GatherDC

Book Talk w/ Barbara Ostfeld: First Female Reform Cantor w/ Temple Rodef Shalom
2025-02-02 10:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York) | Congregation Olam Tikvah 3800 Glenbrook Road Fairfax, VA 22031, VA, United States
Temple Rodef Shalom invites you to a morning of reflection and inspiration as we welcome Cantor Barbara Ostfeld to share her groundbreaking journey.
Falls Church, VA – In celebration of 50 years of women in the cantorate, Temple Rodef Shalom is thrilled to host Cantor Barbara Ostfeld, the first woman to be ordained as a cantor in Jewish history. Cantor Ostfeld will share insights from her memoir, Catbird: The Ballad of Barbi Prim, an engaging and deeply personal reflection on her path to breaking barriers and finding her voice.
Catbird: The Ballad of Barbi Prim tells the story of a brave and quirky eight-year-old girl whose love of singing and determination to overcome societal challenges eventually led her to become a trailblazer in the Jewish world. Along the way, she confronts personal and family struggles, embarks on a journey of self-discovery, and ultimately becomes a role model for courage and resilience. With humor, insight, and honesty, Cantor Ostfeld shows that we are all

GatherBay Book Club: The Place of All Possibility
2025-02-05 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-02-12 18:00 - 20:00 | South Berkeley location to be shared upon registration, sign up to get the address, Berkeley, CA, 94705, United States
What can Judaism teach us about creativity? And, particularly in our current challenging times, how can that creativity help us meet the moment with increased resilience?
Join GatherBay’s Rabbi Gray Myrseth for a three-session book club, where we’ll dig into these questions and more. Through the lens of local author Rabbi Adina Allen’s “The Place of All Possibility,” we’ll explore the idea of creativity as a spiritual practice.
What: a book club! We’ll gather for dinner, a chance to connect with new and familiar folks, and facilitated exploration of the books themes, including both group and paired discussion.
Please plan to read a section of the book (which will be provided for you) prior to each session.
When: 6-8pm, Wednesdays January 29, February 5, and February 12. Our optional 4th session will be a field trip together to the Jewish Studio Project’s open studio on February 18 (6:30-8pm).
Where: South Berkeley, exact location to be shared upon registration
Access notes: The space can be entered via a ramp and has an ADA accessible bathroom. We’ll be meeting indoors, with an option to have double doors to the outside open if desired. Masking guidelines to be determined by the needs of the group, though there will be at least some time when people are unmasked in order to eat dinner.
Cost: $5-25 sliding scale—includes a copy of the book, dinner at each of the three main sessions, and the cost of registration for JSP’s open studio on 2/18. By registering, you are committing to attending all three main sessions (the fourth experiential session is optional).
How do I register? Fill out this form! Then send your registration fee via Venmo to @GatherDC (or let us know if you don’t have Venmo and we’ll figure out an alternative).
Registration will be accepted on a rolling basis until January 23, 2025—we encourage you to sign up sooner rather than later! If you’re having any issues with the form or need to sign up another way, please email rabbi.gray@gatherbay.org.
Cost Range: 5 – 25

Organization: GatherBay

Nights at the Round Table: Ending Homelessness with Capital Jewish Museum
2025-02-11 18:30 - 20:00 | Reflection location TBA., United States
Hear from expert panelists on the topic of homelessness in the DC area. Learn about the roots of the problem, misconceptions about people experiencing homelessness, and the path forward to eradicating this issue. Then, join the discussion and learn ways to take action and address the issue over dessert. Panelists include James Davis, Member of National Coalition for the Homeless Faces of Homelessness Speakers Bureau, Lara Pukatch, Chief Advocacy Officer, Miriam’s Kitchen, and Amber W. Harding, Executive Director, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. Moderated by Rabbi Atara Cohen, Director of Jewish Life and Learning, Edlavitch DCJCC. In partnership with Edlavitch DCJCC’s Center for Social Responsibility and Jews United for Justice.
Nights at the Round Table is a discussion-based series that promotes conversation, community-building, and civic engagement around contemporary issues.
If the ticket price is a barrier to entry, please contact Lisa Del Sesto at ldelsesto@ca

Have You Made Art About It Yet? Tu BiShvat! with Rabbi Adina Allen & Dayenu
2025-02-13 09:00 - 10:30 | Zoom, United States
Tu BiShvat invites us to reflect on our connection to the earth, the ecosystems that sustain us, and our place within the web of life. It’s a time to honor the more-than-human world within and around us and ask: What new possibilities might emerge from what we cannot yet fully see? Using the Jewish Studio Process – a unique methodology combining practices from the field of art therapy with a reimagined approach to Jewish learning and spirituality – we’ll nurture the seeds of our wild imagination, allowing them to gestate in the soil of our soul. This session is offered in partnership with Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action.

Organization: Jewish Studio Project

Emmy Winning Writer David Sacks - Personal Journey Discussion with Mesorah DC
2025-02-13 19:00 - 21:00 | National Museum of American Jewish Military History, 1811 R St NW, Washington, DC, 20009, United States
Join us to hear from David Sacks, Emmy Award Winning Writer as he shares his personal journey.

Sunday Series - Prophetic Voices with Am Kolel
2025-02-23 10:30 - 12:00 | Spanish Cultural Center 2801 16th Street NW Washington DC, United States
Join Reb David for a monthly Sunday Series on Prophetic Voices. You are welcome to come to as many as you’d like. There is a discount for registering for all four sessions. Each session will be in person at Am Kolel’s Rockville Center & on Zoom at 10:30AM.
Session 1 – February 23 – Hebrew Prophets 1: Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah
Recommended Text: The Prophets, An Introduction by Abraham Joshua Heschel
Session 2 – March 30 – Hebrew Prophets 2: Hosea, Micah, and Ezekiel
Session 3 – April 27 – Modern Prophetic Voices: Martin Buber and Hannah Arendt
Martin Buber is an Austrian Jewish philosopher, author of On Zion and A Land of Two Peoples. Hannah Arendt is a twentieth century German Jewish philosopher who wrote on wealth, power, democracy and totalitarianism.
Session 4 – June 1 – Erev Shavuot, Prophetic Voices Today
Standing at Sinai with Arthur Waskow, Ernestine Rose, Judith Plaskow, and Peter Beinhart
Use discount code SUNDAY4 if you’d like to join us for all 4 se

"The Merchant of Venice" Screening & Panel with Washington Hebrew Congregation
2025-02-24 18:30 - 21:00 | HIGHLINE RxR 2010 Crystal Drive Arlington, VA 22202, United States
Washington Hebrew is excited to present a special screening of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” Directed by Abigail Graham, and performed by Shakespeare’s Globe, this is an incredible opportunity to see this timeless story in a unique setting. Following the screening, we will have a panel discussion on the representation of antisemitism in the play.
Cost Range: 10 – 25

ÒReligious Adulting': A Spiritual Approach to Adulthood with the Den Collective
2025-02-25 19:00 - 21:00 | Maxwell Silverstein
In the wake of the Holocaust, an unpublished manuscript was found in the rubble of the Warsaw Ghetto. Written before the war, the author– Hasidic rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira–buried his life’s work shortly before his death. In doing so, he preserved his ÒHakhsharat HaAvrekhim,’ a spiritual guidebook seeking to speak to the life experiences and religious questions facing communities of young adults. Join Rabbi Emmanuel for study and conversation about this unique text, exploring its wisdom and takeaways for our lives today.
All are welcome and no prior experience necessary. We will gather at a home in DC that is Metro accessible. Address will be shared with registrants.
