Shavuot, which begins at sunset on Tuesday, June 11 commemorates the spring harvest and the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. One of the special readings for the holiday includes the Book of Ruth. This story takes place at the time of the barley harvest and Ruth’s religious + spiritual journey is also reflective of the Israelite’s receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Together we will explore the parallels in Ruth's experience of entering into the covenant with the Jewish people and the experience of the Israelites receiving Torah at Mount Sinai.

Join us at a restaurant in Arlington where over food and drink, we’ll be led by Den Member, Richard Swanson, for this Shavuot Text Learning + Discussion on The Book of Ruth, exploring our own personal connections and Jewish journeys in our moments of transition and belonging.

First round appetizers and drinks on the Den. No experience necessary; all are welcome!

This gathering will be held at restaurant in Arlington. Sign up for Details below.

Sign Up for Details

Join Bet Mishpachah, DC's LGBTQ+ Synagogue and GLOE-The Kurlander Program for GLBTQ Outreach & Engagement, and community partners for our annual Pride Happy Hour and Shabbat Service at the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington, DC! Join us for a joyous celebration of love, unity, and community. This in-person event is a perfect way to kick off Pride weekend with friends old and new. Come together for drinks, snacks, and a warm atmosphere to honor our LGBTQ+ Jewish community.

Following the Happy Hour, we will gather for our Pride Shabbat Serice led by Rabbi Jake Singer-Beilin. Our guest speaker for the evening will be Jessica Stern, Special Envoy Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Persons. Let's raise a glass to inclusivity and acceptance!

We’ll enjoy a hike in the great outdoors and then break for learning over snacks. We’ll explore the spiritual grounding and renewal practice of counting the Omer that takes place during the weeks between the festivals of Passover and Shavuot.

Beginning on the 2nd night of Passover, we count the Omer, for 49 days, until we arrive at the festival of Shavuot. Counting the Omer began as a count toward the spring harvest, and it has evolved into a spiritual accounting. The Omer is a period for introspection and personal growth, in preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuot.

Hiking and learning in nature will provide us with an ideal setting for looking inward and discovering new places for us to stretch and grow. Everyone welcome, this will be a hike suitable for folks at various levels.

We will meet up at a DC hiking spot. Details will be shared with registrants. Sign up below by Thursday, May 30th @ 10am.

Tu B’Shvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, is the new year for trees! This holiday originates from the rabbis of the Talmud, and there is a tradition established by Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, to have a Tu B’Shvat Seder. We will explore Jewish texts, fruits, and themes connected to each of the year’s seasons. Join us for a Seder that will explore this holiday and the spirituality we can find in nature, through study + experience. We will enjoy a variety of fruits, nuts, and wines on our journey through the seasons.

All are welcome. This gathering will be held in Arlington.

To help cover the costs for this gathering, we are asking everyone to please contribute $18. If this is cost prohibitive for you, please be in touch as we don’t want this to be a barrier to participating.

Rosh Chodesh directly translates to “head of the month,” and it’s the time each lunar cycle when we have a new moon, meaning no visible moon, and the beginning of a new month in the Hebrew calendar.

At the Den’s Rosh Chodesh circle, we take time for personal reflection + intention-setting through learning, discussion, and rituals to honor the new moon.

On January 11th, we enter the month of Shevat, known as the month of the rainy season. In honor of MLK Day, we will explore Martin Luther King Jr.’s teachings alongside Jewish wisdom to inspire our intention setting for the month, driving out the darkness and spreading light and love.

All are welcome. This gathering will be held in Maryland.

Tu B’Av, meaning the 15th day of the month of Av, is the Jewish holiday of love! During the Temple period, it was celebrated as a matchmaking holiday; today it is commemorated as a day of sharing love with everyone in your life. It’s a time to express your love in any and all of your relationships - friends, family, partners, etc.

Come row down the flowing Potomac river while we explore the how love flows through the Jewish tradition. All are welcome!

We will meet at the Wharf boathouse. Please reserve your own kayak for the 6-7pm hour. Sign up below by July 28th.

Shavuot, which begins at sunset on May 25th, commemorates the spring harvest and the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. One of the special readings for the holiday includes the Book of Ruth. Why do we read this? The simplest reason is that it takes place at the time of the barley harvest, but Ruth’s religious + spiritual journey is also reflective of the Israelite’s receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Join Rabbi Jenna to explore the book of Ruth, uncover why it’s meaningful to the holiday of Shavuot, and find our personal connections and Jewish journeys reflected in the story.

No experience necessary; all are welcome! This gathering will be held in Arlington. Sign up below by May 20th.

We’ll enjoy a hike in the great outdoors and then break for snacks and learning more about the spiritual grounding and renewal of counting the Omer, and the spiritual prep of the weeks between Passover and Shavuot.

Beginning on the 2nd night of Passover, we count the Omer, for 49 days, until we arrive at the holiday of Shavuot. Counting the Omer began as a count toward the Spring harvest, and it has evolved into a spiritual accounting. The Omer is a period for introspection and personal growth, in preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuot.

As we experience nature blooming and blossoming around us, we will look inward to find what parts of ourselves will bloom and blossom too. Hikers of all levels welcome!

We will be meeting at a park in DC - in the city proper! Sign up below for details by May 5th.

Queering a text means to read, explore, and connect to that text through a queer lens; it’s a queer reading of source material. Queering the Torah means we explore all things Jewish (texts, sources, traditions, rituals, etc) through the lens of LGBTQIA+ identities. Through this exploration, our aims are to connect our queer identities to our Judaism, to create a safe space for sharing, and to establish a sense of community, camaraderie, and belonging.

Join Rabbi Jenna for a text study that uncovers the queerness in the Purim story and celebration. We will draw connections between the themes of this holiday to our lived queer experiences.

This learning experience is designed specifically for folks who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

This gathering will be held in DC - for location details, please sign up below by March 6th.

Hamantaschen, a triangle filled pocket-pastry, is one of the traditional foods made and eaten on Purim. What do Hamantaschen represent, and why do we make them? Are they meant to represent Haman’s ears, his pockets, or something else entirely? And why do we eat them?

Together, we will discover the answers to these questions and more, as we explore the history of this Purim treat, as well as make some of our own!

This gathering will be held in Arlington. Please sign up below for details by March 1st

In honor of Tu B’Shvat, the new year for trees, let’s talk about Judaism and the environment! Join Rabbi Jenna at Moishe House Arlington for a thoughtful discussion of how environmentalism is Jewish value, and how we can honor nature in our everyday lives. We’ll celebrate the holiday with fruit salad, fair trade chocolate, and dinner.

This gathering will at Moishe House Arlington. Please sign up below by February 6th.

Tu B’Shvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, is the new year for trees! This holiday originates from the rabbis of the Talmud, and there is a tradition established by Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, to have a Tu B’Shvat Seder. We will explore Jewish texts, fruits, and themes connected to each of the year’s seasons. Join us for a Seder that will explore this holiday and the spirituality we can find in nature, through study + experience. We will enjoy a variety of fruits, nuts, and wines on our journey through the seasons.

This gathering will be held in Arlington. Please sign up by February 3rd.

To help cover the costs for this gathering, we are asking everyone to please contribute $18. If this is cost prohibitive for you, please be in touch as we don’t want this to be a barrier to participating.

We know, we also thought last year was the first-ever and last time we’d be celebrating Passover mid-pandemic over zoom. So here we are. Fear not — we’ve got you!! We are curating an incredible SederStream 2.0 Passover experience. We’re cooking up some new and innovative ways to bring the intimacy, warmth, joy, and comfort we all enjoy during our gatherings to our virtual seder this year.

Be prepared for a fully interactive seder experience, including singing, video, poetry, small group discussions, and even the option to have a leisurely conversation with others over dinner.

BYO dinner — we’ll provide the digital Haggadah and the seder plate.

Come for some or stay for all. Since the 1st night of Passover begins after Shabbat on Saturday night, we’ll start a bit later. Here’s the run-down of our evening so you can plan ahead (and have some snacks!):

• 7:45 - 8:30pm First part of the seder before dinner (Kadesh - Korekh)

• 8:30 - 8:55pm Dinner! (Shulkhan Orekh) - If you’re looking for company for your meal, we will break into smaller groups for dinner and conversation. Or, feel free to sign off for your own private dinner, and you’re welcome to come back for the end of the seder.

• 8:55 - 9:15pm ish Seder conclusion (Tzafun - Nirtzah)

• We’ll keep the channel open longer for those who want to stick around and sing into the night.

Check out all the other ways we’re gathering for Passover this year!

Together, we will explore classical sources of text embedded within the Passover Haggadah, where we retell the Exodus story from the beginning, as we recall Abraham's spiritual journey to God and his ascent to Israel. Then, the Haggadah tells of the descent of Abraham's great grandchildren to Egyptian slavery and the eventual exodus from Egypt that leads to a homecoming. In conversation with ancient Biblical commentators, we will explore the ways we can reinterpret our own agency for cultivating change within our own lives and the world.

This will be an excellent way to warm up and set intentions before entering the festival of Passover. Everyone is always welcome. No experience necessary. All texts are presented with Hebrew and English side-by-side.

Check out all the other ways we’re gathering for Passover this year!

This is one of our favorite holidays at the Den! (Can you have favorites?!) Together we will explore the intersection of law, practice, and custom when it comes to preparations and observance of the Passover Festival. Walk away with a tangible understanding of the why, how, and what, as you prepare for Passover this year.

Everyone is always welcome. No experience necessary.

Check out all the other ways we’re gathering for Passover this year!

Come together on the first night of Hanukkah to connect, check-in, and light candles in community. If there were ever a Hanukkah where we could use more light and warmth, it’s this one. Feel free to bring out your Hanukkah menorah, and if you don’t have one - no worries, enjoy the light from Rabbi Aderet’s family Hanukkah Menorahs. Put out some delish snacks and pour yourself a glass of something delicious as we gather around the lights for some blessings and song. Feel free to extend the invitation to family and friends….ugly Hanukkah sweaters are always welcome;)

Happy Festival of Lights/Chag Urim Sameach!