Vote for Erez Safar & Yitz Jordan
VOTE NOW! (Last Day)
VOTE EREZ SAFAR (DIWON)
VOTE YITZ JORDAN (Y-LOVE)
EREZ SAFAR
City: Brooklyn, New York
Organization Affiliation: Shemspeed, Sephardic Music Festival
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Vote For This Hero!
Vote for Erez Safar:
Tell us about your nominee. Why should he or she be recognized as a Jewish Community Hero?
Erez Safar (aka Diwon) is the founder and director of Shemspeed (the largest, most diverse Jewish music site), Modular Mood Records (an independent record label), Hip Hop Sulha, and The Sephardic Music Festival. Diwon is a musical mystic, multi-genre producer who travels the globe performing, producing and researching sounds. Through his various projects, events and music, he reaches an audience that is both involved in Judaism as well as the unaffiliated. Safar was listed as one of the Top 50 “most influential Jews of 2007” by The Forward; The Jewish Week gave him a spot in their “36 under 36” list; Heeb listed him in that magazine’s “Heeb Hundred;” London Radio’s 104.4 FM called him “one of New York’s hottest Jewish musicians;” URB MAGAZINE listed him amongst their NEXT 1000; the Jerusalem Post dubbed him “Jewish music’s multimedia mogul;” and The Village Voice stated that his work “as producer and DJ is among the most adventurous and banging on the new Jewish music scene.” His styles range from Yemenite music blended with electro hip hop beats to cinematic psychadelia. Throughout Diwon’s albums, remixes, singles and mixtapes, one could hear the influence of his family that migrated from Yemen to Ethiopia and finally settled in Israel. Safar resides and maintains his many companies in the stereophonic heart of Brooklyn.
What problem did your nominee identify in the community that needed to be solved? How has your nominee’s efforts made a difference for others?
Erez Safar (aka Diwon)’s projects and music embody positive Jewish identity which he spreads around the world to Jews and non Jews alike through Shemspeed’s new media production and the Sephardic Music Festival’s diverse programming, which bridges ethnic, religious, and cultural boundaries. His Sepharidic Music Festival also serves as a platform for the preservation and continuation of Sephardic heritage by promoting a variety of music styles, such as Ladino which is nearly extinct as a spoken language. Safar created “Shemspeed’s 40 Days 40 Nights Campus Tour” which is an interactive, live music festival and educational workshops stopping at 30 colleges nationwide, exposing college students to the breadth and depth of Jewish music and culture. He continues to discover, promote and produce artists and projects that embody this message of unity, positivity, and Jewish values, while getting the message and music out into the world.
