When I think of breaking bread in the Jewish tradition, I immediately think of Shabbat dinners on Friday night: the one time a week when we can slow down, sit at a table with friends and family, connect without screens and enjoy a meal together. I used to resent my parents for making me do this each week while my friends were at the mall or movies, and now I wish I could do it with them every week!

This idea of breaking bread and building meaningful connections over food or a meal is as old as human history itself, and continues today. OneTable is founded on the belief that food has the power to build community, and its Shabbat dinners across the country are part of a growing trend for millenials, in Hollywood and in the wellness space. In our fast-paced world where most of our interactions happen with a screen, it’s no wonder we crave the slowing down and human, face-to-face connections that breaking bread over Shabbat dinner has espoused for centuries.

I noticed the same thing when I moved to Israel to work in Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution; the most meaningful connections and relationships I managed to facilitate in almost a decade of this work were over food or a meal. So, I founded Sesamaise Tahini, an LA-based social-change tahini snack company, which is building business reasons for Israeli and Palestinian tahini family businesses to come to the “table.”  Their shared love of tahini and the principles of “breaking bread” will keep them there and help them work together to meet a growing market for tahini.

Now, OneTable and Sesamaise Tahini have teamed up in Los Angeles to once again use the power of food to bring people together. LA-based hosts that opt-in to the partnership this week will receive free vegan tahini dips, made with some of the best tahini from Israeli and Palestinian family businesses, to serve at dinner. Additionally, they will receive material to learn more about how YOU and your guests, and the connection you build over the meal, can create a more peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians through Sesamaise’s #tahinitogether crowdfunding campaign, going on until March 23rd.

So, slow down, break bread, sign up to host or be a guest, opt-in to get delicious, plant-based tahini dips delivered to you, and help create peace in the Middle East one bite of tahini snacks at one Shabbat dinner at a time.

To help your OneTable experience be as easy and stress-free as possible, Sesamaise sent some videos and recipes on how to easily be an inclusive host and welcome guest at your next OneTable Shabbat Dinner:

On how to host a dinner party that is inclusive to people with dietary restrictions.

On how to be a guest at a dinner party when you have dietary restrictions.

And here’s a recipe for a super quick and easy recipe to use tahini dips in a plant-based side dish at your OneTable Shabbat Dinner (video link here):