Because God Loves Stories: an Anthology of Jewish Storytelling (Original)

Jacket Description/Back: "Why were human beings created?" goes a traditional Jewish saying. "Because God loves stories". Storytelling has been part of Jewish religion and custom from earliest times, and it remains a defining aspect of Jewish life. In Because God Loves Stories, folklorist Steve Zeitlin assembles the work of thirty-six Jewish storytellers, each of whom spins tales that express his or her own distinctive visions of Jewish culture. Review Quotes: Jimmy Neil SmithFounder and Executive Director of the National Storytelling AssociationA Superb contribution to Jewish folklore. From stories that re-create the lost world of the Easter European Jewish "shtetl" to a selection of Ladino-inflected pieces from Sephardic Jews, "Because God Loves Stories" brings to vivid life the role of storytelling both as entertainment and as a way of re-invigorating a precious tradition. Review Quotes: Leonard NimoyIn "Because god Loves Stories," I recognize actors I performed with on the Jewish stages, the parents and people I grew up with, and a few of the "shlemiels" I've come across... I don't know how I ever did without it. Review Quotes: Leonard NimoyIn "Because god Loves Stories," I recognize actors I performed with on the Jewish stages, the parents and people I grew up with, and a few of the "shlemiels" I've come across... I don't know how I ever did without it. Review Quotes: Jimmy Neil SmithFounder and Executive Director of the National Storytelling AssociationA Superb contribution to Jewish folklore. From stories that re-create the lost world of the Easter European Jewish "shtetl" to a selection of Ladino-inflected pieces from Sephardic Jews, "Because God Loves Stories" brings to vivid life the role of storytelling both as entertainment and as a way of re-invigorating a precious tradition. Review Quotes: Jimmy Neil Smith Founder and Executive Director of the National Storytelling Association A Superb contribution to Jewish folklore. From stories that re-create the lost world of the Easter European Jewish "shtetl" to a selection of Ladino-inflected pieces from Sephardic Jews, "Because God Loves Stories" brings to vivid life the role of storytelling both as entertainment and as a way of re-invigorating a precious tradition. Review Quotes: Leonard Nimoy In "Because god Loves Stories, " I recognize actors I performed with on the Jewish stages, the parents and people I grew up with, and a few of the "shlemiels" I've come across... I don't know how I ever did without it. Biographical Note: Steve Zeitlin received his Ph. D. in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the director and co-founder of City Lore: The New York Center for Urban Folk Culture and a regular commentator for National Public Radio. Zeitlin is the co-author of several books, including "A Celebration of American Family Folklore." He lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Table of Contents: Table of Contents "Introduction" I. ANCIENT TIMES IN CONTEMPORARY TALES Nina Jaffe "The Most Precious Thing" Syd Lieberman Challahs "in the Ark" Cherie Karo Schwartz "Elijah and the Poor Man's Wish" "Merit of the Sabbath" Joseph Elias "The Sound of Work The Talking Mule" Rabbi Edward Schecter "Isaac's Bar Mitzvah" II. THE "SHTETL" A. The "Shtetl" in Folktale Eve Penner Ilsen "A Tale of Reb Nakhum Chernobler and a" Tikkun Rabbi Edward Schecter "The Teller of Tales Levi Yitchak Burns the Evidence" Syd Lieberman, Steve Sanfield "The Founding Fathers A Chelm Medley" Michael Wex "The Kugel" Corey Fischer "The Golem Haunts the Cemetery in Prague" B. The "Shtetl" in Family Stories Rita Fecher "The Day My Great-Grandmother Died" Peninnah Schram "The Czar's Army The Czarina's Dress" Henry Sapoznik "Tants! Tants! Yiddish Music in the Old Country" Matilda Friedman "Think for Yourself" Marc Kaminsky "My Grandmother's Family Tales" III. THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE Roslyn Bresnick-Perry "Leaving for America A Real American Girl My First Thanksgiving" Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett "From Immigrant to Ethnic in a Family's Tales" Ruth Rubin "Grandmother Elke: Next Year in Jerusalem" Rosa Kuinova "The Refusenik" IV. THE LOWER EAST SIDE AND BEYOND A. Tenement Life Sam Levenson "The Tax Man in the Tailor Shop Crucifixion" Gus Tyler ""The Strike of the" Schnorrers" "Revisited" Jack Tepper "Pazamentry" Shirlee Kresh Hecker "Papa's Sukkah Ike the Pike" Hank Halio "A Jew Who Don't Speak Yiddish: Ashkenazi/Sephardic Cultural Differences" B. The American South Solomon Blatt "What Mr. Blatt Can't Eat" C. The Catskills Joey Adams "The" Kokhaleyn "The" Tumler D. Yiddish Theater Baruch Lumet "Plotting to Kill Harry" Zypora Spaisman "The Lonesome Ship" E. Jewish Summer Camps Rabbi David Holtz "Water and Wine" V. THE HOLOCAUST A. Folk and Hasidic Tales Rabbi Israel Spira/Yaffa Eliach "Even the Transgressors in Israel Circumcision Hovering above the Pit" Nina Jaffe and Steve Zeitlin "In Your Hands" Sam Levenson "The Wand" B. Bitter Memories Melvin Katz "Only the Small Survive Typhus Pretending to Work The Cigarette New Barracks Liberation A Bowl of Soup" Lisa Lipkin "What My Mother Never Told Me: Reminiscences of a Child of a Holocaust Survivor" Barbara Myerhoff "The Shoebox" Roslyn Bresnick-Perry "Going Home to Nowhere" VI. HUMOR IN CONTEMPORARY JEWISH LIFE Moshe Waldoks "The Health Club" Steve Zeitlin "Jewish Laughter, God's Sense of Humor" VII. MEANINGS AND REFLECTIONS Shelley Brenner "Ezekiel's Wheel" Steve Zeitlin "A Penchant for Parable" Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard The Healing Power of Jewish Stories "Source Notes"Marc Notes: Touchstone book.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-304). Publisher Marketing: "Why were human beings created?" goes a traditional Jewish saying. "Because God loves stories." Storytelling has been part of Jewish religion and custom from earliest times, and it remains a defining aspect of Jewish life. In Because God Loves Stories, folklorist Steve Zeitlin assembles the work of thirty-six Jewish storytellers, each of whom spins tales that express his or her own distinctive visions of Jewish culture. Publisher Marketing: An exciting new treasury of Jewish stories and storytellers, from ancient tales and classics re-imagined to contemporary family stories, parables, and humor "Why were human beings created?" goes a traditional Jewish saying. "Because God loves stories." Storytelling has been part of Jewish religion and custom from earliest times and it remains a defining aspect of Jewish life. In "Because God Loves Stories, " folklorist Steve Zeitlin assembles the work of thirty-six Jewish storytellers, each of whom spins tales that express his or her own distinctive visions of Jewish culture. Contemporary storytellers re-interpret stories from the Talmud for modern sensibilities, the Grand Rabbi of Bluzhov tells tales of the Holocaust, beloved comedian Sam Levenson regales readers with hilarious vignettes of Jewish life in America, and much more.

Contributor Bio:  Zeitlin, Steve Steve Zeitlin received his Ph. D. in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the director and co-founder of City Lore: The New York Center for Urban Folk Culture and a regular commentator for National Public Radio. Zeitlin is the co-author of several books, including "A Celebration of American Family Folklore." He lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.