Journey with us through a year of rediscovering Shabbat. Discover Shabbat! is our year-long initiative to encourage you to sing, dance, play, read, pray, cook, meditate, connect, unplug, delight, learn and yes, – rest on Shabbat. We’ll have lots of activities, workshops, and moments of gathering throughout the year to help you find meaning and wholeness as you explore Shabbat in new ways.
Dear Friends,
We hope you had a meaningful High Holy Days season, and that this letter finds you well. It was so wonderful to be with so many of you in prayer, learning, and celebration as we welcomed the New Year together. We pray it will be a year of peace, health, and happiness for our entire community, and the whole world.
We, along with our temple staff and lay leaders, are so excited to present, Discover Shabbat! — a yearlong emphasis on uncovering and rediscovering what Shabbat can mean for each of us. We are living in tumultuous times. Many of us feel the stresses of busy lives on top of the painful impact of recent events in Israel and here in our own America. Since our earliest days, Shabbat has been an antidote to our trials and tribulations. With its focus on personal, familial, and communal restoration, it invites us to make time to deepen relationships, invest in values, unplug from outside world and just rest.
Perhaps you already have a Shabbat practice that is meaningful to you, and you are seeking to add something on, or perhaps you are at the beginning of you journey with celebrating Shabbat and you seeking a deeper understanding of what this sacred time can mean to you. Wherever you’re coming from, know that there is a place within our year of Discover Shabbat! programming for you, and we are excited to explore this sacred ritual with you.
There is truly something for everyone in Discover Shabbat! We have offerings for our youngest members — including “Rise and Shine” a new tot experience that will take place once a month in addition to our Tot Shabbat services. If you connect to the idea of Shabbat through time spent outdoors, we hope you will join us for a Shabbat hike. If the idea of getting some weekend rest and relaxation speaks to you, we will welcome you at one of our self-care sessions. Perhaps you will add some inspiration to your Shabbat practice by attending an Adult Ed class or joining our clergy for Havdalah and learning. And there’s so much more! We hope to see you at Shabbat services, at Spice and Spark dinners, and other Discover Shabbat! activities, to cultivate a love and excitement for this special time of the week and the joy and rest it can bring.
In the coming days you will receive a deck of cards to your home address. These cards are your official Discover Shabbat! toolkit, featuring a card for every Shabbat of the year so you can be inspired to try something new. We hope you will enjoy using these cards to enhance your Shabbat practice, or even to play a round of cards with friends or family around the Shabbat dinner table!
With Shabbat peace,
Rabbi Amy Schwartzman
Cantor Michael Shochet
Rabbi Jeffrey Saxe
Rabbi Alexandra Stein
Cantor Sydney Michaeli
Starting in November – Now Preceded by a Happy Hour! Our Bo’i Shabbat service on the first Friday of the month is an informal, one-hour adult-oriented service with an emphasis on spiritual music and accessible singing. It meets in the Mishkan and is the adult alternative to our Family Shabbat Evening Service. This year, come an hour early and enjoy a light nosh with others. Step into Shabbat and begin to decompress, disconnect, and discover!
Join us for a Shabbat afternoon adventure on the first Saturday of the month! Every month will offer a different kind of experience: a hike through Great Falls Park or Bull Run, a visit to Meadowlark Gardens, kayaking, boating on the Potomac, and more! Get out and about with other temple members – give yourself the gift of the outdoors!
We’ll be offering different Spice & Spark dinners this year! On the second Friday evening of the month, we’ll be inviting different cohorts of our membership to dinner: foreign service professionals, educators, alums of specific universities, residents of particular neighborhoods, and more. Come to dinner and meet other members who share something in common with you!
This year, we’ll add another Saturday morning tot experience to our calendar. In addition to Tot Shabbat which meets on the fourth Saturday of every month, we will also gather on the second Saturday of each month for a music-filled morning of singing, clapping, and movement. Afterwards, we’ll enjoy “Shabbat pancakes” – so much more delicious than regular pancakes!
Long before self-care was a hashtag, Shabbat prioritized nurturing your soul and for your body. It is a day of rest, contemplation, and renewal – truly an “island in time.” Every third Shabbat, you’ll be able to join workshops that help you live well and improve your health and happiness. Try “Yoga & Smoothies” or take a collage class…meditate…try your hand at a little gardening…teach yourself to make a beautiful floral bouquet…learn to journal…or enjoy some quiet time with a “proper British tea.”
A great Shabbat deserves a great ending! Join with the TRS community at 6:30 PM on November 9, January 11, March 22, and May 10 for Havdalah, dinner and learning together. We will eat delicious food, we will sing, we will ask big questions in clergy-led conversations, and we will celebrate a Shabbat well spent! Whether you do Havdalah every week or this will be your first time, we would love to see you there.
Gather with the TRS 20s and 30s community for informal Shabbat services at various metro-accessible locations in our area. Each Shabbat On The Town will include an accessible musical service and Shabbat dinner. Services will take place on November 22, January 10, March 28, and May 30. Anyone who wants to get a taste of Shabbat On The Town is invited to join us for our alternative High Holy Day Services at an offsite location on October 2 and 11.
Friday, Sept 13 at 5:30 PM: Do you want to learn more about Shabbat services? Do you want to feel more comfortable participating in the music, prayers, and “choreography” of the service? Join us for a Pre-Shabbat Service Dinner and learning experience on Friday, September 13, with Rabbi Stein. We will go through the Shabbat service and then sit together during prayer.
Long before self-care was a hashtag, Shabbat prioritized nurturing your soul and for your body. It is a day of rest, contemplation, and renewal – truly an “island in time.” Every third Shabbat, you’ll be able to join workshops that help you live well and improve your health and happiness. Try “Yoga & Smoothies” or take a collage class…meditate…try your hand at a little gardening…teach yourself to make a beautiful floral bouquet…learn to journal…or enjoy some quiet time with a “proper British tea.”
A great Shabbat deserves a great ending! Join with the TRS community at 6:30 PM on November 9, January 11, March 22, and May 10 for Havdalah, dinner and learning together. We will eat delicious food, we will sing, we will ask big questions in clergy-led conversations, and we will celebrate a Shabbat well spent! Whether you do Havdalah every week or this will be your first time, we would love to see you there.
Gather with the TRS 20s and 30s community for informal Shabbat services at various metro-accessible locations in our area. Each Shabbat On The Town will include an accessible musical service and Shabbat dinner. Services will take place on November 22, January 10, March 28, and May 30. Anyone who wants to get a taste of Shabbat On The Town is invited to join us for our alternative High Holy Day Services at an offsite location on October 2 and 11.
Friday, Sept 13 at 5:30 PM: Do you want to learn more about Shabbat services? Do you want to feel more comfortable participating in the music, prayers, and “choreography” of the service? Join us for a Pre-Shabbat Service Dinner and learning experience on Friday, September 13, with Rabbi Stein. We will go through the Shabbat service and then sit together during prayer.
Sun, April 6, 2:00 PM
Rabbi Michael Strassfeld and Disrupting Shabbat
Rabbi Strassfeld, author of Judaism Disrupted: A Spiritual Manifesto for the 21st Century, turns his attention to Shabbat. Strassfeld offers a new framework for seeking a life of meaning through a revitalized Judaism. He focuses on intention in our actions and interactions. He further emphasizes connection to our past, to our present, to each other to help us connect with the unity underlying the universe that draws us all together. Discover ways that Shabbat can bring a new sense of holiness and connection to our lives. Strassfeld, a retired Reconstructionist rabbi, co-edited The Jewish Catalog 50 years ago—and it is still in print. Copies of Strassfeld’s ninth book will be available for sale at the program. Please click here for more information and to register.
Thursdays, 7:00 PM
Spring Beit Midrash – A Whole New Shabbat: Three Feasts for the Senses
Spring Beit Midrash will engage your senses and stimulate your thinking about Shabbat. Please click here to register to attend.
Sat, Apr 19, 2:00 PM
Self Care Workshop: Improv Shabbat!
Self care workshops help you improve your health and happiness. Let’s jump into some improv! Do you love to laugh? Do you cherish connecting with supportive people? Need more joy? At Improv Shabbat, we’ll gather in a safe, encouraging environment to play and explore. No prior improv or theater experience is needed, and you don’t even need to be funny! Registration is required. This program is suitable for adults and students 16+. Please click here to register.
