Lighting a New Tradition in La La Land

November 4, 2016

  • REALITY

This story comes to us from TableMakers, a Schusterman initiative that helps REALITY alumni to create and host dynamic Shabbat experiences for their peers. The experience described below was organized by Amy Merrill, a REALITY alum, as well as a producer, connector, problem-solver and founder of impact travel collective Journey.  

On Friday, November 4, the LA cohort of REALITY trip alumni held our first Shabbat dinner. The hosts: Liz Levy, Grant Hughes, Michael Trainer, and me (Amy Merrill). With generous support from Schusterman Foundation’s TableMakers, we secured a spot on Lincoln Blvd. in Venice: a pop-up restaurant space owned by Oscar of Cerveteca.

The community that gathered was made up of friends, partners, and other REALITY alums. Most members of this LA community are entrepreneurs, creatives, and activists, with friendship interwoven with business (my business partner was there—who is also one of my closest friends). Like many of the cities with REALITY hubs, the passions and interests of those in the room could be characterized by a single overarching ethos: a commitment to #RepairingtheWorld through learning, empathy, innovation and action.

Liz Levy says the blessing.

The evening began with a cocktail hour, filled with happy reunions and new connections. 60 guests were seated at long tables beautifully set with flowers from Pigsty, and Liz Levy and Grant Hughes gave a brief introduction to connect the dots on how we all arrived in this moment: background on REALITY and Schusterman Foundation, an explanation of Shabbat tradition, and a warm welcome to the LA community, coming together to toast the end of the week, friends new and old, and a commitment to stay engaged in supporting one another and in taking action on the social & environmental issues that matter.

Michael Trainer of Global Citizen & Peak Mind briefed the group on social issue on everyone’s radar and at the top of the feeds: the conflict at Standing Rock, including how interested individuals could get involved and show support.

As the group broke bread and passed wine, singer/songwriter Andy Davis played a set of original music (check out a few of his most popular tunes here).

Stay tuned for future Friday night gatherings of ritual and celebration, by and for the LA community.

In LA and want to join a future REALITY Shabbat? Click here to join our email list.

Radha Agrawal of Daybreaker and Taylor Conroy of Journey.

The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation is proud to empower emerging leaders to explore their values, identity and new ways to strengthen their communities. We believe that as we work together to repair the world, it is important to share our diverse experiences and perspectives along the way. We encourage the expression of personal thoughts and reflections here on the Schusterman blog. Each post reflects solely the opinion of its author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Foundation, its partner organizations or all program participants.