As usual, we had a Fall full of programs! Luckily, the weather held out for most—although some brave souls endured the rain to learn about local Jewish history.
The past few weeks, we’ve had some large groups of students take walking tours of downtown Washington.
On the cold, rainy morning of October 18, our new volunteer Sheryl and I led a group of 52 kids, many of their parents, and Rabbi Joui Hessel from
Washington Hebrew Congregation, and on a sunny—but no less cold—Wednesday morning last week, our Archivist/Curator Wendy, Administrator Joel, new volunteer Laura, and I led 80 tenth graders from the
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School.
If you haven’t been on one yet, we start our downtown tours at the
Lillian and Albert Small Jewish Museum, originally the Adas Israel synagogue, and proceed to visit the second home of
Adas Israel (today
Sixth and I Historic Synagogue), former home of
Congregation Ohev Sholom (today
Chinese Community Church), and the former home of
Washington Hebrew Congregation (today
Greater New Hope Baptist Church). Along the way, we talk about what life was like for the Jews who lived, worked, and worshipped in this neighborhood in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
But our walking tours don’t just cover downtown Washington.
On October 25, I had the privilege of leading a tour through Old Town Alexandria on a beautiful fall day. This was only the second we’d led this program, but, judging by the 40 people who came out, we’ll be doing it again! This tour, which we developed to coincide with our
Jewish Washington exhibition at the
Lyceum in the spring, highlights the sites of formerly Jewish-owned businesses, homes, and two former synagogues.
The same day as the Alexandria walking tour, I also led a program called
“Synagogue Story” for a group of second graders from
Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation. The 19 kids in this phenomenal group learned about our historic 1876 synagogue, then made their own models of it to use as
tzedakah (charity) boxes!
And to top it all off, our new volunteers Matt and Laura gave a tour of our exhibition
Jewish Washington: Scrapbook of an American Community to the new 30s-40s group at Adas Israel Congregation, and our longtime volunteer Mark gave a tour of our exhibition
Jewish Life in Mr. Lincoln’s City to a group from
Beth El Hebrew Congregation and
Temple Rodef Shalom.
As you can see, we’ve had a busy—but enjoyable—fall at JHSGW. Make sure you check out our
programs page. We hope to see you at one of our programs soon!
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As the staff member responsible for keeping track of book sales, some times I receive an order that makes me ask, "What's the story?" Here are a few interesting sales we've had since the publication of Jewish Washington: Scrapbook of an American Community, our first book.
