theatre dybbuk – To create a residency program that will bring theatrical presentations about Jewish history, professional development workshops, and community learning opportunities to multiple regions throughout the United States.

In what ways does Jewish theater contribute to our understanding of both history and the current moment?

Due to the ways in which, over a long period of time, Jewish people have lived in a wide variety of different places and societies, Jewish history provides unique points of entry to complex conversations about subjects such as identity, belonging, and power. Theatre, with its use of multiple disciplines and aspects of communal interaction, is one of the most impactful vehicles for helping people to see themselves and others in new ways. By bringing together investigations of Jewish history with theatrical explorations and presentations, learners are invited to deepen their understanding of themselves and the world in which we live.

What impact do you hope to make upon the regional communities that host residencies?

We hope that educators with whom we interact will have grown their ability to use artistic techniques for the purposes of teaching and engaging with Jewish history, topics, and themes. We also hope that community members will have an increased understanding of Jewish history’s relationship to contemporary concerns and issues, seeing it as an entry point to investigate our world.

In addition, theatre dybbuk will have, in the long-term, encouraged the creation of, and interaction with, new opportunities that bring together arts, Jewish thought, and contemporary concerns. We anticipate that this program will foster participation among diverse populations around challenging topics, encouraging robust dialogue and learning about our world, all infused with Jewish learning.

What do you find inspiring about working in the Jewish educational and cultural space?

I am inspired by the deep curiosity that Jewish educational and cultural spaces encourage within both practitioners and participants. There is a restless dissatisfaction of the best kind—a desire to keep iterating and innovating, searching for how we might comprehend each other and the forces at play in our communities. I appreciate the culture of questioning in these spaces where the search for understanding is considered as having as great, if not greater, value than any answers that may be reached.

Learn more:

• theatre dybbuk Website
• theatre dybbuk Podcast
• theatre dybbuk Workshops for Jewish Educators
• theatre dybbuk Workshops for Leaders