Dr. Cohen sets the stage by explaining his somewhat unusual attraction to the scientific study of spiritual faith.

I've long been interested in how religion might promote good life outcomes for people.

Things like physical health, mental health, good community support and integration.

In psychology, religion has not really been taken that seriously at all.

And that was the key to making One Table uniquely suited to partner in the Shabbat dinner project, says Dr. Cohen.

A real strength of this project is this is really taking seriously the idea that a spiritual exercise like a Friday night dinner could have a positive effect, for example, on people's loneliness and feelings of connection.

But from an experimental point of view, it's breaking apart this practice into its possible active ingredients.

You know, we're asking, is food necessary or is a group of people getting together with a shared purpose? Is that enough? Is a bunch of people eating together, is that enough? Or do you need a sacred purpose? Does this need to be at a sacred time, for example, Friday night? Or is any time a bunch of people getting together with a shared purpose and sharing food, is that enough? And by doing all possible combinations, we're trying to figure out which of these ingredients you need, either singly or together, in order to increase social connection.