EntryPointDC

Shabbat Clusters 2.0

Young Professionals (21-45)

Sign up for Shabbat Clusters and find your #ShabbatSquad!

Overview

Sign up for Shabbat Clusters and find your #ShabbatSquad!

Interested in joining a community for Shabbat, but don’t have a place to go? Want to meet new people with similar interests? Based on age, neighborhood, and/or interests, we’ll organize curated small groups that will meet for monthly potluck dinners at each other’s homes, local parks, or restaurants in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. You do not need to be at every cluster gathering to sign up for the season. Open to young adults ages 21-45.

Interest groups include arts lovers, LGBTQIA, interfaith couples, outdoor enthusiasts, and many more! This season we are creating new interest groups, such as grad students, solo parents, new parents, and Jews of Color.

We are recruiting more Cluster Coordinators so we have more Clusters and keep them smaller (14-18 people). Coordinators will receive a $50/month stipend! Let us know if you’re interested in becoming a coordinator when you register.


Registration for Spring 2024 Shabbat Clusters is now open! Register by Wednesday, March 13.

Kick-Off Event: This season, you have the option to attend a kick-off happy hour event with a Purim theme in our outdoor parking lot on Wednesday, March 20. You will get to know others in your Shabbat Clusters group and learn more about the program. We will provide drinks and light appetizers, and you may bring your own dinner.

Suggested Dates & Themes:

(Your group coordinator will survey the group to decide exact dates)

Shabbat Cluster Dinner 1: Friday, April 12
Suggested Theme: Pre-Passover Carb Load
It’s almost Passover time! Lets eat our favorite risen foods before like pasta, pizza and grilled cheese on challah. Have a beer tasting and enjoy the spring weather.

Shabbat Cluster Dinner 2: Friday, May 17
Suggested Theme: Yom Ha’atzmaut
We celebrated Israeli Independence Day this week, enjoy some Israeli inspired dishes and come together with your community 

Shabbat Cluster Dinner 3: Friday, June 21
Suggested Theme: Mindful Shabbat
Join with your group for a mindful Shabbat and explore the changing of the seasons

Shabbat Cluster Dinner 4: Friday, July 19
Suggested Theme: Summer BBQ
It’s summertime and a great time to grill!

Shabbat Cluster Dinner 5: Friday, August 16
Suggested Theme: Color War Camp Shabbat
Share your camp memories around the bonfire, play color war games, and make your favorite cozy foods

Shabbat Cluster Dinner 6: Friday, September 13
Suggested Theme: A New Year is Almost Here
Fall and Rosh Hashanah are almost here, so make something sweet or apple-and-honey-flavored and send off the season with your friends.

Frequently Asked Questions

We want you to connect to Shabbat and your community however you feel most comfortable. In the past, groups have had Shabbat lunch on Saturday afternoon, done an activity after Friday night dinner, or had dinners at a restaurant, beer garden, or park.

A few seasons ago we introduced Interest Shabbat Clusters. If you would like to meet people with similar interests this is a great option for you. In the past, interest groups have included couples (including interfaith couples), outdoors, arts, community service, foodies, and LGBTQ community members. We encourage our interest groups to meet outside of Shabbat potlucks either virtually or for outdoor socially-distanced activities.

Each Cluster is assigned a Cluster Coordinator or two who will contact the group and help plan details for each meal.

It is okay if you can’t attend every meeting, but it is encouraged!

There is a small administrative fee to register for Shabbat Clusters and shows everyones commit to the program and respecting our Shabbat Cluster coordinators and community members time and effort to make this a successful program. If this fee would prevent you from signing up, please get in touch.

Each individual person must have a separate registration form.

We would love to put you in a cluster with your friend! There is a section in the registration form to request this. Please make sure that both of you fill this out in order for the request to be considered. We will do our best to fulfill all requests.

The deadline ensures we will have enough time to organize the groups before the program begin. If there is still space in a group, we will try our best to place you. Please reach out to us to inquire about rolling registration.

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