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Israeli actor Shai Schwartz weaves ancient folk tales into his storytelling performances. But he also includes elements of real life, and those are often every bit as captivating as the fiction he creates.

Schwartz's day-to-day life takes place in Neve Shalom, an experimental Jewish-Arab village located midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

"I come from a place where two nations are fighting over one piece of land," Schwartz told Hebrew school students at San Francisco's Congregation Beth Israel-Judea earlier this month. "And they haven't really decided how to solve their problems."

He proceeded to tell a story of two brothers, farmers who secretly gave each other extra shares of corn during the night. When they discovered each other's generosity, Schwartz said, "they realized how much they loved each other.

"In that place," he continued, "they built the great temple of Jerusalem. And when I think of Neve Shalom, I think of a place where I've got to show my brother my love, even if my brother sometimes does things that annoy me."

Schwartz's appearance at Beth Israel-Judea was part of a nationwide tour in which he was joined by Palestinian musician Nazih Moughrabi. As Schwartz narrated his stories in the synagogue's main hall, Moughrabi delighted students with performances on the guitar and the oud, an ancestor of the English lute.

After the performance, Schwartz answered questions about Neve Shalom, where he has lived since 1987. Children in the audience seemed impressed to learn that their counterparts in the village knew Hebrew and Arabic, and studied both languages at school.

"It sounds like a cool place," said 11-year-old Josh Miller.

"We still have a lot of problems because of our difference in cultures," Schwartz admitted, "but we've learned over the years to solve our problems through discussion."

Schwartz told other tales at the synagogue, including one about a man who sent his son abroad to study. Years after his father died, the young man returned to his homeland and was astonished to see that the land had been cultivated and was thriving.

The young man stopped a passing farmer and told him, "I'm the landowner and you've done such a wonderful job here that I'm going to release you from the rent you've owed me all these years."

When the farmer disputed the owner's claim to the land, a wise man was called in to settle the argument. "The wise man listened to both men, then stuck his ear to the earth.

"`I've heard your sides of the story,' he said. `Now I must hear the story of the land. And the land says that it doesn't belong to you, and neither to you — instead, you belong to it and it will exist for a long time after you've disappeared.'"

Schwartz's appearances with Moughrabi continued during the week with performances at Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, U.C. Santa Cruz and San Francisco State University campuses. The project is sponsored by the Israel Project, which is the campus division of the Israel Center of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation.

Following his appearance at Beth Israel-Judea, Schwartz led a storytelling session for teachers at the synagogue. During the hourlong session, he encouraged teachers to tell stories of cultural conflict in their lives and to think about the resulting issues from both sides.

"What I've found in cultural conflict is that both sides feel they're the victim — and when people are victims, they can't solve any problems," said Schwartz.

Telling stories helps, he said, because "storytelling is a spiritual experience; there's a real give and take."

By joining together in a group to tell tales, he concluded, "we reveal our desires for a better reality."