(May is Jewish American Heritage Month and AEPi, along with dozens of other Jewish organizations, will use the month to explore and highlight the vibrant history, culture, and contributions of Jewish Americans throughout our nation’s history. AEPi will be focusing on brothers who are making a difference in our Jewish journeys and/or who have an interesting Jewish journey themselves. Join with AEPi this month as we highlight our fraternity’s Jewish American Heritage.)
Much of the Jewish American experience is based around food. The joy that comes to a Jewish American upon seeing foods like brisket, bagels/lox, knishes, latkes, etc. cannot be quantified. As much as the food on the table means to many of us, it is the simple act of joining together for that meal that calls to us and brings us home, not just physically, but emotionally. The family or communal meal is more than just seminal to Jewish-Americans, it is visceral, exploding in our sense of smell and taste and reminding us of our youth, simpler times and the connection we have to Judaism and each other.
Brother Rabbi Adam Gindea (Columbia, 2010), through his work at One Table, is bringing people together to ensure that that feeling isn’t lost. And, at a time when Jews across the country need to find strength together, he and One Table are helping to facilitate it.
As the Vice President of Programs, Rabbi Gindea joined One Table after October 7th. “We’re a web-based platform that helps people cultivate a shabbat practice. We have representatives in the field across the country to provide support and to be great guides in the realm of Shabbat. For people who don’t have a root or connection to mainstream Jewish life, we help support them in Shabbat and we use Shabbat as a tool to gather people.”
The politics facing today’s Jewish community can be divisive and difficult to navigate and, at a time when the Jewish community needs to be together, the risk of being more splintered than ever has never been greater, or more dangerous.
“Our goal is to show that Shabbat and the Shabbat table can be the place where the polarities can be pulled together harmoniously for some sort of sacred collective of what it means to engage in discourse and conversation with Shabbat being at the core and center of that.”
In its 11th year, One Table has continued to evolve and has certainly seen an enhanced need since October 7. “This is a really interesting and exciting time to be here.”
As a student in the joint Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and Columbia program, Rabbi Gindea learned much but, perhaps most importantly, he learned how to ask questions. “I really wanted to understand the academic perspective and development of the Jewish collective.” And, while at Columbia, he found AEPi. “AEPi was really special because it was a whole group of us from JTS and AEPi is what bound us together and allowed us to integrate into the broader community, not just Greek life but also the broader Columbia community. JTS can be kind of siloed. AEPi got us out of that silo. I’m in touch with many of the guys still and some of my closest friends are the guys that I joined with.”
With an interest in engaging in Jewish education, Rabbi Gindea also wanted to bring in diversity of Jewish thought. “I felt that it was my responsibility as a Jewish individual who was interested in going into Jewish education to learn as much as I did from across the denominational spectrum.”
After graduating Columbia, he went to the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem to study in a rabbinic school that was specifically for the purpose of Jewish education. “I was there for almost three years. I really made the most of my Israeli chapter and then I had to decide what I’m going to do next. He returned to the U.S. to teach in a Schecter school in New Jersey for about five years. While there, he got involved in a side gig: grilling.
Again, with the food…
“I always loved cooking when I was at JTS and in AEPi. While I was teaching, I entered this grilling contest that was a fundraiser. It was a two-day competition, and I think there were like 16 other teams. I remember calling my wife after the first day and saying, I’m coming home, there’s no way. She told me I was being silly and to stay in it and I ended up winning this grilling competition. That was like my 15 minutes of fame. I was in all of the Yiddish newspapers.”
His grilling and cooking expertise led him to a local synagogue where he expanded his business into a fundraiser. Business was great and within a month he had purchased a barbeque trailer and a pickup truck. He started working events like weddings and bar mitzvahs. “I was thinking of leaving teaching and going into the restaurant business full-time but instead ended up moving to Miami to open Base there.
Base was incubated as an innovation project at Hillel International, growing to engage more than 6,000 young Jewish adults per year in a home-based engagement model. Base aimed to build community in spiritual spaces facilitated by rabbis. In 2021, Base was absorbed by Moishe House.
“My wife and I loved it. We ended up hosting all the time, Shabbat dinner, Shabbat lunch, all the chagim (holidays). We even hosted for Thanksgiving. Base, for us, was essentially a pluralistic clubhouse. We were connected Hillel so we were at the University of Miami. We were the third or fourth Base in the country at that time. I brought the food truck to Miami with me because we could use it as an engagement tool.”
As the Base Movement evolved under Moishe House, Rabbi Gindea began working with Jewish Federation more. “I was kind of the freelance young professional rabbinic resource. So, if programs like Honeymoon Israel, Repair the World, or One Table needed a Rabbi, I was there for them.” It was through his Honeymoon Israel connection that he met AEPi’s Supreme Master Scott Knapp and his future husband.
Eventually, Rabbi Gindea’s professional path led him to One Table. “The core of One Table is young professional engagement. It’s a platform and a connection that is addressing two big things: the loneliness epidemic and engaging in a Shabbat practice. There are young people who are lonely and there isn’t really a mechanism to unify them and bring them together. And we wanted to think through Shabbat and how we can help people cultivate a Shabbat practice. One hurdle is that it is costly to host a big Shabbat dinner so One Table has operated with this idea of providing nourishment and financial support through gift cards.”
One Table has also recently expanded its reach to include people older than 55. “We’ve created this technology to connect people. The big thing that we offer is peer-to-peer engagement. We support people – regular people – doing Shabbat dinner for regular people so that they can build their own communities. It’s tech-based and you don’t need to rely on an institution or rabbinic leadership to be the resource. You can support the Jewish community and build your own community and your own place as a person and a Jew in the world.”
#ProudtobeaPi
(As Jewish American Heritage Month continues, we will continue to feature AEPi brothers and their Jewish journeys. Click here for more information on Jewish American Heritage Month and make sure to also visit the One Table website.)