2Life’s inaugural Scholar in Residence focuses on storytelling
A graduate student in rabbinical studies, Rabbi Hindy Finman was living in the classic Brighton apartment … in other words, one with a mouse problem. A landlord unwilling to address the issue and a posting on the Hebrew College listserv combined to lead her to 2Life Communities’ Scholar in Residence Program at Golda Meir House in Newton.
2Life launched the Scholar in Residence Program in recognition of a synergistic opportunity for graduate students and older adult residents. Graduate students in the Boston area often struggle to afford housing and work such long hours that they could benefit from a built-in, nurturing community. Older adults love to learn new things and want chances to build relationships with students awash in their educational experience and eager to share their learnings.
Rabbi Hindy had interned at both Golda Meir House and Coleman House, so she was already familiar with 2Life and its mission to ensure all seniors have the opportunity to thrive regardless of their income level or background. Her creative bent, experience getting people around the table talking, and love of NPR’s “The Moth” led Rabbi Hindy to the idea of formalizing interaction with her fellow residents by offering storytelling workshops to her fellow Golda residents. “For many older adults, I feel like their memories are trapped. There's no place for them to share them,” Hindy says. “The great staff here loved the idea of storytelling and ran with it.”
Fans of “The Moth” will recognize the direction to share a story in five minutes that is true to the best of their knowledge. Although “Moth” participants generally tell their stories from memory, 2Life storytellers were allowed to read their written stories if they preferred. Workshops occurred twice a month, with anywhere from 5 to 15 residents attending each workshop. Golda Meir House hosted three storytelling slam events where residents could tell any story they had worked on during their workshops.
Last December, the 2Life storytellers traveled to a taping of “The Moth” at WBUR in Boston, where one resident was even selected to participate on the stage. “Barbara had memorized her story, and people loved it. She got a really high score, so it was very exciting,” Rabbi Hindy said.
A key component of the storytelling workshops was the expectation that participants would both receive and give feedback — not so much on the content of the stories but on their delivery. Getting the stories reduced to five minutes was often a challenge. “This is a shared listening space, and you get that amount of time to make room for other people. Everyone needed to be mindful of that fact and work on their listening as well as their storytelling.”
“There was also this unexpected gift of gaining more experience with pastoral care just by living here,” she says. “One day I came back home after a long day at school, and residents were crowded around the little lounge area where they all hang out. One of their closest friends had passed away that day. And I realized I needed to switch hats. I let go of the tiredness and just listened for a little bit, gave a hug where it was needed. I wasn’t the therapist or the rabbi — I wasn’t in charge of grief services. This was just an opportunity for me to learn, to benefit from exposure to other generations, that I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else.”
Friendships formed in her year of residency at Golda will continue, Rabbi Hindy anticipates. A group of residents attended her rabbinical ordination and met her family, and she plans to stay in touch with several residents.
“The people here have lived incredible lives. There are overlapping themes that we all can relate to, that we can all come around the table and share. Everybody has a laughter moment. Everybody has a beach story. You know, we all have these similar shared points of entry. And everybody wants to be heard.”
