Jewish Arts Profile: Radzyn Stories

Radzyn Stories is a graphic novel for the Internet, interweaving text and art to tell a story based on the legacy of the Izhbits-Radzin Hasidic Dynasty, a small, but influential branch of Hasidism, some of whose teachings have become known to a wider audience through the work of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (1925–1994).

On their website, Michael Weber and Joel Golombeck have set out to tell a modern folktale about Radzyn and its Hasidim. As their introduction notes, Radzyn Stories is “a fictional story inspired by a very real place.”

Michael Weber was interviewed by Yedies Editor Roberta Newman.

RN: Tell me about “Radzyn Stories.” What is the project and what was the inspiration for it?

MW: "Radzyn" is a fictional story about a hidden Hasidic shtetl in Poland that survives the Holocaust, and about the two generations of spiritual legacy that empowered it to do so. In Radzyn, being spiritually authentic is paramount, and each character must discover their unique role in order to flourish. As the darkest years of Jewish history descend over Europe, Radzyn becomes a citadel for Hasidism from all over the world, who flee to it for protection. "Radzyn" combines the unique, singular, voice of Jewish folktales, Torah, and modern sensibilities about character and storytelling.

The story is told through individual folktales that weave together to create a much larger narrative about spiritual and physical resistance. We've also designed "Radzyn" specifically for the modern reading habits of millennials, who prefer digital experiences that work across all their screen sizes.

Joel and I are hoping to reinvent the Jewish folktale for a new generation that has a very different relationship to Jewish identity than their parents and grandparents do. Our inspiration was primarily the true stories of spiritual resistance during the Shoah, along with the rich culture of Hasidism and its depth of thought and emotion. Another big inspiration has been the neo- Hasidic movement, which bridges the ideas of many different Hasidic masters, much like the fictional shtetl of "Radzyn" does.

RN: The beautiful illustrations are by Joel Golombeck. How did the two of you come to collaborate on this?

MW: Joel and I met a few years ago in college, and since then have become good friends and collaborators. I've been very lucky to be able to work with him on some of his projects for Rocket Chair Media, the digital storytelling studio that is producing and publishing "Radzyn," and he designed and built a website I launched this year.

Joel is an incredibly talented artist, but also a great writer and designer, so when I had the idea to make "Radzyn," I thought Rocket Chair Media was one of the only studios that could pull it off.

RN: This is a graphic novel conceived especially for the Internet. Do you see yourselves as pioneers of a new artform?

MW: Rocket Chair media specializes in creating new ways to read in the digital age, so I think they'd definitely be comfortable being called "pioneers"!

It's certainly uncharted territory, and we're excited to push the form forward into directions that have yet to be explored. When we were brainstorming how to build the website, we couldn't find anything else like it on the internet, so that's always a pretty exciting place to be in.

RN: Who do you see as the audience for these stories?

MW: I like to think of our audience as anybody who likes a great story, and wants to learn about an interesting new world.

We expect it to resonate best with Jewish readers roughly between the ages of 16 and 40. "Radzyn" grapples with issues of destiny, spirituality and Jewish identity in the age of Facebook and Google, so we really hope that millennials and Generation X'ers will find our story relevant and entertaining.

RN: How many Radzyn stories are online? Is this still a work in progress?

MW: Currently, you can find the "Introduction" and the six-chapter "Prologue" at RadzynStories.com.

We are in the process of producing our first full-length story, and beginning to fundraise for the production of future stories. It's a work in progress in the best sense, and we plan to continue releasing future installments consistently.