About Challah & Soul
A cross-cultural, justice-centered nonprofit rooted in Black-Jewish partnership.
It Started With a Meal.
But it became something much bigger.)
Every movement begins with a simple act. Ours began around a table.
Not with a strategy, but with people willing to sit down together. A shared meal became a shared story. A shared story became trust. And trust became the beginning of something neither community knew it had been missing.
Today, Challah and Soul is building spaces where Black and Jewish communities come together to rediscover one another, not through debate, but through curiosity, generosity, and human connection.
Because before we see race...
before we see religion...
before we see the difference...
we see people.
To reignite the alliance between Black and Jewish communities through food, storytelling, and education.
A future where communities choose relationships over assumptions, curiosity over fear, and belonging over division.
Our Why
For generations, Black and Jewish communities stood beside one another in the pursuit of justice, civil rights, and human dignity. Over time, those relationships became more distant. Assumptions replaced conversations, distance replaced familiarity, and too many people inherited stories about one another rather than relationships.
We believe those relationships can be rebuilt, not by asking people to agree on everything, but by creating spaces where they can know one another as human beings first.
What We Believe
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We believe belonging is a basic human need.
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We believe curiosity is stronger than fear.
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We believe every story has the power to change another story.
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We believe shared meals create uncommon conversations.
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We believe trust grows one relationship at a time.
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We believe lasting change begins around ordinary tables.
We Don't Build Programs. We cultivate relationships.
Every gathering is intentionally designed to help people move from strangers, to neighbors, to trusted community builders.
Because when people experience genuine belonging, they carry it into every part of their lives.
Building a Movement
We're not simply creating events, we're building a national movement rooted in relationships.
Through local gatherings, educational initiatives, strategic partnerships, and leadership development, we're creating a growing network of people committed to strengthening communities through connection.
Our vision is that every city has a table.
Why We Measure Success Differently
Some organizations count attendance. We count relationships.
Some measure how many people came. We pay attention to who comes back.
Because every returning participant represents something difficult to measure, but impossible to ignore: trust.
The Values That Shape Every Table
Connection
Relationships always come before outcomes.
Belonging
Everyone deserves to feel seen, welcomed, and valued.
Trust
Trust isn't assumed. It's built one conversation at a time.
Courage
Real conversations require vulnerability.
Humanity
We choose to see the whole person.
Our Team
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Food has always been my language. For decades I watched people connect over meals, often discovering they had more in common than they ever imagined.
When I began exploring the shared culinary histories of Black and Jewish communities, I realized the recipes weren't the story. The people were. Challah and Soul grew from that discovery.
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Susan believes communities become stronger when people feel seen, valued, and connected.
After decades building national leadership initiatives, partnerships, and Jewish engagement programs, she joined Challah and Soul to help transform a grassroots vision into a national movement centered on belonging.
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Steve Keleman, Ed.D.
Steve joined Challah and Soul because he truly believes in its mission. He has been in senior and management positions and builds teams whether facilitating strategic planning, conducting training or improving operations. Steve has worked in companies and nonprofits, and teaches management classes at UCLA Extension.
Board Members
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Ira Handleman
Description here one line.
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April Powers
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Pull Up a Chair.
Whether you volunteer, attend a gathering, become a partner, or make a gift... you're helping build communities where people choose curiosity over fear and relationships over assumptions.