The Stages of JewCulture
A Handy Guide to Your First Dinner
01
You walk in with a friend and say hi to a friendly-looking guy with a long beard at the head of the table. You grab a seat and start chatting to the person next to you. It’ll be one of those rare times where you meet someone and click in, like, two minutes.
02
It’s more crowded than Catch on a Saturday night in college. All of a sudden, one kid gets up on a chair, holds a cup in his hand, quiets down the entire place and makes a L’Chaim. He just told two hundred people about a personal problem whose solution he found in Torah.
Woah.
03
People are singing songs with no words and dancing. Now it’s full on Fiddler on the Roof vibes circa 2022, but you’re into it. Not usually your thing, but next thing you know you’re literally leading a conga line—on the table.
You never realized Shabbat could be like this.
04
It’s somehow already 4 am, and you feel like you’ve known the bearded guy and the other twenty strangers at the table forever. Everyone’s getting real, sharing their intimate worries, hopes, insecurities, and dreams. You do too. It’s the most cathartic and reflective thing you’ve done in months.
You’re in awe.
You’re inspired.
Then, poof, it’s over. Until next Shabbat.
“If you wait until you find the meaning of life, will there be enough life left to live meaningfully?”
— The Lubavitcher Rebbe
Be part of our next dinner.