Associate Editor

This is like kiddush, except that it's not on Shabbos," Dave Weinberg said proudly last week as he surveyed the room.

Arrayed before him were about 80 name-tagged individuals (most, if not all, of them Jews) who were schmoozing, kibbitzing and business-card swapping -- networking, that is, but without single-malt scotch.

The event, known as Parnasafest DC, was an overtly Jewish response to the crashing economy, an informal, grassroots venue -- as opposed to, say, a high-pressure job fair -- for employment-seekers and those who might be able to help them.

"It's like, 'get your schmooze on,' " explained Weinberg, a 27-year-old from Silver Spring, who conceived the get-together, the second such gathering nationally. "The idea is for everyone to tap into the power of the Jewish community and to give a social networking feel to it."

The networking took place a week ago Thursday over snacks and soft drinks at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman International Center of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life in the District, the event's hosting organization. It was sponsored by the Washington office of United Jewish Communities.

"I've been unemployed before," said Weinberg, a marketing and social media strategist, not to mention the executive editor and founder of Jewneric, a Jewish blog. "You can be depressed or you can be busy and positive. One of the best ways to find a job is to be positive. It lifts your spirits."

With the help of a few friends, Weinberg pulled together Parnasafest (parnasa is Hebrew for livelihood) in a flash in early February immediately after learning that Yeshiva University in New York laid off more than 100 people, including several of Weinberg's friends.

The first Parnasafest was held in New York (about 60 attended), and 17 are now planned for locations around the world.

In keeping with the easygoing tone of the evening, Weinberg asked the D.C. participants to engage in some "instant social tagging," a Twitter-generation term that meant, in this case, identifying yourself by name and providing a little information on your background and the type of work desired.

Participants included those who had been laid off, those who were preparing for a layoff (or were hedging their bets for other reasons) and those aiming to help the seekers establish employment connections.

In terms of occupations, the group included a rabbi, several attorneys, ex-staffers at Jewish agencies, technical writers, a man with a long career in the retail field, educators, a software consultant and a lobbyist or two.

Brandon Corbett, a 28-year-old Arlington resident ("Don't be fooled by the Irish name," he said), is a staff associate with the Kellen Company, a Disrict-based association management firm, which has laid off several people. Corbett was at Parnasafest to prepare for a highly uncertain future.

"I'm looking for something with a nonprofit agency," he said. "It agrees with my sensibilities. As corny and cliche as it sounds, I do believe in tikkun olam, in benefiting the world somehow."

District resident Alana Kuhn, 24, was kibbitzing with her former colleague David Manchester, 23. Both had been laid off from the Washington Action Office of Hadassah, the organization's public policy and government relations arm. They were looking for something on Capitol Hill. "No bites yet, but people have been very helpful," said Kuhn.

Another attendee was Rabbi David Rose, 52, of Conservative Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, who will be leaving the shul June 30 when his contract expires. During the social tagging session, he said he was looking for work involving the skills he had developed as a pulpit rabbi. He did not elaborate.

Also on hand was Silver Spring resident Michael Belgrade, 34, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "I'm there to help the others," he said. "I will try to make a shidduch [a match]. I'm encouraged; there's a lot of talent here."

But it's not always easy to match talent with a specific job, he pointed out. Belgrade said he intends to help seekers deftly link the two, thereby boosting their employability. "The idea," he said, "is to marry skills with savvy."