Featured September 8 at 7:00 pm Israeli Author Maya Arad in Conversation with Lauren Strauss Celebrated Israeli author Dr. Maya Arad will introduce Happy New Years, the second of her books of fiction to be translated into English following The Hebrew Teacher, winner of a 2024 National Jewish Book Award. Happy New Years tells the story of an Israeli emigrant's life in the United States over five decades through her ...
Featured September 13 at 1:30 pm Women of Beth El Elul Shabbat Study Gather with Women of Beth El to reconnect and learn in preparation for the Days of Awe. We will study and have refreshments to celebrate Elul. Rabbi Megdal will present a talk, "Elul Is About Love," inspired by Rabbi Shai Held's new book, Judaism Is About Love. There is no cost to attend, but we ...
October 2 at 3:30 pm High Holiday Seminar: Overcoming Hatred in Scripture: Teshuvah in Action Congregation Beth El 8215 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD, United States How can sacred texts that once fueled division become sources of healing and respect? Join Rabbi Megdal and Dr. Heather Miller Rubens for a powerful conversation on the Jewish value of teshuvah—repentance, repair, and return—as a lens for reinterpreting difficult biblical passages. Together, they’ll explore how religious communities have begun the work of rereading scripture with ...
Featured October 5 at 1:00 pm Scolnic Kick-Off Lecture: Crisis in the Middle East with Thomas S. Warrick Congregation Beth El 8215 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD, United States Join Congregation Beth El and the Rabbi Samuel Scolnic Adult Institute as we kick off the Fall semester with special guest lecturer, congregant Thomas S. Warrick. Thomas S. Warrick is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs and Director of the Council’s Future of the Department of Homeland Security Project. He ...
Featured October 16 at 7:00 pm Book Chat: Your Presence is Mandatory by Sasha Vasilyuk Congregation Beth El 8215 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD, United States Join us for an in-person book discussion at Beth El of Sasha Vasilyuk's Your Presence is Mandatory, winner of the 2025 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and a California Book Award Gold Medal.
Featured October 19 at 10:00 am Hagbah Workshop: Learn to Lift the Torah Congregation Beth El 8215 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD, United States Are you interested in learning a new Jewish skill or brushing up on your technique? Lifting the Torah – known as hagbah – is a sacred honor that connects you physically and spiritually to the heart of Jewish tradition. This honor is open to anyone willing to learn, including post-b-mitzvah teens and adults of all ...
Featured October 23 at 7:00 pm Meet the Author: Sasha Vasilyuk Join us via Zoom for a talk with Sasha Vasilyuk, author of Your Presence is Mandatory, winner of the 2025 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and a California Book Award Gold Medal. Vasilyuk's gripping novel, which is based on her own family history, illuminates both the Soviet past and the present-day Russia-Ukraine war. You ...
Featured October 26 at 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm Chug Kriah Chug Kriah meets bi-weekly to read and discuss modern Israeli literature in Hebrew. We meet at Beth El and in private homes. Our next meeting will be via Zoom on October 26 at 2:00, when we will discuss Bayta (Home) by Assaf Inbari. For more information, including the Zoom link, please contact Bill Kanter at ...
Featured October 30 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm Voices from Kibbutz Re’im: Stories of Loss, Resilience, and Rebuilding Congregation Beth El 8215 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD, United States Join us at Congregation Beth El for a powerful evening of learning, remembrance, and connection. Hear from Zohar Livne Mizrahi (50), a social worker and secretary of Kibbutz Re’im, who was evacuated with her family to Eilat after October 7. Mizrahi will share her community’s story in a 60-minute Q&A panel covering what life at ...
Featured November 2 at 11:00 am Herzl & Friends: When Zionism Was New British author Rachel Cockerell's Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land has won enthusiastic acclaim for its innovative telling of the story of early Zionism, including the break-away group that settled Jews in the western United States through the Galveston Plan. Cockerell's look back at the past reveals that early 20th century concerns about ...
Featured November 8 at 12:30 pm Hagbah Workshop: Learn to Lift the Torah Congregation Beth El 8215 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD, United States Are you interested in learning a new Jewish skill or brushing up on your technique? Lifting the Torah – known as hagbah – is a sacred honor that connects you physically and spiritually to the heart of Jewish tradition. This honor is open to anyone willing to learn, including post-b-mitzvah teens and adults of all ...
Featured November 9 at 2:00 pm Tour of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History National Museum of American Jewish Military History 1811 R Street NW, Washington, DC, United States Join us to commemorate Veterans Day with a 90-minute private tour of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History (1811 R Street NW, Washington, DC). Admission is free but ...
Featured November 9 at 2:00 pm Chug Kriah Chug Kriah meets bi-weekly to read and discuss modern Israeli literature in Hebrew. Our next meeting will be on Zoom on November 9 at 2:00 pm at a member's home. We are reading Im Yesh Gan Eden (Beaufort) by Ron Leshem. For more information, including the meeting location, please contact Bill Kanter at kanterdsw@aol.com.
Featured December 7 at 7:00 pm Chug Kriah Chug Kriah meets bi-weekly to read and discuss modern Israeli literature in Hebrew. Our next meeting will be on Zoom on December 7 at 7:00 pm. We are reading Im Yesh Gan Eden (Beaufort) by Ron Leshem. For more information, including the Zoom link, please contact Bill Kanter at kanterdsw@aol.com.
Featured January 10, 2026 at 12:30 pm Scholar in Residence Scholar in Residence Weekend: Shabbat Discussion with Masua Sagiv Join us after services on Saturday, January 10, at 12:30 pm for a Shabbat Discussion with our Scholar in Residence guest speaker, Dr. Masua Sagiv. She will speak on "Is Everything Going to Change? Israel After the Ceasefire." Dr. Masua Sagiv is a Senior Faculty member of the Shalom Hartman Institute based in the San ...
Featured January 11, 2026 at 11:00 am American Maccabee: Theodore Roosevelt and the Jews Congregation Beth El 8215 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD, United States A wealthy, Protestant, powerful member of the American elite, Teddy Roosevelt was an unlikely friend to struggling Jewish immigrants. Yet across the span of his public career, Roosevelt was closely involved with Jewish issues, both domestic and foreign. Many of the quandaries Roosevelt grappled with more than a century ago feel newly relevant and urgent – ...
Featured February 5, 2026 at 7:00 pm The Art Spy: A Conversation with Author Michelle Young In The Art Spy, Michelle Young tells the thrilling, true story of Rose Valland, a World War II French resistance hero. When the Germans occupied Paris in 1940, they made the Jeu de Paume museum their headquarters for processing the art they plundered in France, mostly from Jews. The Germans allowed Valland, a museum employee, ...
