#takeaPAUSE with OneTable Atlanta

“A pause amongst the chaos. An invitation to elevate time and space. A space to encounter joy.”

Want to dive deeper into Shabbat? Head to onetable.org. ✨

Want more? Check out PAUSE:

Based in Jewish tradition, Shabbat — and its teaching that spending meaningful time connecting with friends and family — is for everyone. Much like yoga or meditation can be, Shabbat is an act of peaceful rebellion against a constantly moving world. When this isolating global pandemic took hold, OneTable was looking for a way to keep the magic of Friday night Shabbat going when every day feels the same.

There is immense power and potential when we gather with delicious food and inspiring community at the Shabbat dinner table. Together with Jewish Food Society, this month we’re sharing Shabbat breads from around the world from their digital recipe archive. We’re highlighting dabo, kubaneh, and challah, and we invite you to explore the journeys of the bites that tell your (hi)stories. 

Visit our collection of August resources and conversation guide all about #bread! 

Special thanks to Eyal Resh.

Going offline one day a week feels like an epiphany, a radical act of protection against the always-on always-available world. — Tiffany Shlain

Will you take the challenge? 

We sat down with some of our favorite folks across industries to talk about the idea of habitually unplugging from our weekly grind (AND from technology!) to give ourselves space to truly be present. Say it with us: rest. is. good. 

You’ll be better for it. 

Produced by Adam Kantor and Tiffany Shlain and Sawyer Steele of Let it Ripple.

There’s just something about endless nights… laughing, singing, deep conversations with your people. You know, the ones who make time seem to stop as the night flows… and when they leave (real late – or, perhaps, real early in the AM!) it feels like they were there for a blink of an eye. The folks who sit in silence with you, make you cry from belly laughing so hard, who show up in hard times. There’s no need to ask to grab snacks from the fridge (and you know where they hide the good stuff). No awkward pauses. Just friendships – is that even the right word for these soul people?! This is what chosen family feels like. This is where you belong.

Produced by Adam Kantor and Charly Jaffe. Special thanks to hosts Liz Alpern and Shira Kline. 

A butterfly comes out of its cocoon when it’s ready to. A bear leaves the cave once it has hibernated…

“and you, mighty human, deserve to take your time too.”

Take the Pause You Need draws on wisdom from the animal kingdom and features a spoken word love note written for those who may want to re-emerge slowly. The poem is by award-winning poet, Charly Jaffe, set to illustrations by Heather Schieder and music by Broadway’s Andrew Resnick.

Visit our mental health resource site for more information. Click to download the poem by Charly.

Produced by Adam Kantor and Charly Jaffe. Special thanks to video editors Nathan Colby and Nicolas Mackall. 

“Next Year,” an original song by Shaina Taub, Benj Pasek, Mark Sonnenblick, and Hannah Friedman, premiered during 2020’s Saturday Night Seder. Now, after a year of pausing and reflecting in our homes amid countless hardships, losses, and lessons learned, we sing “Next Year” again, with the hope that although it won’t be easy, things will get better.

Produced by Jen Snow and Adam Kantor with Eric Kuhn. OneTable extends a special thank you to Shaina Taub.

On your mark. Get set. Pause.

Then go.

Athletes of all talents and skills rely on a mind-body connection to create stillness before an explosion of strength. It’s the breath before you bend your knees and lunge forward. The centering before the free-throw. The beat before the beat drops. The pause before the pursuit.

Produced by Charly Jaffe & Adam Kantor. Special Thanks to Shakina Nayfack.

From candlelit dinner to sensory rituals, Shabbat is all about heightening joy & pleasure. Yep, you heard it here first: Shabbat is SEXY. Taking a pause to focus on pleasure on Shabbat is a BIG YES in Judaism — so why is it so rarely talked about openly with our elders? We asked three friends to (safely) sit down with their grandparents and explore intimacy, relationships, sexuality, and Shabbat… and we promise, it is WORTH your 3 minutes.

Produced by Charly Jaffe & Adam Kantor.

Beanie Feldstein. Tan France. Shoshana Bean. Ari Shapiro. Roxane Gay. Adam Chanler-Berat. Shakina Nayfack. Tiffany Shlain. Mike Solomonov. Rabbi Sandra Lawson. Debbie Millman. V (formerly Eve Ensler).

Need we say more? These voices are helping us kick off 2021 — not with a bang, but with a breath. Say “good ~effing~ riddance” to 2020 and inhale this new year with familiar faces and friendly reminders to roll back your shoulders and exhale.

Produced by Adam Kantor, Eric Kuhn, Tiffany Shlain & Sawyer Steele.

Three Comedians and a Rabbi Log Onto Zoom starring the comedic voices of Jackie Tohn, Ben Gleib, and Alex Edelman, alongside Rabbi Sharon Brous.

Shabbat is our pause, our moment in the market square — 25 hours to welcome light and levity even, and especially, when the world gives us weight. 

Produced by Adam Kantor with Gesundheit Media and Eric Kuhn.

The Gatherers starring Daniel J. Watts (Hamilton, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, In the Heights, Tina) and Kelly Hall-Tompkins (Fiddler On The Roof).

Watts’ spoken word artistry juxtaposed with Tompkins’ violin mastery intertwines modernity and tradition, all the while wrestling with what can come from pressing pause before we press play again. No matter who you are or where you stand, let’s take a collective moment to exhale — to take a break, reckon with this moment in time, celebrate our gains, and mourn our losses. Shabbat’s ancient wisdom, a mandated pause amongst the chaos — was made both for and from times like these. We gather and rest today so we have the strength to build a better world tomorrow.

Produced by Adam Kantor with Gesundheit Media and Eric Kuhn.

A Shabbat “Quarandary” starring Jesse Kovarsky (The Band’s Visit, Fiddler On The Roof, Sleep No More).

“I don’t really have an active Shabbat practice and am often pleasantly delighted when I even remember it’s Shabbat — so there’s a resistance to using candlesticks, because there’s an emotional distance from their traditional use. I wanted to showcase the fragility of that resistance, remembering that I can totally own my flamboyant identity and add over-the-top decorations to invite the ritual of Shabbat in a way that feels more like the moment of pause I need in my week — and the Shabbat table I want to show up for.” — Jesse Kovarsky

Produced by Adam Kantor with Gesundheit Media and Eric Kuhn.

Media Inquiries, please contact Marina Rostein, marina@onetable.org.