This study compares Jewish-American and Israeli dinner talk within 16 families matched for number and ages of children. The analysis is conceptualized in terms of a 'telling, tales and tellers'-framework. Similar patterns emerge regarding multiple participation in the telling, the prevalence of tales of personal experience and the respect for children's story-telling rights. But whilst American families rather locate tales outside the house, but close in time, Israeli families favor tales closer to home, but more distant in time and they prefer to recount events centered around the family as protagonist.