Friday, May 2, 2008
Yom HaShoah, Memorial for Ron Leve
This month, Beth Chai’s Shabbat service fell precisely on Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day – which is marked on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan. The evening also coincided with the congregation’s memorial for Ron Leve, one of Beth Chai’s most active and popular members, whose recent death, both unexpected and untimely, deeply affected his many friends in our area. Our Shabbat service incorporated our acknowledgment of Yom HaShoah; the rest of the evening was devoted to honoring Ron, whose impact on the life of the congregation has been so great and whose presence will be so sorely missed.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Greater Washington’s Jewish Community:
A Portrait from 1795 Through the Present
We’ve looked extensively at the history and culture of Jews who have lived far and wide throughout the world, and in many different eras – but we have somewhat overlooked those who live, and have lived, in our own backyard. Helping us make up for that on this evening was Laura Apelbaum, executive director of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington. Laura presented a slide show tracing the history of the Jewish community in our area from the arrival of the first Jewish Washingtonian in 1795 to today, when the region’s Jewish community has grown to more than 215,000 people.
Friday, March 7, 2008.
The Material Culture of Ancient Israel: Visualizing the Scene at the Tabernacle
Beth Chai’s education director and resident rabbinical student, Rain Zohav, conducted a visual and literary tour of Israel’s first sanctuary as she took up the Torah portion for the week, which described the building of the Tabernacle (Mishkan) and the sacred attire of the priests.
Friday, January 11, 2008
When Moses Met Pharaoh – Negotiation, Torah-Style
Rabbi Blecher led an exploration of one of the most fascinating passages in the Torah, the famous “Let my people go” confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh. Forever written into the memory of popular American culture as a duel between Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, this ancient Hebrew story combines elements of sorcery, national destiny, and classical Jewish theology. This Torah portion of the week also touches on some acute current questions about national leadership and the uses of physical force in achieving societal goals.
Friday, December 14, 2007
The Black-Jewish Dialogue: A New, Practical Chapter Flourishes in DC
Operation Understanding DC aims to mold high school juniors who “self-identify as either Black or Jewish (or both)” into “community leaders who promote respect, understanding, and cooperation while working to eradicate racism, anti-Semitism, and all forms of discrimination.” Speakers from among the 300 who have graduated since the program’s inception in 1993 filled us in on its design and impact, recounting some of their personal experiences.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Early Marriage, Viewed In Torah and Midrash
This month’s Shabbat program offered a traditional view of a subject whose modern manifestations have been the focus of recent Adult Ed sessions: marriage. Led by Rabbi Art Blecher, we looked at the story of the union of Isaac and Rebecca through both its description in the Torah and its discussion in a Midrash or two.
Friday, October 5, 2007
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice.
Since an accomplished song leader, Andrea Foster, will be with us on Shabbat evenings through the entire year, it seemed smart to devote some time and attention at the very outset to polishing up a few old, familiar songs under her guidance and, perhaps, to taking on some new ones. This Shabbat’s program, therefore, was in Andrea’s hands: She stayed on after the service to work with us in an effort to get our enthusiastic yet melodically challenged members singing comfortably and competently enough to take real advantage of what she will have to offer us on a year’s worth of Friday nights. This was a program for young and old, flat and sharp, soprano, alto, baritone, and bass alike.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Service with Music and Art, Then Time to Get Acquainted or to Catch Up
Making the fall’s first Shabbat a largely social occasion has been a crowd-pleaser two years in a row, so we went for a three-peat but added a couple of frills:
But as before, much of the evening was given over to catching up with friends, welcoming newcomers, chatting at long last with somebody one’s never quite managed to get to know – and all in the gentle and relaxed ambience of Shabbat. This allowed families with young children to stay longer than usual, fostering acquaintanceships at all age levels. It enabled prospective members to meet Rabbi Blecher, Education Director Rain Zohav, and others, and to learn about Beth Chai.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Churchill: The Zionist Who Set Iraq’s Borders
As Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Winston Churchill sat down at a conference table and drew the map of modern Iraq, aiming to create an easy-to-administer property for the British Empire. But this was hardly the end of the mutual influences of Churchill and the Middle East. The great statesman’s strong support for a Jewish homeland – “I am, of course, a Zionist,” he once proclaimed – helped shape his views on confronting the Nazi menace in Europe as well as on Jewish immigration to Palestine. Guiding us through this aspect of Churchill’s unparalleled career will be Beth Chai member Bob Rosenblatt, who is a member of the executive board of the Washington Society for Churchill and has taught courses on Churchill’s life for the Learning in Retirement Institute at George Mason University.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Holocaust Remembrance Day: Re-examining What We ‘Know’
A wealth of records kept under lock and key for six decades in Bad Arolsen, Germany, may become accessible within the next 12 months, shedding new light on the Holocaust. A great deal of information is already available, however – and yet, some of what passes for knowledge of the Nazi persecutions and the circumstances surrounding them is incomplete, misleading, or just plain inaccurate.
On the occasion of Beth Chai and River Road Unitarian Church’s annual observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day – Yom HaShoah, which falls this year on April 15 – we will take a careful look at the validity of some widely held assumptions regarding the events and their background, and at some familiar images that emblematize them. We will also attempt to assess the degree to which popular commemorations of the Holocaust reflect the traditional Jewish value of remembering. Rabbi Art Blecher will be joined by Beth Chai member Ken Jacobson, author of a book on Holocaust history, in offering some suggestions for discussion.
Friday, March 23, 2007
A Bagel Tasting: Which is the “Real Mechaiah”?
“Where do bagels come from?” If your child has asked you, and you’ve found yourself at a loss for words, attending Beth Chai’s March Shabbat program will improve your response to this delicate yet inevitable question. Most of us know what bagels aren’t – those hockey pucks in the supermarket’s freezer case, for one – but where do you find the archetype? Is there a source in the DC area? Does New York’s vaunted H&H set the standard? How about bagels made in the Vermont woods by a Montreal refugee? (We kid you not!)? Come taste, learn. . .and enjoy.
The service preceding this program will be enlivened by the presence of song leader Andrea Foster, a trained cantor active in Jewish education in the Washington area, who will guide our, at times, tonally challenged assembly through the musical parts of the liturgy.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Lithuania’s Wooden Synagogues: An Artist’s Perspective
Fabulous wooden synagogues, constructed between the 17th and the early 20th century once dotted Europe’s landscape. Today only 23 remain, eight of them in Lithuania. Beth Chai member Joyce Ellen Weinstein, an artist and author, has traveled to remote Lithuanian villages to visit these structures and will share the fruits of her research: photographs of them, original artworks inspired by them, historical documents, and memories imparted by those still living near them.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Timeless Lessons for Recurring Crises
The teachings of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah on empire, ethics, and political violence are as relevant now as they were in ancient days. Richard Rubenstein, author of the newly published Thus Saith the Lord: The Revolutionary Moral Vision of Isaiah and Jeremiah, will discuss the prophets’ new vision of human potential and social organization – their response to living in a world dominated by war-loving great powers. While sketching his book’s re-creation of Isaiah and Jeremiah as personalities and as thinkers rooted in their times, he will highlight the links between the crises they faced and those confronting us today.
Rubenstein is Professor of Conflict Resolution and Public Affairs at George Mson University.
Friday, December 8, 2006
Shabbat Service – The Shtetl in Cyberspace: A Guide to Using Jewish Resources Online
Want to trace the history of your family in the Old World? Learn what distinguishes a Chasid from a Misnagid? See what Jewish groups are doing to fight poverty at home and abroad? Find the first night of Passover for every year between 2007 and 2020 – or, rather, 5768 and 5781? Nowadays, you just have to boot up your computer and you’ll be able to access everything from the complete text of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia to the information banks and newsletters of Jewish religious sects and social service agencies great and small. “There’s been a migration of Jewish life to the Internet,” says Rabbi Art Blecher, who will join another experienced cybertraveler, Beth Chai member Byron Hulcher, to present a tour of the resources available and provide tips on navigating the online Jewish world.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Jewish Social Institutions in the Time of Abraham
Led by Rabbi Art Blecher, we’ll be looking at the week’s Torah portion, which describes two fascinating Middle Eastern practices that are no longer part of Jewish culture in quite the same way: the bargaining ritual for setting prices on real estate and the customs surrounding the acquisition of a wife. Any of those wishing to prepare for this presentation are encouraged to read Chapters 23 & 24 of Genesis.
Friday, October 27, 2006
What Makes Klezmer Klezmer?
What distinguishes klezmer as a musical form? And what about klezmer is distinctly Jewish? Tackling those questions with the help of one or more of the instruments he plays will be Seth Kibel, who played clarinet in leading the Alexandria Kleztet at Beth Chai’s Purim party earlier this year. Seth will provide a brief history of this music from its origins in the Jewish shtetls of Eastern Europe to its heyday in the immigrant community of New York City and on to its current status as part of the broader American musical landscape. Besides live performance, excerpts from various recordings will highlight points of the talk.
Friday, September 15, 2007
Shabbat Service & Schmoozing
Making the fall’s first Shabbat a purely social occasion seemed a crowd-pleaser last September, so for the second straight year we’re giving the program portion of our Shabbat evening an extra month of vacation. As before, this occasion will be given over to catching up with friends after the summer break, welcoming newcomers, chatting at long last with somebody one has never quite managed to get to know – and all in the gentle and relaxed ambience of Shabbat. We will provide refreshments after our customary Shabbat service ends at around 8:30 PM and leave the rest of the evening open for conversation and fellowship.