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In 2022, four of my fellow maggidot (plural for female storytellers) and I discussed with our teacher and mentor, Maggidah Debra Gordon Zaslow, how frustrating it was that so few of our stories were about women. Shortly after that conversation, we came together on a mission to create a collection of adapted folktales in which women took the lead. Rooster Princess and Other Tales evolved to include original tales, Torah narratives, and personal stories. Over the next two years, five more ordained maggidot joined our group, which we called the Jewish Women’s Storytelling Collective. Our shared vision is to offer Jewish stories from a uniquely female perspective and to make those stories accessible to modern audiences.

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Jewish Women’s Storytelling Collective

Debra Gordon Zaslow

Gail Pasternack

Deborah Rosenberg

Lisa Huberman

José de Kwaadsteniet

Cyrise Beatty Schachter

Cassandra Sagan

Batya Podos

Ayala Sarah Zonnenschein

Melissa Carpenter

Rivkah Coburn

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Reviews of my stories

“Contributors excel at preserving the morals of the originals, while fleshing out the protagonist’s backstory and character, as in Gail Pasternack’s “Sarika and the Magic Pomegranate Seed,” which features a young Moroccan girl who faces execution for stealing to feed her family. Pasternack provides one of the collection’s cleverest alterations in “Hannah and the Moon,” which follows a determined milkmaid who unites the townspeople of Chelm (a legendary town of fools in many Jewish folktales) for an impossible mission—and reveals in the process the value of togetherness, no matter the goal.” ~ Publisher’s Weekly

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“Something different occurs in Gail Pasternack’s “Esperanza and the Twelve Loaves of Challah.” This dark Sephardic tale from the 1600s, made its way into a folktale, and has been adapted by many modern writers and storytellers. Here Pasternack takes the tale and, besides making the protagonist a woman, adds a completely nuanced ending where the daughter of the recipient of the challahs placed in the ark becomes the next generation of challah bakers, to continue the work of providing for the needy. Here we have very Jewish values, among them ‘dor v’dor’ (generation to generation) actions.” ~ Cherie Karo Schwartz, author of Circle Spinning: Jewish Turning and Returning Tales

Reviews of Rooster Princess and Other Tales

“The fresh feminine perspective found in The Rooster Princess will both tickle and uplift its readers. This is a much-needed treasury of women’s tales, containing voices that have gone missing from Jewish literature for far too long.” ~ Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, PhD, author of The Receiving: Reclaiming Jewish Women’s Wisdom

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“The stories we tell are a reflection of who we are and who we dream of becoming. These stories are rich and resonant with women’s voices and values, at once familiar and entirely new. Like all great folk tales, Chelm stories, and fables, they teach us and inspire us to feel. I look forward to returning to these tales again and again, and sharing them with generations to come.” ~ Rachel Barenblat, “The Velveteen Rabbi” and author of Texts to the Holy

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“The Rooster Princess and Other Tales is a much needed and highly recommended collection of stories that puts women front and center in Jewish folklore.” ~ Barbara Diamond Goldin, coauthor of Meet Me at the Well: The Girls and Wise Women of the Bible