(JTA) — The original broadcast raised more than $3 million for coronavirus relief efforts. Now the creators of “Saturday Night Seder” are selling singles of some the show’s memorable songs to raise money for a Jewish social justice organization.
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice will get the proceeds from sales of “When You Believe” and “Next Year,” two songs from the home-taped Passover special that aired in April.
The creators said they chose JFREJ because of the Black Lives Matter movement that has become reinvigorated since then.
“In Judaism, there’s a principle called Tikkun Olam which means to repair the broken world and to be of service to people, and so in this current moment of Black Lives Matter and to continue with that spirit of service, it was about how we could use our Tikkun Olam,” Shaina Taub, who co-wrote “Next Year,” told Variety.
She added about JFREJ, “They’re an organization that really believes in Jewish people standing up as allies, for other marginalized communities.”
(Taub was arrested on the front steps of her New York City apartment building during one protest in early June.)
The event’s creators are waging an Emmy bid right now, and executive producer Benj Pasek told Variety last week that some kind of encore production could be possible.
Earlier this year, Pasek wrote in a piece for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he hoped that a new model for supporting Jewish art would emerge after the pandemic.