told by Judy Sima
I have always loved “Obedient Jack” and “Epaminondas,” but they didn’t feel like stories I could tell. Then one day, as luck would have it, it came to me – what I needed was a Jewish version. Jack and Epaminondas were shlemiels – inept bunglers who try to do the right thing and fail. So I came up with Shmuely, a poor boy who lives with his Mama in a small Jewish village called a Shtetl. Before World War II there were hundreds of Shtetls in Eastern and Central Europe that were destroyed during the Holocaust. The people in the Shtetls spoke Yiddish, a blending of medieval German and Hebrew. In telling my story, I hope to honor the people who lived in those villages, familiarize my audiences with a few words of Yiddish, and have a lot of fun doing it. I love seeing the kids’ expressions as they anticipate Shmuley’s next misstep. When I tell the story, we practice saying, “Loch in Kopf” (Hole in the head), which is what Shmuley’s Mama says every time he gets Mama’s instructions wrong. “Loch” is spoken with a strong guttural “ch” and audiences love to say it.
About Judy
Award-winning storyteller, author, and teaching artist, Judy Sima has been featured at conferences and festivals, schools and libraries throughout Michigan and across the country. A retired middle school librarian, she has introduced many young people and adults to the art of storytelling. Judy’s book, Raising Voices: Creating Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes, co-authored with Kevin Cordi, is a “must have” for anyone working with youth tellers. She is also featured in the DVD series Story Watchers Club and the August House Book of Scary Stories. A past NSN Board member, Judy is the current President of the Detroit Story League. See more of her stories on her website.
Contact Judy
Website: www.JudySima.com
Email: Judy@JudySima.com
Phone: 248-644-3951
Many years ago, I heard Elizabeth Ellis tell her story, Grandmother Spider. As she told it, I got an amazing visual of the action and I imagined how the story could be told with lots of physical and vocal audience participation. Happily, Elizabeth granted me permission to tell it my way, “… with attitude!”
I was commissioned by a museum to write a Christmas story for their gingerbread house exhibit. Fun or what? So, I thought to myself, when I was a kid, what was the thing I loved most about winter? Sledding. What would be the coolest thing that could happen with my sled? If it could fly. What would be the funniest thing? If people thought it was a UFO. That is how it began and this story and song are the result. When I share this story and song in schools I always allow a question and answer time afterwards because, it never fails, 50 kids throw their hands in the air and ask if it is true. I tell them what I heard my friend Antonio Rocha say once; it is truly a story. Then I move into a story about Einstein as a young boy and how he made something that seemed impossible, possible. At the end I challenge them to invent and create. It is one of my favorite school programs. Side note. I never cease to be amazed at how many grown men request this story at my shows. I guess there is a little kid in all of us. Merry Christmas – may your holidays and new year be filled with out of this world adventures.
I have recently been fascinated with the concept of the “Now.” Eckhart Tolle has written several books on the subject with thought provoking statements like: “Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now. Nothing has ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now.” Superficially, one might think that is almost trivial in its simplicity, however as I pondered it, it had tremendous depth and wisdom. Tolle goes on to point out that all fear comes from the mind focusing on the future and all guilt and regret comes from the mind focusing on the past. Neither the past nor the future can be changed at all, only the present … the Now. I have grown to appreciate the power of staying fully present for the Now.