Your Ideal Celebrity Shabbat Dinner

Apparently Q-Tip is into observing Shabbat since he’s been filming Holy Rollers, a movie about Chassidic drug mules. Totally awesome, and of course I had to invite him to Shabbat dinner at my place.

This got me thinking—who are the celebrities you’d like to invite to spend Shabbat (or just Shabbat dinner) with you? Besides Q-tip, here’s my list:


Matt Damon—because he’s smart and a good writer and lives in my ‘hood now
Maureen Dowd—because she’s outspoken and brilliant
Nick Hornby—one of my favorite writers, he seems like he’d be a great guest
Greg Graffin, of Bad Religion—smart, science-y, has what to say about religion, and would up the cool quotient by a thousand
Laura Bush—I don’t like her husband, and he wouldn’t be invited, but she’s pretty fascinating in her own right. Plus, it’d be fun to see her and Dowd play nice.
Brooke Magnanti—scientist, writer, and former escort, she’s actually Jewish, and we could bond about our love of whiskey, among other things

Who would you invite??

Discover More

Shabbat Dinner Exploits: The Good, The Bad, and the Commonwealth

Months ago I had an idea for a themed Shabbat dinner: I would invite all of my friends from Commonwealth ...

Free Love and Communal Shabbat Dinners

When I lived in San Francisco, I didn’t have much going on in the way of hospitality — mainly because ...

Go to this concert! (But cover your ears.)

The excellent David Keesey — guitarist, singer, and all-around huggable dude — is playing tonight at Webster Hall with one ...