The JFest StoryMachine

Inspired by Rube Goldberg, The JFest StoryMachine helps inspire creative thinking, personal reflection, and community-building. It invites us to recall and share our personal stories, and how they impact us and those around us. The StoryMachine prompts discussion around three main themes:
- How You Tell Your Story
- How Others Tell Your Story
- How History Tells Our Story
Jump in, take the unexpected road less traveled, and help us tell your Story of Home, shaped by the things that hold special meaning for you.
The machine can be used in a group setting or gathering, either virtually or in person. Participants might be directed to one or more of the volumes in the Digital Library to read, add, or reflect on the various themes presented. The sources below help to debrief the experience and widen the conversation.
Click "View Resources" to access the machine, an engagement guide containing specific prompts for each holiday, and a simple 9 question guide.
- Storytelling
- Jewish Peoplehood
- Jewish Holidays (Chagim)
- After School and Beyond
- Camp
- Congregational Learning
- Day Schools and Yeshivas
- Family Engagement
- Teen Engagement
Discover more

Browse recipes and family stories from Sephardi, Mizrahi, and Jewish Families of Color to center these culinary traditions.

Picturing Israel: History, Heritage and Homeland is a new resource for 5th-12th grade learners providing a unique pedagogy combining images by renowned photographer, Zion Ozeri with traditional Jewish texts to explore Jewish Peoplehood and the Jewish People's connection to the land of Israel.

Students will use art, music, and their detective skills to deepen their connection to the Haggadah and to enhance their Seders.