Synagogue Spotlight

Weekly feature on what’s happening at a different synagogue around the DMV.

Science Will Meet Judaism at Kol Ami

Kol Ami — The Northern Virginia Reconstructionist Community is combining science and spirituality in its upcoming four-part series “Science Meets Judaism: Exploring the Connections.”...

New Washington Hebrew Congregation Rabbi Wants to Bring People Together

Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin brings a wealth of knowledge about social justice and community advocacy in the Jewish community to her new position as an...

Rav Amelia Wolf Takes Up the Family Business at Congregation Etz Hayim

The daughter of a rabbi, Rav Amelia Wolf did not expect to follow in her father’s footsteps. “I don’t know if you’ve spoken to many...

Synagogue Veteran Kiewe Moves To Shaare Tefila

More than a decade ago, Rabbi Jonah Layman was planning his daughter’s bat mitzvah. But Shaare Tefila Congregation, the synagogue in Olney that he...

Bethesda Jewish Congregation Raising Spiritual Awareness

On July 8, Bethesda Jewish Congregation’s former rebbetzin, Yaffah Schnitzer, the wife of rabbi emeritus Elhanan “Sunny” Schnitzer, will return to the synagogue to...

Congregation B’nai Tzedek commissions Torah scroll

Having a Torah scroll written for his congregation has been a dream of Stuart Weinblatt, the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac. With...

Chabad of Bethesda continues to grow

Chabad of Bethesda is undergoing a $2.5 million expansion, which includes the purchase of an adjacent property on Goldsboro Road and transforming the residential...

Kehilat Pardes Celebrates the End of School With Israel Bonds

About 80 congregants of Kehilat Pardes in Rockville attended an end of the school year breakfast party on June 4. Israel Bonds co-sponsored the...

At Beth El Hebrew Congregation, Rabbi Spinrad Pitches Hobbies

Rabbi David Spinrad had a realization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between his responsibilities to his family and to his synagogue, Beth El Hebrew Congregation...

Kehilat Shalom Celebrates ‘50-Plus-Two’

Before Kehilat Shalom opened in 1971, Gaithersburg was still, as its Wikipedia pages describes it, “a rural farm town.” But after a period of...