On September 13, 2021, Tzedek DC held our fifth annual Eat Well, Do Justice celebration. We are enormously grateful to everyone who supported this event, which helped us raise a record $345,000 in support of our mission over the course of a fun, substantive, and tasty hummus-themed evening. A huge thank you to all who made the evening a special one!
The virtual program was emceed by Emmy Award-winning television journalist and author David Gregory. David kicked off attendees with a short clip from the trailer of Hummus! The Movie, filmed in 9 different countries involving over 1,000 plates of hummus.
The program then featured a short video about Tzedek DC from ARound Robin Productions that included testimonies from client community members and Tzedek DC staff members. Founding Director Ariel Levinson-Waldman then shared remarks, including an emphasis on the racial disparities in wealth and debt collection rates in DC, and closed by reflecting on Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s wisdom: “through acts of justice, we are in this modern world praying with our feet.”
Attendees were able to experience beautiful performances from Grammy Award-nominated artist Josh Groban and In the Heights Broadway cast member Willis White, as well as uplifting remarks from DC Attorney General Karl Racine and DC Councilmember Brianne Nadeau. We are so incredibly grateful for all their kind words, and for their participation in Eat Well, Do Justice!
Though the event was virtual, attendees enjoyed a delicious variety of hummus and pita, most of them picked up from the Eat Well, Do Justice staging station in Temple Sinai’s parking. Captained by event co-chair Annie Binder, Tzedek DC volunteers and staff worked tirelessly to prepare the hummus bags, collectively handling 2,500 containers of hummus, bagging and stapling 900 individual portions plus 400+ portions of pita and placing stickers on another 400+ containers, and assembling all the pieces into hundreds of Tzedek DC insulated bags.
The five talented and generous local hummus restaurants were recruited by honorary event chair Bonnie Benwick. A huge, special thank you to the participating restaurants: Agora, Amsterdam Falafelshop, Maydan, Sababa, and Taïm.
Sababa was declared this year’s winner with their delicious take on a sabich-themed hummus dish, featuring a “tahini-forward” hummus topped with roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, pickled chilis, sumac onions, and za’atar and sumac spices. Sababa won both the popular and judge’s votes, but the competition was so close that we received at least one request for ranked-choice voting because it was too hard to pick just one!
We are grateful to guest judges Rahsaan Bernard, President of the DC nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River; Oliver & Allee Cox, owners of Pearl’s Bagels on 7th Street NW and winners of EWDJ 2020; and Rabbi Hannah Goldstein, Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai and Member of the DC Mayor’s Interfaith Council. The judges certainly took care in their deliberations, with Oliver & Allee Cox even evaluating the hummus on its “spreadability” on a Pearl’s Bagel!
The event was co-chaired by Annie Binder, Laura Kumin, June Kress, and Nina Simon. The host committee and sponsors were also instrumental in the evening’s success. For those who couldn’t tune in, visit the 2021 Eat Well, Do Justice webpage to watch an abridged recording. You can also click the links above to watch individual segments.
As announced at the event, gifts to Tzedek DC are being matched dollar for dollar up to $25,000 thanks to the generosity of event Host Committee members Carol Mates & Mark Kahan and Thorn & Sharis Pozen. That match has not yet closed. Please consider donating now to double the impact of your gift.
As in 2019 and 2020, the 2021 Eat Well, Do Justice event sold out days before the event. We hope that 2022’s event will be in person and that you will join us either way and secure your tickets when they become available next summer!