Kosha Dillz at SXShabbat on March 17 at the Latchkey. People gather at the Austin Hilton Downtown for Open Shabbat at SXSW. Credit: Allison Teegardin

By Allison Teegardin 

Filling a large ballroom at the Austin Hilton Downtown, Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone and his Tech Tribe hosted its annual Open Shabbat on Friday, March 10 as SXSW 2023 got underway.

With 400 registrants expected, the event was donation-based with a suggested minimum of $5 that included a full kosher meal and beverages. Rabbi Lightstone said, “The event is growing organically just as SXSW itself grows each year. The event is mostly based on word of mouth with very little marketing. People attend one year, they tell their friends, and then come back again and again.”

One week later, Shabbat moved outdoors to the Latchkey on March 17 before the 11^th annual Oy Vey music showcase created by Jewish rapper Kosha Dillz. In its fourth year, SXShabbat brings Jewish people together in a new way. “I love bringing Jewishness to the world in a different way,” said Dillz. “A big part of why I was Kosha Dillz is because I was ashamed of who I was and how I grew up. It took me a while to navigate and find my place in the world and what I want to do to inspire and invigorate myself. This is evolving all the time in my life. I feel like I always had a hint of Jewish soul and spirit and this is a way to preserve it even when I supposedly can’t. I feel many other people think like this too and there is a tribe out there.”