An Israeli Jewish culture program for university students, centered around piyyut and midrash. Piloted at Hebrew University in partnership with Beit Hillel during 2002/03, the program expanded over the years to four additional campuses: Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University, the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, and the University of Haifa. The program comprises monthly public events for the general student population, alternating between study and song sessions devoted to piyyut and midrash for 50-100 students, and larger public concerts that feature first-rate paytanim (piyyut singers), popular singers, and student interpreters of Jewish texts, which regularly attract hundreds of participants. Hillel’s vision is to transform this dimension of Jewish culture into an integral part of general cultural activity at Israeli universities.
Speaking Poetry also inspired a new initiative, led by performing artists who after three years of exposure to the world of piyyut in the Speaking Poetry project requested the opportunity to study more systematically the world of Jewish culture in general, and piyyut in particular. The result: a course for leading singers and composers, now in its fourth year, that attracts a circle of 35 leading artists for eight intensive days of study of Jewish history, texts, and piyyutim. Most of the artists have begun to include the piyyutim they have studied in their own performances and compositions.