Celebrating Israel@65

On Sunday, June 9th, we participated in The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington's Israel@65 Festival at Union Market. More than 10,000 people, young and old, celebrated Israel's 65th

At our booth:
- Children created Israel birthday cards.
- An exhibition, Ties That Bind, told the story of Washington's role in the establishing the Jewish State.
- We handed out 600 fans as well as posters about Washington's celebration of Israel's independence.

View our photo album of the event!

Longtime JHSGW member Paul Pascal led a tour of the history of Union Terminal Market and former sites of Jewish merchants. Check out the pictures! We plan to offer this tour again soon, so keep an eye out.

If you attended the tour, please comment here or email to tell what you thought! If a friend was on the tour, please share this request.

Touring Historic Jewish Washington with Jewish Professionals

David displays a picture of Washington
Hebrew Congregation when it used to reside
at Greater New Hope Baptist Church

One of the Historical Society’s most popular events is tours of downtown Jewish Washington. Open to the public in the fall and spring, staff members are also on hand for private events. This morning, Interpretive Programs Manager David McKenzie and I met with a group of 17 Jewish communal professionals for a tour organized by The Jewish Federations of North America.

We started at the Lillian and Albert Small Jewish Museum, formerly the home of Adas Israel Congregation and the first synagogue in the Washington area, to discuss the migration of Jewish groups into the capital and the literal migration of this building from 6th and G to 3rd and G streets in 1969. Outside, we braved the humidity to walk around 7th Street, once a neighborhood with a sizeable Jewish minority in the 19th and early 20th centuries. We also saw the sites of former synagogues-turned-churches as well as the revitalized Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. Perhaps the most quirky, if not momentous historical artifact was when David showed us an iron rung for tying up horses on the side of the road, one of the few still left standing in the city.

David also talked about plans in the works to move the historic 1876 Adas Israel synagogue yet again, this time to 3rd and F streets, and answered a few questions for a Ha’aretz reporter. For more information on setting up walking tours with the Society in Washington or Alexandria, click here.

Good Deeds Day Delivery

An extra travel size bottle of shampoo and bar of soap may not make much of a difference in your life, but for others struggling with poverty and homelessness it makes a big difference. The Society decided to collect toiletries for our neighbors at Community Family Life Services, as our part for Good Deeds Day--a world-wide day of service that originated in Israel and is organized locally by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.

Joel Wind, JHSGW board member (seen here), and I dropped off a bag of toiletries at Community Family Life Services (CFLS), which operates down the street from us at First Trinity Lutheran Church, and we met their Executive Director, Claudia Thorne. We saw first-hand people benefitting from CFLS’s services while we made our donation. Check with us in March 2013 to find out what our next Good Deeds Day project will be.

In the news: Jewish Chaplains Memorial

Last week I had the honor of going out to Arlington National Cemetery to show Congressman Bob Turner, members of his staff, and a Voice of America crew the new Jewish Chaplains Memorial.

Congressman Turner--recently elected from a New York district that is one-third Jewish--had contacted our friends at the Jewish Federations of North America about showing him the monument. When the staff members at JFNA had scheduling conflicts, they called on us.

It was touching to explain the story of the effort to create the monument, both to the Congressman and the VOA crew. The picture here shows Milo, the VOA cameraman, and Congressman Turner in front of the memorial. Thanks to JFNA for letting me be a part of this visit.

You can check out the VOA story, including a quote from me, here.

Object of the Month: July 2010

To honor our 50th anniversary, we invite you to peek into our archives each month.

From the Archives...
Bicentennial Photograph


Archives Record
Object #: 2008.18.6
Donor: Sandra and Dr. Clement Alpert
Description: 6.5”x10” black and white photograph. Rabbi Louis Gerstein, Amy Gerstein (left) and Cecile and Dr. Seymour Alpert (right) with President Gerald Ford (center) on July 12, 1976 in the Oval Office of the White House.

Background:
On July 12, 1976, as part of the nationwide bicentennial celebrations, rabbis from six colonial congregations presented President Ford with a Bicentennial letter. Representatives were present from Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, SC), Congregation Shearith Israel (New York, NY), Congregation Jeshuat Israel (Newport, RI), Congregation Mikveh Israel (Philadelphia, PA), Congregation Mickve Israel (Savannah, GA), and Congregation Beth Ahabah (Richmond, VA).

Rabbi Louis Gerstein, who served Shearith Israel for 32 years, posed in the Oval Office with his wife Amy, President Ford, and Dr. Seymour and Cecile Alpert. Dr. Alpert was on the Jewish Bicentennial Commission of Greater Washington. The Alperts were active members of Washington, D.C.’s Jewish community. They were philanthropists and leaders in organizations such as the Jewish Community Council, Israel Bonds, and United Jewish Appeal (a predecessor to The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington).

Do you have materials documenting the D.C.-area Jewish community’s bicentennial celebrations? To donate, contact us at info@jhsgw.org or (202) 789-0900.