Live from Boulder, it’s Storahtelling. Featuring the Mile High Mavens in

Love Shack

It’s called Love Shack. That is, Storahtelling’s Mile High Mavens production bringing Torah portion Pekudei to life through a fresh fusion of Torah chanting, dramatized English translation, and interactive commentary. And it’s part of Storahtelling’s greater ambition, according to its founder, Amichai Lau-Lavie:

Our main focus is the restructuring and transformation of Judaism’s oldest form of sacred storytelling, the Torah Service, into a central and compelling educational event. Conducted both within and beyond the traditional religious settings, Storahtelling’s adaptation of the Torah Service creates an exciting arena for multi-generational learning, to meet modern generations where they are, and to present a new approach to Jewish learning.”

Storahtelling’s primary method for restructuring the Torah Service is the restoration of the “Maven,” an all but forgotten Jewish communal professional. For over 1,500 years, the Maven was a central feature of the Torah Service and of Judaic life, serving as local orator, storyteller and translator. The Maven appeared along with the Torah Service 2,500 years ago, but was phased-out from communal life a thousand years ago due to shifting cultural and religious paradigms. Now, Storahtelling is redefining and restoring this profession to modern needs and structural formats, as a key provider of access to Judaic literacy.

Love Shack features Rabbi Marc Soloway, troupe director Caryn Aviv, and Bruce Shaffer, who along with Cantor Birdie Becker, author/educator Cherie Karo Schwartz, Rabbi Brian Field, Rabbi Eliot Baskin, and rabbinic student Ilan Glazer are Storahtelling’s charter Mile High Mavens. Says Rabbi Soloway:

I went into Storahtelling to integrate my former life as an actor with my current life as a rabbi, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the depth of discovery that has emerged through this method of engaging with Torah.  I never would have believed that in parsha Pekudei, Moses and Aaron could come alive in such complex, rich and new ways … that speak to us all and remind us that the ancient stories of Torah are timeless.”

For Caryn Aviv, learning Storahtelling methodology was her Summer of Love:

I fell head over heels in love with Torah during the summer of 2008 Mile High Mavens training. For days, we poured over Torah verses  – translating, interpreting, arguing and wrestling them into relevancy to our Jewish lives now, and gaining the tools of the Maven. Several productions later, I’ve discovered that engaging Torah in this way is a far more meaningful way for me to express my Jewishness than I could have imagined, and that these ancient, yet seemingly innovative techniques can make Torah come alive, for people who are often desperately in need of meaning and healing.”

This writer, a fellow Mile High Maven, is no less, but succinctly, enthusiastic: I have seen the future of the Torah service, and its name is Storahtelling. www.storahtelling.org

Love Shack. Shabbat afternoon, March 6th at 4pm, at Congregation Bonai Shalom. 1527 Cherryvale Road, Boulder

Interested in learning Storahtelling technique & joining the MHM’s? Contact carynstorahtelling@gmail.com