Am Kolel All Inclusive Weekly News: Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Am Kolel

Weekly News

Wed, May 21, 2025 / 23 Iyar 5785

38th day of the Omer

Issue 653

Dear Am Kolel,

This week's double, Parsha Behar-Bechukotai, lays out a vision of our relationship with the land that is so powerful and so relevant today. It demands of us to be conscious of the needs of the poor and the stranger, and the treatment of laborers.

We are instructed to give the land a rest every seven years, a Sabbath for the land, a Shmitah. We are also told that the land does not belong to us in perpetuity and after 49 years it is to be returned to the original owner (the Creator), known as the Jubilee year. The words on the Liberty Bell reflect this vision and promise “You shall Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof" (Lev 25:10). This reminds me of the verse at the entrance to the Supreme Court "Equal Justice Under Law.” Those who have been to the Supreme Court lately may have noted that the front of the building is covered up, the words above are hidden and cannot be seen.

We are deeply disturbed today by the desecration of our earth and our moral teachings. These Parshiot deeply remind us of the vision in Bechar and warn us of the severity of the terrible result when natioanls fail to care for the earth and her residents.

From B’Chukotai: 26:3 “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my instructions , 4 I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. 6 I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid…

27 “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.

31 I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. 32 I myself will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins.”

How do we confront power and greed, ignorance and intergeneration trauma? Wherever we see the need, we must cry out, fight injustice, do acts loving kindness and practice compassionate listening.

How can we not be distraught over the suffering of Gazan men, women and children? The destruction of Gaza, its land and people, is also destroying the moral foundations of our people. Yes, both peoples need new leadership. Mainstream American Jewish institutions must do Teshuvah for its complicity in the Nakba of the Palestinian people. If they don’t, we, too, will continue to suffer.

We plan to join with Non-violence International for a solidarity fast for the people of Gaza. Next Friday members of Am Kolel, the New Israel Fund, D.C. Friends of Standing Together and others will gather at the Embassy of Israel.

With prayers for healing,

Reb David

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Shabbat Services

Shabbat Service

led by Reb David, in person & on Zoom

May 24, 2025

41st day of the Omer

10:00AM - 12:15PM

Parashat Behar-Bechukotai

Leviticus 25:1 - 27:34

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89284068417?pwd=VUMwVWp1Q2FrNnM0c1pIQUdJUmIrZz09

Meeting ID: 892 8406 8417

Passcode: 925533

This is a recurring link going forward.

For in-person Shabbat services at 1729 Wilmart Street, Rockville, MD, please bring a vegetarian/dairy dish to share after the service.

Please download our Siddur. Click here to download.

Our Healing Prayers For...

Chris Gray, Larry Hefter, Larry Uman, George Mazza, Dvorah Ester bat Miryam v Isial, Allen Mushinsky, Susan Taylor, Burton Taylor, Fletcher Pontz, Alyssa Pontz, Margy Lawrence, Steve Lamb, Steve Rockower, Ann Sabloff, Dana Gorfinkle, Eileen Hamburg, Leni Michaels, Rachel Clark, Yaakov Koppel ben Devorah, Emily Schuster, Sally Gilbert, Anne Schwartz Delibert, Gina Amato, Brooke Goldberg, Cherie Brown, Natan Yosef ben Yitta Ruchama, Zwe Yosef Ben Sheindel, Tom Bauckham, Alan Oresky, HaRav Miriam Yael bat Sara, Betsy Combs, Joy Esterlitz, Lou Gould, Lauren Gurevitz, Daniel Lev ben Shoshana Klara, Julie Litten, Sandra Vagins, Margalit Hannah Bat Gilah Leora, Lazar Moshe bas Zvia

If you want your name or a loved ones name on the healing list, please let us know by clicking here.

CONDOLENCES...

We mourn the loss of our friend, Peter Roemer, who passed last night. We offer our heartfelt condolences to his daughters Jessi and Debi, his family, and the Cheder community.

Am Kolel Community News

June 1 - Sunday Morning, 10:30AM, Only on Zoom

Prophetic Voices Today

Led by Reb David, Featuring Rabbi Arthur Waskow (live on Zoom)

Other voices will include Judith Plaskow, Suzanna Heschel, and Peter Beinhart.

Register at www.amkolel.org/courses. If you have trouble registering contact Melissa at 301-770-4648 or email admin@amkolel.org.

Shavuot Dairy (And Vegan) Dinner

Sunday, June 1, 6:30PM

Potluck Dinner (vegetarian/dairy) followed by a discussion of Jewish identity today led by Reb David at Am Kolel's Center (1729 Wilmart St, Rockville, MD 20852). Am Kolel will provide challah, drinks, and cheesecake! Only in person. RSVP to admin@amkolel.org by May 30th.

Clergy and people of conscience will gather on Shavuot for a Moral Monday, Monday, June 2, 2025 at 11am at the Supreme Court (1 1st St NE, Washington, DC 20543) for a public moral witness and moral action. We must stand together. Reb David and other chevre will sound the shofar and read from the Ten Commandments!

On June 8th we are holding our Annual Meeting and we hope that you will be able to attend. The meeting takes place on that Sunday at 4:30PM in person (1729 Wilmart St, Rockville) and on Zoom.

In addition to thanking our board for their service this past year and welcoming new board members we will engage in a discussion about the future of Am Kolel. The meeting will be followed by a dinner and musical program in memory of Ralph Tryon sponsored by his family.

Aleph's Summer Kallah, Navigating Toward Hope, June 30 - July 6, 2025, near Baltimore Maryland. Reb David and other members of Am Kolel will be attending. For more information visit https://aleph.org/kallah/. Am Kolel is offering generous subsidies up to $500 per member to attend.

Community Actions and Links

Join a Virtual Rally to Save the Cornerstone of Conservation Science on Thursday, May 22, 12 – 1pm EDT, Register: https://www.mobilize.us/nwf/event/790009/.

Jewish Organizing Institute & Network is offering Don’t Kvetch, Organize!: Building people powered democracy in a time of peril, June 5 - July 1, 2025. Course Components:

Four weeks of video content that students can watch on their own schedule
Two live sessions with experienced organizers for students to discuss their learning and caucus by organization to strategize their next steps (tentative dates: June 10 and June 24, 7:30 - 9:00 pm EST)
Coaching from skilled organizers

Click here to register.

Come to the Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival's Interfaith Brunch on Sunday, June 15th, 9:00Am to 1:00PM at Lakewood Country Club (13901 Glen Mill Road, Rockville, MD). This year’s brunch will feature an inspiring message from our Preacher of the Hour, Dr. John Paul McGee, a soul-stirring performance by the Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church Choir, and singer/guitarist Rabbi David Shneyer. Click here to get your tickets.

Israel in This Time of War

Join 250 Calories Solidarity Fast for Gaza, organized by Nonviolence International: https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/250_calories_solidarity_fast_for_gaza

On Friday, May 30, 12PM - 1PM at the Israeli Embassy American Jews, Israelis, allies, people of concious cry out STOP, stop starving, bombing, and displacing children, let Gaza live, humanitarian aid now, bring the hostages home alive, ceasefire now! If you'd like to come RSVP to admin@amkolel.org so we can send you updates. No flags. Bring shofars and other instruments. You are invited to join in a solidarity fast leading up to the event.

Recommended websites for a better future:

New Israel Fund:

Standing Together

A Land for All

Torat Tzedek (Torah of Justice)

Rabbis for Human Rights

Alliance for Middle East Peace

For groups from our Sept 15th event visit www.amkolel.org/peacebuilders

Learning Opportunities & Spiritual Resources

Diaspora Alliance confronts antisemitism and its distortion. Click here

Rebuild With Love, The National Havurah Institute's Summer Institute 2025 will take place Monday, July 28 to Sunday, August 3 at Pearlstone Retreat Center in Reisterstown, Maryland. Registration will be opening at the beginning of April and full course listings will be available then. Call for Courses and Applications for Artist and Liturgist in Residence are open. Click here to learn more and apply. SUBSIDIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM AM KOLEL.

Check out Sources, A Journal of Jewish Ideas on Jewish Ethics in Theory and Practice. Click here.

Yahrtzeit Reminders

If you'd like a reminder, please fill and send us a Yahrtzeit reminder form.

Download the form here.

Have you made arrangements yet?

Am Kolel Pardes is our dedicated section at the Garden of Remembrance in Clarksburg, Maryland.

Please note, fees will be increasing

after the first of the year.

The Garden of Remembrance is the region's only non-profit cemetery owned and operated by a board of Jewish community leaders. For more information about Am Kolel Pardes, please visit the Life Cycle page on our website, visit the Garden of Remembrance website or email the office at admin@amkolel.org.

Am Kolel Board of Directors 2024 - 2025

President - Frank Silberstein

Vice President - Larry Uman

Secretary - Claire Schuster

Treasurer - Hal Rogoff

Trustees at Large

Audrey Shane - Chesed Chair

Bobbie Goldman - Membership Chair

Hanna Weissberger

Jim Schmitz

Adriane Brown

Immediate Past President - Sandra Hoffman