Weinblatt elected JFNA chair

As a young, newly ordained rabbi in the mid-1980s, the chance to try and save Ethiopian Jewry left a profound and lasting impact on Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt.

"We were presented with the opportunity to do something that the generation before us either couldn't or didn't do, and that was to try and rescue a Jewish community," says Weinblatt, now senior rabbi at Congregation B'nai Tzedek, a Conservative synagogue in Potomac. "I saw firsthand that the words of our sages came alive: All of Israel is responsible for one another."

While that experience helped to shape his understanding of the importance of Klal Israel, he says it also strengthened his belief in the importance of the work of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).

Thunder on the Mall - Bikers rally for Shalit

It was impossible to ignore the chest-thudding, eye-popping, ear-blasting spectacle of tens of thousands of motorcycles slowly making their way from the Pentagon parking lot to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in the District on Sunday afternoon.

Since its inception in 1988, the annual Rolling Thunder demonstration has become a Memorial Day weekend tradition, seeking to raise awareness of the plight of prisoners of war and those missing in action from America's wars. On Sunday, the thunderers gained a few more riders, although their focus was a missing soldier from elsewhere - Israel to be exact. The newcomers made their way from the Israeli Embassy to join the processional and raise awareness about Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit. Now 24, Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas at his army post in Israel nearly five years ago on June 25, 2006.

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.