The information below is adapted from a Torah storytelling workshop which Cathy Shadd and Lisa Fink have offered SBY parents. Especially if you are new to Torah storytelling, please read this section and keep the guidelines in mind. Our overall goals in Torah storytelling are to familiarize the children with the stories from the Torah, to draw out from the parasha (Torah portion for your week), a key value or concept, and to help the children to connect this value or concept with their own lives.

 

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Torah storytelling

 

• Why do we tell stories?

1. Stories give children a concrete way to think about abstract concepts and values, such as trust, faith, hope, friendship, and love.

2. Stories provide a safe way to experience feelings—they help structure experience. Children have little tolerance or need for ambiguity—this age group is all about literal understanding.   

3. Why are we telling Torah stories at SBY?

 

• The stories help instill a love of Torah in young children.

• Torah embodies values that we wish to impart to our children, and to observe ourselves.

• A story, whether directly from the Torah or a midrash, provides an entrée into Torah for young children.  It is their equivalent of the weekly parasha reading.

• Torah fosters in children a positive Jewish identity, a sense of community, people, history, and values. (While there are many stories that teach values, stories related to the Torah insert them into a Jewish context, in the Jewish tradition.)

 

Preparing a Torah Story

 

•  After reading the Parasha: What to think about

• The key themes and/or values of this parasha

• Challenges you may encounter in the parasha.

• Be sensitive to children’s developmental issues (young children especially fear loss of love, loss of parents, and violence).

 

• • • • Since one of the key SBY goals is to acquaint the children with the people and stories of the Torah, try to use the names and stories that are in the week's parasha. If there is no story or theme accessible to young children (e.g. large segments of Leviticus), look carefully in the parasha for anything that might be a springboard for a story For example, a description of the priestly blessing offers an opportunity to tell a story about blessings; a long list of genealogy is a springboard for a story about the importance of family and tradition.  Use your imagination.  If there is absolutely nothing, you can tell a story about Shabbat or fundamental Jewish values (kindness, tzedakah, helping the needy, love of Torah, etc.)  See below on “Finding a story” for helpful resources

 

• • • • If the story is inappropriate for young children (e.g. the golden calf), look for other elements in the parasha that you could use (the commandment about Shabbat in that same parasha). Also consider telling a midrash about a character if the story isn’t appropriate or accessible (e.g., the binding of Isaac).  Note:  be sure to point out that your midrash is not actually in the Torah, but is a story about someone in the Torah.

 

• • • • Sometimes certain elements of an otherwise suitable story are inappropriate for young children (e.g. certain parts of the Pesach story).  A guiding principle is faithfulness to the text of the Torah.  This means that while you may choose not to tell a certain story from the Torah or to leave out certain parts of it, you should not change the story in any significant way.  For example, you can tell children that there were ten plagues, but you needn’t detail all of them.  Leave it at two or three (e.g., darkness, frogs) and don’t describe the more frightening ones (e.g., the fate of the first-born).

 

B.  Finding a story: Resources you can use

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• SBY Storytelling “kit” available at Netivot Shalom.  Contact sby@netivotshalom.org to coordinate taking this resource home.  Kit includes 2 books:The Shabbat Book and God’s Garden

• From PJ Library East Bay This is a list of all PJ Library Books by parasha This is a useful resource because it also has themes for each parasha.  

• The shul library (1316 University Avenue) has a “Juvenile” section which is further subdivided into shelves of books on holidays, Torah, etc. There are many appropriate stories here, but you will need to tweak them for our SBY children. 

• Stories directly from Torah, particularly Genesis and Exodus

• JTS Website:  learn@jts/parashat/hashuvuah (with Torah/Haftorah portions on line). Also at this website are commentaries by the JTS chancellor.

 

C.  Tailoring your story for our SBY children - Keep it simple

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• A story should have no more than one or two main points.

• A story should include only essential characters. If possible, emphasize relationships between characters. Friendships and how we treat people are key themes for this age group.

• Keep it accessible

• If necessary and if the story does not come directly from the Torah, change characters to ones children can identify with (e.g., often an adult protagonist can be changed to a child).

• Be sensitive to gender, race, class, family constellation (ie single parents, same sex parents, blended family and adoption).  

• Use simple vocabulary (without talking down to children)

• Keep the story short (their attention span is about 10 minutes)

• Emphasize the internal structure of the story. Most stories for young children use either a simple “beginning/middle/end” or a repeating pattern.  You can bring this out by:

 

 

 

Using “signpost” words (e.g., “so then…”, “next”, “again”, “finally,” etc.)

Asking questions (“What do you suppose happened next?”)

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4.   Using props. You want to make your story as visual as possible, without being distracting. You can use:

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• Puppets and dolls

• Indicators of setting (boxes, cloth, etc.)

• Key objects (like Joseph’s coat)

• Pictures, felt storyboards, etc.

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5.  Practicing the story at home. This is very helpful both for getting a feel for the length of your story and for developing your comfort level. Some things you may have planned to say sound weird when you actually say them aloud.

 

Telling the story

 

Introducing the story

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It is better for the children if you lead them into the story, rather than just starting with a “once upon a time” kind of introduction. 

Draw upon the children’s personal experience by asking questions which will elicit the theme you plan to focus on.

Connect the story with a recent holiday or with Shabbat. You can use a song or a prayer.

Say whether the story is in the Torah or is a midrash or a legend.

 

Performing the story

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1. Begin the story when possible by situating it in the Torah story cycle (“This story happened when Moses was leading the Jewish people in the desert.”) or set the time and place (“This story happened when our great great-grandparents were alive and living in a place called Russia.”)

2. Remember to use simple vocabulary– simpler than you think.

3. Use your body and your facial expressions. Remember that you are performing

4. Use dialog whenever possible and give characters different voices.

5. Vary your voice for different parts of the story. Speak loudly, softly, slowly, quickly, etc.

6. Keep eye contact with the children.

7. Involve children in the story by asking them to do something, say something, or answer a question.  Repetition can be a positive tool to use.  

8. Respond to their questions or comments without getting too sidetracked.

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Concluding the story

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 It is hard for the children if you end the story with a simple “and that’s our story for today” kind of remark. It is better to lead them out of the story back into their world. You can do this by reinforcing the key value or theme which you want to leave the children with.

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1. Relate the story to the children’s lives or world.

2. Summarize the main theme/value in a way accessible to children.

3. Sing a song connected with the theme/value.

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