Joey Soloway and Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie during last year’s Dawn. (Screenshot) Holidays Shavuot All-night Shavuot arts festival features local and national talent Facebook Twitter Email SMS WhatsApp Share By Andrew Esensten | May 10, 2021 “A virtual Jewish Burning Man” is how organizers are describing Dawn, Reboot’s all-night arts and culture festival in honor of Shavuot that will stream on May 16 from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. the following day. The free festival will include a mix of prerecorded and live performances and discussions on three different channels. Bay Area presenters include Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer of The Kitchen, pop duo Love Jerks (Bryan Garza and Rebecca Garza-Bortman), musician John Schott and writer Sara Faith Alterman. Last year, 30,000 people watched some portion of the festival, according to Reboot CEO David Katznelson. He said this year’s Dawn will cover a wide range of interests and ways to connect. “If you’re coming to really engage with some deep Jewish thought, we have that for you. If you’re coming to understand the themes of Shavuot through the eyes of artists and comedians and musicians, we have that for you. We feel the true way to celebrate the holiday is to give people the ability to celebrate it in different ways that all connect to the theme of Shavuot,” he said. Some of the announced sessions include a conversation between best-selling author A.J. Jacobs and actress Michaela Watkins on the history of Jews and puzzles; a labne cheesecake baking demonstration by chef Sonya Sandford, with music from Alicia Jo Rabins; an eight-hour “meditation” on jazz pianist Thelonius Monk’s ballad “‘Round Midnight” by Schott (each note is played by a prerecorded piano); a comedic sketch about Moses by Jessie Kahnweiller and Nicole Delaney; and a discussion on intermarriage and inclusion in the Jewish community with Rabbis David Ingber, Scott Perlo and Lizzi Heydemann in dialogue with Ed Case of the Center for Radically Inclusive Judaism. Dawn launched in San Francisco in 2008. This year’s festival is being presented in partnership with Jewish Emergent Network and LABA. Register at rebooters.net/dawn. Andrew Esensten Andrew Esensten is the culture editor of J. Previously, he was a staff writer for the English-language edition of Haaretz based in Tel Aviv. Follow him on Twitter @esensten. Also On J. architecture Daniel Libeskind to design new Pittsburgh Tree of Life shul Torah This week’s Torah takeaway: Give yourself a needed rest First Person Inside each buried Jewish book, a Jewish heart Film Silicon Valley Jewish film fest: basketball, refuseniks, Shira Haas Subscribe to our Newsletter Enter Email Sign Up