Source: Moishe House Rocks
Moishe House Rocks is a series of digital cartoon videos aimed at empowering young leaders to feel confident and prepared to initiate and lead Jewish rituals in their homes and for their peers. Created in partnership with G-dcast, the package consists of two complementary virtual components: a three-minute cartoon video to introduce and explain a ritual element; and embedded karaoke-style prayers and tunes of the blessings and ceremonies prerecorded with words on the bottom. The videos are Shabbat and Havdalah blessings and guidelines on how to build a Sukkah for Sukkot.
Moishe House Rocks has been used at Moishe House Learning Retreats and as a follow-up take-home tool, post-retreat. Moishe House residents and participants have been encouraged to use the videos as a way to practice the blessings on their own and become comfortable leading them. Moishe House leaders believe that Moishe House Rocks provides their residents, as Jewish leaders in their communities, with a confidence-building learning tool for Jewish traditions. Seventy eight percent of all Moishe House residents had a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, but just 39 percent say they were active in Hillel during college; Moishe House Rocks allows the residents to experience a fun and relatable refresher on some of the most important communal blessings and rituals. For many, this is the first time they have been given the opportunity to learn the blessings and rituals in an accessible, low-barrier way.
Collectively, Moishe House Rocks has reached more than 10,000 views. The videos have been viewed from more than 65 countries and have reached a wide age range, many of those in the target demographic (20-30). Moishe House expects these numbers to continue to grow, with the implementation of keyword advertising and continued promotion.
Moishe House Rocks is a 2011- 2012 recipient of the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund, a pilot collaboration of the Jim Joseph Foundation, Righteous Persons Foundation, and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation that supported projects offering innovative ways of using new media to encourage the next generation of Jews to engage in life and community Jewishly.