B'nai Israel Congregation

Help us deliver Passover packages to senior residents in the Rockville and Leisure World areas. The program chair will be handing out the packages and names and addresses of recipients in the B’nai Israel parking lot in the morning. In the past, volunteers have delivered 5 to 7 packages. We ask that all deliveries be done before noon that day. Contact Signe Wetrogan (signe0420@verizon.net, 301-384-2994) for information and to volunteer.

This school-wide program includes music, rituals, and a creative experience for all students in grades K–6.

Netta Asner-Minster our shlicha will lead a discussion on the history and future of the Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Netta will be hosting Aviva Mangisto, an Israeli Ethiopian Jew, who will share her family story and experiences as well as the unique Ethiopian culture. Cosponsored by Sisterhood.

Grab your yummy chocolate and have a delicious chocolate seder with all your Bonim and Machar friends.

Looking for something new and different for your Passover seder this year? Our award-winning Blumberg-Zalis Family Library is thrilled to offer the following hours during the pre-Pesah season to allow our members to check out a selection of haggadot, books, Passover cookbooks, and other resources, for all age groups, to enhance your celebration of Passover this year. Contact our librarian, Jill Gendelman, with questions (bnailibrary@bnaiisraelcong.org). You can also preorder your selections by using our online catalog: http://birockville.mysurpass.net. Search key words, such as: Passover, Pesach, seder, Haggadah. Anything you choose can be saved to your bookbag and printed. Send your list to bnailibrary@bnaiisraelcong.org and your selections will be ready for pick-up.

Students will explore the deeper meanings behind Passover as they delve into the Haggadah.

Memory is a central element in defining modern Jewish identity. As we look to Israel's future, we need to engage anew with our past and explore its meanings and consequences. Through the consideration of major historic moments, this Hartman iEngage series grapples with the different ideas and values that shape the meaning of Modern Israel, Zionism, and Jewish identity today. This innovative course explores the pivotal events of 1947 and 1967 - following the 1917 Balfour Declaration - as key moments when Zionism unleashed new thinking about the meaning of Jewishness for generations to come. The course engages Jews in an open and pluralistic discussion about issues of Jewish identity, peoplehood, ethics and theology as they relate to nationhood, land, sovereignty, Jerusalem, occupation, and moral red lines.

Prepare for Passover by putting your hametz to good use. Donate your food items to Project Manna before Passover to help fulfill the mitzvah of giving tzedakah to those in need. For questions, contact Signe Wetrogan.

Looking for something new and different for your Passover seder this year? Our award-winning Blumberg-Zalis Family Library is thrilled to offer the following hours during the pre-Pesah season to allow our members to check out a selection of haggadot, books, Passover cookbooks, and other resources, for all age groups, to enhance your celebration of Passover this year. Contact our librarian, Jill Gendelman, with questions (bnailibrary@bnaiisraelcong.org). You can also preorder your selections by using our online catalog: http://birockville.mysurpass.net. Search key words, such as: Passover, Pesach, seder, Haggadah. Anything you choose can be saved to your bookbag and printed. Send your list to bnailibrary@bnaiisraelcong.org and your selections will be ready for pick-up.

Bedikat hametz, or “the search for leavened bread,” typically takes place the night before Erev Passover. When Passover falls on Saturday night, as it does this year, we search on Thursday evening. The search for leavened bread takes place this year on Thursday evening, March 25, after sunset. Members of the family, equipped with a lighted candle, go from room to room gathering crumbs of bread to ensure that the house has been cleansed of all hametz. Many families have a custom of hiding pieces of bread in order to guarantee that something may be found. On Saturday, March 27th (Erev Passover), hametz cannot be eaten after 10:45 AM. Hametz is to be destroyed by 11:59 AM. No hametz is to be consumed after that time, for the duration of the holiday.

The “fast of the first born” typically takes place on Erev Passover, and a first born is made exempt from this fast by participating in a celebration of learning, a siyyum. This year, when Erev Passover falls on Shabbat, the Fast of the First Born is moved to Thursday so as to maintain the joyous nature of Shabbat. To attend the service and siyyum in person, please email Allison Karasik (allison@bnaiisraelcong.org). You can also participate by Zoom at www.bnaiisraelcong.org/dailyminyan.

Passover requires preparation! Once we clear all of the hametz from our homes we complete a ritual search for any crumbs and pieces left behind. Bedikat hametz, or the search for leavened bread, typically takes place the night before Erev Passover. When Passover falls on Saturday night, we do the search on Thursday evening.