Am Kolel - Welcome

We are very grateful for your support in sustaining Am Kolel's many programs and services.

Through our Judaic Resource Center we continue to guide hundreds of families with life cycle events from birth through death. Three rabbis, two cantors, a rabbinic pastor (chaplain) and a spiritual director are on call 24/7 to respond to your needs.

Our Sanctuary Retreat Center, guided by Gilah Rosner, has been a delight for so many who come for Open Shabbes, Jewish Renewal Weekends, and other retreats. Our Gene Lipman Acre Plus Garden continues to provide organically grown vegetables to two shelters. This summer we celebrated the 8th session of our Martin Buber Youth Kibbutz with 16 teenagers. We also hosted, for the first time, a Leadership Training Institute for the Latin American Youth Center.

We offer regular Shabbat and holidays services and gatherings, as well as opportunities for learning. This past year we nurtured a new monthly “Children's Minyan” in Takoma Park . Most recently we held our first Am Kolel D.C. Shabbat dinner and Oneg and will soon gather for a Hanukah Party.

The promotion of Jewish arts and culture is central to out mission. Recently, more than 200 attended the Jewish Folk Arts Festival Kumsitz. Later this month we celebrate Hanukah with our 5th Annual Hanukah Human Rights Concert featuring Palestinian artist Saz and local duo, Emma's Revolution! Building on the success of Shtel Fest at Sanctuary we are planning another for this Spring.

We continue to be very engaged in social justice/human rights work, interfaith dialogue and environmental efforts. Through our Tzedakah and Peace Funds, we help support groups like Heartbeat Jerusalem, Rabbis for Human Rights, Seeds of Peace, American Jewish World Service, Just Vision, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Tar Sands Action, Occupy DC, Manna Food Center, Jews United for Justice, Mary House, the Montgomery Countryside Alliance and many others.

This past summer we organized our first Dual Narrative Mission to Israel/Palestine. We hope to plan another trip for 2012. Let us know if you are interested.

Of course, we continue to support efforts to release Am Kolel member, Alan Gross, from a Cuban prison. Weekly vigils, coordinated by the JCRC, now take place to bear witness for him. Reb David visited with Alan this past October. We must also urge our own government to do more to seek his release.

We have engaged Rodger Kamenetz, author of The Jew in the Lotus and a new work on Nachman of Bratslav and Franz Kafka, for our March 2012 Renewal Weekend. We are also planning an Am Kolel Community Seder. The Maalot Hebrew Language and Jewish Culture Immersion Institute for adults is also in the works as well as a Rt. 28 Senior Activity Center .

How we manage to do all this is a mystery. It takes a lot of work by a small staff and dedicated volunteers. Maura Gost does amazing work as our administrative manager. Jossie Lerner does a great job keeping our books.

Your support is essential, in both a material and spiritual sense. Thanks to the Wagner family we were able to add another part-time program person to our staff, Yonina Foster. Our operating costs have grown. The damage done by the earthquake this past summer has forced us to dig into our reserves. Membership dues and income from retreats and events do not do it alone. We need you to make the difference this time of the year.

Please use the form available on the link below so we can make sure your contribution is properly recorded. Or if you’d prefer, you can make a donation online using the designated link below. Contributions of stock are also welcome. Consider a major gift of $500 or more as a Naming Opportunity.

May the Lights of Hanukah and this season continue to give us hope and blessings,

DONATE ONLINE or BY MAIL .

To donate by mail, please click here for the form you may print out and mail with your check.

For secure online donations, click here.