Who are We? Rappers & Rabbis is led by a collective of hip hop educators. Together we build community by organizing events and creating content for artists, educators, parents and spiritual leaders that explores Judaism through a Hip Hop lens, (and vice-versa). We are the nation’s largest and most engaged group of hip hop artists/educators focused on Jewish expression and community. Project Details Rappers + Rabbis (R+R) won an innovation prize from the Metrowest Jersey Federation this past year to ‘bring people out of their homes to be together doing Jewish stuff.’ Times being what they are, ‘bringing people out of their homes’ was forced to adopt a figurative meaning. We had to completely reimagine the project!. We were forced to, as it were, innovate on what the Innovation Prize was for. Each Wednesday, the group met virtually to deliberate on our pivot to cultivating community via virtual events, and also Jewishly, with Rabbi Adam leading a class on prayer. Rap verses organically developed out of these prayers . . . and that were surprisingly good. As a month had become a half-year, our content had grown in quality and the collaborators became more diverse. “It became a thing that gave purpose in these strange times,” says New Jersey native Eric Shandroff who goes by Myster-E and runs Myster-Edutainment. Philadelphia Hip Hop Producer Digital Crates, the co-producer of the project adds, “I’m a touring artist, I’m used to being around people and I live for that energy. Suddenly it’s all shut down. Without gigs and totally alone with a ton of excess creative energy and time. Rappers and Rabbis started meeting online about 4 hours a week and became a really needed community for me and I think the other guys and it shows in the music.’ Rabbi Adam, Co-founder and Rabbi of the organization states, “As a spiritual teacher I want to be aware of effective ways to reach everyone including youth…..What is popular in culture is indicative of how people tune in, what they engage with, what they get excited about and what they identify with. We want prayer to be all those things. Hip Hop already has a reverence for words and a tried and true method of moving the crowd. So creating hip hop liturgy is both innovative and true to the Jewish tradition of finding ways to make prayer engaging.’