Founder

Growing up, Danya read Macbeth in Hebrew at Jewish day school, made out with a Jewfroed counselor in the red gazebo at Jewish summer camp, and sang Shabbat songs around the piano every week with her Zionist mother, yarmulke-wearing father, and siblings. She made the pilgrimage to the Lower East Side of NYC after college (which baffled her nearly-centenarian, Brooklyn-born grandmother who only went there to buy furniture), joined the board of a Jewish nonprofit and tried out hippie synagogues in Park Slope and matchmaking ones on the Upper West Side.

But she loved her potluck Shabbat dinners the most, so she created Pop-Up Shabbat, a pop-up restaurant inspired by Jewish culture and open to all, with her now husband, Andrew, and their friend Melissa Dain. Danya wanted more relevant and inclusive Jewish touchpoints and knew she wasn’t alone, so she founded Arq to help anyone explore their Jewish connection in an inclusive and relevant way.

Special thanks to Arq member Leo Biselman for his generous support! Ready to join us, too? Learn more about Arq’s membership.