The Road in Front of the Synagogue is temporarily closed.
To access the synagogue,
If traveling down Fairmont from Picadilly, carefully shift to the left lane (local traffic) and proceed as usual.
If traveling toward Picadilly,
Our Relay for Life team
Community Seder - April 13, RSVP by April 7
D’var Torah – November 28
This Word of the Week is lovingly dedicated to the memory of U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, of Summersville, West Virginia and a proud member of the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade, West Virginia Army National Guard (Glen Jean, WV). She made the ultimate sacrifice protecting our nation’s capital and all of us. May her memory be for an enduring blessing and may the Holy One Blessed Be He send comfort to her family, unit, and community following this horrific murder and unspeakable tragedy. This reflection is also dedicated to Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, of Martinsburg, West Virginia and a proud member of the Force Support Squadron, 167th Airlift Wing, West Virginia Air National Guard (Martinsburg, WV). He was severely wounded alongside SPC Beckstrom. Let us all join together in praying for his full and speedy recovery. Shabbat Shalom. I pray this finds you […]
D’var Torah – November 21
In this week’s parsha of Toldot (Genesis 25:19-28:9), we are told that Rebecca was not able to conceive until Isaac pleaded with God on their behalf (25:10). Rebecca is far from the only woman in Tanakh who has a difficult time getting pregnant. Her mother-in-law Sarah, her daughter-in-law Rachel, and Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, all suffer from not being able to conceive, causing them each great sadness and anguish. However, with God’s help and intervention, they all eventually bear children who will become leading figures in the history of the Jewish people. We are commanded more than once (Genesis 1:28 and 9:7) to “be fruitful and multiply,” but is this contained only to bearing children? Bringing Torah into the modern era means acknowledging that it is not always the case that those who want to have children are able. In addition, there are those who choose not […]
D’var Torah – Nov 14
World War I was beyond horrific. Millions of soldiers were killed in the trenches due to everything from poison gas to machine gun fire, sniping, devastating artillery barrages, aerial bombardment, and disease. Millions more were forever scarred physically, mentally, and spiritually from the horrors of that terrible conflict. Of these, many young men quite literally had their faces ripped off by bullets and shrapnel. The British alone suffered 60,500 such injuries [1]. Plastic surgery at this time was nascent and overwhelmed by the sheer number of casualties [2]. Many of these soldiers had left home as young men, teenagers in fact. Now, when they looked in the mirror, they were frightened and ashamed of what they saw in their reflection. They felt, with good reason unfortunately, that they would be shunned and cast out for their horrific disfigurements. Tragically, many did withdrew from society and mournfully there were suicides. The […]
D’var Torah – November 7
Shabbat Shalom! I hope this finds you all well. There’s a Facebook meme that I have often seen posted this time of year. It goes something like this: “If you eat today, thank a farmer. If it’s on your table, thank a trucker. If you eat in peace, thank a veteran.” For Americans, there is a lot to celebrate and to be grateful for in the month of November. In it we hold elections, honor our veterans, and celebrate the fall harvest and beginning of the holiday season. But behind each of these blessings and gifts is someone who sacrificed enormously to make them possible for the rest of us. In this week’s parsha of Vayeira (Genesis 18:1-22:24), we read of God commanding Abraham to offer up his son Isaac as a burnt offering. The text makes it seem that Isaac is oblivious to the fact that he is to […]
