After spending the last few years having Zoom meetings, we’ve become accustomed to sharing and receiving one another’s names and pronouns right next to our faces on screen. This practice of sharing one’s name and pronouns empowers each person to choose how they are ready to show up in the space.
At OneTable, we’ve asked ourselves, “How can we bring this option off of our computer screens and out into the ‘real’ world?”
How can we ensure that each person entering a space has the power, autonomy, and choice to share themselves in whatever way is present and holy for them?
It turns out the answer is surprisingly Jewish! One of our core values at OneTable is hospitality (hachnasat orchim). Shabbat is an invitation to connect; an antidote to loneliness. Rooted in the foundational texts of Judaism, welcoming guests and being a guest are expressions of radical hospitality that honor the essential value in every human being (kavod ha’briot) and create opportunities for connection in the modern world.
In the same way that we don’t know a person’s name until they tell us, we never know someone’s pronouns (or lack thereof) until they tell us as well. No matter what a person looks like, or how they present, we cannot assume pronouns.