Congregation Bet Chesed

Contents

• Background and Philosophy
• Founding Principles
• Movement Affiliation
• Our Rabbi
• Religious School
• Communications and Mailing Lists
• Adult and Family Programs
• Membership and Dues
• Participation by Nonmembers in Services and Classes
• Cemetery Arrangements
  
• Venues and Directions
  

Background and Philosophy

Congregation Bet Chesed was formed in May 2001 by a group of founding members who wish to express their Jewish character and particular understanding of the spirit of Judaism and of their responsibilities as Jews. Congregation Bet Chesed is an independent Reform Congregation that meets its obligations to the Reform Movement but is independent in its ideology, self-understanding, and approach to responsibilities as Jews and to one another.

Congregation Bet Chesed is primarily a house of Jewish fellowship, friendship, and Jewish discourse. The name Bet Chesed reflects our allegiance to Jewish principles.

There are three main aspects of a Jewish congregation:

• house of assembly (bet knesset),

• house of prayer (bet tfilah), and

• house of study (bet midrash).

Congregation Bet Chesed regards itself at least as much a bet knesset and bet midrash as a bet tfilah.

Founding Principles

The founding principles of Congregation Bet Chesed include the following:

1. Desire for a Reform approach to Judaism, based on the progressive approach to Jewish Law established by scholars such as Rabbi Solomon Freehof, Rabbi Moshe Zemer, and the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Also important in our view are the teachings of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan and our own Rabbi Reeve BrennerÂ's forward-looking published works on halacha and Jewish philosophy.
2. Acceptance of Jews from all religious backgrounds - traditional, liberal, and secular - as well as interfaith married couples and their families and those rediscovering their Jewish roots after perhaps generations of separation.
3. Desire to bring a new vitality to our tradition while maintaining continuity with our people, heritage, and historical community and preserving our unique way of life and system of values.
4. Recognition that our members do not necessarily subscribe to a single doctrine of Judaism or Jewish practice ; therefore, avoidance of attempts to impose a prevailing consensus of views on religious, national, or ethnic questions upon its members.
5. Equality of participation of women and men in all aspects of congregational life.
6. Acceptance as Jews of children of either a Jewish mother or a Jewish father, provided they take appropriate steps to establish, maintain, and continue their Jewish identity.
7. Recognition that a congregational relationship is like a family relationship , that the leadership of the congregation must actively participate in congregation activities, and that the health of the congregation depends on the health -- including the playfulness and humor -- of the relationships among its members, leadership, and clergy. These principles were enunciated by Rabbi Edwin Friedman, whose strong influence we deeply acknowledge.
8. A shared conviction that the synagogue should take form naturally, in response to the needs of its members as they interact with life and with Judaism, and accordingly that important decisions should be made by consensus after careful thought and that programs should be evaluated according to how participants are affected by them and not necessarily by how many participants attend.

Movement Affiliation

Congregation Bet Chesed is now a member of the Union for Reform Judaism.  We began our application process at the time of our founding, and, for a variety of reasons, it took several years.  We became a URJ member because, using Reform prayerbooks in our ritual observances and studying Reform halacha as our primary interpretation of Jewish tradition, we believe it is important to support the institutions that ordain our rabbis, provide our textbooks and prayerbooks, and sustain the scholarship that nurtures our philosophical outlook.

Our role within URJ is different from other URJ congregations, that generally tend to provide "full service" (i.e., worship services, religious school, brotherhood, sisterhood, and youth group) to specific, local, geographic areas.  Our focus in on supporting specific kinds of religious needs:

• Needs of interfaith couples.  As discussed below, our rabbi has a different view of interfaith marriage than all Orthodox, all Conservative, and many Reform rabbis.  We fully support him in that view and seek to serve the couples he serves.
• Needs of people who share our priorities regarding the roles of a Jewish congregation.  We reverse the traditional priorities of congregation roles, placing our roles as bet knesset and bet midrash at much higher priority than our role as a bet tfilah.  This makes our highest priority intellectually stimulating activity such as open discussion with the rabbi on Judaism and Jewish approaches to topics of the day.
• Outreach to b'nai anousim (descendents of those forcibly converted away from Judaism under the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions).  These are many of the people described in our founding principles as "those rediscovering their Jewish roots after perhaps generations of separation."  It is an area we have recognized from our founding, but in which we are slowly feeling our way.
  

Our Rabbi

Our rabbi, Dr. Reeve Robert Brenner, is a native of New York City. Since his ordination at the New York campus of the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in 1964, he has been a U.S. Army chaplain in West Germany, has served a rainbow of congregations, has served as the Jewish chaplain at the National Institutes of Health, and has written on a wide variety of Jewish subjects, including intermarriage, the Holocaust, and many others. 

Among the most interesting of these topics are the theology, practice, and law (Halacha) of the distinguished traditions of Judaism outside the framework of Orthodoxy. These include, but are not limited to, Reform, Reconstructionism, and Conservatism, and are known collectively as Polydox Judaism.

His first major work, American Jewry and the Rise of Nazism, received the YIVO Jewish Scholarship Prize. His book, The Faith and Doubt of Holocaust Survivors, is the result of nine years of research conducted in Israel among survivors to explore the way the victims, themselves, came to understand the meaning of the Holocaust for Jewish belief and practice. Rabbi Brenner is also the author of The Jewish Riddle Collection: A Yiddle's Riddles , and his articles, poetry, and short stories have appeared in both Jewish and secular newspapers, journals, anthologies, and magazines. His new book Jewish, Christian, Chewish, and Eschewish: Interfaith Marriage Pathways for the New Millennium, is an outgrowth of his extensive work with interfaith couples.

In addition to being a rabbi and scholar, Reeve Brenner is also a therapist and social activist. He is experienced in in-depth counseling, teaching, and Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation. During his stay in Israel he also invented the first new sport to be introduced in 50 years, Bankshot Basketball, which is now being played at over 150 sites around the United States and Israel. This is a "total mix" sport in which athletes in wheelchairs and other handicapped persons can compete equally with everyone else.

Rabbi Brenner divides his time between the Congregation and other activities, including operation of the Bankshot Organization.  However, the Rabbi is active in all aspects of Congregation life including the religious school, life cycle ceremonies, Shabbat programs, and adult education. Rabbi Brenner is especially interested in establishing strong bonds with the youngsters of the congregation by personally preparing them for Bar and Bat Mitzvah and Confirmation, aided by an experienced staff of tutors. He is also available to the members should they wish to call on him in time of need.

Rabbi Brenner can be reached at 301 762 4241.

Religious School

(CBC does not have a religious school.  The section is being revised.)

Communications and Mailing Lists

Congregation Bet Chesed publishes a monthly News and Notes giving the schedule of events for the month and other congregation news. This is distributed mostly by email, although it is sent by postal mail upon request. We also send out email reminders of events and other "short fuse" news. To get on our mailing list(s) please send an email to Stan Klein ( ) with subject line "CBC List Request," and provide your name, postal address, phone number, and email address. Please keep us current on email addresses.

Adult and Family Programs

(NIH aspects out of date.)
Congregation Bet Chesed holds a brief Shabbat service once or twice a month on Friday night, followed by a speaker or discussion with Rabbi Brenner. We also hold classes once or twice a month on Saturday morning (see details below). Our gatherings not only include prayer and worship, but include at least as much fellowship and open discussion. Festivals are observed in our best judgment as Jews who care about the tradition, but who feel duty bound to revitalize and renew the tradition for modern times.

All of our evening services (except Yom Kippur) include a kiddush (with challah and wine) and an oneg (refreshments). We also serve refreshments at our classes, and follow the Yom Kippur concluding service with a light break-the-fast. This is not only in keeping with Jewish tradition but also encourages fellowship.

Although the pulpit is the Rabbi's, we are also open to all variations of conducting services, including conduct of services by the Rabbi, conduct of services by members under the supervision of the Rabbi, and conduct of services by members when the Rabbi is unable to attend.

Our regular classes include:

• The "Shmooz" Class, one Saturday morning a month. This is an open discussion with Rabbi Brenner on any topic that comes up. (Sometimes topics relevant to the Basic Judaism Class come up, but this discussion is informal and unstructured.)

• Jewish Topics, also one Saturday morning a month. This is a new program replacing the Basic Judaism class. Rabbi Brenner, or sometimes someone else, will speak on a topic, followed by a discussion. We also may view videos of the kind that the Yiddish class has seen occasionally. We fully expect Jewish Topics to sometimes morph into a Shmooz Class.

• The Yiddish Study Group. The goal is to learn to speak and understand a little Yiddish, discuss related culture and history, and to be able to catch the punchline of jokes.  This is not a formal course.  We are using a textbook, plus recordings, popular books (on Yiddish in English), songs, and a relaxed conversational approach. We have been meeting for group-directed study of the Yiddish langugage for an hour on Saturday morning prior to Jewish Topics.

Membership and Dues

Membership dues are $600 per year, payable $300 in August, $150 in October, and $150 in December.  There is also an introductory first year membership with dues of $300.

Benefits of membership include rabbinic services at life cycle events, voting at congregation meetings, benefits that flow to members of Reform congregations (quarterly magazine, eligibility for children's camps and adult retreats, etc.), and the knowledge that you are doing your part to sustain the congregation.

No family will be refused membership because of inability to pay. Anyone wishing to make special arrangements should contact Rabbi Brenner or a member of the congregation leadership.

Participation by Nonmembers in Services and Classes

Congregation Bet Chesed encourages members and nonmenbers alike to participate in its services and classes. We hope that nonmembers who participate will eventually join and become members for friendship, fellowship, support of the congregation, and support of its mission of bikur cholim at NIH.

For High Holiday services see our High Holiday Information page.

Cemetery Arrangements

Venues

Most of our events are held at the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) Social and Academic Center.  Some small events or classes are occasionally held at the home of a member or of Rabbi Brenner.  High Holiday services are held at Leland Center.

Directions:

FAES Building:

This location is the FAES (Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences) Social and Academic Center. The building is a large house at 9101 Old Georgetown Road on the corner of Cedar Lane. It is just north of the NIH campus on the same side as the firehouse, but across Cedar Lane. There is parking in front of the building.