Mazel Tov to Brody McCright and Nathan Darby who, on separate occasions, lead our family service at Sunday School and did a great job! This is no small accomplishment. Both Nathan and Brody are more than a year away from their Bar Mitzvahs and both are able to stand before the congregation and lead us in prayer.
Summer will be here before you know it and I encourage all families to consider a Jewish Summer Camp experience for their children. There are $1,000 scholarships for first time campers available at www.onehappycamper.org We are a small Jewish community and it’s important for our children to connect with the broader Jewish community. Being surrounded by hundreds of other Jewish children can be a life changing experience and an opportunity to make lifelong friendships with Jewish peers across the country.

Religious School is held Sundays at 9am. There is a family service, open to the congregation, which lasts from 9-10am and then 2 class sessions which cover prayer based Hebrew and Jewish Studies. New students are welcome any time throughout the year.

Shalom,
Jasha Levenson
Religious School Principal
shaareshalom@gmail.com, 301-645-4606

The National Museum of American Jewish Military History in Washington, DC will be hosting two events, Sunday, May 20 and Sunday, June 3, entitled “Family Stories.” Our “Family Stories” series will provide participants a great opportunity to come in and discuss a special family member or person in their life through any artistic mean they choose.

Feel free to forward the information below to anyone interested or post it on a bulletin board at your organization. If you wish to participate or have further questions, please contact Brian Ahern, Museum Programs Intern, or Mary Westley, Assistant Administrator/ Programs Coordinator. Contact Brian at
bahern@jwv.org, 202-265-6280, ext. 513. Mary is at 202-265 6280, ext511 or mwestley@nmajmh.org.
We look forward to hearing from you.

In May we will have our Annual Membership Meeting and the positions of President, Secretary and Financial Secretary need to be filled. The positions are listed below and if you would like to run for one of these positions, please contact (more…)

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Pamela Green, Michele Uhler and to Jasha Levenson for theTu B’Shevat Seder on February 12th. It was a wonderful event and great company by all. Please show your support by coming to all the events and have a great time with your Sha’are Shalom Family.

The Tu B’Shevat Seder also brought my attention to something and I want to share with you. (more…)

The Talmudic Sages said we should celebrate Purim with a public reading of the Megillah, by giving gifts of food to friends, having a festive meal and, by giving charity to the poor. The Purim Basket began as a way to ensure that each person had food for the festive meal. It has developed into a tradition of sending baskets to friends and relatives as a sign of friendship. (more…)

כדור
Now that the aviv (Spring – see last November’s Word of the Month) season is coming, we’re getting ready to spend more time outdoors. When playing outside, we’ll need a ball, or ka-door. Here are the names of some ball games that we play outside in the springtime:
ball – ka-dur
baseball – ka-dur ba-siys (ba-siys is a base) (more…)

The Religious School is thrilled to welcome Grace (Chana) Millis and her family! Grace is a great addition to our 3rd-4th grade class. Grace had a spark from within that she wanted to study Judaism when she grew up and her zeyde Rick Millis told her there’s no need to wait! She’s a great student and we look forward to teaching and learning with her in the years to come.

It’s never to early to start planning fun for next summer. I encourage all our religious school parents to consider sending our students to one of the URJ summer camps in our area. For many of us who attended Jewish summer camps as children, camp was the stand-out Jewish experience that taught us songs, built life-long friendships, and made us realize how fun being Jewish can be! For more information on URJ camps in our area visit www.urjcamps.org.

Sha’are Shalom Religious School is held Sundays at 9 am. There is a family service, open to the congregation, which lasts from 9-10am and then 2 class sessions which cover prayer based Hebrew and Jewish Studies. Classes are available for students grades K-7. New students are welcome any time throughout the year.

Shalom,
Jasha Levenson
Religious School Principal
shaareshalom@gmail.com, 301-645-4606

A memorial plaque in memory of Alice Lebowitz who passed away on Dec 21 will soon be installed on our Memorial Board. We want to thank Alvin & Ellen Cohen, Paul & Elaine McVinney, and Lee & Madelene Weinberger for their generosity in purchasing this plaque in her memory.

Well January has left us without too much snow or ice. Not like my sister-in-law Sandy Petty in Olympia, WA who had 14½ inches of snow and then the ice came and then the rain. Let’s hope we don’t have that on this side of the coast.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to the Outreach Committee again for doing a great job on the Educational Shabbat Dinner. If you miss this great dinner you really miss some educational things about Shabbat. Please show your support by coming to all the events and have a great time with your Sha’are Shalom Family.

There is a Committee Chair that needs to be filled and that is Fundraiser. We need to have fundraiser events so we can keep our dues down and to be able to buy items like The Tree of Life and a new Yahrzeit Board. So if you have ideas and would like to head this committee please let me know ASAP.

If you have not sponsored an oneg and would like to, try Mitzvah Catering they do a great job. The cost for Friday night is $25.00 and Saturday Oneg is bigger and it cost $36.00. Just think Mitzvah Catering does all the work for you, which is great. Email Elaine McVinney at elaine.mcvinney@gmail.com for a date.

(more…)

Please Help Make The 2012 Congregation Directory A Big Success!
We are beginning to update and publish the annual Congregational Directory. Our Directory is not only a very useful address book that most of us keep by the phone but is also a major fund raiser for our building and furnishings fund. Your support is essential for the continued success of this valuable publication. You can support the Congregation’s effort in two ways. One is to place a personal greeting in the Directory — a great way to wish everyone a happy New Year or to remember a loved one. (more…)