"WOODEN SWORD" - a Jewish Folktale Stories, Folktales, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Legends, Myths, History, Nursery Rhymes, Fantasy & Facts Story Lovers World The Story Lovers World home page is at: http://www.story-lovers.com To add to the category below, please e-mail jackie@storyloversworld.com

"THE WOODEN SWORD" - a Jewish folktale Stories, Folktales, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Legends, Myths, History, Nursery Rhymes, Fantasy & Facts Scroll down or click on your choice below • SOS: Searching Out Stories/Info - Wooden Sword Advice, Comments and References from Storytellers, Teachers and Librarians Book source: Folktales of the Jews, Vol. 2: Tales from Eastern Europe

SOS: SEARCHING OUT STORIES AND INFORMATION ABOUT "THE WOODEN SWORD" - A JEWISH FOLKTALE
Advice, Comments and References from Storytellers, Teachers, Librarians
(excerpts from Storytell posts plus original research)

Book titles and online links are in blue and underlined. Click on them for more information.
Story titles are in quotation marks.
To retell these stories, get permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.
Storytell posts are added chronologically as they are received by Story Lovers World.

1) http://www.hasidicstories.com/Stories/Nachman_of_Bratslav/sword_wood.html
"The Sword of Wood" as retold by Doug Lipman.


2) http://www.storytimeyoga.com/blog/family-yoga-with-the-wooden-sword-folktale/
Storytime Yoga Blog. Sydney Solis tells the full story on video. (8:51)


3) Elijah's Violin and Other Jewish Fairy Tales by Howard Schwartz (1983). In there, the story is titled "The Wooden Sword."
Also: "The Wooden Sword" - from Howard Schwartz's and Penninah Schram's collection of Jewish folk tales Jewish Stories One Generation Tells Another.


4) Folktales of Israel (Folktales of the world) by Dov Noy. Story #30, titled "Blessed Be God, Day by Day."


5) "The Wooden Sword" story is also found in Heather Forest's Wisdom Tales from Around the World (World Storytelling). She cites it as a story from Afghanistan.


6) As for a story with a constructive attitude, how about "The Wooden Sword," the Jewish story from Afghanistan (and probably a lot of other places) in which the Shah goes out in disguise and encounters a poor but cheerful Jew who mends shoes. To test the poor man's faith in God, the Shah outlaws shoe mending, whereupon, the poor man starts carrying water.

Next the Shah outlaws carrying water for pay, so the poor man switches to cutting firewood. Then the Shah bans woodcutting and puts all the woodcutters in the army, gives them swords, but won't pay them until the end of the month. The cheerful woodcutter is forced to sell his sword in order to survive and carves a perfect wooden replica to replace it.

The next day the Shah has his officer order the Jew to execute a man who has stolen fruit from the royal garden. The Jew tries to refuse, saying he's never even killed a fly, but the officer tells him either he obeys the order or he must die himself.

After praying quietly, the Jew stands and prays out loud: "God, you know that I have never killed anyone in my whole life. Please, God, if this man is guilty, let my sword be so shrap as to kill him in a single blow. But if he is not guilty, let my sword turn to wood, as a sign of his innocence." He then pulls out his sword and shows that it is made of wood. The crowd thinks a miracle has happened, but the Shah knows better. Appreciating the poor man's wisdom, he invites him to live in the palace and become his advisor.
Judy S. 2/13/06

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Created 2004; last update 9/21/09.