B'nai Israel Congregation

Help us deliver Passover packages to seniors in the Rockville area. Contact Signe Wetrogan (signe0420@verizon.net) for more information.

$36 for members; $50 for nonmembers Learn the art and logic of chanting Haftarah! This is a practical skills-focused class that will culminate with an opportunity to chant Haftarah at shul on a Shabbat morning. Open to students at all levels.

Join your friends in Kindergarten-5th Grade for a fun afternoon of ice skating!

A new year and a new tractate of Talmud! Join us to study Tractate Berakhot which includes a comprehensive discussion of the Shema and Amidah, the essential components of the prayer service. Newcomers are more than welcome to join us. No prior knowledge is necessary.

People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn A startling and profound exploration of how Jewish history is exploited to comfort the living. Horn reflects on subjects as far-flung as the international veneration of Anne Frank, the mythology that Jewish family names were changed at Ellis Island, the blockbuster traveling exhibition Auschwitz, the marketing of the Jewish history of Harbin, China, and the little-known life of the "righteous Gentile" Varian Fry.

Digging Homer: The Mycenaean Palace at Iklaina & Birth of Greek Epic Poetry Michael Cosmopoulos, University of Missouri-St. Louis For thousands of years Homer’s Iliad has remained the classic tale of love, honor, and war. Exciting archaeological discoveries in the past 150 years have unearthed the great palaces of the Homeric heroes and revived the fascinating society of the Mycenaeans. In antiquity itself, and in our memory of antiquity, the great palaces at Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, and Troy stand at the crossroads between myths and historical reality. The world of the Mycenaeans still holds many surprises. Recent excavations at the site of Iklaina have brought to light one of the capitals of the Mycenaean state of Pylos. Massive Cyclopean structures, monumental buildings decorated with beautiful wall paintings, advanced urban infrastructure, and the earliest known records of state bureaucracy challenge current knowledge about the origins and operation of Mycenaean states. These findings allow us a glimpse into previously unknown aspects of the Homeric epics. In this illustrated lecture Professor Cosmopoulos will present the exciting archaeological discoveries at Iklaina and discuss their significance for the historical foundation of Homer’s epics. How to Access the BAF/BASONOVA Zoom Lecture Series If you wish to subscribe to the lecture series, please access the BASONOVA PayPal portal and use a credit card for an annual subscription ($35 per family). Go to: http://www.basonova.org/ membership-form.html It is also possible to access the series one lecture at a time, for $7 per lecture. To reserve your single-lecture Zoom spot for this event, go to: http://www.basonova.org/ next-lecture-reservation.html Questions: info@basonova.org

Celebrate our freedom with B’nai Israel at this congregational seder, led by Cantor Josh Perlman. A traditional, lively, and song-filled seder will include a delicious meal and the greatest humor of our very own Cantor Josh. Pricing and additional details to be announced. Subject to change based on COVID protocols.