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Common Questions
About "The Soul of Hope" by Doug Lipman
What is The Soul of Hope about?
What audiences and interests are appropriate?
What subjects are touched on?
How did Doug create The Soul of Hope?
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What is "The Soul of Hope" about?
The Soul of Hope: an epic tale of the Baal Shem Tov is a mystical, spiritual journey that takes place between heaven and earth.
Many have heard this brief story:
The Baal Shem Tov went to a place in the forest, built a fire, said a prayer, and the world was uplifted.
Then, in each succeeding generation, a piece of the mythic ritual was lost - until only the story remained.
But the story was enough.
The Soul of Hope enriches the bare bones of this tale with thirty characters, seven generations of action, flashbacks across the milennia, and an entry into the intricate world of Jewish mystical symbolism.
Act I relates how the Baal Shem Tov came to discover each of his great mystical secrets.
Act II describes what happened in each generation that another piece of knowledge was lost.
At the story's end, the audience becomes the inheritors of the tale...and of its gift of hope.
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Appropriate audiences
The Soul of Hope is most appropriate for teen and adult audiences.
A Jewish background is not necessary to understand and enjoy the story.
The Soul of Hope will be especially nourishing for these audiences:
- Those desiring a spiritual, mystical adventure ending with hopefulness.
- Those grappling with the relationship of their individual actions to the course of history and the world as a whole.
- Those desiring an artistic introduction to Jewish mysticism and spirituality.
- Jews who may have become disaffected with a perceived lack of spirituality in organized Judaism.
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Subjects touched on
- Hope and despair.
- Connectedness to G-d and the world.
- Leadership and striving.
- Accepting one's limitations while forging ahead to create change.
- Jewish expectations of the Messianic age.
- Jewish continuity through storytelling.
- Jewish mysticism and the historical birth of the Hasidic movement.
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How did Doug create "The Soul of Hope"?
Doug first heard a 20-minute version of Act II told by Harold Rabinowitz at the Sharing the Fire conference, Cambridge, MA, in 1983. Harold, in turn, had heard it from an elderly Hasid in a barber shop in Miami beach.
After the conference, Doug found that he couldn't get the story out of his mind. In time, with Harold's permission, Doug began to tell what is now Act II - as a complete story.
After several tellings, Doug realized that some of the most interesting parts of the story had already happened before Harold's story began: how the Baal Shem Tov came to discover the four great holy sparks.
So Doug began to create a story that described the life of the Baal Shem Tov, by adapting and weaving together traditional Hasidic tales. When necessary, Doug re-arranged and invented scenes to form a logical, continuous narrative.
After years of rehearsing, performing, and revision, The Soul of Hope gained its current form.
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HOME . ABOUT THE STORY . EXCERPTS .
REACTIONS . BOOKINGS . THE RECORDING
Doug Lipman
Phone: (918) 712-7336
Toll free: (888) 446-4738
Fax: (206) 202-7719
P.O. Box 521165, Tulsa, OK 74152 U.S.A.
soul@storydynamics.com
http://www.soulofhope.com
This page was last updated on October 12, 2004
Copyright©2002 Doug Lipman
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