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About

Jewish Food Society is a non-profit organization that works to preserve, celebrate, and revitalize Jewish culinary heritage from around the world in order to provide a deeper connection to Jewish life.

Want to get in touch or submit a family recipe?
We're always happy to connect.

Jewish Food Society


Betty, Anna and Mira in Tel Aviv, 1955.
Betty, Anna and Mira in Tel Aviv, 1955.

Our Mission

At Jewish Food Society, we believe that family recipes tell the stories of how Jewish people live and love, how we celebrate and mourn; they carry with them the marrow of who we are as individuals, as families, and as a community. Jewish Food Society is dedicated to preserving and celebrating these recipes and the stories they tell in order to provide a deep connection to Jewish life and identity. We showcase the diversity of the Jewish experience and instill pride.

Our Work

Founded in 2017, the heart of Jewish Food Society is an archive that houses hundreds of tested family recipes and the stories behind them. Read about Stella Hanan Cohen, a cook in Zimbabwe who faithfully maintains 500-year-old Sephardic recipes and Olga Sternberg, who found sustenance in recipes shared orally amongst prisoners in Auschwitz. Find recipes for a chicken and bamboo curry from the Indian-Baghdadi community, Ashkenazi chopped liver prepared with a mezzaluna, and red snapper albondigas from a Moroccan community that built a new life for themselves in Brazil. 

Jewish Food Society brings the archive to life through pop-up dinners, cooking classes, and one of a kind programs like our flagship storytelling and tasting event Schmaltzy, where you hear the tales behind the recipes, then eat the food they make you crave. 

In 2020, Jewish Food Society launched a podcast by the same name, Schmaltzy, sharing the best stories from the live events told by chefs, cookbook authors, writers, entrepreneurs, and passionate home cooks.

Our Team

Naama Shefi

Founder and Executive Director

Yael Raviv

Chief Operating Officer

Amanda Dell

Program Director

Chaya Rappoport

Culinary Manager

Devra Ferst


Editorial Director

Christina Whittaker

Operations Manager

Manami Takashina

Culinary Associate

Danielle Brodsky

Culinary Video Creator

Our Team

Naama Shefi

Founder and Executive Director

Yael Raviv

Chief Operating Officer

Amanda Dell

Program Director

Chaya Rappoport

Culinary Manager

Devra Ferst


Editorial Director

Christina Whittaker

Operations Manager

Manami Takashina

Culinary Associate

Danielle Brodsky

Culinary Video Creator

Core Creative Collaborators

  • Penny De Los Santos, Photographer
  • Armando Rafael Moutela, Photographer
  • Judy Haubert, Food Stylist
  • Mariana Velasquez, Food and Prop Stylist
  • Emily Parkinson, Designer
  • Sarah Hermalyn, Little Gem Public Relations

Board of Directors

  • Shari L. Aronson, Trustee, The Jeffrey H. and Shari L. Aronson Family Foundation
  • Sara Bloom, Chair, Board of Directors Hebrew Public; Chair, Board of Trustees, Hebrew Language Academy, Charter Schools (Brooklyn, Harlem)
  • Steven Boal, CEO & Board Chair, Matia Mobility
  • Deborah Hochberg, Senior advisor, The Paul E. Singer Foundation
  • Terry Kassel, Head of Strategic HR, Elliott Investment Management, Director, The Paul E. Singer Foundation; Chair, Board of Directors Start-Up Nation Central
  • Mark G. Reisbaum, philanthropy advisor
  • Michael Solomonov, Chef, Restaurateur, Cookbook Author
  • Adeena Sussman, Cookbook Author

Affiliated Organization

Asif: Culinary Institute of Israel is a non-profit organization and culinary center in Tel-Aviv dedicated to cultivating and nurturing Israel’s diverse and creative food culture, a joint venture of Jewish Food Society and Start-Up Nation Central.