DAWN 2021

THE CHANNELS

DAWN featured THREE concurrent streams of programming:

• What We Missed At Sinai: The mystics say that every soul that ever was and would ever be reunited at Sinai. Now, on the brink of reemergence, we find ourselves in the midst of another Cosmic Reunion. Reboot & LABA gathered the artists, musicians, writers, chefs and filmmakers of today to highlight what they have seen and shed light on where we are going.

• Ruth Revisited: The rabbis of the Jewish Emergent Network imagine their Cosmic Reunion with the characters from the Book of Ruth, the book we read on Shavuot, immersing themselves in those themes: interfaith marriage, caring for the poor, equity, environmentalism, grief and loss, altered states, and more. Ruth Revisited brings together rabbis, spiritual leaders, and special guests in a full night of conversation, song, study, movement, and ecstatic dance.

• Sounds and Symbols: The ancient Hebrew on the scrolls is but one revelatory text. Music and movement is the “Torah” for the extraordinary musicians, dancers and artists that Reboot & LABA have united. This channel featured “Eight Hours ‘Round Midnight,” an extended meditation by John Schott on Thelonious Monk’s immortal ballad. The piece, unfolding note by note, serves as a “text” for Schott to rabbinically interpret and comment upon.

A COSMIC REUNION

Shavuot is the biblical Burning Man, the moment people gathered in the desert, spent the evening in anticipatory celebration for the dawn. At sunrise they would receive the Ten Commandments and, with these tablets, a new perspective on the future. According to the mystics, this was an all-access event. The soul of every single Jew that ever and would ever live was in fact there. The past, present and future converged. This year’s DAWN comes at a turning point in our civilization with many uncertainties ahead. But, if time collapses like this, then somewhere in our midst are the signals to see where we are going now. We are once again in anticipation, but if the mystics are right we’ve got what we need right here. It’s up to us to gather the voices and ask the right questions. DAWN is inviting the soothsayers of our day — the artists, musicians, comedians, inventors, theologians and writers — to center the signals and codes that are hiding in plain sight to help guide our way. What should we be listening to? What woke us up at Sinai? What do we need to wake up today?

WHY ALL NIGHT? 

The story goes: The night before Shavuot, we stay up all night because back in the day, the Jewish people were supposed to arise with the Dawn and accept the Torah from the heavens. True to form, though, they overslept and missed the cosmic messenger. The over-sleepers stayed up the entire next evening, studying – discussing – preparing to receive the greatest of gifts the following morning. The ritual of Shavuot revolves around this fine aspect of staying up, studying texts, debating and learning from one another, and preparing for the Dawn – with just as much awe and determination as our ancestors had so many eons ago.