As with cocktails, changing a few elements can completely transform a story. Over the past year, a group of fellow Maggidot, female Jewish storytellers, and I have discovered the power of this transformation. Our mission—to put together a collection of Jewish stories where women take the leading role. Some of the stories are our re-interpretation of traditional Jewish tales and some are new stories, but all of them have female protagonists.

I have always put my own twist on the stories I tell, but working on this project has freed me. Now when I read an old tale, I think of how can I alter it to a feminine perspective. The whole story changes from the motivations of the characters to how the characters interact with each other and the setting. Yet in the end, the pure essence of the story remains the same.

Storytelling, however, isn’t about reading and writing. It is about getting up in front of an audience and telling a story. And I am happy to announce that I will be telling Jewish stories with my friend and fellow storyteller Cassandra Sagan in a series we are calling Bubbe’s Tales.