How hip-hop became a key tool for Jewish nonprofits to connect communities

credit: Wikipedia

"For me to take my Judaism serious, I left [hip-hop] behind as one of the things that I sacrificed for my own life," rapper Nissim Black tells eJewishPhilanthropy.

"But friends encouraged him to pick up the mic, andRabbis encouraged him, too, and in 2011, I stumbled upon a broken microphone and saw it as a sign.

I was inspired by God to use my hip-hop back to give back to the community."

Now a practicing Hasidic Jew living in Israel, Black has released three albums and partnered with nonprofits including Amudim, Kisharon, and the Jewish Learning Exchange.

"This legacy is evident with newer who use hip-hop to not only introduce people to Jewish history and Jewish culture, but create dialogue between communities," the founder of Value Culture, which holds Soul Vey events, tells eJewishPhilanthropy.

"Hip-hop was born almost exactly 50 years ago when DJ Kool Herc first looped together records his family in the Bronx apartment in the summer of 1973."

The Jewish Center in Los Angeles was one of the first nonprofits to use hip-hop to engage young Jews, and the founder of JDub Culture, which was founded in 2002, tells eJewishPhilanthropy that

Read the Entire Article

How's Your Community Doing?
Check Out it's
Community Vital Signs

The Courageous Giving Framework: A Philanthropic Strategy to Build a Just Democracy

"We may have never imagined that fascism would be looming in our lifetimes, and yet, this is where we find ourselves." That's the takeaway from a New York Times op-ed by actress and activist...more

One Way to Help Employees Build Emergency Savings

Employees of BlackRock, the world's biggest asset management firm, will soon be able to sock away money for retirement without worrying about running out of it. The firm has teamed up with the...more

Secrest Auditorium to Undergo Massive Renovation with Help from State Grant

A beloved Ohio music hall is getting a makeover. The Zanesville Times Recorder reports the city received a $6.5 million grant from the Ohio Department of Development, the Ohio Department of...more

$600K Investment for Research Collaboration

The German state of Bavaria and the Australian state of Queensland are teaming up to work on a host of cutting-edge projects, including artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, clean energy,...more

Research and Innovation Initiatives Towards Climate Neutrality

Cyprus is aiming to be an example of "ecological living and sustainable development" in the years to come, and the first Green Agenda Cyprus Summit will be held there on May 20. Speakers at the...more

Johnson'S 'Intuition' Clashes with Data on Illegal Voting

The House is set to vote Monday on a bill that would make it harder for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The SAVE Actshort for Safeguard American Voter Eligibilityis the brainchild of...more

Johnson'S 'Intuition' Clashes with Data on Illegal Voting

The House is set to vote Monday on a bill that would make it harder for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The SAVE Actshort for Safeguard American Voter Eligibilityis the brainchild of...more

Oxnard Teen Center Named after Nordhoff Graduate Aided by $400K State Grant

When Heidi Allison and her husband, Larry Rhoades, opened Nate's Place a year ago in Oxnard, Calif., they had one goal: to help at-risk teens and young adults stay on the right track with sobriety...more

The Public Servant

Lisette Nieves was the first Puerto Rican woman and the first Brooklyn College grad to be a Rhodes scholar when she graduated from the college in 1992. Now she's the president of the Fund for the...more

Nobel Winners Reflect on Peace, Human Dignity at Vatican Conference

A group of 30 Nobel Peace Prize winners gathered at the Vatican this week to talk about promoting peace, and one of them had a message for today's "profit-centric" society: It's time to create a "...more