Peace Building
Noa Baum
If you feel pain, you're alive. If you feel other people's pain, you're a human being.
Leo Tolstoy
Stories are a powerful window to our identity and help us see beyond labels, preconceptions, and fears. Storytelling invites us to understand and feel the pain of others.
Noa’s performances, talks, and interactive workshops focus on the power of stories to heal across differences and build bridges of peace.
One Woman Show
A Land Twice Promised:
Palestinian and Israeli Women's Stories
Israeli storyteller Noa Baum began a heartfelt dialogue with a Palestinian woman while living in the United States. She weaves together their memories, and their mothers' stories, to create a moving testimony that illuminates the complex and contradictory history and emotions surrounding Jerusalem, for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
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Noa Baum takes us behind the rhetoric and headlines to hear the true stories of four women, two Israelis and two Palestinians. In the process, we experience the most precious ingredient for the resolution of any major conflict: mutual compassion.
“Jumana looked at me across the picnic table: “and you, how was it for you growing up in Jerusalem?” I felt myself stiffen. How can I tell her that those soldiers, so terrifying for her, were our boys, our symbol of security? The soldiers that scared me were those with the black boots, the Nazis from the stories. What was the beginning of the occupation nightmare for her, I remember as the first time I saw my mother cry with tears of joy… Would it be all right to tell her?”
From “A Land Twice Promised”
“You have a beautiful way of conveying difficult realities and helping people to hear and empathize with the “other”. The way you gave voice to the different characters in your story was just brilliant.”
Rabbi Brian Walt, Rabbis for Human Rights – North America
“The stunning result of Baum's work is not a competition of narratives, but a consolidation of them. Or to use a musical metaphor, her alternating of Jewish and Arab stories created a point/counterpoint that feels more like a richly dissonant piece of music than a political debate.”
Daniel Schifrin, The Jewish Week, New York
“The show is decidedly political without being biased.... Artfully illustrated that the issues dividing the two peoples today are rooted in their respective views of yesterday.”
M.J. Rosenberg, Israeli Policy Forum
“Noa Baum mesmerized a theater full of some of the harshest critics I know, teenagers from conflict areas of the world… She put her heart and soul into every utterance. The piece is rich with meaning, descriptions and humor. And, all of it is true. The second it was over, more than two hundred teenagers jumped to their feet to applaud Noa’s work. You don’t see that happening every day.”
Bobbie Gottschalk, Executive Vice President, Seeds of Peace
Author Talk and Keynotes
Author Talk
Speaking Life - An Israeli Woman’s Quest for Peace
Noa shares her experience of using storytelling as a tool for dialogue and peace building in this compelling presentation about her award-winning book A Land Twice Promised: An Israeli Woman’s Quest for Peace.
This deeply personal memoir recounts her journey from girlhood in post-Holocaust Israel to her adult encounter with “the other”. With honesty, compassion, and humor, she captures the drama of a nation at war and her discovery of humanity in the enemy.
Noa demonstrates the transformative power of listening to the other and challenges us to take the first step toward building bridges of inclusion and peace in our communities and workplaces. Participants engage in hands-on activities and interaction with the author.
“In this touching and honest memoir, Baum shares the story of how her search for peace informed her life... Baum's genuine desire to make a difference may well inspire others to do the same.” Publishers Weekly
“Impressively well written, organized and presented, A Land Twice Promised: An Israeli Woman's Quest for Peace is a compelling, thoughtful, and thought-provoking read.”
Midwest Book Review
“A penetrating, introspective memoir that mines the depths of the chasm between the Israeli and Palestinian experiences, the torment of family loss and conflict, and the therapy of storytelling as a cleansing art. You will not think in the same way at the end of this captivating book as you did at
the beginning.”
David K. Shipler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Arab and Jew:
Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land
Keynotes
Beyond Labels:
Bridging Differences Through Storytelling
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Also available in conjunction with the interactive Workshop
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How can we move beyond national narratives?
What tools can help us develop compassion?
In this compelling keynote Noa shares her experience and demonstrates how storytelling can be used as the master connector across differences in communities and workplaces.
The Art-Full Process:
Creating A Land Twice Promised
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In this dynamic keynote Noa takes us behind the scenes to share lessons and valuable insight on transforming oral history into a live performance.
Workshop
Beyond Labels:
Bridging Differences Through Storytelling
Also available in conjunction with the Keynote
Experience the storytelling model Noa developed to help build bridges for peace and dialogue in your community. Learn how listening to and telling the story of "the other" can help break through stereotypes and rhetoric as you find compassion and the possibility of change.
“That Sunday afternoon workshop was the first time I actually got to sit and talk, heart to heart with an Islamic person in my life and it did change my life.”
Sippela Lila Bluestone, Rochester, NY
“Believe me it was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I hope and pray that we’ll experience many more in peace insha’Allah.”
Farzana Razvi, Islamic Center of Rochester, NY
What teenage participants in an interfaith workshop say:
“This was an awesome experience and I look forward to doing something like this again in
the future.”
“It was really fun to get to know everyone. It was also fun to learn about religions and
personal experience.”
“This was really cool! I learned a lot about different religions and I became even more steadfast in my determination to change the world.”
Kansas City, KS
Secondary school assemblies
Story Bridges: Exploring Identity and Connection
Noa invites students to consider the multiple aspects of our identity as reflected in personal stories and national narratives and shares her experiences of bridging differences through the power of story.
What If: Multicultural Stories of Peace & Justice
This interactive assembly invites students to consider multiple perspectives and explore paradoxes. Noa weaves a rich tapestry of stories that share the themes of peace, justice and compassion across diverse cultures and connect students with ancient wisdom and timeless values.
“Noa Baum is an outstanding teacher, let alone a fantastic storyteller. I was amazed by her ability to capture the attention and minds of 150+ sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Her messages of “don’t let anyone tell you to hate” and how small only seeing through our own perspective is, are powerful for learners of all ages and particularly poignant in our present day.”
Liz Paige Director of Ethics & Cultures, The McGillis School, Salt Lake City, UT