Temple Shalom contains numerous chavurah, groups and communities of people - spending time together based on shared interests. A complete list of committees shows all the ways you can participate.

Take advantage of being part of our community and join a group!

Read all about the Brotherhood at Temple Shalom, which provides services to the Temple through Jewish men by promoting a sense of fellowship and camaraderie among its membership. Brotherhood fosters education and cultural understanding; all men are welcomed to join us at any event throughout the year.

Read all about the Sisterhood at Temple Shalom, which provides services to the Temple through Jewish women by promoting a sense of fellowship and camaraderie among its membership. Sisterhood fosters education and cultural understanding; all women are welcomed to join us at any event throughout the year.

Our Temple Shalom Book Club is back for its twelfth year. Join Mona Ellis and Stu Bassin for lively discussions of quality books. The session runs from 9:00-10:30 am (during the early session of religious school) with bagels and coffee. Drop your kids off at Sunday School and join us for an engaging discussion! (There is no charge for participation.)

On Sunday, May 16th from 10:00 - 11:30 AM, please join us for a lively discussion of The Jew of Home Depot by Max Apple: a collection of 13 delightful short stories that often star Jews. The disparate characters celebrate serendipity and the daily collision of cultures that makes up contemporary American life.

All Book Club meetings will be held at Temple Shalom from 9:15 AM to 10:45 AM

Sunday, October 3, 2010
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay: Julia Jarmond, American by birth but married to a Parisian, is assigned to write about the 60th anniversary of the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations of Jews to Auschwitz. Julia learns that the apartment she plans to move into was acquired by her husband’s family when its Jewish occupants were deported. The more Julia investigates, the more she uncovers about the apartment’s former occupants, her husband’s family, France and, finally herself. Hard to put down.

Sunday, December 12, 2010
My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq by Ariel Sabar: Following the birth of his son in 2002, Sabar, an investigative reporter at the Baltimore Sun, seeks to understand his father, a Kurdish Jew from a remote village in Iraq. His father is now a UCLA professor teaching his native Aramaic. A tale of hope and continuity.

Sunday, February 6, 2011
The Cantor’s Daughter by Scott Nadelson: Eight stories that capture New Jersey Jewish suburbanites at moments of crucial transitions. The characters tend to have one foot inside American culture and another inside Jewish culture. The stories are engaging, compelling and involve complex characters.

Sunday, March 27, 2011
Triangle: The Fire that Changed America by David von Drehle: An immense, moving tale of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. 2011 is the 100th anniversary of the tragedy which encompasses the immigrant (Jewish) experience, factory workers, unions and the positive things that came out of this tragedy.

Sunday, May 15, 2011
Day After Night by Anita Diamant: A woman’s narrative of a real event that took place in Israel three years prior to statehood. In this novel, four young women of varied backgrounds are being held in the Atlit Detention Camp set up by the British to cut off Jewish immigration to Palestine. On October 9, 1945, the girls help stage a breakout from the British camp, followed by a night trek in the Carmel Mountains to a kibbutz where a miracle takes place at dawn.

Do you or someone you know in our Temple Shalom Community need help? We're here: call the Temple office (301-587-CARE) or Rabbi Feshbach (301-587-2273 / rabbifeshbach@templeshalom.net) or our Mitzvah Corps at wilmabr@verizon.net.

The Tsedek Committee is the place where Temple Shalom families connect to Judaism’s historic commitment to Tikkun Olam (Repair of the World) and Gimilut Chasadim (Acts of Loving Kindness). It is through the Tsedek Committee that temple members work to achieve a goal common to Jews everywhere: Bringing humanity a few steps closer to the day when poverty and war are banished, and injustice and hate are gone.

The Worship Committee considers the best way to organize Temple services - when they are offered, to whom they are targeted, what kind of prayerbooks we use, etc. If you have thoughts about these issues, please contact Marty Shargel at zugmere@msn.com.

Read all about the Renaissance Group, which supports Temple members over 50 years of age — those folks whose children are no longer in the religious school and who want to join other members in a variety of activities involving theater, museums, etc., and, of course, dining experiences.