Adat+Shalom+Reconstructionist+Congregation

**Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation**
Address: 7727 Persimmon Tree Lane, Bethesda MD 20817 Website: www.adatshalom.net Rabbi: Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb rabbifred@adatshalom.net Cantor: Hazzan Rachel Hersh Epstein cantorrachel@adatshalom.net Educational Director: Peggy Ephrath peggy.ephrath@adatshalom.net Contact for project information: Rabbi Fred (above) or Mat Tonti, matonti@yahoo.com
 * (Reconstructionist, near 500 households)**

Our community:
default mode, while the community leans toward socially & political liberal (yet is diverse)
 * draws from across the metropolitan Washington DC area, which poses both an opportunity & a challenge
 * is known for being warm & welcoming (with full vegetarian oneg lunch every shabbat for every attendee)
 * is proudly Reconstructionist, which we call 'maximalist progressive' -- so Yiddishkeit is the
 * has a strong ecological bent, which our LHIP program seeks to build upon
 * comprises about 500 households
 * is a lovely place to visit -- join us when you're in the DC area for a shabbat!

Our LHIP initiative, H2C2 (Honoring Our Holidays, Caring for Creation):
H2C2 End-of-Year Report -- for REPLICATION see pages 3, 5, 6, and 7; for quick description of what we've done lately see page 2; for outline of where we're taking H2C2 next year and beyond, even sans outside funding, see page 4:
 * As of early 2009 (our full LHIP application): [[file:Legacy Heritage Innovation Project Grant Proposal 2009-10 ASRC.doc]]
 * As of June 2009's LHIP seminar, we reflected on H2C2 this way: [[file:Adat Shalom LHIP 11-page overview.ppt]]
 * Our one-paragraph summation from elsewhere on this LHIP wiki reads as follows: "Through //"Honoring Our Holidays, Caring for Creation,"// a h oliday-based Jewish environmental initiative, Adat Shalom is augmenting its Shabbat-based educational program and uniting members of all ages and demographics for experiential, relevant learning opportunities according to the rhythm of the Jewish year. Congregants join in home and web-based offerings before and after each of the //shalosh regalim//, supported by major "field trips" in connection with each holiday, underscoring one eco-aspect of the //chag//: e.g., an aquarium for Sukkot in light of its many water themes; an urban environmental justice tour for Pesach to consider the interconnection of social and ecological concerns; and a mountain hike for Shavuot. Additionally, the congregation is developing a "//mishnah// garden" on its grounds, tended by all congregants, for tactile teaching of the agricultural rhythms and realities embedded in Jewish holidays and texts. "
 * H2C2 Mid-Year Report -- including description of our Sukkot initiative: [[file:LHIP Adat Shalom final report (June 2010).doc]]
 * H2C2 Renewal Application (early March 2010, including description of Mishnah Garden):

Educational Documents:

 * Rosh Hashanah Sermon, "Mayim & Chayim: the Spiritual Ecology of Water," introducing many H2C2 Sukkot themes: [[file:ASRC FSD RH 2009 Water Sermon.doc]]
 * "Self-Guided Sukkot-at-the-National-Aquarium Tour" -- Debuted on Oct 4, 2009 -- we're really excited about this one! : [[file:Aquarium Sukkot 2009 ASRC LHIP H2C2 Handout.pdf]]
 * See also <<< http://h2c2.wordpress.com/sukkot/ >>> for a series of online activities, suggestions, resources, and conversations connected to our first set of activities, Sukkot 2009
 * "Early Notes Toward a Synagogue Mishnah Garden" -- Newsletter article, January 2010 [[file:Introducing the Mishnah Garden -- 2009 12-15, for Jan '10 Newsletter.doc]]
 * "Pesach and Plagues, Eco-Justice and Hard Hearts, Bethesda and Anacostia"
 * "Lag B'Omer in the (where else?!) Great Outdoors" (to be added May 2010)
 * "Shavuot in the (where else?!) Mountains" (to be added May 2011)

Initially, H2C2 entails a series of programs around the //shalosh regalim//, or three pilgrimage festivals of Sukkot, Pesach, and Shavout. Thousands of years ago these were the times when Jews from all over came to the Temple in Jerusalem for prayer, ritual practice, and partying; we now renew them as times when Adat Shalomers join together for study, celebration, and sustainability! Along with pre- and post-//chag// offerings, we’ll match up an eco-theme with each holiday, and with its observance: Ø For **Sukkot**, a holiday with many water associations, we’ll visit downtown DC’s aquarium (Sunday Oct. 4th), to explore water and rain and life together. Ø //On// Sukkot, as always, we’ll gather by Village and at shul in our outdoor sukkot to shake our lulavs, and enjoy each others’ company. Ø Before **Pesach** -- a //chag// commemorating the escape of poor and oppressed Israelites from a society imploding, via ‘natural’ plagues, from its own hard-hardedness – we’ll take an urban “environmental justice tour (Sunday March 21st). Ø //On// Pesach we’ll have our own sedarim as always, enriched this year by the resources we’ll share and the questions we’ll have raised. Ø Before **Shavuot**, each year, comes Lag B’Omer, a day of outdoor celebration – this year conveniently on a Sunday (May 2nd) – and we’ll celebrate outdoors all right, in the hills, getting ready to recall Mount Sinai and revelation. Ø // On // Shavuot, some of us always stay up late studying Torah; this year we’ll have an intentionally intergenerational sweet celebration of sacred sustainability.
 * Overview of our Year One 'H2C2' holiday-environmental-education initiative (from 7/09 newsletter):

Evaluation:

 * Link to "baseline" survey from 10/09: []
 * Summary of baseline survey and Sukkot H2C2 evaluation, available by request (rabbifred@adatshalom.net)

Publicity/Marketing:

 * Newsletter article (7/09) outlining our H2C2 Initiative: [[file:nwsltr 2009 07 LHIP-H2C2 (final).doc]]
 * Flyer for our first round of activities, Sukkot 2009, showing a minyan of ways to plug in: [[file:Flyer H2C2.pdf]]
 * (to be added)

Systemic Congregational Change:

 * Newsletter article (5/09) outlining our "CE21" participation (fully enabled by LHIP!): [[file:Nwsltr 2009 05 Studying Torah Equals Them All - CE21.doc]]
 * "Visionary Description" of Learning at Adat Shalom, via our CE21 process -- this is the product of our first year of community-wide reflection on where we are and where we want to go; it describes what we hope folks' experience will be in a few years, after we've begun designing (and redesigning!) our educational program to get us there: [still in draft form; final version coming by end of December] [[file:Adat Shalom's CE21 visionary description 12-17-09.docx]]
 * CE21 Update (to be added)