Sunday, September 13, 2009

If You Can't Make it to Shul for Kol Nidre ...

Although I'll be offline and MIA during Yom Kippur, this might interest some of my readers. I think it's great that someone is willing to reach out the community members that have to work or can't get to a shul for the High Holidays. I got this information from the one and only @EstherK, so thank her for spreading the word. Here's some tidbits from the press release.
Outside of the biblical gathering at Mt. Sinai, the annual televised Kol Nidre service that streamed online to more than 220,000 people last year may be the world’s largest single Jewish service ever.
On the evening of September 27, JewishTVNetwork.com, a vibrant global broadband community connecting Jews around the world, will stream its third annual Kol Nidre service, which marks the beginning of Yom Kippur. In its first year, JTN streamed the service to about 30,000 online viewers. Last year, the live service originated from the leading Jewish organization – Nashuva – led by Rabbi Naomi Levy and more than 220,000 online viewers in North America and around the world tuned in. This year the numbers may go higher, a testament to the number of Jews who either cannot physically get to a synagogue or are unaffiliated and seeking something spiritually Jewish to connect to.
Nashuva offers a passionate, highly engaging service complete with a dynamic, seven member, multi ethnic, multi racial “band” that adds inspirational, modern takes on traditional prayers and hymns. Nashuva is based in Los Angeles and is as much a social action organization as it is a house of prayer.
With the intent to connect with Jews of all denominations, Levy founded the Nashuva organization to reach people who may not be part of the conventional Jewish structure. Unlike any other conservative Rabbi, Levy presents a whole new approach to Jewish prayer that includes elements of global sounds, meditation, dance and translations of Hebrew prayers that are rarely experienced.
“Like JewishTVNetwork.com, Nashuva uses an innovative approach to bring the Jewish experience to the greater Jewish community,” said Jay Sanderson, CEO of JTN Productions/JewishTVNetwork.com. “The overwhelming response to last year’s service demonstrated that there is an incredible demand around the world to connect and create a dialogue.”
Named as one of Newsweek’s “50 Most Influential Rabbis in America,” Rabbi Levy is a best selling author whose spiritual guidance has been featured on national broadcast shows like Oprah and Good Morning America.
“Our experience last year, of reaching so many people through JTN, was exceptionally rewarding,” said Rabbi Levy. “I have made it my life’s work to provide an engaging Jewish experience for all and the best way to reach a global audience is through the Web. This was not possible just 10 years ago, but now through this medium, we can reach people most anywhere and that is both humbling and exhilarating.”
JewishTVNetwork.com’s High Holiday content will allow people throughout the world to experience and learn about Holiday rituals and traditions of the Jewish New Year with hours of new and engaging content. Online users can prepare for the holiday and learn new twists on their favorite dish, watch renowned Rabbis discuss the importance of the holiday and discover fun crafts the whole family can enjoy.
Follow @JewishTVNetwork on Twitter for more information!