The world’s largest collection of recorded Jewish folklore came under the care of the Department of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of Haifa on September 1.
Consisting of more than 15,000 recorded Jewish and Arabic folktales, the Israel Folklore Archive –founded in 1955 — has labored to collect examples of Jewish folklore from many countries, with the emphasis on the folklore of Sephardic Jewry.
According to Dr. Aliza Shenhar, head of Haifa University’s Department of Hebrew and Comparative Literature, the university “is the best place for the archive. For academic reasons, I feel that it must be here. We have been working with it for years and now that it will be situated at the university, we can develop it more effectively. By being here, it is also a great benefit for the students, since they will not have to leave the university to conduct their research.”
SUBJECT OF TWO MAJOR PROJECTS
Jewish folklore, under Shenhar’s guidance, has been the subject of two major projects over the past 10 years. In 1979 a compilation of a year’s worth of listening and recording sessions of members of the community of Beit Shean, a predominantly Sephardic development town 45 miles south of Tiberias, resulted in the publication of a book, “Folktales of Beit Shean,” authored by Shenhar and Haia Bar-Yitzhak.
Determined to build upon their success, the staff of the folklore unit of Haifa University next embarked on a three-year program to record the folktales of the residents of Shlomi, a development town near Israel’s northern border.
The difference between the two projects is in the presentation of the collected and compiled material. In “Folktales from Shlomi,” also authored by Shenhar and Bar-Yitzhak, the folktales are printed in the speaker’s native language, Moroccan Arabic with a Hebrew translation.
Shenhar explained that “only in their native language could these people really begin to convey the beauty and intricacy of the tales. All the nuances and details were brought out and revealed. The tales are so very beautiful that we wanted to avoid doing the book only in Hebrew. In Hebrew the storyteller is uncomfortable and the folktales come out too simple.”
When “Folktales From Shlomi” was published a copy of it was presented to former President Yitzhak Navon. He praised the method of presentation as a way to preserve a portion of the Sephardic Jewish heritage, especially the heritage of those Jews who immigrated from Morocco.
JEWISH VERSION OF CINDERELLA STORY
Shenhar is presently working to record Jewish versions of the story of Cinderella. “People are very aware of the story of Cinderella as was told by the brothers Grimm and by the Walt Disney movie,” she said. “Everyone knows of it primarily in its European setting. However, a traditional folktale about this subject has also been a part of Jewish folklore. Most versions appear to have originated in Morocco, and the story is one of the most common tales that mothers tell their daughters.”
Although most of her work has been in the collection of those folktales which have been passed from generation to generation, Shenhar is also involved in the collection and recording of modern Israeli folktales and folklore.
“I am trying to collect modem folklore in Israel while it is still in the process of being created,” Shenhar said. “When one listens to the modem tales, it is possible to see how strictly modem activities are being told in the traditional form and style.”
Folktales, she explained, further, “are most of all a means of communication. The artistic element is needed, not just the information ….. If all depends on how the voice is used, the poetic elements employed by the storyteller, and the use of a properly-created sense of drama.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
