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. Yet again we have a double portion which results in the 32nd and 33rd parshiot down, 21 more to go! These are also the last two parshiot in Leviticus! Behar introduces the …
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. 31 parshiot down, 23 more to go! Parshat Emor details the rules surrounding priestly conduct, including restrictions on mourning, marriage, and who may consume sacrificial offerings. It also specifies the physical conditions …
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. Once again we have a double portion which results in the 29th and 30th parshiot down, 24 more to go! Acharei Mot opens after the death of Aaron’s two sons who died …
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. We have reached the halfway point. This week’s double portion includes that 27th and 28th parshiot down, 26 more to go! The focus of these two portions is how diseases that affect …
As the 39th World Jewish Congress Election continues, with voting open until May 4, we asked Mercaz representative Tammy Gottlieb, vice chair of Women of the Wall and member of the World Zionist Organization Executive, about some issues at stake at this pivotal time for the State of Israel. Mercaz USA (Slate 17) represents the …
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. 26 parshiot down, 28 more to go! The name of the parsha, Shemini, means eighth and refers to the eighth day at the end of the ordination ceremony, when Aaron and his …
For millions around the globe, the face of Anne Frank – bright, sensitive, and all-too-young – is instantly recognizable. For many, she represents the six million Jews, including 1.5 million children, murdered in the Shoah. But for many others, she has become a generic symbol of innocent suffering, invoked for a dizzying array of causes. …
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. 25 parshiot down, 29 more to go! Tzav gives greater detail to the five sacrifices that were mentioned in last week’s portion, Vayikra. It continues to describe the contents of what is …
At the first World Zionist Congress in November 1897, Theodor Herzl proclaimed his vision for the reestablishment of the State of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people. Fifty years later, on November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to partition the mandate of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, paving …
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. 24 parshiot down, 30 more to go! Full steam ahead into the third book of the Torah! In Vayikra (“He Called”), the first portion of Leviticus, God elaborates to Moses the various …
By Rabbi Deborah Megdal. If you ask our youngest Religious School students “Why do we celebrate Passover?” they might start by singing the refrain: “frogs here, frogs there, frogs are jumping everywhere!” — a popular children’s song about Pharaoh and the apparently hilarious second plague. But I assure you that if you nudge them to …
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. 23 parshiot down, 31 more to go! Pekudei is the final parsha that deals with building the Mishkan – it also happens to be the final parsha in Exodus, the second book …
David Speer recently spoke to Beth El members at an event hosted by Beth El’s Men’s Club and sponsored by the Am Yisrael Chai committee to share insights on the work of the Maryland/Israel Development Center, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote business and research between Maryland and Israel. From AI innovations in …
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. 22 parshiot down, 32 more to go! Vayakhel (“He Assembled”) opens with Moses reminding the Israelites that they may work for six days, but the seventh day – Shabbat – is a …
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 of knowledge to our discussions, while Alison, who loves creating dishes that bring people together, are excited to explore the weekly portions in greater …
By Robin Jacobson. Perched majestically on a rocky hilltop, the Abbey of Montecassino has kept vigil over Italy’s Liri Valley for nearly two thousand years. During the Second World War, the grand monastery housed incomparable treasures of Western civilization – art, music, rare books, medieval manuscripts, and ancient gold coins. This is the bewitching setting …
After Sasha Vasilyuk’s grandfather died in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2007, her grandmother made a shocking discovery. In an old briefcase stashed under a bed, she found a confession letter her husband had written for the Soviet KGB in the 1980s. The letter upended everything she thought she knew about her husband’s military service during World …
By Aryeh Portnoy. The terror attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023 that resulted in the murder of roughly 1,200 people, the kidnapping of more than 250, and the destruction of entire communities across its southern border, has seared into the minds of the Jewish community images of depravity and devastation, of innocent victims and …
By Sara Gordon. Hello, Beth El! I am excited to share highlights regarding the work your Board is busy doing as well as some of the new initiatives we are launching. At our February Board meeting, the Board participated in a training conducted by Gather DC on relational engagement. Also participating were members of Team …
By Rabbi Greg Harris. I often use the words “bravery” and “courage” interchangeably. Recently, I have been thinking about the differences between these attributes. I read someplace that bravery is more spontaneous and involves setting fear aside. Courage is about having fear, being mindful of the risks, and making the conscious decision to do something …
By Salo Zelermyer. As part of our partnership with Kibbutz Nir Oz – the special community shattered by the terrorist attacks on October 7 – for the 9 Shabbatot leading up to Yom Kippur, our Beth El community prayed for the release of the remaining hostages from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Each Shabbat, we learned more …
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 of knowledge to our discussions, while Alison, who loves creating dishes that bring people together, is excited to explore the weekly portions in greater …
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 served as a chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion department at CESJDS and does lots of displays in her current job at Rockville Memorial …
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 7, 2023, between the two sides. But it is hardly the first outbreak of bloodshed, nor will it likely be the last. Israel previously conducted …
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 of knowledge to our discussions, while Alison, who loves creating dishes that bring people together, are excited to explore the weekly portions in greater depth. …
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 of England and the United States clamored to have him paint their portraits. Yet the largest commission Sargent ever undertook for a private patron was …
Parshat Miketz – 10 parshiot down, only 44 more to go! Miketz begins as Pharaoh is troubled by two disturbing dreams. His own magicians are unable to interpret them, but the cupbearer (remember from the last parsha?) recalls Joseph’s skill with dreams. Joseph correctly foretells that Egypt is due to see 7 years of plenty …
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 day. Award-winning authors Steve Sheinkin and Ruty Sepetys say that they looked at each other, and “the idea was sparked” for what would become The Bletchley …
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 Joseph and his “ornamented tunic” – otherwise known as the “amazing technicolor dreamcoat”! Joseph recounts dreams of his brothers bowing down to him, which only …
Parshat Vayishlach – 8 parshiot down, only 46 more to go! Vayishlach opens as Jacob prepares to return to his homeland and reunite with his brother Esau. Anxious about their encounter, Jacob separates his family and flocks into two groups, hoping that if one is attacked the other might survive. He sends his servants ahead …
Parshat Vayeitzei – 7 parshiot down, only 47 more to go! Vayeitzei begins as Jacob leaves Beer-Sheba, fleeing from his brother Esau. He stops for the night and when he sleeps, he dreams. He dreams of angels ascending and descending a stairway/ladder reaching to heaven. God promises to protect him and reaffirms God’s covenant with …
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