Press

Hip Hop Fueled Mussar Curriculum at Day School

Matt Bar of the Bible Raps organization has said that rap and Judaism both have a strong relationship to words.
With this connection, Bar developed a curriculum to teach Mussar, or Jewish ethics, through rap and hip-hop. He will pilot the Chai Mitzvah Mussar Teen curriculum this upcoming trimester at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy.
“It involves normal text study and discussion questions,” Bar said, “but also a lot of rap activities, and I kind of help the students put it in their own language and their voice behind their words when they have to rap it. There are different ways to make rap pretty easy for almost anyone, but there’s also alternative creative expressions because it’s hip-hop.”

That Time 12 Rappers Descended on NMAJH

There are very few places where Jewish educators and professionals of all denominations and affiliations can mingle with new immigrants, Yiddish socialists, outspoken activists, various Rabbis, and summer campers. But during Bible Raps’ 1st Annual Hip Hop, Text, and Judaism Retreat, we did just that by touring through, and writing about, the National Museum of American Jewish History.

Bible Raps: A Case Study of Virtual Learning - Scaling Learning, Scaling Impact

10.13.16 - Dara Steinberg, Executive Director

"From a Foundation point of view, we are gratified to see return on our investment – as a foundation with generous, but limited resources, we are constantly asking ourselves how to deploy these in the service of our vision and mission. Our involvement provided support for Bible Raps to refine and test unique pedagogy, and helped them develop proof of concept for expanding virtual education in Jewish space, significantly scaling the reach and impact of exceptional educators previously bound by geography and other issues of access – something which we hope will be a valuable learning for the field at large."

Hip Hop and Generation Now: A Conversation about JEP's Latest Study

9.1.16 - Matt Bar

As important as evaluations can be, when we limit the survey to experiences just undergone, we miss out on one of the term’s important meanings of “to look out over.” To survey is not just to look back into the past in order to reflect upon it, it also refers spatial and temporal orientations.

When Hip Hop Elevates
Jewish Education

8.1.16 - Matt Bar

Hip Hop, I contend, with its emphasis on creative expression and critical thinking, makes for a unique cultural octane, able both to ignite interest in Judaism and to do so without compromising tradition by making it shallow or something it is not.

These Kids Made the Best Passover Rap Video You'll Ever See

4.21.16 - Joanna Valente