Join the Skirball and Jewish Food Society for the launch of Naama Shefi's new cookbook, The Jewish Holiday Table: A World of Recipes, Traditions & Stories to Celebrate All Year Long. Naama will engage in conversation with actress Ginnifer Goodwin, with an introduction by Common Ground food curator, Dr. Scott Alves Barton. There will be a book signing immediately following the conversation.

Collected by the Jewish Food Society, an organization dedicated to preserving Jewish cuisine around the world, the 135 recipes and accompanying stories in The Jewish Holiday Table are a dazzling expression of all the ways we celebrate through what we bring to the table. Discover menus for a Persian Rosh Hashanah feast, a Ukrainian-Mexican seder, an Iraqi spread for Purim, and a memorable Hanukkah tale of grandmothers competing in a doughnut duel, with one’s Moroccan sfenj recipe challenging the other’s Egyptian zalabia. Reflecting 3,000 years of love and loss, culture and change, each dish captures the soul of what’s served in a Jewish home on a Jewish holiday.

As part of the event, guests will have the opportunity to engage with a special Common Ground installation where seder plates from around the world will be on display using the Common Ground tableware. Learn how Jewish communities from all over the globe have used diverse foods to create meaningful seder plates.

Common Ground is a community-activated artwork that fosters human connection through shared meals and collaborative installations.

Naama Shefi is a kibbutznik and New Yorker whose work sits at the intersection of food, culture, community building, and art. In 2017, she founded the Jewish Food Society, a nonprofit organization which preserves and celebrates Jewish culinary heritage through a digital recipe archive and dynamic events. In the summer of 2021, she launched Asif: Culinary Institute of Israel, a center in Tel Aviv dedicated to exploring the diverse and creative food culture of Israel. She lives on the Lower East Side with her husband, Ilan, and their daughter, Ella. 

Ginnifer Goodwin is an actress, best known for her roles in the television series Big Love (HBO), Once Upon a Time (Disney+), and Why Women Kill (Paramount+). Her film credits include Mona Lisa Smile, Walk the Line, A Single Man, He's Just Not That Into You, Something Borrowed, and Zootopia.