A hundred years ago, the founders of B’nai Israel Congregation set out to establish a hub for Jewish learning. Now, community members prepare to hold a year of celebrations in honor of their synagogue’s centennial.
B’nai Israel, originally named Congregation and Talmud Torah B’nai Israel, was founded for the purpose of educating Jews in the northern suburbs of Washington, D.C.
“People … didn’t want to have to drive too far for education, for religious school education, and so they founded this synagogue really in an effort to educate everybody,” said Rabbi Michael Safra, the head rabbi of B’nai Israel.
“One of the reasons that we exist is to educate children, which has expanded over the years, to educate adults, to educate families, to really find ways to use education to connect people to Jewish life. From the very beginning, our school was part of who we are.”
Now, B’nai Israel’s membership is at about 1,140 households. Associate Rabbi Mitchell Berkowitz noted, “B’nai Israel has actually grown steadily over the last five to seven years.” He estimates that there are about 20 new members each year.
With this growth, Berkowitz hopes that B’nai Israel’s centennial helps demonstrate to community members that celebrating is encouraged. “I think celebrating is, in and of itself, a goal. I think that [it is] often minimized.”
In fact, Berkowitz asked, “Why do you feel guilty?” Rather than minimizing celebration, he hopes that the centennial “brings people together … [because] that’s what we’re supposed to be doing.”
In preparation for their centennial, Safra said, “We spent a lot of years, about four years or so, kind of preparing ourselves, leading up, recognizing it’s not even just a once-in-a-generation event. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event for almost everybody.”
One event that will help members get in the spirit of celebration is B’nai Israel’s opening “Epic Shabbat” on Sept. 13.
Typically, the synagogue has a Shabbat morning service for people of all ages, divided up into age groups.
“But when we do an Epic Shabbat, it’s usually more than a service. There are other activities [and] there’s games,” said Berkowitz.
At this “Epic Shabbat” service, program leaders will be teaching young children about what it means to turn 100. Berkowitz explained that he wants children to understand why it “is such a big deal for us to be celebrating” and hopes to emphasize the meaning behind 100.
When referring to community participation, Berkowitz noted, “Everybody has sort of come along on the journey at some point, but they’re all a part of the fact that we’re turning 100.”
Along with “Epic Shabbat” events, B’nai Israel will be hosting a number of programs to celebrate their centennial with the first event kicking off on Sept. 1.
On Sept. 1, B’nai Israel will hold a Labor Day barbecue for the congregation. Following the barbecue, Berkowitz will bring a group of about 25 teenagers on a three-day trip to New York City.
“[We’re] going to different museums, mostly Jewish sites, exploring the Jewish history of New York,” Berkowitz said. “That’s something that the congregation used to do years ago, and for whatever reason, it fell away, and we’re bringing it back. … This is the time to bring it back.”
Berkowitz explained that he was looking forward to showing the teenagers what kind of life early Jewish immigrants built in New York for themselves.
This trip includes a night in Times Square and a Broadway show. Berkowitz said: “They’re going to do things that are iconic [to] New York.”
When speaking about the goal of this trip, Berkowitz noted that he was looking forward to members of the community building relationships with one another.
When returning from this trip, Berkowitz mentioned that he hopes to say, “I continued to expand upon relationships with those who were, and built more meaningful connections with the people who are in my community.”
About a month after B’nai Israel’s New York trip, they plan to host a Latkes and Lights celebration for Chanukah on Dec. 17.
Berkowitz made a note that celebrations will continue from January to June 2026.
“On March 19,” Berkowitz said, “we’re hoping to have a tour of the places where B’nai Israel has been because we weren’t always in this location in Rockville.”
B’nai Israel started in Northwest D.C. in 1925 and moved out of the modest house of its origins from a building on 14th and Emerson Streets in 1929. They then found themselves on Crittenden and 16th Streets, which today is the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church.
“In the late 1960s and in the early 1970s, many members of the congregation had moved away from Northwest D.C. for different reasons, and the congregation ended up really being faced with the choice that they were either going to have to move the congregation or they were going to probably have to close membership. … And so the decision was made to move out to Rockville, a property that was owned by the Godelsky family,” Safra said.
This March tour will celebrate all of the locations where B’nai Israel has been.
Berkowitz added, “We have a celebration on Apr. 4 that recognizes current and past volunteers of the congregation. People have dedicated their time, whether that’s serving on the board or serving on a committee, reading Torah, whatever it might be, ways that people have given back, celebrating all the people who have given.”
The final two programs of the year are scheduled for May and June, 2026. In May, there will be a congregational centennial congregation Shabbaton. The main event of the year, “the Centennial Simcha Celebration,” will take place on June 4. Safra clarified that this event will not be referred to as a “gala,” but rather as a “simcha celebration” to ensure the engagement of “as many people as possible” and to “make sure that they feel like they’re a part of this [celebration].”
“We really want all of these opportunities to be communal celebrations, and so we want to engage as many people as possible and make sure that they feel like they’re a part of this because the community wouldn’t be there without all the people, so we need them very intentionally, very sincerely,” Berkowitz said.
Amy Hollander is a Washington Jewish Week intern.
