Schwartz guides, entertains crowd

Speaker proves the art of storytelling is alive and well

As any jaded college student can attest, great scholars are not always great entertainers. Even the most brilliant professor can be a bit, well ... dry. Fortunately, this was not true in the case of scholar storyteller Howard Schwartz. In his performance last Friday night at the Cat in the Cream, Schwartz combined his knowledge of Jewish mystical tradition with a substantial amount of personal charm to create an engaging evening of storytelling.

After taking the stage, Schwartz launched into the first of his stories, beginning, "There once was a Jew who searched for justice." The audience was quickly drawn in by his rich voice and vivid descriptions. As he spoke of a magical hut filled with oil lamps, each lamp's burning wick representing a slowly diminishing human life, the scene became strikingly real through his telling.

Often, in the manner of any skilled storyteller, Schwartz spontaneously embellished the tales to extend them beyond their traditional versions. All of the stories which he told are included in his book Gabriel's Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales, but he recalled them from memory, allowing each one to flow freely and follow its own course.

The talk included six stories from the book dealing with a variety of mystical themes. As interludes between stories, Schwartz supplied bits of background and interpretation to add to the audience's knowledge of Jewish mysticism. He related the manner in which the stories were collected; an impressive 20,000 stories from Jewish oral tradition have been transcribed since the middle of this century and are now collected in a library in Israel.

When the symbolism or moral of a story seemed ambiguous, he offered clarification. Schwartz explained, for instance, that the story of four rabbis who visited paradise - only one of whom returned unharmed - has been interpreted by some Jewish sects as a warning against the study of mysticism.

In addition, Schwartz frequently worked in an element of comic relief. One remark that drew an especially strong reaction from the audience was the tongue-in-cheek observation that women have "naturally" been excluded from mystical study throughout Jewish history. Schwartz also pointed out parallels between the situations in his stories and those encountered in modern life, often with humorous results.

Schwartz's appearance at the Cat clearly showed that storytelling still maintains its universal appeal. Although the tales which he told originated centuries ago and halfway around the world, a skilled and informed storyteller can still make them vivid, entertaining and even relevant to a modern audience.