small details that make up reality. And then we discuss the Jewish calendar, how aligned they are this year, and how today, on both calendars, is a combo kicker to get our ambitious self improvement plans ready and set into motion. Yesterday was the response to ‘are you ready’ and the leap into the ‘yes’. Today is about practical swimming, move by move towards the other side, the destiny, the desired outcome. So, what’s the plan?

Plainly speaking: To take the Elul/Prepent challenge seriously one’s got to have a concrete and doable change in mind. Nothing too ambiguous or vague. Imagine those ‘before and after’ advertisements on late night TV or the back pages of newspapers. What’s the ‘before’ – as in ‘right now’ – and what would ‘after’ as in– ‘I did it!’ look like?

Several have written to me today with ‘I’m in for the ride’ notes and ‘the water is great!’. I. wrote with a long note about how this process is not about God anymore and that kind of piety but simply our ability to be powerful in our convictions:

“The key struggles we face are distraction and loss of focus, laziness and over-comfortable apathy, and being self-centered to the point of solipsism. In Elul we need to genuinely find the other, invite him in, and rediscover ourselves in the other.”

Yes to finding the ‘other’. But before we do so – in a few days – I want to still focus on the ‘I’, even at the risk of too much self-centered attention.

The plan for change as I see it has four steps, none of them easy though all quite simple:

1. Identity ONE area in your life that you want to improve on so that your life has more meaning, happiness, balance (private or public form of behavior, a habit, an addiction, a thought pattern, a default routine)

2. Describe to yourself the ‘Before’ snapshot of what this ‘thing’ is and why you want to change it. What’s wrong?

3. Imagine what success looks like 36 days from now. Even in small doses of baby steps towards a grander goal.

4. Make a plan: Write down THREE achievable goals that will get the change to start manifesting in your life within this period. And commit.

My project this PREPENT period, as I already wrote in day one, is nutrition. I need to commit to serious changes in what and how I eat so that I am healthier, happier, in better shape AND in accordance with the new ways of life I have taken on, AKA rabbinical school.

The “Before” snapshot is a pluralistic and vaguely disciplined diet, composed of loosely liberal Jewish norms, low carbs and organic preference. The “after” is a disciplined and responsible dietary system that what is becoming more commonly known as ‘eco-kosher’.

My three (hope so) achievable goals are:

1. I’m going Pescatrian – mostly veg. and fish only at home from now on. (Def. no meat – but I’m leaving myself the option of eating poultry out at some events/homes and will reconsider again. I’m not quite ready for 100% cold turkey. Ha ha)

2. Pay attention to breakfast – my nutritional weak link. Come up with 3-4 sustainable options for super early wake up days – which will be most of them this year. Sigh.

3. Go local: continue supporting the local green markets and cooking more at home. At least two dinners weekly.

This doesn’t mean I don’t have other Elul/Prepent tasks ahead. As I. wrote – there is the attention to the other. There are lists coming up of people I’ve hurt this past year and amends that have to be made. There are things to consider regarding my ethical behavior and spiritual, intellectual and emotional wellbeing. Not just what I take into my mouth but what comes out of it, etc. etc.

But for now, today, there is the PLAN. Simple steps to success.

What’s your plan?

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2011-09-04T20:47:00.001-04:00

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Day 3/4

Sep 4 2011

Ready?

Ready, Steady, Go!

And off they go splashing into the cold lake in the late afternoon sun on the last official Sunday of summer. Some dive, some plop into the water, one stands on the deck, hesitant: ‘but it’s cold…’

He’s finally lured in –‘take a deep breath, just count to three – and when you’re ready – jump!’

Splash.

Count three and things happen. Change manifests or occurs. Somewhere between magic and math.

I don’t know where the ‘doing stuff on the count of three’ comes from, but it does seem to be a fairly universal formula for getting things started. It soothes and transitions us into commitment to a task.

The third count gets you grounded, I guess, some rhythmic, mythic, human code that activates us and I’m sure many can google and explore. For me, today, on the third day of this 40 days journey to more focus, the third beat is the call to commitment. Dive in. Am I really committed to this process, this private-public conversation about change? Am I ready to walk this talk? Take time each day to really focus on what change I want and how I will go about it? Really do this?

Ready?

And meanwhile, J. writes me today in response to the first two days of this blog and her love of it but also fatigue from dealing with life and not wanting to jump into this mikven – immersion pool of process. Aware of the potential power of this process, how cold the water can be at first, she hesitates on the deck.

Come on in at any time, or sit and splash with your feet; there are many ways to dive into this conversation. The first day was the launch, this third the leap of commitment. I trust in the process. I extend my hand to your invitation to dance, say yes to the challenge, and answer today’ are you ready to do it’ with a count of three and:

Splash.

Ready?

PREPENT 5772/ DAY TWO: HOW ARE YOU?

2011-09-03T20:28:00.001-04:00

Day 2/40

September 3 2011

So. How are you?

How many times a day do I ask or get asked this question, thoughtfully or as most often, not?

There are dozens of expressions and gestures with which we initiate conversations with friends or strangers. It almost always begins with a question and they’re almost always rhetorical, ritualized nods to the respective negotiated terms of communications: how are you? What’s up? What’s going on? How do you do? Some Talmudic sages use to greet each other with ‘where are your feet coming from?’

When do we actually pause to ponder the question, and truly check in, and honestly answer it – to self, or that conversing other?

This 40-day journey to the heart of atonement is, for me, about paying attention to the details that shape our lives, for better or for worse. Perfection is too high a goal perhaps but constant improvement, a perfecting of the simple things that will make us happier and better people – doable. Deadlines help. And questions help, when they help us cut through to the core of what is on mind and in our hearts.

So, how are you?

I stood in front of the mirror this morning, full length, and looked me in the eye and asked this question and took a deep breath, and a full minute and then replied, with a single run on sentence that became a short monologue, a private confession, a clarity of what’s hot and what not in my life right now.

“The time has come for a self examination,” wrote Abraham Joshua Heschel (in one of my assigned readings for a class on prayer at JTS, starting this Tuesday!)

I find the exercise of asking myself this question and attempting an answer as qualified of Heschel’s challenge. Try it.

And the next step – is extra awareness to how I will initiate conversations, what questions do I ask people as I meet them, and with what intention, and how do I reply?

(Nobody wants a monologue reply.)

My new favorite question is the Hebrew ‘Ma Kore?’ or ‘what’s happening?’ It’s direct and somehow compels me to always be more specific say something more than ‘I’mokthankshowareyou?’

How are you? As in, who are you, now?

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2011-09-02T17:53:00.001-04:00

September 2, 2011

Where am I?

I sit up in bed, two nights ago, and squint with surprise at the unfamiliar room, barely lit by a foggy dawn. It takes me a minute to remember: San Francisco, on my friends’ living room couch, stranded by Irene.

Maps unfold and the GPS consulted when we are lost and need direction. We don’t ask it when home – when all is ok. ‘Where are you?’ is one of those seemingly mundane but super mythic question. It’s where it all begins.

Ayeka? Where are you? This is the first big question asked in the Bible. The Creator is asking the first people are who hiding in the trees, right after taking a bite of a forbidden fruit and jumpstarting the history of human desire.

That first “where are you?” implies that something went wrong. It isn’t a question of geographical whereabouts. It’s an invitation for clarity and introspection – where are you now? Who are you now that you’re no longer an obedient child, that you’ve taken that first step of independence, free will, and are aware of choices, consequences, shame, body, life and death?

Never mind Adam and Eve’s answers – they sadly just pass the buck of blame. What matters for us here, today, is that the question echoes, old and now: what’s wrong? What’s troubling you? What do you feel badly about and want to acknowledge, work on, change, and improve?

The first step in this PREPENT journey is to hear the question. The second is to attempt an answer: to make the short list of forbidden fruits in our private digestive system. We each have them – and this is the time for looking back at this past year – what sin or transgression, habit or crime, crutch or craving – is holding us back from the happier, helpful, fully human beings we want to be.

Top of my list of ‘needs fixing’ is literally fruit. Or more accurately – nutrition. I know that I am what I eat and know enough to prioritize wellness and avoid that which makes me overweight, out of shape, unhealthy, and grumpy.

I ask myself ‘where are you’? On the electronic weights in the gym this morning, the numbers flashing an instant answer. Not too bad – but there’s room for improvement. What or not and how and when I eat has every thing to do with how I feel, think, live, help, be. What I eat is all about where I am.

Where are you?

On a blank screen or a sheet of paper, or anywhere and anyway you’d like – ask yourself this ancient question and listen to what your soul says and what is the one primary task ahead of you this year. The journey begins, like all journeys, with a finger pointing at the map: ’you are here now.”

where exactly?

Shabbat Shalom.

LAUNCHING PREPENT5772: Amichai's 40 days journey to find focus starts today. join me!

2011-09-01T10:53:00.001-04:00

welcome to PREPENT5772: 40 days +40 ways to refocus mind, body, soul/Your daily high holidays guide 9/1-10/9 2011 (scroll down for intro. note)

DAY 1/ 9/1/11 WHERE ARE YOU?

Where am I?

I ask myself ‘where are you’? On the electronic weights in the gym this morning, the numbers flashing an instant answer. Not too bad – but there’s room for improvement.

Where are you?

On a blank screen or a sheet of paper, or anywhere and anyway you’d like – ask yourself this ancient question and listen to what your soul says and what is the one primary task ahead of you this year. The journey begins, like all journeys, with a finger pointing at the map: ’you are here now.'

PREPENT5772 INTRO NOTE:

I thrive on deadlines. Who doesn’t? We’re wickedly and wisely wired to improve, organize, complete and focus better when we know the time is up. PREPENT5772 is an exercise in conscious attention to the annual process known as Teshuva – Hebrew for ‘return’ or ‘repentance.’ This 40 days journey blog leads to the deadline: Sunset on Yom Kippur - the 5772nd Day of Atonement since the creation of the world.

PREPENT, based on contemplative Jewish traditions, begins on the first day of the last month of the Jewish year. On each of the 40 days leading to Yom Kippur one is reminded to refocus within on what matters most, what needs attention, where change for the better can happen, and how it can last.

This is my second year of keeping the public PREPENT blog. I started it last year because I wanted to practice, like a marathon runner, way ahead of the High Holidays intensity. I wanted not only to begin a New Year with 40 days worth of introspection and intention but also to invite my friends and wider community to take this journey within. Each day provided insights and conversations, culminating in sacred gatherings that meant so much more. So here we go again a workout for the mind, soul – and body.

This year I want to ask questions – 40 of them – a daily dose of important questions, big and small, ancient and new, that will hopefully help us cut through the crap and reach for the core. Questions that will help us change, for good.

Comments, questions, suggestions – always welcome. Shana Tova.

check out http://www.highholidays5772.com/

Aaron Freeman and Parashat Pinchas!

2011-07-21T14:39:00.001-04:00

Maven ritual at the Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living in Glencoe, IL

Storah Digital Storytelling

2011-07-21T14:36:00.001-04:00

Check out this awesome video made by our very own Caryn Aviv!

A Sad Farewell to JDub

2011-07-14T13:15:00.003-04:00

JDub's suprise announcement that they will wind down the organization was sad news that casts a shadow over the entire Jewish community. JDub and Storahtelling were both members of the Joshua Venture Group, and partners, allies and friends for nearly a decade.

Amichai Lau-Lavie, Storahtelling's Founding Director reflected that "Aaron Bisman and JDUB created a new reality for Jewish culture worldwide. It's been a wild ride and it's bound to continue - in another form and format. We salute the passion, success and wisdom to move on and reinvent the model that will continue to enrich our lives and celebrate the wildest possible creativity of Jewish life, music and culture."

We at Storahtelling offer a Yishar Koach to everyone at JDub for all that they achieved, and warmest wishes fur future success.

Parashat Pinchas Maven on July 15th!

2011-07-11T10:55:00.002-04:00

Watch this video to catch a sneak peak of the kind of amazing Parashat Pinchas Torah translation Aaron Freeman will be doing on July 15! Get more info here!

Family Matters: Today I am a Director

2011-06-22T13:55:00.001-04:00

By Ted Merwin

Isaac Soloway may be a fairly typical Los Angeles Jewish teenager, but his bar mitzva was anything but the standard Jewish coming-of-age ritual.

The event did not take place in a synagogue, required no rabbi or cantor and included few prayers or readings. Instead, his parents rented a former automobile showroom-turned-party space where Isaac staged a play, dressing up his relatives with camel ears to perform a story based on that week’s Torah portion.

The traditional bar mitzva ritual, in which a boy is simply called to the Torah for the first time to celebrate his 13th birthday, dates back to the 14th century. Seven centuries later, that ritual maintains its centrality in Jewish life to mark a young person’s coming of age. Yet many Jewish families, whether or not they are affiliated with congregations, are taking a new approach to this tradition, transforming the rite of passage in ways that speak to deep changes in Jewish life.

Leading the reinvention of b’nei mitzva in this country is Amichai Lau-Lavie, a former Israeli high school teacher who in 1999 founded Storahtelling, a theater troupe that uses drama, video, photography, painting, dance and music to reinvigorate the ceremony. Five years ago, Lau-Lavie launched Raising the Bar, which helps families design and perform their own b’nei mitzva rituals by working with tutors trained by Lau-Lavie. More than three dozen of these celebrations have taken place so far, from Los Angeles and New York to London and Jerusalem.

Most exciting for Lau-Lavie is to see Jewish heritage refracted through the eyes of a child on the cusp of maturity. “We hand over to them the wheel of our sacred storytelling, giving them the responsibility to make sense of the past for us and tell us who we are,” he said. For example, at a recent bat mitzva in New York, one of his students took her portion from Leviticus about the induction of the ancient priests into the sacrificial cult and crafted a performance piece about her own initiation into adulthood.

Lau-Lavie puts the emphasis on the entire family, not just the 12- or 13-year-old. As demand for his services grows, he is shifting away from an individualized model toward one of working with cohorts of families whose children are all preparing for the ceremony at around the same time. Once a month, the parents convene to examine their own coming-of-age and Jewish identity issues. For Lau-Lavie, “coming of age is a family affair—you don’t just drop off a kid and not do any work yourself.”

Isaac Soloway’s mother, Jill, is a comedian and playwright best known for coproducing and writing the HBO series Six Feet Under. She met Lau-Lavie at a California conference sponsored by Reboot, an organization that uses culture to reach out to a younger generation of Jews. “Hearing him speak was like water in a desert,” she said. “I told him, ‘Whatever you say Judaism is, let’s do it.’” She was enraptured by what she called Lau-Lavie’s “do-it-yourself, direct, locally grown” way of doing things. “In the past, it was always how expensive, how fancy, how beautiful, how big can we make it. But for him, it’s how real, how deep, how meaningful, how authentic can we make it.”

“I got to decide what parts I wanted in my bar mitzva,” Isaac recalled. “I decided what the rituals meant, which are necessary and which are not.” His rite of passage continued with an initiation ceremony at a Reboot retreat a week after his bar mitzva. He was blindfolded by a man in an ape costume and taken up to a canyon where the men and older teenagers sat in a circle and, in Isaac’s words, “talked about a bunch of different ideas about what it means to be a man.”

Two-thirds of the families that Lau-Lavie works with are unaffiliated. “Even families who are completely off the Jewish grid do b’nei mitzva,” Lau-Lavie said. His organization charges a comparable fee to the cost of synagogue membership and Hebrew school tuition, which is between $7,000 and $10,000 in most congregations. At the same time, Lau-Lavie works with families who belong to synagogues and whose rabbis are open to experimenting with the traditional ritual.

While only a third of his b’nei mitzva have taken place in synagogues, Lau-Lavie sees potential for transforming congregational life, too. Among what he calls “beachhead” synagogues whose staff he has trained are Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York, known for its vibrant musical services and forward-thinking clergy.

However, the noncongregational approach causes concern for many pulpit rabbis. David Steinhardt, senior rabbi of B’nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton, Florida, noted that an increasing number of b’nei mitzva ceremonies take place in backyards, country clubs and hotels. He said, “I tell all my b’nei mitzva, ‘Look out to the congregation and realize that you are part of them and they are part of you. This is about your connection to both the past and future generations of the Jewish people.’” He sees a bar or bat mitzva outside the synagogue context as inimical to the concept of the ritual, which traditionally marks the entrance of the celebrant into the Jewish community.

According to Rabbi Mordechai Finley, spiritual leader of Ohr HaTorah in Los Angeles, affluent and unaffiliated Jewish families often want to do something different for their children’s b’nei mitzva—and they want a rabbi to do it. “I get calls all the time from Hollywood people asking me to do something nontraditional for a handsome price,” he said.

Finley, however, sees little need to depart from the traditional ritual. “I know how to frame a bar mitzva in a very inspiring way,” he said. “Why provide the accoutrements of something special, when the rabbi is already special?” Like Steinhardt, Finley emphasizes the importance of the communal context. “What makes a person Jewish is their connection to a community,” he said. “It’s not about simply getting your needs met.”

Rabbi Irwin Kula, president of CLAL (National Jewish Center for Life and Learning) and a Jewish leader noted for his out-of-the-box thinking, disagrees. “The idea that the synagogue provides a community is a myth,” he said. “The bar or bat mitzva family brings its own community to the synagogue for the day, and they tend to face hostility from the 15 percent or so of the regular members who are there for the Saturday morning service.” Lau-Lavie’s approach represents what Kula calls a “fundamental challenge to the American synagogue,” which relies on the Hebrew school as its financial engine.

The reason b’nei mitzva remain so important in Jewish life, Kula said, is because they fill what he calls a “lacuna” in our culture. “In America, we have no coming-of-age ritual other than, perhaps, getting a driver’s license,” he noted. But he said that the synagogue’s long-standing “monopoly on life-cycle rituals and holidays” is dissolving as Jewish innovators come into the picture.

Michael Siegel, senior rabbi of Congregation Ansche Emet in Chicago, suggests that synagogues need to strike a balance between maintaining their standards and accommodating the desires of families to do something different. “We can’t create dividing lines that will drive families out of the synagogues,” he said.

He is working on a d’var Torah with a girl whose family decided to have a destination bat mitzva in Napa Valley, flying in a rabbi from another congregation to perform the ceremony.

“I’m happy they’re doing something,” he said, “even though it is not here in the synagogue.”

Indeed, some rabbis believe that the farther away from the synagogue a bar or bat mitzva takes place, the better. Jamie Korngold, who calls herself the Adventure Rabbi, served a Conservative congregation in Calgary before moving to Boulder, Colorado, and developing Jewish wilderness rituals. One memorable double bat mitzva took place on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, where the group prayed while watching seals sporting in the waves. Another group put on snowshoes and hiked up a mountain; the ceremony took place in front of a fireplace in a cabin, in the middle of a raging blizzard. In such a situation, Korngold said, the celebrant comes to a powerful realization that Jews rely on each other for both physical and spiritual sustenance.

Korngold tells families that the ritual is an “individual journey that the boy or girl has undertaken, but now we’re going to take that last step together.” Being in a natural setting, she said, “makes it easy to get the sense that there is something greater than yourself in the universe. We need to take that feeling and make it Jewish.”

While Lau-Lavie and Korngold use the Torah portion as a springboard, other ceremonies, even those that take place in congregations, dispense with the Torah entirely. For Peter Schweitzer, a secular humanistic rabbi who leads the City Congregation in downtown New York, a bar or bat mitzva is “not about taking on the mitzvot,” he said. “It’s about [the boy or girl’s] self-assertion and self-definition.” In lieu of studying Torah, students in his congregation interview family members and learn about their beliefs, values and commitments. The students then choose role models, from Paul Robeson to Barbara Walters, and write about them in papers that are posted on the congregation’s Web site.

Working with an adult mentor from the congregation, each student then devises a project related to Jewish history and culture, which is presented to the congregation as part of the bar or bat mitzva in the form of a speech, slide show or video. Among recent topics were the development of klezmer, the affinity between Judaism and Buddhism and the relationship between Jews and ice cream.

Kaela Walker, the daughter of two psychologists who live on the Upper East Side of New York, had a secular humanistic bat mitzva last April at a dance club on the Lower East Side. Her ceremony, which included songs from Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and the Beatles, was almost entirely in English, which Kaela believes set it apart from those of her friends who belong to more traditional congregations.

“People were able to pay attention better and to have their own thoughts and opinions about what they heard since they understood the language,” she pointed out.

Then there is the bar or bat mitzva that takes place in Israel, traditionally at the kotel. Today, such ceremonies are held all over the Jewish state. Rabbi Susan Talve of Central Reform Synagogue in St. Louis, Missouri, conducted her nephew’s bar mitzva on Kibbutz Sdot Yam, fulfilling her late mother’s dying wish that the youngest of her 11 grandchildren, whose family did not belong to a synagogue, have his ceremony in Israel.

While Talve believes that a bar or bat mitzva is a “gift to the whole community that gives a kid the feeling of being bigger than themselves,” she also recognizes that there are many paths into the tradition, and not all of them involve synagogue membership.

“More is always more,” she said. “If people have a meaningful experience, I don’t care how they get it. I’m not worried about the future of the synagogue. If Amichai [Lau-Lavie] and others are challenging the institutional Jewish community to be more creative, then that will be good for all of us.”

Coming of Age in the Jewish State
Sivan Maas is the first secular humanistic rabbi in Israel. Seven years ago, she founded an organization called Temurah to combat what she sees as a growing trend among Israelis to “feel comfortable with their Israeli identity and indifferent or even hostile to their Jewish identity.” Temurah reaches out to secular Jews and tries to involve them in Jewish life.

Calling Israel a “noncongregational society,” Maas notes that Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, Israel Museum and Israeli National Library were all founded as “new temples” of secular Jewish life. Families seeking a b’nei mitzva ceremony for their children, Maas says, want it to reflect their view of Judaism as a culture rather than a religion.

After demonstrating how rabbis throughout history have engaged in creative questioning of the Torah, Maas begins the process by escorting each family to the Israel Museum. She shows them the diverse forms that Jewish buildings, objects and texts have taken throughout history, from Hellenistic mosaics to medieval illuminated manuscripts to the Cochin synagogue from India. “They leave the museum with the impression that this Jewish treasure belongs to them, and that it is up to them to tell the story in a way that they find relevant,” she says.

One of her most memorable bat mitzva girls was the introverted daughter of divorced parents; the mother had converted from Christianity before the marriage and, according to Maas, “there was a lot of hope for the ceremony to bring about healing in the family.” The girl was most excited by the museum’s extensive collection of menoras, made from precious metals, beads and other materials.

The girl decided to create her own ceramic menora, with each candle holder standing for a Jewish heroine, including the biblical matriarchs, Golda Meir, her mother and both her Jewish and Christian grandmothers. The only thing that she was missing was the shamash, the candle that lights all the others. “She cried,” Maas recalls, “when I told her that she is the shamash; it is her job to give light to all the other heroines.”

This article originally appeared in the April 2011 edition of Hadassah Magazine.

Amichai Lau-Lavie at the Elul Festival!

2011-06-22T13:52:00.000-04:00

Storahtelling Founding Director Amichai Lau-Lavie will be teaching a Meet the Maven workshop at the Elul Festival in Jerusalem on July 7th. There is no fee to attend this workshop.

Storah After Hours

2011-06-13T13:06:00.002-04:00

Dear Storah Family,

I'm excited to share with you a few (virtual) cheese cake crumbs from the Storah After Hours Shavuot celebration held two nights ago at the 14Y.
Also, a photo, and a big THANK YOU.

About 50 people joined us for a night of study, singing and reading from our new Torah Scroll on the roof of the Y. Old and new friends, many of you.

The big thanks go to Isaac Shalev, Naomi Less, David Wolkin, Brian Gelfand, Sara Beth Berman, David Loewy - and esp. Emily Warshaw - for teaching, leading and organizing the event so beautifully.

Marina Kaufman and Michael Dorf represented our Board of Directors. I took a few photos of Michael holding our new Torah as we went upstairs to the roof for the beautiful ritual. One of those is attached. Stay tuned for more - and the short video.

SO - What was revealed on Shavuot night?
For me, it was the simple, sweet sense of trusting in our human ability to be fully present, attentive and open to new ways of making sense of old truths. As we stood on the roof, under the hot summer sky, distant stars and crescent moon, Isaac chanted each of the 10 commandments and Storah styles translations popped up - from all of us present. That old list of laws became live and raw and real. I was very moved. I'd be curious to hear from your present - what was your Shavuot Revelation?

And - our new Torah was revealed! We clustered around her as she sailed on her virgin Storah voyage. We sang the Shecheyanu. There were tears.

And a final crumb, one poem, from Yehuda Amichai, with my translation, for the night of revelation, and for many many more.

Shabbat Shalom

Amichai

My father was god, but he didn’t know it.

He gave me the Ten Commandments, not with thunder or fury, fire or clouds,

but softly, with love, caresses, kind words.

He added ‘please, please’ and sang the words ‘keep and remember the Sabbath day’ and cried quietly: ‘don’t bear false witness, don’t lie’. He’d cry, and hug me. ‘Don’t steal, don’t lust, don’t kill’.

He’d put his hands on my head like the Yom Kippur blessing. “respect’ he’s say ‘love and live long upon this earth’.

His voice was as white as the hair on his head.

The he turned his face to me, like that last day, when died in my arms, and said: “I want to add two more commandments to the ten. The eleventh: never change. The twelfth: change, change.”

So spoke my father and walked away into his strange distances.

Yehuda Amichai /translated by Amichai Lau-Lavie

Leaders

2011-06-10T10:09:00.001-04:00

OCCSP Family Program - Los Angeles
By Yaki Margulies

Do we earn our roles in life, or are we born into them? And if we’re born into certain roles that we don’t want, how do we cope with the burden of responsibility? These were the questions at the heart of the show, “I Count You,” performed at the Newport Beach Hyatt in Southern California on May 28th, 2011, by Deanna Neil and myself.

The Torah portion was Bamidbar, a sometimes dry account about the creation of the census and the designation of camping and marching formations for the Twelve Tribes of Israel as they continued on their forty-year journey through the desert. Not incredibly exciting, especially for a young audience. But our Shabbat service instead focused on the Levites replacing the Hebrew firstborn as curators of the Mishkan, a special honor bestowed upon them by God for staying faithful during the Golden Calf incident at Mount Sinai.

We structured the show as a playful repartee between two characters, a firstborn Hebrew (played by Deanna) losing the esteemed job of handling holy objects, and a Levite (me), gaining this new privilege and responsibility – illustrating the shifting of power and the journey our flawed characters had to take in order to grow into their new roles. We bantered, led the kids in discussions, and jammed on a few songs (modified versions of the Beatles’ “All Together Now” and an old gospel tune, “Workin’ on the Building”).

By the end, the firstborn realized that there were consequences for every action and that, sometimes, accepting the role you’ve been given isn’t so bad. The Levite learned that everyone is important, regardless of official job title, and that leaders must lead with righteousness and compassion. And hopefully, the audience learned something, too.

We had a lot of fun working on the show and performing it. The children (maybe that’s not the correct term; many were budding adults) also seemed to engage in the message, sharing their experiences as students, siblings, friends, and other roles they have earned or been given in life. But everyone in the room, adult or child alike, could relate to the theme of accepting responsibility and working hard in the positions we inhabit. Like our ancestors in the Torah, we must strive to do our best and be our best. And in that way, we can find favor and grace – signs of a true leader.

My First Storah Experience

2011-06-07T14:24:00.006-04:00

My First Storah Experience
 Danielle Pedraza
StorahSteps Stage Manager

Waking up at 6 AM is not easy for a college student, but on this morning I, Danielle Pedraza, rolled out of bed ready and excited to start my Storahtelling adventure! I took the subway, grabbed a coffee and finally reached the 14th Street Y, the home base of StorahSteps.

Sam, the Program Coordinator, who was training me to stage-manage, then greeted me and we started the first job of the day, which was helping Sam transport the props. I couldn’t help but notice the GINORMOUS “Storah” popping out of the roller suitcase and the bright orange puppet we had to carry. I thought, “This looks Awesome!” I was so curious to see how the actors were going to utilize these props in the performance.

We grabbed a cab and headed uptown to the JCC in Manhattan Preschool. Once inside we started coloring the “Storah” with the kids. I loved it! As we colored together I felt the exhilaration of a six year old child. It was really fun pumping the kids up for the show and letting them know that they helped create something that will be used on stage!

Once everyone was done coloring we went to the theater space where the actors were rehearsing. We set up the props: a Rock headpiece, a guitar, a puppet, the “Storah”, a mustache, a beard, a cane, and a black blanket. The house music started playing, and the kids started entering the auditorium.

They were so excited, everyone was smiling and so happy to be there. Sam introduced Moses’ Book and had me step on to the stage to help her show the “Storah”. Watching the Jess and Mike, the Storahtellers, share the story of Moses with a puppet and a guitar was so much fun. They had the kids shouting responses, doing yoga poses, as well as singing “We Will Rock You” among many familiar songs. Once it was over I helped pass out take home materials, and watched as the kids exited the auditorium humming and singing the songs.

Overall it was a very refreshing experience. I left feeling beyond happy to be a part of StorahSteps and get to be a part of an atmosphere that is so joyous and loving. I can’t wait to embark on more Storahtelling adventures and meet everyone involved with this incredible production.

Storahtelling and Friends Team Up For Shavuot

2011-06-01T14:57:00.004-04:00

Media contact: Isaac Shalev / Executive Director/ Storahtelling, Inc. / 646-395-4353 / isaac@storahtelling.org

Storahtelling and Friends Team Up For Shavuot

New York, NY, May 31, 2011 - On June 7, 2011, Shavuot night, Storahtelling, in partnership with Limmud NY, and the 14th Street Y, will present the second annual Shavuot After Hours at the 14th Street Y in downtown Manhattan. The event will feature scholars, teachers and artists riffing on the theme of Revelation/Revolution. Highlighting the event will be the debut of Storahtelling’s new Torah scroll, which was gifted to the organization by friends and patrons at the recent Storah 13 Gala celebration. The scroll, a hundred-year old Polish survivor of two World Wars will be unveiled at a mystical moonlight ritual at the 14th Street Y.

“Revelation is not meant to be hidden away, it’s meant to inspire revolution! We want to explore Judaism’s ancient Ten Commandments so we can recover a Top Ten list of universal values that speak to our lives today.” said Amichai Lau-Lavie, Storahtelling’s founding director.

In addition to text and havruta studies led by Isaac Shalev, Storahtelling’s executive director, there will be musical workshops featuring Naomi Less, Storahtelling’s director of education and a session on comics and Torah led by David Wolkin, who is both the newly installed executive director of Limmud NY, and a Storahtelling company member.

Schedule
* 8:00-8:45pm -Welcome and refreshments
The Bride and the Bread: Zohar for the night of revelation
* 9:00-9:50 pm -Choose from Tikkun sessions with
Amichai Lau-Lavie
Top ten, new and improved
-The god-less guide for the 10 commandments as universal principles for the perfect life.
Isaac Shalev
The Tablet Code
-Why were the Ten Commandments given on two tablets? Explore the hidden messages encoded into the tablets, and learn how they can guide you to living a richer life.

*10:00-10:50 pm-Choose from Tikkun sessions with
Naomi Less
Shout 'em out- and live 'em out loud
-Using elements of Storahtelling's Maven Methodology, explore the Decalogue - aka. the 10 Commandments as you may never have explored them before (starting with the word "Commandment!") Naomi Less, Storahtelling's Director of Education and Training, takes you through a musical journey with her new song "Shout 'em out - 1 to 10" just launched on G-dcast.com to create your own meaning of the most famous 10 in history.
David Wolkin
Scanning Between the Lines
-Can we use the way that our minds process today's media as a way to find new avenues into understanding out of sacred texts?

*11:00-11:30 pm -Storahtelling Torah Debut and Moonlit Ritual

Storahtelling teaches diverse audiences to voice their own translations of ancient Jewish texts and rituals and restore their relevance for modern life. Storahtelling offers public programs, training for educators, and individual tutoring informed by a radical fusion of storytelling, Torah, contemporary stagecraft, and traditional ritual theater. http://www.storahtelling.org

Limmud NY is a festival, a gathering of hundreds of Jews from all walks of life, all Jewish backgrounds, all lifestyles, and all ages from across the New York metropolitan area. Limmud is four days of lectures, workshops, text-study sessions, discussions, exhibits, performances and much more—all planned by a community of volunteers. http://www.limmudny.org

The 14th Street Y, a Jewish community center, is a vital neighborhood resource that welcomes people of all backgrounds. We provide a variety of programs with a distinctive downtown point of view, emphasizing excellence, innovation, creativity, and a questioning spirit. We are inspired by Tikkun Olam, or repair of the world, in all that we do: a value that represents and renews the vitality of our Jewish heritage and its place in our diverse and vibrant community. The 14th Street Y is part of a network of 44 programs at 27 sites provided by The Educational Alliance for all residents of Downtown Manhattan. http://www.14streety.org

The sessions, music and learning begin at the 14th Street Y at 8:00 pm and conclude just before midnight. Dairy snacks and nonstop coffee will be provided through the night. The event is offered free of charge, but please BYO Cheese!

For more information, please contact:

Emily Warshaw
emily@storahtelling.org
344 East 14th Street
New York, NY
Ph: 646-395-4321

2011-05-24T07:31:00.000-04:00

Michael Goldlist, Storahtelling Company Member
Jessica Bay Blyweiss, Storahtelling Company Member
StorahSteps Show

The story is familiar: while wandering in the desert G-d tells Moses to talk to the rock to get water for the people of Israel. Moses, instead, hits the rock – and is severally punished. The moral: follow orders precisely… right? But Jessica Bay Blyweiss, Shira Kline and myself, felt there was another lesson to be learned from this parasha. Instead of being a tale between Moses and G-d, familiar players to say the least, why not hear from someone else involved… why not talk to the rock? And so Iggy (short for igneous) was born - a talking, dancing, and guitar playing ‘rock’star, played by myself.

A young Moses, played by Jessica, has far too grand an opinion of himself to deign to speak to a lowly rock. As opposed to sitting down and talking with the rock, Moses, assuming himself to be in control of the every situation (after all, he did unleash all ten plagues, and part the Sea of Reeds) smashes the rock to get the water out. We felt that not only was Moses wrong to resort to violence, but that he also suffered from a larger problem – an inability to listen and respect the world around him born out of an inflated sense of importance. It takes a rock to teach him the lesson that everything in the world is connected and helps everything else out, and that it is always important to listen, sh’mah, to world around you, and not be blinded by egotism.

To frame the show, we had an older and wiser Moses read the story from his book, the Torah, to a stubborn grandson Gersh, our wonderful new orange Storah-puppet. We threw in some fun songs – a rock-medley, and an original number, Moses the Great, in which Moses sums up all the reasons he is wonderful and “shouldn’t have to talk to a rock”.

Moses' Book was performed at the 14th Street Y, the JCC in Manhattan and the Marks JCH of Bensonhurst. The children at all three shows responded with overwhelming enthusiasm. When we taught them to put on “sh’mah ears” (a cupped hand) in order to listen to the world around them, the children never failed to follow suit. A particularly great moment happened near the end of our last show, for the Russian-speaking community at the Marks JCH, when, unbidden, the children started offering up examples of all the people and things in the world that it are important to listen to. All in all, it was a wonderful experience us to perform this fun, high-energy show and bring it to three outstanding communities.

Unexpected Guest Graces Storah 13 Gala

2011-05-18T14:33:00.015-04:00

Unexpected Guest Graces Storah13 Gala

May 18th, New York City
Storahtelling’s B Mitzvah gala, celebrating the organization’s 13th year, featured comedy from the Addams Family’s Jackie Hoffman, tales of hilarity and horror from Storahtelling’s company and tearful moments honoring Marina Pinto Kaufman, who stepped down as Chair of the Board.

The most moving and unexpected moment was when gala chairs Michael Dorf, Sarah Connors, and Emanuel and Elizabeth Stern presented Founding Director Amichai Lau-Lavie with a Torah. The scroll, a 100-year old Torah from Poland that survived two World Wars, was lovingly restored by Rabbi Yitzchak Reisman of TorahScroll.com in the Lower East Side. “The giving of a Torah to the person and organization who gives us all the meaning in the Torah could not be more rewarding.” said Dorf.

Lau-Lavie, moved to tears at the ceremony, said “Just as this Torah scroll was reclaimed from the ashes and restored for use, so too will Storahtelling continue to reclaim and restore the words and stories of the Torah for a new generation.” Executive Director Isaac Shalev added that the Torah will be read by B’nai Mitzvah enrolled in ‘Raising the Bar’ at their coming-of-age ceremonies. The program, currently a finalist in the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles’ search for the Next Big Jewish Idea, re-imagines both the year-long process of preparing for a B Mitzvha, as well as the celebration itself, and trains B’nai Mitzvah teachers to serve as guides to families and teens through this quintessentially Jewish rite of passage.

The gala, Storahtelling’s first, was a wild success, with over 400 guests in attendance, and over $150,000 raised for the organization. Comedian Jackie Hoffman, who performed a powerful, funny, and thought-provoking re-telling of the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, at the event may have summed it up best when she said to the gathered audience “I hate most things, and I loved this. Hard.”

You can still make a gala gift!

Enjoy more pictures of our great event:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111260719122696360707/Gala51611?authkey=Gv1sRgCNXsuqGL-Ny-Lg&feat=directlink and

https://picasaweb.google.com/111260719122696360707/Gala51611?authkey=Gv1sRgCNXsuqGL-Ny-Lg&feat=directlink

Storah13 Gala: An Organization Comes of Age

2011-05-16T13:47:00.000-04:00

By Eszter Margit

Storahtelling, recognized nationally as a leader in transforming the contemporary Jewish experience, is turning 13 this summer and reinventing the B Mitzvah Celebration in honor of this milestone. This evening, hundreds will gather in Tribeca’s City Winery and raise a glass to 13 years of pioneering innovation and success. The gala, Storahtelling’s first, will honor Marina Pinto Kaufman, Storahtelling’s founding Board Chair, and salute Amichai Lau-Lavie, the organization’s visionary founder, who is stepping down this summer.

The Storah13 Gala features a demonstration of Storahtelling’s unique approach to the B Mitzvah experience, starring actress and comic Jackie Hoffman, direct from Broadway’s “Addams Family”. Jackie has been trained through Storahtelling’s Raising the Bar program and will share her personal and poignant retelling of her B Mitzvah portion, the tale of Dina. Raising the Bar, an innovative and transformational approach to reclaiming the B Mitzvah, is Storahtelling’s fastest growing program, and is a finalist in the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles’ search for the Next Big Jewish Idea. Like much of Storahtelling’s work, Raising the Bar is changing the conversation around this rite of passage for Jews worldwide.

The Storah13 Gala marks the coming of age of Storahtelling, the first organization to graduate the Bikkurim Incubator for New Jewish Ideas and the Joshua Venture Fellowship and to successfully mature as a key player in the Jewish educational and cultural arenas. “We are grateful to many communal leaders and pioneers for investing in us and helping us grow from a startup into the successful, impactful, and sustainable organization we are today,” said Amichai Lau-Lavie, founder of Storahtelling. “Being part of the innovation ecosystem has helped us stay on the cutting edge.” Since its establishment in 1999 Storahtelling has become an international network of educators and artists, invigorating Jewish identity through leadership training, dynamic educational programs and performances for multigenerational audiences worldwide. Now, Lau-Lavie is stepping down from the Executive Director position, and Isaac Shalev, who came on in February, will take over as the new Executive Director. Lau-Lavie will stay on as Founding Director, and will focus on Storahtellling’s educational work while pursuing rabbinical ordination at JTS.

Shalev is the former COO of Birthright Israel NEXT, the sister organization of Taglit- Birthright Israel. As Chief Operating Officer, he was responsible for overseeing engagement, education and community-building activities for Jewish young adults ages 21-32 throughout the USA, with a focus on the 200,000+ alumni of the Taglit-Birthright Israel trips. Shalev is widely known as a thought-leader, a builder of organizations, an educator and technology specialist. “The Storah13 Gala represents our first major special-event fundraising effort. Taken together with the diversification of our earned revenue streams and an upgrade of our foundation and individual fundraising capacities, the Gala reflects the maturation of Storahtelling’s FRD strategy, as well as our programmatic vision,” Shalev says.

The transition in leadership accompanies a strategic shift from a performance-based model to that of a training institute. Shalev explains, “Storahtelling has spent over a decade perfecting the Maven Method (TM), the conceptual toolkit at the heart of all of Storahtelling’s initiatives. To maximize our impact, we are inviting educators and institutions to come backstage with us, and through intensive training, learn to access and interpret ancient Jewish texts and rituals and translate them into vital, contemporary conversations with their congregations and constituents.”

The Maven Method (TM), Storahtelling’s signature pedagogy, integrates Judaism’s oldest teaching tools with modern stagecraft and educational techniques. There are over 200 trained Storahtelling Mavens who operate all over the US as well as in Israel and the UK, and over 750,000 estimated participants in Storahtelling programs since the organization’s founding, Storahtelling’s impact continues to grow. “We’ve been building slow and steady,” says Lau-Lavie. “It’s humbling and thrilling to know that Storahtelling is becoming a significant international player.” In August, Storahtelling will train a cohort of twenty-five Maven candidates in synagogues and community institutions in the New York area, through Big Apple Mavens, a program made possible by funding from UJA-Federation of NY’s Synergy group and Gen-I Task Force.

The Storah13 Gala, which has already raised over $150,000, features several significant participants from the Jewish funding community, including Martin Kaminer (founder of Bikkurim), Jeffrey Solomon (President of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies), Felicia Herman (Executive Director of the Natan Fund), Robin Bernstein (CEO & Founder of the Educational Alliance) and all the organization’s board members, past and present. Marina Pinto Kaufman, Storahtelling’s founding Board Chair is also taking a step back from leadership and welcomes Ora Ramat, the organization’s co-chair as the new chair, and current board member Sarah Sokolic as the new vice chair. “We have come so far already, worked so hard, and impacted the lives of so many people through our work over the years” Sokolic said. “We are now poised for even greater successes and I’m honored and excited to be part of this new chapter in Storahtelling’s life.”

Storahtelling Turns 13: Comedy Gala and B Mitzvah

2011-05-16T13:42:00.000-04:00

From the NY Blueprint-The Urban Jewish Guide

Storahtelling, recognized nationally as a leader in transforming the contemporary Jewish experience, is turning 13 this summer and pulling out all the stops on a B Mitzvah Celebration.

On May 16, 2011, hundreds will gather in Tribeca’s City Winery and raise a glass to 13 years of pioneering innovation and success. The gala, Storahtelling’s first, will honor Marina Pinto Kaufman, Storahtelling’s founding Board Chair, and salute Amichai Lau-Lavie, the organization’s visionary founder, who is stepping down this summer.
The gala will feature a demonstration of Storahtelling’s unique approach to the B’nai Mitzvah ceremony, starring actress and comic Jackie Hoffman, direct from Broadway’s “Addams Family”. Jackie will bring a surprising twist to 5,000 years of sacred ritual and Jewish storytelling by chanting and reinterpreting the Bat Mitzvah portion she never got to read as an Orthodox Bat Mitzvah girl. Jackie has been trained through RAISING THE BAR, an innovative and transformational approach to reclaiming the B’nai Mitzvah experience. Storahtelling’s fastest growing program, RAISING THE BAR is currently a finalist in the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles’ search for the Next Big Jewish Idea and is changing the conversation around this key rite of passage for Jews worldwide.
Jackie will be followed by ‘Frights of Passage’, an after-party comedy show featuring Storahtelling company artists who will share their own B Mitzvah tales of horror and hilarity.
The STORAH 13 Gala marks the coming of age of the first organization to graduate the Bikkurim Incubator for New Jewish Ideas, successfully maturing as a key player in the Jewish educational and cultural arenas. Founded by Amichai Lau-Lavie in 1999, Storahtelling has grown into an international network of educators and artists, invigorating Jewish identity through teacher training, dynamic educational programs and performances for multigenerational audiences worldwide. Amichai is stepping down from the Executive Director position, remaining on as Founding Director, and pursuing rabbinical studies at JTS.

The Storah-13 gala, which already raised over $150,000, also features a silent auction, an interactive art project in which all guests will create a version of a Torah Scroll, a live band, gourmet dairy cuisine, and an exclusive backstage tour of the winery. There will be gift bags – but no matching yarmulkes, and nobody will be lifted on a chair. Well, maybe.

Details: Monday, May 16th, 2011
6:30pm Cocktails, 7:30pm Dinner and B Mitzvah Celebration
9:30pm Frights of Passage: Backstage B Mitzvah Tales – The Storah Comedy Show
Location: City Winery, 155 Varick Street, New York, NY

The Next Big Jewish Idea

2011-05-04T15:00:00.005-04:00

We're happy to announce that Storah is in the finals for the Next Big Jewish Idea - VOTE for Raising the Bar LA!

Miriam's Drum

2011-04-27T12:16:00.000-04:00

Alex Wolfson, Storahtelling Company Member

Passover StorahSteps Show

King's Bay Y, JCC Manhattan, 14th Street Y

What’s most important to you? What possession would you have the most trouble living without? What if you had to live without possessions? Who would be the people you’d want to surround yourself with to replace that important thing? These and some other juicy questions were part of the show “Miriam’s Drum” that I performed with new Storahtelling artist Michael Goldlist at the King’s Bay Y, the JCC Manhattan, and the 14th Street Y for our Storahtelling’s Passover StorahSteps show.

We framed the show by having Michael play a child named Sam whose family was moving into a smaller home so he was going to have to put a lot of his possessions in storage. He had to figure out what things he wanted to bring with him to the new house as well as what needed to go into storage. And he had to do all of this packing while setting up the Seder plate for the Seder! We then introduced our puppet, Miriam, to walk Sam through setting up the Seder plate, tell him the Passover story, and help him realize that his situation wasn’t that unlike the Exodus from Egypt. The Israelites had to bring with them only their most important things as they rushed to freedom.

Sam eventually realized that possessions weren’t important. He realized that the Israelites were happy to just be free and be with their families. He realized that HE just wanted to be with his family and deciding which toy was his favorite wasn’t as important as surrounding himself with the people he loved. The kids learned a valuable lesson about the importance of family as well as getting a refresher course on the important words, symbols, and Seder plate items that are used on Passover.

The kids at all four performances loved the show, were very enthusiastic about the puppet (as always), and we had a great time doing it!

Purim at the 14th Street Y

2011-04-15T10:01:00.000-04:00

Click here to read more about the Purim program at the 14th Street Y, planned by 14th Street Y staff and Storahtelling, in conjunction with BBYO and the Educational Alliance.

Esther, The Expose

2011-04-11T12:23:00.001-04:00

Deanna Neil, Storahtelling Maven and Company Member
Milgrom Family Bat Mitzvah Celebration
Raising the Bar Program

"And it struck me: it was up to me. Me. I'm not a politician, I'm not a diplomat, I have never had to do anything like this before in my life. I had this pit in my stomach. I had no choice but to reveal who I really am, and maybe die for it. But what did I have to hide?"

I posed this question to the audience at the Milgrom Family Bat Mitzvah celebration in Irvine California in March, as the character of Esther from the beloved Purim story. In our premise, Esther was on a talk show with "Wolf Blitzes" describing her latest book, an expose of the Achashverosh administration.

Showing the the different sides of ourselves can be difficult, whether a politician or a school girl. When looking at the Purim story, one has to wonder why Esther--aka Hadassah--didn't reveal her Jewish identity from the get-go. Fear? Blending in? A great prescient plot from her cousin Mordechai? Whatever the reason, mum was the word.

We all have moments in our lives when we chose not to reveal parts of ourselves. Maybe as a Christian among a group of Jews, maybe as Muslim in America, maybe a tech nerd hanging out with the football team. It can be a delicate moment to share what you really think, when people's reactions are uncertain. But finally, Esther was forced into a situation where she had to find the strength to show who she was and stand up for what she believed in.

There is a lot in in the story of Purim that is hidden…and revealed. The name of God is hidden in the story. The word Megillah (literally "scroll") is related to the word "galuy," which means "revealed." The name, Esther, is related to the word "hester," which means "hidden." So the title---a true expose—is revealing of the hidden.

Becoming at Bat Mitzvah is all about publicly declaring identity, just as Esther had to reveal her identity to the king. The Milgrom family had four, inter-generational bat-mitzvahs as a part of their celebration. It was an epic evening, but also one where each woman took to the bimah in front of her community and declared: I am a Jew. This is who I am. This was a bold declaration for the teenage girls, Elianna and Chyelle, and equally so for their mother, Alice, who was originally from China and found herself on a surprising religious journey. It was no less intimidating that the matriarchal bat-mitzvah was Jo Milgrom, a bible scholar and Jewish artist, who was married to the late Jacob Milgrom, a renowned Rabbi and biblical scholar!

It was exciting to tell the purim story in such a detailed, descriptive way using translation and wacky characters (and a full size horse) for a mixed crowd, where many had never heard the purim story before. Indeed, the crowd embraced the honored Bat-Mitzvah ladies and their identities, as warmly as the king embraced Esther.

I was fortunate to create the script and perform with Todd Shotz of Hebrew Helpers, who is also my co-worker with teaching B'nai Mitzvah kids in Los Angeles. As we continue to grow our Raising the Bar program in Southern California, this particular Maven--with a message about owning yourself during a coming-of-age moment--struck close to home.

No Words

2011-04-07T18:23:00.001-04:00

Jake Goodman, Storahtelling Company Member
Shira Kline, Storahtelling Company Member
Storahtelling Maven Torah Reading Ritual

A few weeks ago, Shira Kline and I went to the lovely, exquisitely hospitable, charming B'nai Abraham Synagogue in Easton, PA to do a Maven Torah Reading Ritual about the story of the death of Aaron's two sons, adapting a brilliant script by the one and only David Loewy. Our premise was essentially that there is great risk in trying to achieve intimacy and, sometimes, when you get too close, you get burned.

But since that gig, I have a new take on what the parsha means. (To me. Today.)

For almost everybody I know, March was a difficult month. All of my friends seemed to be burned by life. Some had deaths in the family; some ended relationships; some were insanely busy doing work they hated; some were facing health problems. One of my friends said that she felt sunburned on the inside.

In the Torah story, Nadav and Avihu (Aaron's two eldest sons and the next in line to become the high priest) offer up a sacrifice of strange/alien/unfamiliar fire on their own initiative and are literally eaten up by god. Their father, Aaron, watches, presumably in horror, and is silent.

I've been thinking about what Aaron's silence implies. There are many theories, but I have more of a thought than a theory. It's simply that we all get burned sometimes by life and sometimes we watch people we love get burned, which can be equally painful. It's been my experience that people want to understand why bad things happen, why life blows at the moment, what went wrong, what is wrong with us. We tell ourselves stories to try to make sense of things. We find some reason, something to blame, or something in which to find hope.

From Aaron, I learn that sometimes all of that work is foolish. There may not be a good reason. It may not be your fault. It may just suck. Sometimes, there are no words.

Flash a Self-Portrait: Lady Gaga on Purim

2011-04-04T13:10:00.003-04:00

Franny Silverman, Storahtelling Maven and Lady Gaga impersonator

"I want women -- and men -- to feel empowered by a deeper and more psychotic part of themselves. The part they're always trying desperately to hide. I want that to become something that they cherish."
— Lady Gaga

I may not be Jewish, but I know what it means to flash a self-portrait, flip it to the negative and show it to the world. Isn't that what Purim's all about?
That's what my dear friend and teacher Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross taught me.
When I met her she said, "You must me a Purim baby like me." She taught me a niggun that followed me for days and I took it with me into the studio and that became the inspiration for the chanting in "Bad Romance":

Rah Rah Ah Ah Ahh
Ramah Romemah
GaGa Oooh La La
Want your bad Romance

And then she invited me to her birthday and of course, when the Rebbetzin invites you to her birthday bash, you don't say no.
You say, "Yes!" You say, "I'd be honored!" You say, "What shall I sing?"
And I did.
And she told me the story of Purim and I felt for the hero, Esther.
This marriage was about survival, not about love and romance.
It's about how sometimes we want and need things that desperately serve one part of ourselves and leave another hurt or lacking.
And so, together, the Rebbetzin and I decide Bad Romance would be the song - complete with my version of her ancient niggun.
It was exciting to dive into a performance with a new band, on a complicated stage covered in holy contradiction and reminiscent of my own upbringing.
My first performance on the altar since...the new pope.
And as all performances are, this too was exhilerating and libertating.
Of course they told me not to climb on the altar vestments and of course I did and of course it was absolutely necessary.
The Rebbetzin also warned me of another high profile female guest that was joining us.
And though normally I'm not a Tea Party kind of gal, I thought the best way to use my sway with Sarah Palin, was to simply and subtly seduce her with my performace.
She took the bait immediately and by the end of the night, I was helping her write her speech rescinding her former views on gay marriage and instead, coming out in favor of it.
A very merry Purim indeed.
And now, I'm just trying to change the world, one sequin at a time.

A St. Patrick's Day Purim Party!

2011-03-25T12:53:00.000-04:00

Jon Adam Ross, Founding Company Member
Purimshpiel
University of Pittsburgh Hillel

I got off the bus from the Pittsburgh airport about 3 blocks from my hotel on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. I knew I wasn't wearing green and though I doubted random strangers would pinch me, I didn't think it'd be the worst idea to find something green to wear. It just so happened that there was a merchant selling St Patrick's day themed clothing on the street outside my hotel and would you believe it, he was selling a three cornered hat! A green three cornered hat! 2 days before Purim! Did he know I was coming? Probably not. But there was only one 3 cornered hat, and I have no doubt there was only one Jewish actor coming to the Pitt campus to play Haman in a Purimshpiel on St. Patrick's Day. It was meant to be.

That evening I had a great pizza dinner with the student Hillel board (all of whom read megillah and played parts in the show later that night) and I had such a great time getting to know the Pitt gang. It might be the friendliest group of people I've ever had pizza with. Honest. Then we walked over to the student center, did a photo shoot with a panther (see photo above) and made our way inside to set up the space for our show. It was a grand ballroom, and we spiced it up with groggers and mardi gras necklaces and random Purim extravagance. I went upstairs to don my 3 piece suit (and vashti wig - which i wore, of course, under my new Haman hat) and when I came back downstairs, the students had arrived! LOTS of them! Jewish students, members of the Catholic group on campus, people of all different faiths and colors. It was awesome. A vision of Shushan for the modern times.

And boy did we have fun. A dude won the beauty pageant to become the new Queen Esther. That was fun. I lost my wig and my hat at one point causing one of the students to gasp in surprise at my baldness (i guess she thought the wig was real?). That was fun. And in the end, we had a conversation/debrief about the story itself that got into some hairy, but quite interesting theological conversation about the end of the Megillah and the uncomfortable, violent conclusion. Violent conclusions are always fun! And after the show, a buddy of mine who works at Pitt took me out for green beer. A perfect end to a perfect night. Go Panthers!

Esther's Crown Rocked the Town

2011-03-22T11:03:00.000-04:00

Naamah Harris, Storahtelling Company Member
Purim StorahSteps Show
Marks JCH, Kings Bay Y, 14th Street Y, Bergen County Solomon Schechter.

They say that "me'sheneechnas adar marbim b'simcha," those who enter the month of Adar will be filled with happiness, and that is certainly how I feel after a wonderful run of Esther's Crown for Storahsteps' Purim show!

Not only did I get to work with Alex Wolfson for our sophomore collaboration but we both had the privilege of being able to share this show with so many different Jewish communities. Our journey began at the Marks JCH and then at the Kings Bay Y, where many our of audience members are from the Russian Jewish community in Brooklyn, and there was a wonderful mix of English, Hebrew and Russian going around! One of the themes of our show dealt with our responsibility as Jews and as human beings to take care of each other using the Jewish principle, Tikkun Olam, healing the world. Esther, with help from Mordechai and King Achashverosh, (and in our show, Dr. Trudy, the puppet) did just this for the Jews in Shushan thousands of years ago. It is exciting to know that we can still come together to celebrate this principle with our fellow Jews from all different parts of the world, right here in New York City!

And for some more exciting news: our third performance, at the 14th Street Y, was Storahsteps' FIRST EVER SOLD OUT show!! What an exciting day!! We had so many kids dressed up in awesome costumes: princesses, queens, and SUPERHEROS!! With a sea of Spidermen, Batmen, Supermen and many others looking out at us, we discussed the idea of having courage even when its hard or scary, just like Queen Esther did when talking to King Achashverosh about saving her people. (That would be us!) We focused on the idea that it was not enough for Esther to just wear her crown to feel like a Queen, but she needed to ACT on behalf of her people to really BE one. And finally we wrapped it up at the Solomon Schechter of Bergen County, where not only did we get a chance to perform our show geared to early education, we had the opportunity to revamp the show for an older crowd of kids from grades 2nd through 5th. In this adapted show, we had the chance to delve into some deeper issues, including extending the idea of Tikkun Olam not just to our fellow Jews but to communities all over the world that need our help, such as Japan, Libya, Egypt, New Zealand and, unfortunately, many more. It was touching to hear how much courage and sense of Tikkun Olam these kids had by wanting to send tzedaka, mishloach manot, baskets of food and gifts, and physical aid to all these places that need it.

All in all, it was a fun, rewarding, and meaningful experience that we hope was just as much fun to watch as it was for us to perform! Chag Sameach!

Purim Came A Little Early This Year

2011-03-16T17:55:00.000-04:00

Shawn Shafner, Storahtelling Company Member

Emily Warshaw, Storahtelling Company Member

Purim Kid's Program

Barnert Temple, Franklin Lakes, NJ

Hi, I’m Shawn.

And I’m Emily.

We presented a mini-Maven on Sunday, March 6 for Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, NJ for 3^rd through 6^th graders in the religious school. While the megilla presents an epic tale of betrayal, transformation, and vicious plots—we only had half an hour to cover the plot. While looking closely at the scene where Mordechai begs Esther to go to King Achashverosh and plead for the Jewish people, we noticed that someone else was working behind the scenes: the messenger, Hatach.

Emily played Hatach, relaying Mordechai’s message to Esther—up seventeen flights of stairs to her bedroom, and then passing Esther’s words back to Mordechai—down seventeen flights of stairs to the palace gates, where Mordy lies in mourning. But as the clock ticks and the plot thickens, how will Hatach convince the new, indecisive Queen Esther to take strong action on behalf of her people?

We put this exact question to the students at Barnert. “What could Hatach say or do to give Esther confidence?” And a new Purim midrash was born! You may not have known, but Hatach the messenger intervened to make sure Esther would hear Mordechai’s message loud and clear, and take ownership of her own power. Hatach, at the students’ suggestion, told Esther: “You are strong enough! Don’t be afraid of the King; he respects you. So do the people of Shushan. You’re smart, Esther, and you know what’s the right thing to do.”

As we left the temple, we realized that Hatach might also figure in the genesis of Nike shoes, when she visited Esther and became the first person to coin the phrase: Just do it!

“Going to the Mishkan (in Hoboken) and We’re Gonna Get Married”

2011-03-09T17:24:00.001-05:00

Jon Adam Ross, Founding Company Member
Storahtelling Maven Torah Reading Ritual
United Synagogue of Hoboken, Hoboken, New Jersey

I have spent many a Shabbat in synagogues around the country as a member of Storahtelling. But never have I had the privilege of ‘mavening’ in such a special space as the newly restored sanctuary of the United Synagogue of Hoboken. Just recently, USH restored its sanctuary to its original early 20th century grandeur, and it truly is a grand, holy space – much of it corresponding to the specifications laid out in the Torah’s instructions for the building of the mishkan – our traveling sanctuary in the desert. Last Shabbat, Annie Lewis and I did a maven weekend at the United Synagogue of Hoboken for Parshat Vayakhel. Annie, Alex Wolfson, and I created a brand new maven script for USH, in part to make the most of the resonance of the congregation’s recent experience in creating sacred space, and in part to highlight Annie’s special relationship with the congregation. Annie, in addition to being a world-class Maven is also a rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary and serves as the rabbinic intern at USH!

Friday night the stage was set with a really lovely and uniquely intimate Kabbalat Shabbat followed by a boisterous and delicious Shabbat dinner at the home of Rabbi Robert Scheinberg which included his generous family and 30 congregants who take part in a weekly “Intro to Judaism” class. Shabbat morning we were lucky to have the skilled Torah reading skills of both Rabbi Scheinberg and Andrew Merwin – an enthusiastic congregant who was joined by nearly two dozen congregants who remained in the afternoon for a “Meet the Maven” text study and conversation which only ended because it was time for Mincha! As for the Maven itself, we explored the role of Betzalel, the chief designer, pairing his character with an Israelite bride, played by Annie, who was hoping to use the Mishkan for the location for her wedding. Annie’s character got wrapped up in God’s ‘registry’ of gold and fabrics and fancy gifts for the mishkan, forgetting the other important things that fill a space and a wedding with holiness. In addition to the beautiful space that USH has created for itself, the congregation boasts an undeniable spirit of ruach, generosity and kavannah that fill the holy space with true sanctity. Betzalel was overwhelmed by all the gifts brought by the Israelites to build the mishkan. And we were overjoyed at the gift of getting to spend Shabbat in a modern day Mishkan – full of holiness – the United Synagogue of Hoboken.

Batya's Bath: Soothing a Crying Baby

2011-03-02T12:47:00.000-05:00

Emily Walsh, Storahtelling Maven Trainee

Assistant Director of Education, Youth and Family
B'nai Jeshurun

What happens when a princess is minding her own business, taking a bath in the Nile, and comes across a mysterious basket filled with a big surprise? We found out when Princess Batya, daughter of King Pharoah, played by Shawn Shafner, discovered the basket in "Batya's Bath," a StorahSteps Production. Shawn also starred as the lovable puppet, Yocheved, who the kids just adored! She asked her daughter, Miriam, played by me, to take the basket to the Nile. With the help of an audience filled with kids, teachers, and parents acting as the water, the basket was caried down the Nile. Princess Batya discovered that in the basket was a baby! She wanted it all for helself, and denied any help from her servant, also played by me. However, she quickly discovered she needed help with this crying baby! Enter Miriam, who offers the help of her mom, Yocheved, and well, you know how the rest of the story goes.

Shawn and I had a fantastic time peformring for the kids, and I'm pretty sure they had a good time too! We performed twice, once at the JCC in Manhattan and another at the 14th Street Y. The kids had a great time participating, serving as the water, naming the baby, and helping Batya decide what to do with the baby. In the end, Batya learned she could help the world with her own two hands, and the kids did too!

Deeper Threads

2011-02-14T15:37:00.001-05:00

By David Loewy, Storahtelling Maven
Storahtelling Maven Torah Reading Ritual

The Society for the Advancement of Judaism, New York City

“A pregnancy test…” is not the first answer you expect to a question
asked in synagogue, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s the perfect
response.

I’ll explain…
This past Saturday at The Society for the Advancement of Judaism (SAJ)
on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I had the privilege of delivering
a maven interpretation of twelve verses from Parashat Tetzaveh. Now,
Tetzaveh is chock full of minutely detailed instruction regarding the
materials and assembly of the tabernacle. In particular, it dwells on
the elements of the priestly uniform. It gives a very technical
description, right up until the mention of the Urim and Tummim, the
items through which G*d will decide the fate of the Children of
Israel. They are essentially an oracle attached to the high priest’s
breastplate. Whereas everything else in the inventory of the
tabernacle is given a complete set of specifications, the Urim and
Tummim, are named and then described no further.

This leaves poor Betzalel, the biblical designer who had to implement
the construction of these items, a little in the lurch. In his
character, I turned to the congregation and asked them for examples to
follow. “What are some items that provide foresight? What are things
that tell the future?” This yielded the immediate answer: “a pregnancy
test.”

A pregnancy test gives an authoritative, binary answer and predicts a
specific result within an approximate timeframe. At the same time, it
leaves the future open enough for the questioners to begin to craft
the possible futures in their own mind. It is the perfect example of a
definite stimulus that provides a wide variety of possibilities. It
was an ideal answer to spark our discussion.

As the congregation at SAJ concluded, objects only offer the foresight
that we give them. By deeming a thing prophetic, it allows us to look
to our future. By sanctifying something as holy, we gain transcendence
in its use. We access the spirituality within the physical world by
endowing the physical world with aspiration, insight, and hope.

Joseph Dreamed in January

2011-02-10T14:41:00.000-05:00

By Brian Gelfand, Storahtelling Maven
StorahSteps January Series: Joseph's Dream

Sunday, 1/23/2011, at SSDS.

Have you ever wondered about Joseph and all the trouble his special cape caused? Run Shayo and I presented a series of shows about Joseph's Dream in January around New York and New Jersey. Run played the part of Joseph and his sister Dina was played by the puppet, also courtesy of Run. I played Reuben, the biggest, strongest, oldest son. We put on four successful shows, including the first Shomer Shabbat StorahSteps program for children and parents.

Even without instruments and microphones, the show was still a hit! It was an interesting experience adapting the show for a Shomer Shabbat audience. The kids had a larger working knowledge of both Hebrew and the bible story itself. While the limitations on instruments and microphones needed to be worked out logistically, other opportunities were available to make the show a smashing success. Because the children were aware of when we deviated from the story written in the Torah, this allowed for discussions on the topic of midrash and what can be learned from telling various versions of the same story.

For pictures of Joseph's Dream at Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County, please click here.

Bible, Interrupted

2011-02-09T11:46:00.000-05:00

By Jake Goodman, Storahtelling Maven
Storahtelling Maven Workshop

Temple Solel, Hollywood, FL

This last weekend, Storahtelling Maven Shira Kline and I traveled to sunny Hollywood, FL to perform a unique Storahtelling program for the Temple Solel community. Our goal was to do a presentation focusing on our belief that story matters. Looking back a few weeks prior to Parshat B'shallach, we highlighted the crossing of the sea and, most pertinently, the demise of Pharaoh and his entire army. The Israelites crossed the sea, turned back to look and, ding-dong, the wicked witch (and all her little monkeys) were dead.

In the brainstorming of this, I referenced my educational training, which taught me that to stop the repetition of hateful rhetoric, you must interrupt it. Quite simply, harmful stereotypes and concepts continue throughout history because, quite obviously, people repeat it: often unconsciously, often with "benign" intentions, this rhetoric simply becomes part of common parlance. (Example: the use of the word "Gyp," as in, "He Gyp'ed me," which is a slanderous reference to Gypsies/Roma.) The way to stop this rhetoric is to interrupt it, as it happens, however often it happens.

Focusing on Shirat Ha-Yam, the Song of the Sea (which includes the famous Mi Chamocha text), we interrupted the Exodus narrative which we retell every year at Passover, and which is usually a source of great celebratory pride for us. Just after the Hebrews successfully crossed the Sea of Reeds, God caused the waters to crash back down on the entire Egyptian army, killing everyone like ants. As this happened, the Israelite people broke out in song. The words of this song praised God's power and might. They also reveled in the violent destruction of our enemies.

During the interactive part of our Storah presentation, we invited the congregation to put on their psychologist hats and look at the mentality of the people singing these words. Congregants’ diagnoses included: angry, victims, post-traumatic stress disorder, exhausted, grateful, relieved.

We then asked, "Do you think this behavior has been repeating itself throughout our history, from ancient times to today?" Are we still playing and replaying the victim roles that our mythic ancestors did, of vengeful celebrants? Are we still living as though we are in a narrow place, as if it is us vs. them?

People were eager to jump into this conversation with us. Afterward, congregants approached both Shira and me, expressing gratitude for doing something so "different," "accessible" and mostly for "interrupting" their norm -- for making them see (and hopefully tell) this story in a different way. Thanks to the Story, together we experienced a new consciousness.

*”Bible, Interrupted” was a phrase initially coined, to the best of our knowledge, by Amichai Lau-Lavie.

God in a Box

2011-02-08T13:49:00.000-05:00

By Annie Levy, Storahtelling Maven
Storahtelling Maven Shabbaton

Congregation Beth El in Norwalk, CT

What should the Temple of the Future look like? How can it be built on the solid foundation of the past (biblically speaking, as we were translating Terumah) and the present (pluralistically speaking, fulfilling the needs of the largest community possible)? And do we still need a “box” for God at all? This past weekend, Shawn Shafner and I spent Shabbat with Congregation Beth El in Norwalk, CT exploring these questions, and the many others that undoubtedly come up over an artist in residence shabbaton. However, the questions that everyone seemed to want to know the answer to went as follows: There is no story in Terumah, might as well just leave it in the Hebrew; what are you possible going to do to make it interesting to us?

Shawn and I were confident that we would, at least, be able to answer that last question, the question of personal relevance, without breaking a sweat. We are Storahtellers after all, Mavens trained in the intricate art of translating ancient instructions into contemporary conversation. Shawn and I set out to meet the challenges of a parsha that is basically just a list of building instructions, literally biblical blueprints, by setting up two characters, Bezalel’s contemporary ancestor, a modern day architect, and the matriarch Miriam, who were at odds with each other over whether we should look to the parsha as instructions of how our modern synagogues should look, or whether we should scrap the whole idea of what “was” in the interest of developing the best possible “what will be.” The Maven ritual climaxed, as it so often does, in the second aliyah stretch with the question, “How can we create the Temple of the Future to fulfill the spiritually needs of the largest possible community, especially those who are otherwise unengaged, the spiritually unfulfilled?”

The congregation faced this question with the expected moment of silence for contemplation and consideration (a few younger members of the congregation filled the adult’s silence with their offers of “a swimming pool!” and “a petting zoo!”) but soon all of the adults' hands shot up and they began to offer a pretty thorough checklist of ways to improve on synagogue life in order to build the Temple of the Future. Shawn and I were feeling pretty proud of ourselves, we had clearly found our way into the story, our plan had worked, we had somehow managed to make this boring, irrelevant parsha meaningful! However, the real revelation came at the talk back, when we were asked if we had know that this synagogue was currently wrestling with the very question that the parsha asked, in the form of strategic planning to insure a Temple of the Future for that community. We had gone in with a plan of what we thought was relevant only to find that these stories are playing themselves out on their own.

Storahtelling Hires New Executive Director

2011-02-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

Storahtelling Hires New Executive Director

Storahtelling, Inc. has announced the appointment of Isaac Shalev as its new Executive Director, effective February 15th.

As it prepares to launch its 13th year of operations with a Bar Mitzvah celebration, Storahtelling is thrilled to be adding a key player to its leadership team.

Shalev was instrumental in launching Birthright Israel NEXT, the sister organization of Taglit-Birthright Israel which provides free first-time trips to Israel for Jewish young adults. As Chief Operating Officer he was responsible for overseeing the engagement, education and community-building activities for Jewish young adults ages 21-32 throughout the USA, with a focus on the 180,000+ alumni of the Taglit-Birthright Israel trips. Shalev is widely known as a thought-leader, a builder of organizations, an educator and technology specialist.

The transition is a tremendous milestone for the organization, currently located in residence at the 14th Street Y in lower Manhattan.

“For everything there is a season.” said Amichai Lau-Lavie, Storahtelling’s founder.

"Building Storahtelling from the ground up has been a tremendous adventure. With so many talented people now on board – we are ready for bigger and better. I am proud of what we’ve achieved and am excited about our next chapter."

"Storahtelling has inspired thousands by bringing the drama of the Torah back to the synagogue,” said Shalev.

“I'm excited to build on Amichai Lau-Lavie's pioneering work and spread the power and passion of Storahtelling to Jewish communities that are hungry for inspiration." Storahtelling, a pioneer in Jewish arts and education, informs and transforms the ways modern Jews relate to their cultural legacy, ritual celebrations and spiritual heritage. Storahtelling's signature pedagogy, The Maven Method ™, integrates Judaism’s oldest teaching tools with contemporary stagecraft and educational techniques. The organization has satellite programs operating in Colorado, California and Israel. Lau-Lavie will continue on with the organization, transitioning to the role of “Founding Director” solely focused on overseeing the organization’s work training Mavens around the world.

"Isaac is a perfect fit for our organization and will be instrumental in enabling us to realize our full potential," said Sarah Sokolic, Storahtelling Board member who led the efforts of the search. "We have come so far already, impacting the lives of so many people through our work over the years. We are now poised for even greater successes.”

For more information about Storahtelling log onto www.storahtelling.org.

[For more information, click here]

In the Space Between

2011-02-01T14:46:00.001-05:00

By Naomi Less, Storahtelling Director of Education and Training
6th Graders and parents encounter the Maven Method (TM)

Shaaray Tefilah (NYC)
This weeks's parsha highlights the famous "ark of the covenant" and the beautifully crafted golden cherubim that are to be placed on the cover's edges, facing each other. In that space, between the faces of the two cherubs, is where God will dwell. This was a perfect analogy for what I witnessed when facilitating an introduction to the Maven Method (TM) with 6th Graders and their parents at Shaaray Tefilah on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Through intensive, interactive and engaging work together in family teams, participants were able to find a bullseye, a main focal point, of what the story of Terumah is all about.

"If you build it, God will come!"
"God dwells in the space between two people's relationships!"
"The outside packaging can often be as important as the message inside!"

How these families converged together to find that this ancient ancient story of a blueprint can speak to us on a personal level, on a local current level and on a 2011 world-view level demonstrated that God truly dwelled in the space between.

A Double-Storah Spectacular: Moses in the Sky with Diamonds & Becoming Israel

2011-02-01T14:46:00.000-05:00

By Daliya Karnofsky, Storahtelling Maven
A Double-Storah Spectacular: Moses in the Sky with Diamonds & Becoming Israel

Congregation Beth El, Sudbury, MA

This weekend Alex Wolfson, Franny Silverman, Emily Warshaw, and I had the pleasure of spending Shabbat with Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts. We were prepared to learn with and enjoy our time in an uber-educated and intellectual community, highly involved in their Jewish studies, but we had no idea just exactly how much of a treat was in store. Before Alex's and my Maven performance, "Moses in the Sky with Diamonds," on Saturday morning, we met a lively, involved, enthusiastic group of individuals with fantastic insight and a wicked sense of humor. They loved our humorous take on feminism and appreciated the questions we raised about how to take part in a democracy while still feeling our individual voices are heard.

Normally nervous for these performances, after my first line, I knew I was safe. This congregation felt like home. They were hungry for entertainment, discussion, knowledge, and a worthy forum for their astoundingly unpretentious intelligence. Sometimes our "Second Aliyah Stretch" can be a bit frightening for a community. Faced with probing questions, Mavens are sometimes met with thoughtful or simply stunned silence. Not at Beth El! This time, it felt as if it could have gone on forever. The responses ran the spectrum from humorous to well thought out to just plain bizarre. Every individual was respected and cherished in this community, called by one "a cast of characters", and the acceptance was felt. We also had a lively talkback afterwards accompanied by an amazing potluck Kiddush lunch; just another symbol of this community's generosity.

That evening, after Havdallah, we took a more performative role in our production of "Becoming Israel." Again, a lively, heartfelt talkback followed with valuable input and visible emotion. Two high energy workshops completed our weekend Sunday morning, and we were off in a car weighed down once again by Beth El's love and generosity; this time in the form of the contents of their synagogue refrigerator emptied into our willing hands. We left astounded, refreshed, bathed in love and light and intellectual curiosity from this extraordinarily warm community in the middle of the coldest season. We were incredibly fortunate to have this experience, and we thank them for sharing their home and hearts with us. This kind of family is what it's all about.

We the People?

2011-02-01T14:45:00.001-05:00

By Annie Lewis, Storahtelling Maven
A Maven Shabbaton Weekend

Temple Beth El, Boca Raton, Florida

There is a Hasidic teaching that a person should always carry two truths in his or her pockets. In one, “For my sake, the entire world was created,” and in the other, “ I am but dust and ashes.” The challenge is to know the right moment to pull each one out.

Jake Goodman and I had a weekend of revelation at Temple Beth El, in Boca Raton, Florida. We were invited to be a part of the community’ s special festivities as they began the writing of a new Torah scroll.

Friday night, we read parshat Mishpatim. As the Israelite nation arrives at Sinai, we told the story of Rachel Bat Shutelach, who nominates herself to be the 70th Elder on the Board of Elders. Elder 68 welcomes her as the first woman elder remarking, “ We have been talking about how we could use some more diversity on this board.” The words of the Torah record that everyone is present at Mount Sinai and that the people consent to the covenant with God “ in one voice.” Rachel raises her voice to question whether everybody is truly represented. As Elder 68 leads the people in the chant, “Na’aseh V’Nishmah! We will do and we will hear!” Rachel expresses doubt as to whether the people should jump into the new covenant without knowing all the details and the fine print. After all, the Israelite people are fresh out of slavery in Egypt, where they had no say over their lives, where many were no more than numbers. As Rachel makes her voice heard, Elder 68 reprimands her for getting in the way of revelation for everyone.

The community of Temple Beth El helped us to explore the tension between standing up for one’s beliefs and making one’s voice heard, and silencing oneself for the greater good. Congregants shared stories about having to sacrifice their own needs and desires as parents taking care of children and as children taking care of parents. One woman shared a familiar story about being a Jew in public school around Christmas time and making her voice heard to her choir director about the non-inclusive repertoire. One young man expressed his admiration for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the way he spoke up on behalf of himself and his people, and changed the world.

We were honored to be a part of this joyous occasion as Temple Beth El celebrated the power of Torah. We know community members will continue to make their voices heard in the telling of transformative Torah.

Storahtelling Booking Sale Going on Now!

2011-02-01T14:45:00.000-05:00

This month only, Storahtelling is offering savings up to 20% off on a variety of programs! Re-imagine Purim, Passover, Shavuot, Shabbat (for all ages!) by bringing Storahtelling to your community!

Since 1999 Storahtelling has been informing and transforming the Jewish conversation, making ancient stories and traditions accessible and exciting for new generations, and raising social consciousness. This spring, your community can celebrate the power of sacred stories that can change the world!

StorahSteps, Storahtelling's newest program focuses on engaging the youngest members of your community. Designed for children ages 2-6 and their parents, StorahSteps brings biblical sagas and Jewish holidays to life with Storahtelling's interactive performances featuring actors, live music and puppetry.

Storahtelling's Maven program revitalizes your community's traditional Torah Reading Service with Storahtelling "Mavens" - skilled educators, performers and musicians - who bring back the ancient craft of interpretive translation with live theatre and interactive storytelling - completely customized to suit your congregational needs!

For more information on hosting a Storahtelling event, please contact Emily Warshaw, Storahtelling's Booking Specialist, at 646-395-4350 or via e-mail at emily@storahtelling.org.

crossposted on www.jewishboston.com

Fantastic Storahtelling Weekend

2011-01-28T13:09:00.000-05:00

by EstherH78 / January 28, 2011

(reposted with permission by www.jewishboston.com)

It’s been almost seven years since I took a week-long Storahtelling seminar at Elat Chayyim (now part of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Seminar), for an entire week a group of about 12 people (who had never met) studied seven verses of Torah. The seminar guided us through the development a Storahtelling and concluded with our performance. I knew then that I wanted to bring Storahtelling to Massachusetts, to Sudbury, to Beth El to share the excitement that Torah reading could be! And.....they are here this weekend! For an actual Storahtelling and Saturday evening theatrical performance.

Torah Study on Saturday morning had always been more accessible for me than the Torah reading during services. Understanding, in my own language, the text has, over the years drawn me closer and closer to Torah. The idea of ‘translating’ is not new! In addition to the Rabbi and Cantor, hundreds of years ago, when Hebrew was not the language of the Jews in attendance, there was the m’turgeman, an Aramaic word for the person who would give a dramatic translation of the text.

Storahtelling revitalizes that tradition using music, performance, and interactive participation, bringing the page to the stage! During the Torah reading the Storatelling troupe not only conveys the text of the biblical heritage, but also the context of its timeless and contemporary relevance!

Friday night, January 28th 7:30 p.m. there will be a taste of things to come, with an introduction as part of evening services at Beth El.

Saturday morning join us for bagels at 9 a.m. and learn about the ancient art of Torah Translation and its contemporary relevance in today’s world. Join us for services at 10:30 and experience an actual Storahtelling, in which the Mavens bring the Torah to life through a fresh fusion of Hebrew Chanting, dramatized English translation and interactive commentary during our Saturday morning service. Stay for lunch!

Saturday at 8:00 p.m. join us for Becoming Israel:

Three parallel lives intertwine to discover their shared story and their common name—Israel—“The One Who Struggles with God.”

Leah, a Biblical wife, meets Rachel, a Holocaust survivor, and Jake, a young American on his first trip to Israel. Fusing sacred scripture with contemporary stagecraft, Becoming Israel examines the intersection between individual identity and collective memory, inviting audiences for a closer look at the legacy of Israel in a global reality.

Tickets for the evening performance are $10.