Jewish Life

Volunteer with the Capital Area Food Bank

Support the Capital Area Food Bank’s efforts to provide equitable access to food and opportunity to people struggling with hunger and food insecurity in our area.

Open Space: Israel

Rabbi Nora facilitates an open space to process and reflect, ask questions, and express the wide spectrum of emotions you may be feeling. 

Jewish Ethics: Freeing Captives 

On Saturday, October 7, Hamas terrorists, in addition to murdering over 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped over 160 hostages. While this hostage situation is unparalleled in its magnitude and brutality, this is sadly not the first time Jews have been forced to deal with the painful challenge of freeing captives. How far must we go to redeem captives? How far are we allowed to go? How do we balance the needs of the individual captives with the needs of the broader society? Explore with Rabbi Aaron the ways our ancient rabbis addressed these complicated questions. 

Open Space: Israel

Rabbi Aaron facilitates an open space to process and reflect, ask questions, and express the wide spectrum of emotions you may be feeling.

Friday Night Services + Dinner

with Rabbi Nora

This inclusive service led by Rabbi Nora and musicians Aaron Shneyer, Sarah Fredrick, and Jeff Geld blends contemporary and traditional elements for an experience that feels both familiar and fresh.

Modern-Day Antisemitism 

What are we talking about when we talk about antisemitism? Discussing this topic can feel fraught and overwhelming, opening up big questions related to Jewish identity, history, and discrimination in the past and the present. With Rabbi Nora, discuss definitions and manifestations of antisemitism and explore how responses, and lack of responses, to the attack on Israel and the ensuing war connect to antisemitism. 

The Intersections of Israel and Judaism

More than 50% of the world’s Jews live outside of Israel, and 20% of Israeli citizens are not Jewish. Yet Israel and Judaism are deeply connected, in confusing and complicated ways. Together with Rabbi Aaron, explore Israel’s role in ancient Jewish history and in our 2000-year-long diasporic imagination and discuss why decoupling Israel and Judaism is so hard.

Listen Up: A Mindful Communication Series

Mindfulness teacher Alison Cohen leads a series designed to help build stronger relationships by developing more compassionate communication skills.

Friday Night Services

with Rabbi Aaron

This inclusive service led by Rabbi Aaron and Sixth & I’s musicians blends contemporary and traditional elements for an experience that feels both familiar and fresh.

Diaspora and Jewish Peoplehood

How do Jews relate to the notion of peoplehood both historically and today? This class explores relating and connecting to Jews throughout the world through the lens of the experience of Jews living in the diaspora (outside the land of Israel). With Rabbi Nora, discuss what it means to be linked to a people through time and space, especially in a time of crisis.