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Encouraging Jewish Study: Mass Media: Television, Internet, and Radio
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| The alienation of secular Israelis from Jewish culture and study continues to preoccupy the Foundation. A healthy Jewish society depends on all of its communities to engage in the development of its cultural life. Tragically, a significant part of secular Israel has relegated Judaism to the religious. AVI CHAI aspires to encourage Jewish study and literacy among secular Israeli Jews so that they can become active and knowledgeable partners in the shaping of Jewish life in Israel. The Foundation continues to focus on three primary areas of support: (1) encouraging Jewish study programs for secular adults, primarily in informal frameworks; (2) promoting Jewish culture in the media, especially television; and (3) enhancing Jewish studies in the state (non-religious) school system.
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AVI CHAI on Television
An ongoing effort to encourage the development and broadcast of new television programs related to Jewish culture and reconciliation on the leading television channels in Israel. Over the past several years, the Foundation has explored proposals and funded production of a variety of drama, documentary, and talk-show programs - expected to total about 120 hours of quality Jewish content during the last four years.
Most recently, AVI CHAI has focused particularly on high-end genres such as drama and documentaries, which have received excellent critical reviews and high ratings - an average of 20% or about 500,000 viewers - during prime time. As a result, AVI CHAI has become a significant and desired partner with Channel 2, Israel's leading commercial channel, and is identified with numerous quality productions - Catching the Sky ("Litfos Et Hashamayim"), The Ten Commandments ("Asseret Hadibrot"), Jerusalem Mix ("Me'orav Yerushalmi"), Parashat HaShavuah, and The Sages of Spain ("Hachmei Spharad").
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Jewish Encyclopedia in Russian
Development of an updated version of The Jewish Encyclopedia in Russian (JER) on the Internet. The JER represents a mammoth 25-year effort, recently completed by the Society for Research on Jewish Communities, to produce an 11-volume Jewish encyclopedia for the Russian-speaking public. AVI CHAI funded a two-year initiative to update and produce an on-line version of the encyclopedia. The Society's vision is to preserve the Encyclopedia as the most authoritative Russian-language source on Jewish studies, the history of the Jewish people, and the State of Israel. The website went online in the summer of 2005 and now attracts about 140,000 visits per month. AVI CHAI continues to fund efforts to keep the site updated and relevant.
http://www.eleven.co.il |
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Lexicon of Jewish Culture
The Lexicon of Jewish Culture is a media-rich website developed at the Center for Educational Technology (CET) at the initiative of AVI CHAI and with its support.
The Lexicon is intended for the general public as well as the education system. It provides users with a colorful mosaic of the best of Jewish and Israeli culture. The Lexicon includes more than 1000 entries organized around 11 topics: philosophy, life, the calendar, texts, people, communities, events, Jewish languages, symbols, Zionism, and historical periods. The site is user-friendly, reliable, and accurate: each entry is based on research and includes references, explanatory notes, examples, and internal and external links for greater breadth and depth. The entries are accompanied by excerpts from literary works, poetry, and essays, as well as audiovisual media?sound files, video clips, and approximately 1,200 pictures. The Lexicon of Jewish Culture receives more than 30,000 visits every month.
lexicon.cet.ac.il |
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MidReshet
A pilot program seeking to establish a website that will pool study materials from learning community organizations in order to enhance the accessibility of these materials, upgrade their quality, and promote more broadly the study of Jewish texts. The pilot effort represents a partnership between the Batei Midrash Network, an umbrella organization of 20 learning community organizations, and the Center for Educational Technology (CET). The goal is to develop a "web 2.0" type website where the organizations, as well as the general public, will be able to share learning source sheets, modify materials to meet their own needs, and discuss texts online. By the completion of the two-year pilot, we hope to gain some sense of the viability and value of this approach.
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Piyyut Website
Development of a website that enhances efforts to use piyyutim (liturgical poetry) to bring together Israeli Jews to deepen their shared connection to Jewish culture. AVI CHAI's support for two initiatives, Kehillot Sharot and Speaking Poetry, has demonstrated the power of Jewish music and poetry, especially piyyut, to connect people to their Jewish heritage and to foster a common language between Jews of diverse backgrounds. In order to broaden and deepen exposure to piyyutim, Hazmanah L'piyyut (An Invitation to Piyyut) was launched in 2005. The site includes piyyutim of over 28 significant traditions, from Morocco to India to Ashkenaz. The piyyutim are supported by explanations, musical recordings, and pertinent information. The site currently features over 3,000 musical renditions of 600 texts of piyyutim and attracts over 80,000 user sessions per month, averaging more than 15 minutes per session. In 2008, the site opened a new section that invites people to upload and share piyyutim; thousands of monthly visitors enjoy this section, reflecting the strong personal attachment that people have to the piyyut world.
http://www.piyut.org.il |
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