I went to nursery school and Hebrew school at Har Shalom. I was Bar Mitzvahed here…read more I love our building. It is truly beautiful. Our sanctuaries and social hall are amazing. Our community has always been a very welcoming place. One Yelper Ana wrote about concerns about Rabbi Raskin. I share her concerns. The Rabi does not like to meet with people regardless of whether or not they're of his faith. I was in an awful car accident, through the fault of another driver, and am truly blessed to be alive, The Rabbi did not return my calls and would not meet with me in my home as I recovered despite my attempts to contact him. He finally called when I left a message for somebody else telling them how disappointed I was. The rabbi still would not meet with me despite my home being less than a mile from our synagogue and walkable for any healthy person. This was well before Corona. Months later, it is easily walkable for me. Why would I want to meet with such a clergyman? I saw an Orthodox Jew wearing a Yamika on the street and he gladly said the Mishaberach with me, when my Rabbi would not. I hope this review motivates the Rabbi to change the way he does his job for the good of our synagogue community.

Our family has had such an overwhelmingly positive experience at the Sherman Early Childhood Center…read moreand Congregation Har Shalom over the past few years. We feel so very fortunate to have found this beautiful place and could not recommend this unique community more highly to other families. The Sherman ECC at Har Shalom: We did a lot of research into the various preschool options in the Potomac-Rockville-Bethesda area before we found the Sherman ECC. This preschool is a magical place, a life-changing experience for your family and your child. We feel such an overwhelming amount of gratitude to the extraordinary teachers at the Sherman ECC for their dedication to our children. Beth Hoch is the Director of the Sherman ECC and she is simply spectacular. Beth has a genuine gift for educating young children and interacting with families. We interviewed dozens of preschool directors when we were researching the preschools in the area, and Beth truly stood out as someone inherently gifted in her role as Director of the ECC. Congregation Har Shalom: After joining the Sherman ECC, we started attending community events and prayer services at the Har Shalom synagogue. We had the same fabulous experience at the synagogue. Rabbi Adam Raskin fosters a true sense of community and friendship throughout the synagogue and his sermons are genuinely interesting and accessible to people at all levels of religious observance. He is also very approachable: the kids run up to him during services for a chocolate or many chocolates, he walks around shaking hands with congregants, and he also visits with everyone individually after prayer services. The prayer services and other community events are often also led by Cantor Henrique Ozur Bass, another spectacular member of the Har Shalom clergy. Cantor Ozur Bass is extremely approachable, supportive, kind, friendly and funny. It has been such an absolute pleasure to participate in his prayer services over the past few years. He leads the children in singing Jewish songs and melodies every Friday morning, and we used to love attending as a family before COVID. Rabbi Rachel Simmons recently joined the synagogue and has done a nice job with holding events that young families can attend, from rockin' Shabbat to ice cream socials to Yoga Shabbat.

Machar is my home! After being schooled in Reform Judaism, saying words I didn't really believe in,…read moreI found myself in a congregation that not only respects a variety of views, but also encourages logical thinking-- all in the pursuit of our common goals: to make sense of our place on earth so that we can do tikkan olum , we can repair the world and have fun at the same time. Machar is my home!

My wife and I joined Machar because we want our daughters to experience Jewish life, but we are not…read morecomfortable with a lot of the traditional theistic prayers. Machar's perfect for us, and the new rabbi, Nehama Benmosche, is energetic, thoughtful, and great with kids. (Full disclosure: I was until recently a board member of Machar.)

We have been members for over 3 years now and since day one, have always felt welcome in Shaare…read moreTorah. I recall on our first Shabbat how we were welcomed warmly before we ever got into the sanctuary and it gave us a sense of warmth and acceptance that has only grown since. We now have a new, vibrant, energetic young rabbi who is inspirational and conversational. He wants to know who you are so he can be the spiritual leader you need him to be for "you" as well as for the rest of the community. You will always feel safe and never alone in this synagogue from a security as well as a "family" point of view. Whether you become a member or not is up to you. This synagogue will embrace you whenever you are ready because you will always feel safe be special when you are in that building. Reach out and you will not be disappointed.

We love Shaare Torah! We've been members for about 2 years. Our daughter is in religious school and…read morewe've been very happy with their dedication to high quality Jewish education. We love Rabbis Annie and Yosef. They bring a fun, youthful, but enriching presence to services. This is such a gem and we really recommend it to anyone looking for a welcoming, vibrant Conservative shul.

I went to Washington Hebrew Congregation for the last two years of my Hebrew school career…read more See, in my household, you have a choice, whether you want to continue studying Hebrew after being Bar Mitzvah'ed. So... yes, I didn't do that... continue studying Hebrew. Really, it was for one reason, and one reason only. I would have loved to learn how to speak the language. I've always been fascinated with linguistics and languages. It's because when you're in Hebrew school, all your learning is prayers that you will have to say at your Bar Mitzvah. You're not really learning what the prayers mean. So, why did I give Washington Hebrew 4 stars. I think it did an adequate job of preparing me for Bar Mitzvah. Plus the facility is beautiful. The school itself is very open and pretty and well maintained. The parking lot is huge, it's in a nice neighborhood, and I can't remember having a bad teacher there. I remember learning how to saw Hebrew words, and learning how to read Hebrew prayers, but not much else. I always remember I thought it was weird that all the teachers would speak English to one another... why wern't they speaking Hebrew? It was Hebrew SCHOOL after all! Immerse us in the language peoples!

Our son goes to Washington Hebrew Congregation's Rabbi Joseph Weinberg Early Childhood Center…read more(RJWECC). We looked around the area for pre-schools for my son and though we found a few that are very good option, once we visited this school, it was an easy decision to go wit RJWECC. The teachers, the facility, the administrative staff, all were leagues ahead of the other places on our list. My son has been going to RJWECC for some time now and I still stand by our decision to pick this pre-school for him.

MoEd is good. Ecc is decent. Good shul though. Nice people and a very good E-galitarian service.read more

Ohr Kodesh is a warm and open place. They have tons of great family and kid events and resources…read more The early childhood center is one of the best in Maryland.

So much of our time in secular Washington DC is consumed in the accumulation of visible…read moreachievements, and it's by those externalities that we are judged and measured. How we make a living, our financial and professional rank, how many boards we sit on, what we've published, where we live, where our kids go to school, where we vacation, and on and on--these are the externalities that largely govern the relationships we form. We go to Tifereth Israel to lay down those embellishments, and be more truly ourselves, in the company of people who have embraced lives of meaning and engagement. Simply show up to morning services (even if you don't care for services, just be patient and hang there a couple of times), and then stay for the Kiddush and talk and listen to people. You do that often enough, then you'll notice over time that you've begun to form deep, lasting, values-driven, and authentic relationships that sustain and nourish you in a way that you rarely, if ever, find in the secular world. Yes, Tifereth Israel checks the other boxes: the rabbi is phenomenally talented, services are mostly lay-led and intellectually challenging, the congregation is extremely LGBTQ-friendly, there are several active social-action initiatives, it's got a ton of young families with children, and a vibrant education program serves kids and adults. But the main asset at TI that you can't have anywhere else? It's the people.

Conservative. Very…read morefriendly and inviting. Medium sized. Simpler (less jappy) than other DC shuls.

A wonderful Congregation. Two great Rabbis, two cantorial soloists. One is the founder of the…read morewell known Klezmer group Lox and Vodka. Reform Congregation and very inclusive. There are many mixed marraige families who attend and all feel comfortable.

Saturday night Trio Sefardi presenting La Nona Kanta, the remarkable life of Flory Jagoda. This…read morelive music venue offered history of the musical instruments used, the translation of the lyrics and wonderful harmony.

My wife and I found Adat Shalom when we were synagogue shopping prior to becoming parents. When we…read moremet the community, and the young rabbi at the time, Sid Schwarz, we knew there was no question, this was the right place for us. I personally loved the work of the social action committee like Sukkot in April, the principles that Reconstructionism stands for like ordaining LGBT rabbis, and ultimately a great place to raise my family -- where they felt connected to something much bigger. This Community is blessed with a diverse group of incredibly smart and good people.