I want my story written
You talk. I listen. I turn the memories into finished writing.
Science · Story · Soul
Stories should not disappear when the people who lived them are gone.
היסטוריות משפחתיות יהודיות, נכתבות בטרם ייאבדו
Most families do not inherit a history. They inherit fragments — a town name, a photograph nobody can caption, a sentence somebody said once at a table and never repeated.
Those fragments are where every family history begins. I interview your family by secure video, work from whatever photographs, letters and documents survive, and write it into a narrative your grandchildren will still be reading. Where the record ends, the writing says so.
I understand the details a general memoir writer may not know to ask about — Hebrew and Yiddish names, changing town names, migration, shul life, ketubot, cemeteries and Jewish naming traditions.
Independent contributor
Guides & manuals · new
Written so you can do it yourself
Thirteen practical manuals, instant PDF download. The free one-page guides in the resource library stay free.
The clearest place to begin
The Legacy Interview
One 60-minute recorded conversation becomes a finished narrative of approximately 1,200–1,500 words — written as a story, not dumped back as a transcript.
- Private recorded interview by secure video
- Finished continuous narrative
- Photographs placed and captioned
- One round of factual corrections
- Word + print-ready PDF + recording
- Normally returned in about two weeks
Where to begin
One conversation, one finished story. Larger family histories are scoped separately and quoted in writing after we speak.
Nothing is quoted until I understand what you have and what it can become.
What happens after you contact me
Simple from first call to finished story.
1 · Talk
A free 15-minute conversation. You tell me who or what you want preserved and what material already exists.
2 · Interview & write
I propose a scope and fixed price. We record the interview; I build the narrative and make uncertainty visible rather than inventing.
3 · Correct & keep
You correct factual details. You receive Word, PDF and the recording, yours to keep, print and share.
Judge the writing
From a history of Mina Kornfeld
Every commissioned history is built from interviews, family papers, photographs and the living memory that remains. I do not average contradictory accounts. I do not quietly prefer the more dramatic version. I write what is established, mark what is contested, and say what nobody now knows.
The proof should be visible
Before commissioning a family history, read the writing itself. The sample page shows the method, voice and the principle behind every commission: Where the record ends, the writing says so.
Why Jewish specialization matters
I know what to ask.
Hebrew/Yiddish names · changing place names · immigration · shul and landsmanshaft memory · ketubot · cemeteries.
Specialization here is practical: it helps preserve details a generic memoir process can miss or flatten.
The writing standard
Human-written. Historically honest.
Your family narrative is written by me — not generated, drafted or paraphrased by AI. I do not fill documentary gaps simply because a smoother story would result.
Nothing invented. Where the record ends, the writing says so.
Other ways to begin
Useful tools, without crowding the main path.
Prepare
Resource Library
Download focused guides for memories, documents, family history and institutions.
Browse the guides →ShapeStory Mixer
Choose the balance of intimacy, humour, history, difficult subjects and voice.
Open the tool →PlanPricing
See how projects are scoped and calculated before you commit to anything.
See pricing →2027 prayer journey · a separate project
Your prayer will make aliyah with me.
A private, time-limited 2027 campaign — meaningful, but separate from commissioning a family history. The journey begins symbolically with 613.
Selected credibility
The Times of Israel · The Missouri Review · Minyan Magazine · Diabetes Care · Chicken Soup for the Soul
Ready when you are
Start with one conversation.
No obligation. Tell me who you are trying to preserve and what you already have. I will tell you what I think the material can become — and what it should cost — before you decide.
Preserve a Story
Use the free tools yourself, or let The Eliyahu Project help turn interviews, recordings, photographs and documents into a finished family story.
PayPal invoicing only. Choose the service, receive the invoice by email, and pay securely through PayPal. ORDER & PAYPAL INVOICE →