Storahtelling taps Isaac Shalev, ex-Birthright NEXT exec, as new leader

Storahtelling has tapped former Birthright NEXT executive Isaac Shalev to become its next executive director.

Isaac Shalev, who helped launched Birthright NEXT and served as COO to the official follow-up program for Birthright Israel, will assume his new post on Feb. 15.

Shalev succeeds Amichai Lau-Lavie, who founded Storahtelling some 13 years ago. The organization pioneered taking the narratives and traditions of Old World Jewish liturgy and adapting them into modern performance art and storytelling.

Storahtelling informs and transforms the ways modern Jews relate to their cultural legacy, ritual celebrations and spiritual heritage, using what it calls “The Maven Method,” which integrates Judaism’s oldest teaching tools with contemporary stagecraft and educational techniques. The organization has satellite programs in Colorado, California and Israel. 

Lau-Lavie will continue working with Storahtelling as founding director, focusing solely on overseeing the organization’s work training Mavens around the world.

“For everything there is a season,” Lau-Lavie said in a statement announcing the hire of Shalev. “Building Storahtelling from the ground up has been a tremendous adventure. With so many talented people now on board, we are ready for bigger and better. I am proud of what we’ve achieved and am excited about our next chapter.”