Solomon and the Ant

Solomon and the Ant — page 5 — story continues to be told in a culture over the generations primarily because of the importance or emphasis of its teaching This theme reminds me of the extraordinary Chasidic story of Reb Zusya of Hanipol who said In Paradise they won't ask me Why weren't you like Moses but rather Why weren't you like Zusya The theme is echoed in The Ethics of the Fathers too when the question is asked Who is rich The answer given is The man who is content with what he has So our stories come from near and far some from Jewish sources and many transformed from other cultures Isaac Disraeli understood this when he wrote Tales have wings whether they come from the East or from the North and they soon become denizens wherever they alight This can be seen in the examination of tales collected in the Israel Folktale Archives IFA Founded by folklorist Dov Noy in 1955 the IFA has collected more than twenty three thousand folktales from the various ethnic communities who now live in Israel The stories have been classified according to tale type and motifs Throughout this book there are notations of the tales that have variants found in the Israel Folktale Archives This clearly shows how tales circulate and become adapted to different cultures within the Jewish oral tradition and in that of other countries From antiquity into the present the Jewish people have had a dynamic interaction between text and the oral tradition From the beginning Jews have had a great respect for orality Being the oral storyteller he was Sheldon Oberman retained an orality in his

Solomon and the Ant — page 6 — versions of these folktales He employed dialogue and simple sentences vernacular language and so on These stories when read aloud sound as though he was telling them directly to the reader Actually even when one thinks of reading as silent research has found that there is always an interaction that takes place between the reader and the print that in turn makes the words spring off the page That is an art achieved by Sheldon Oberman Solomon and the Ant and other Jewish Folktales is a book that I expected to read only after its publication I did not expect to participate in editing it However when the author storyteller Sheldon Oberman or Obie as he was called by his friends suffered from a serious illness early in 2004 he asked me if I would complete this book for him I agreed with my whole heart as I regarded this task as a sacred responsibility At the time I still hoped he would heal and recover enough strength to finish the book himself or at least that he would be able to confer with me during the final drafts That was not to be Sheldon Oberman died on March 26 2004 I only hope and pray that I have fulfilled Obie's expectations Sheldon Oberman did not live to actually hold this book in his hands nevertheless he held the stories in his heart In his first anthology of Jewish folktales Obie had left these forty three stories brief introductions to each story after story notes and some sources for the stories I have wanted to preserve as much of his voice and thoughts as possible Therefore I edited his words carefully and judiciously My contribution to this book is in dialoguing with the stories and his notes through my

Solomon and the Ant — page 7 — commentary after his own notes to each story In addition I expanded the sources and variants list and also added tale types and motifs for most of the stories I felt that this format would serve everyone better than if I were to merge my notes with his This book now serves as his legacy for all of us who will read and retell these stories Just as Glueckl of Hamelyn wrote her diaries as an ethical will so too is this book along with all of Sheldon's other books of stories his Ethical Will He included stories that teach us traditions values and lessons of Judaism When stories come alive in the minds of the readers listeners the past is projected into the present and in turn transmit cultural identity and self knowledge One of the stories in this book about the holy fool Reb Shmelke of Nikolsburg reminded me of Obie In the story Reb Shmelke gives an old ring to a beggar asking for handouts When Reb Shmelke's wife discovers this she scolds him telling him it was actually a valuable ring with a diamond What does Reb Shmelke do He doesn't try to get the ring back from the beggar Rather he finds the beggar to advise him to get a good price for this ring What s the connection that I made between the story and Obie Apparently in his spare time Obie collected what he called found objects to create collage art Once he donated some items from his bric a brac collection to a friend holding a garage sale and then went to the sale and bought them all back As a trickster himself he understood the beautiful value of tzedakah There are several stories that deal with this theme Don't Ask Changing a Mind and Softening a

Solomon and the Ant — page 8 — Obie has done something valuable with stories all his life He collected and reworked the folktales He gave them away through his tellings and writings In this way he gave them new life and helped to bring more justice and righteousness into our lives His goal was always for us to go out to retell the stories so that Judaism would continue to thrive and remain vibrantly meaningful We are all fortunate that Sheldon Oberman was able to complete choosing the stories retelling them in his voice and adding notations that place the stories in a context for us His legacy continues to live in this

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