Attendance at Shabbat morning services has returned to pre-pandemic levels, averaging 100- 150 people (not including B’nai Mitzvah guests) during the school year. While our services are hybrid, most members are again attending in person. Periodic special Shabbat events include an annual musical Shabbaton, Spiritual Growth Day, and visits by scholars, activists, and artists.
We have emerged from COVID in growth mode, with membership rising. Almost ten percent of our members have joined in the past year alone, including 30 new children.
Our co-op style Shabbat Kiddush provides a full lunch and underscores our community’s commitment to volunteerism. On many Shabbatot, educational programming follows the Kiddush.
Our First Friday Musical Shabbat Service draws even more congregants, is led by our talented lay musicians, and is followed by a communal dinner. Thrice-weekly, lay-led Zoom minyans that began during the pandemic are continuing.
A high percentage of our school-age members have historically attended Jewish summer camps, such as Camp Havaya, Camp Moshava, and Capital Camps.
Social justice is central to our communal ethos. Some examples of current social action initiatives include:
Participating in an initiative called SEA Change to examine practices that have an impact on racial equity in our own communal spaces and to work to advance anti-racist policies in the wider community.
We work in coalition with Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Interfaith Power and Light, and other organizations to educate and advocate for reduced greenhouse gas emissions, building on numerous green commitments in our program and within our building andgrounds.
Our Haiti Project helps support a K-9th grade Christian school in Leogane, Haiti, including five service missions by Adat Shalom members to Haiti since 2010 and several visits to our community by the school’s principal.
Over the years, we have had four Israeli Shlichim on our staff who have been an integral part of the educational and social life of the community.
Our adult Jewish Studies Program is taught by our clergy and outside scholars, with as many as 75 attending a single class. Periodic retreats combining study, worship, recreation, and social time, both at retreat centers and on our campus, attract over 200 members of all ages.
