Author: Congregation Beth El

Celebrating Inclusion

February 7, 2025

By Hazzan Asa Fradkin. Here in Montgomery County, we are accustomed to acceptance, respect, and ­– most importantly – inclusion. We breathe it like the air around us. My wife …

Israel and Gaza: No End in Sight

February 7, 2025

By Eric Gartman.  The tenuous hostage-exchange and ceasefire deal in place between Israel and Hamas marks a pause in the longest and bloodiest eruption of violence that began on October …

Food Torah – Beshalach

February 5, 2025

Because life so often happens around food, we’re spending the year exploring the weekly parshiot and finding connections to each week’s Shabbat menu.  Sarah, a seasoned Jewish educator, brings a …

Food Tourah – Vaera

January 23, 2025

Because life so often happens around food, we’re spending the year exploring the weekly parshiot and finding connections to each week’s Shabbat menu.  Sarah,a seasoned Jewish educator, brings a wealth …

Portrait of an Artist and his Jewish Patrons: John Singer Sargent and the Wertheimers

January 21, 2025

By Robin Jacobson.  As a celebrated portrait artist, John Singer Sargent had his choice of commissions at the turn of the twentieth century. The most aristocratic, glamorous, “high society” figures …

Food Tourah – Shemot

January 14, 2025

Because life so often happens around food, we’re spending the year exploring the weekly parshiot and finding connections to each week’s Shabbat menu. Sarah, a seasoned Jewish educator, brings a …

Food Tourah – Vayechi

January 7, 2025

Because life so often happens around food, we’re spending the year exploring the weekly parshiot and finding connections to each week’s Shabbat menu.  Sarah, a seasoned Jewish educator, brings a …

Food Tourah – Miketz

December 23, 2024

Because life so often happens around food, we’re spending the year exploring the weekly parshiot and finding connections to each week’s Shabbat menu.  Sarah, a seasoned Jewish educator, brings a …

Cracking Codes and other Capers

December 18, 2024

By Robin Jacobson.  At a book event in 2019, a librarian posed a fateful question.  She asked the assembled authors whether they might like to collaborate with another writer one …

Food Tourah – Vayeshev

December 16, 2024

Parshat Vayeshev – 9 parshiot down, only 45 more to go! This week’s parsha, Vayeshev, focuses on the story of Jacob’s favored son, Joseph. We all know the story of …