The Jewish state for all tastes - Israel's birthday bash in D.C., Fairfax, Rockville

Mindful of the wide range of viewpoints on the political situation in Israel today, organizers of the Washington area's largest Israel-centric gathering of the year were faced with a challenge: How to present a picture of the Jewish state that is vibrant, compelling - and honest. The chief goal of this weekend's Israel@63 celebration (which takes place in three locations, and is expected to draw some 6,000 attendees) is to celebrate Israeli achievements and strengthen the connection of the local Jewish community to Israel.

The guiding principles [for planning the event] were diversity without division, complexity within consensus. We want to push the envelope without rocking the boat.

March Madness meets Maccabi Games

A national collegiate basketball champion was crowned Sunday at the University of Maryland, College Park, but it wasn't the Terrapins.

Nor was it the NCAA tournament that produced the champ. Rather, it was a hybrid of sorts -- March Madness meets the Maccabi Games, the first-ever National Hillel Basketball Tournament, held at U.Md.'s Ritchie Coliseum before hundreds of cheering fans. Nearly 250 players from 28 colleges around the country made up the 24 men's teams and the seven women's teams that competed in the tournament, which began Saturday night after Shabbat and concluded Sunday afternoon.

Bringing change to symbols on the seder plate

Regardless of the design or designer -- renowned artist or artistic child -- one thing remains the same for each seder plate: a designated placeholder for each of the traditional food items necessary for telling the Passover story.

For a holiday that commands Jews to remember the ancient Israelites’ exodus from slavery to freedom, are we free to adapt these food items to tell our own stories?

The diversity derby - Day at the races for Jewish, Muslim scouts

The secret behind Jared Johnson's race car? He has a tiny Lego glued to the rear of its 5-ounce chasis.

"It's very stealthy," the 9-year-old Fairfax resident said of the vehicle that took him almost four days to build from a small block of wood.

Even though Johnson did not come in first, the race itself - the Interfaith Pinewood Derby - was a precedent-setting event in the Washington area, bringing together Jewish and Muslim Cub Scouts to compete and build friendships in an updated version of this traditional scouting exercise.

Passover long and short - How late does your seder go?

Passover is famous for its fours. There are four sons, four cups of wine and four questions. But an unofficial fifth question has some Jews asking after the sedarim: On those nights, how late did you go?

Marilyn Fine, a Jewish educator in Silver Spring, says that among her friends and acquaintances, there is usually a hint of friendly competition to see whose seder lasted the longest. At her home, she proudly answers, it can last up to five and a half hours -- or about the time it takes to fly from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles.

The key ingredient, however, isn't an unofficial fifth glass of wine (or six or seven). It is the rich dinner table discussions, explains Fine, 59.

Kingsley reflects on Shoah-themed roles

In the opening scene of the 1989 autobiographical film Murderers Among Us, Simon Wiesenthal staggers to the ground, clutching sketches of the atrocities he witnessed inside the newly liberated Mauthausen concentration camp.

For Sir Ben Kingsley, the acclaimed British actor born Krishna Pandit Bhanji, playing the famed Jewish Nazi hunter, was both a privilege and a responsibility.

Majoring in good deeds - Listening 101 a required course at Sh'ma U

B'nai Shalom of Olney became a one-stop-shop of Jewish learning, good deeds and loving-kindness Sunday morning as the shul underwent its annual transformation into Sh'ma University, a multifaceted program that attracted more than 250 participants.

Delivering the event's opening remarks, California-based author and rabbi, Naomi Levy, one of Newsweek's 50 most influential rabbis, said: "The most important part of what sh'ma means is that we have to listen and pay attention and understand that God has a job for us ... to be God's helper [and] make this world a better place."