Activities

Current:
Saturday Morning Meditation | Project Hope | Outreach Committee | Bereavement and Mourning | Scholar-in-Residence | Community Service/Social Action

Past:
Slobodka Torah | 36th Anniversary | Song Group | Auction | Retreat | Torah Procession

• Fabrangen Community Service/Social Action

  "If I am only for myself, who am I?"

  Join Fabrangen in Community Service/Social Action!
  This year, Fabrangen will join the DC JCC Community Service Department in its Days of Service and Hunger Action Project.
  More . . .

• Scholar-in-Residence Program

  Fabrangen's first Scholar in Residence Program rescheduled for January 7 with historian Hasia Diner.

  • Dvar torah and lunch discussion in conjunction with services, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
  • “The Future of American Jewry: The Perspective of a Scholar," evening lecture and Havdalah, 7:30 p.m.

  All events at the Washington Ethical Society. More . .

• Saturday Morning Meditation Program

  

  “Happy are those who dwell in your house.” The Talmud (Mishnah Berakhot 5:1 (30b) says that the chasidim rishonim used to meditate for an hour before prayer so that they might concentrate their thoughts on God Please join us for a 1⁄2 hour of meditation before prayer.

  We meet weekly from 9:00 – 9:30 a.m. for primarily silent meditation.
  The second Saturday of the month will include teaching or guided meditation.
  Please call Richard Gladstein or Dale Lupu for more information at (301) 434-3786.

• Project HOPE

Since 1988, a tzedakah project that offers direct service to families in Washington, D.C., Project Hope particularly empowers families and individuals to maintain permanent residences, expand job opportunities, and seek education. Our goal is to help them lead independent, materially secure, and fulfilling lives. Our support system has included tutoring, enrichment and mentoring activities for the children, financial support, housing assistance, intervention with municipal bureaucracies, vocational counseling, and friendship. Most recently, we have supported a young woman who is the first in her family to go to college.

Join in the Project Hope tradition of providing fun, educational activities for children of several families who we have assisted for many years. This can be a one-time volunteer activity or a continuing commitment. We presently need someone who would like to do S.A.T. tutoring. We also could help by providing afterschool or weekend employment for other teens: these young people have experience mowing lawns, babysitting, and doing odd jobs around the house.
More , , .

Newsflash! Project Hope Fundraiser
Our newly revised cookbook . . . just published!

A HOPEFUL PASSOVER
Now in its second edition, with 31 new pages of Passover recipes and seder musings from members of the Fabrangen havurah! Proceeds from the sale of this cookbook help fund the Fabrangen Havurah’s Project Hope, which has provided long-term support to formerly homeless families in our city since 1988. Check out the table of contents for more details!

$25 per copy for the first 4 copies, 5 or more copies $22 each
Shipping and handling: $6 per copy; add $2 for each additional copy to same address

To order, please print and mail in the order form. (pdf)

• Outreach Committee

A group of Fabrangeners has been meeting regularly to work on a plan for attracting new members and on creating a greater profile for Fabrangen. Members of the committee are Anne-Marie Deutsch, Fran Goldman, Melissa Kahn, Joi Preciphs, Gayle Schwartz and Lloyd Wolf. Some of the Outreach Committee's work include staffing a booth at the Takoma Park Fair, our beautiful brochure and the lovely new signs in front of WES.

As a lay-led community with a part-time Coordinator, each member plays an important role in the life of Fabrangen. More importantly, your involvement will enhance your engagement with the community. In order to include each member in the life of the community, the Outreach Committee has put together a Participation Form. This form identifies the various areas of Fabrangen for involvement, along with a brief description of what each activity entails. The goal is to spread the work among our entire membership for maximum participation and engagement. Participation forms are sent to members as they join the community.

• Bereavement and Mourning

Fabrangen is a member of the Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington, whose contract with local funeral homes provides for traditional Jewish funeral and burials.

At time of death, or in anticipation, members should leave a message for Diane Tepfer at 202.595.9138 or Bob Rovinsky at 202.237.1036 to arrange for these services. For Shiva services after the funeral in the mourner's home, members call Lenny Blank at 202.257.1928.

Over the years Tifereth Israel has aided Fabrangen by selling us funeral plots on an as-needed basis. We now have an informal Fabrangen section within Tifereth Israel's section of Mount Lebanon cemetery in Adelphi, Maryland.

To consult the specific contracts for Hines-Rinaldi in Silver Spring, MD and Jefferson Funeral Home in Alexandria, VA, see:

Hines-Rinaldi - http://www.jewish-funerals.org/contracthines.htm
Jefferson - http://www.jewish-funerals.org/contractjefferson.htm

For additional information and learning about Jewish mourning and burial traditions, check out JFPCGW's very rich site, http://www.jewish-funerals.org/ and related links.

Past Activities - in chronological order

• Fabrangen 2010 Retreat
  Photos on Flickr by Lloyd Wolf & Carl Dahlke

©2010 Carl Dahlke

• 36th Anniversary - 2007

	Pictures of the 36th Anniversary Gala
from Chaim Dworkin (picasaweb)		from Lloyd Wolf (flickr.com)

Fabrangen celebrated its 36th, double-chai anniversary over the weekend of November 9 - 10, 2007. The celebration included Friday night services & dinners in members' home, a commemorative Shabbat service on Saturday morning followed by a potluck lunch, a panel discussion about Fabrangen's early roots in social justice activism, and a gala extravaganza on Saturday night. The theme of the gala was Fabrangen: Past, Present, and Future. The past included stories by Shoshana Waskow, Arthur Waskow, and Mike Tabor. The present included a special musical presentation coordinated by Emily DeVoto. And Fabrangen's future was foretold in a clever, hilarious skit written and presented by Fabrangen's teens. Other highlights included: Kay Elfant's rendition of the "Top 10 Reasons to Celebrate Fabrangen's 36th Anniversary;" Ellen Garshick's and Rick LaRue's "best of" selections of Adon Olam memodies from Purim shpiels over the years; and a Fabrangen piyyut by Fran Goldman.

Many thanks for all who worked hard on the celebration and to everyone who participated, especially those who came from out-of-town to join us!

Read about Fabrangen's 36th Anniversary in an article published in the Washington Jewish Week on November 8, 2007.

Larry Garber wrote an essay about Fabrangen for the Nov. 12 New Israel Fund Newsletter.

Logo by Lloyd Wolf © 2007

More Fabrangen History - (PDF format)

• Miriam Feinberg's 1978 Master's Thesis: Fabrangen, A Jewish Communal Experience:
  Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

• Rob Agus's February 2, 2007 D'var Torah in honor of the Fabrangen 36th Anniversary

• FABRANGEN’S ROOTS: CONFRONTATION AND THEN RENEWAL - REMINISCENCES
  Panel Discussion on Saturday, November 10, 2007: Moderator Abby Bellows with Rabbis Harold White, David Shneyer, Arthur Waskow along with Chava Weissler and activist/farmer Michael Tabor
  Part I | Part II | Part III (Handouts prepared by Mike Tabor)

• Fabrangen & Friends Jewish Song Group - 2006

Pictures from Fabrangen's first song swap to share and teach songs and sip some coffee.

• Auction - 2006

Thanks from Fran Goldman & Deb Kolodny: "We had about 100 people in attendance, an incredible array of donated items, delicious food, fun entertainment, and we raised a significant amount money to support our community and even brought in one new member. We raised close to $6,000.

Retreat - 2005 Release, Redemption and Rebalancing: Living into the Jubilee Promise The 2005 Fabrangen retreat was a great success - Here are pictures by Lloyd Wolf of another great Havdalah Live! The originals of these pictures are large files that are very clear and crisp, but take up too much memory for our web server. If you see a picture you would love to have, please email Elena and she will send it to you. Thanks to Michael Pinck for creating this slide show!

• Torah Procession to WES - 2003

  On September 1, 2003, the Fabrangen Havurah moved from the Hillel building at George Washington University to the Washington Ethical Society building at 16th Street and Kalmia, NW. Members of the community participated in walking our two Torah scrolls to the new site. Members walked through Rock Creek Park and up 16th Street. Photos ©2003 by Lloyd Wolf.