Community Shabbat Hosting Criteria

Hosting with us means you likely identify with one or more of these categories… 

  • You’re a Jewish organization that wants to bring your community together around these events, for example a cohort reunion, or people have regularly volunteered together.

  • Facilitate. For example maybe you’re a whiz at folding napkins for your table and you want to share it with the world, or want to teach a Shavuot recipe.

  • You’re an individual with a food-related skill that you’d like to share or a discussion you’d like to facilitate. For example maybe you’re a whiz at folding napkins for your table and you want to share it with the world, or want to teach a Shavuot recipe.

If you choose to host an event at the festival, it also means you’re responsible for…

  • Providing and managing your own technology (virtual meeting space) for your guests.  You’ll include a link in your event where people can join you.  Be mindful that the free version of Zoom (and other platforms) expires after 40 min.  The $15 version for one month offers much more flexibility.

  • Managing your own technology, including muting or unmuting people to manage noise, facilitating the chat, and knowing what to do if someone “Zoombombs” your event. (As the host you can expel them, but you should know what to do in advance.)

  • Inviting guests and/or promoting the event.  See more about private and open events below.  Share the festival with your networks so they can take advantage of other sessions too!

  • Messaging your guests to provide relevant information they’ll need to attend (recipe supplies, pre-reading, etc).  You can message all registered guests through the platform as you get close to the date of your event.

What happens next?

Some additional tips you may want to come back to reference as you post your event:

  • Step One: “Create dinner”. Click on the top right corner of the page to drop a menu down and select “create event.” 

  • Step Two: Assign a type of event to your virtual gathering. It’s one of these three: 

    • Open: Anyone can attend. Best for broadcast or tightly-managed events in case someone is disruptive because anyone can come.

    • Host approval: You approve guests. Best for sharing experiences that are open to the public but you want some control.

    • Private: Invite guests directly to events. Only those with a direct link are able to RSVP.  No one coming to the site and browsing can RSVP.

  • Step Three: Fill out the information form with your event details. Some tips: 

    • We recommend using the RSVP deadline feature if you need to set up virtual breakout groups or if you need to approve any last minute guest before the event starts. 

    • Your EVENT TYPE must be “Social Gatherings”.

    • You can post your link to your virtual location now, or you can come back to add it closer to the event if needed. 

    • If you’d like you can add a question. For example, if you have a ‘host approval’ event and want to get a sense of why someone is interested in your event, or ask alumni what year they graduated from the program, etc.

    • Tag your event to help people find it as they surf through our schedule. Some festival wide tags you might use:

      • HH for Happy Hour

      • Shabbat for Shabbat themed events or ritual

      • Families for events appropriate for kids and families

      • Demos for actual demonstrations of skills or recipes.

Once you publish your event you’ll see an option to email people an invite, and also a link in the bottom right corner which goes directly to your event page. Scream it from the rooftops because you’re hosting a social gathering at The Great Big Jewish Food Fest! 


We’re so happy you’ve read all the way through! If you haven’t already,  click here to propose your event!