Partying Till Sunrise
The ritual builds community with non-Jews too. Shay O’Brien, a Ph.D. student studying sociology at Princeton, attended her first Shabbat dinner at a friend’s home on the Lower East Side at the beginning of November. “It definitely felt more special than a regular dinner,” said Ms. O’Brien, 32.
And: “Someone made homemade challah bread that I am still thinking about.”
Marie-Salomé Peyronnel, a writer and curator in Brooklyn, has hosted Shabbat meals in New York City for a decade. Now, she said, more of her friends want to join. She believes it’s very much about the food.
“I think there is a huge movement of food people reviving Jewish traditions,” Ms. Peyronnel said. “There are so many people creating babka and challah and mandel bread.”
On a recent Friday, she and her husband, Marc Azoulay, 38, the studio director and producer for the French artist JR, made a spread of Moroccan fish and a cucumber salad with sumac, mint and olive oil. Ms. Peyronnel, 36, and Mr. Azoulay, 38, own HaYom, a company that sells Jewish art.
Trybe, Ms. Bindell’s company, is known for hosting events mostly in Los Angeles but also around the country, either in a private home or event venue. Attendees sit on Moroccan rugs, lean on pillows or poufs, and eat on low tables filled with platters of food; some dinners draw more than 100 people. The events may include acoustic music, guided meditations, poetry and D.J.s. Some evenings last until sunrise.
Daniella Kallmeyer, 36, a South African-born fashion designer, sometimes hosts a Shabbat dinner that celebrates the Jewish queer community in New York City, where she lives.
