Intro

Introduction Temple Micah has always been our home. For years after it was founded in 1963, the congregation remained small and tight knit and we acted like an extended family, celebrating holidays and life cycle events together and pitching in to teach in the coop religious school and work in the office. Because everybody knew…

The Living History Team

The Living History Team Top to bottom, left to right: David Diskin, project coordinator and web site designer Shelley Grossman – head writer Stu Schwartz – interviewer/videographer Jennifer Gruber – interviewer/videographer, choir recording Francie Schwartz – historical researcher Leslie Sewell – interviewer/videographer

Staff

Staff Even a do-it-yourself synagogue needs office space and someone to do the administrative work. In 1967, when Rabbi Bernard H.Mehlman came on board four years after the creation of the temple, an office was set up in his family’s basement, which turned out to be inconvenient for everyone involved. So, it wasn’t long before…

Education: History and Evolution

Before there was a rabbi, even before there was a temple, there was Micah education. As founding member Betty Ustun remembers it, four families living in Southwest, DC, “thought they should have religious education for their children. That’s how we got started.” Jewish education for adults as well as children has remained central throughout Temple…

Temple Officers

Temple Officers Serving on the Temple Micah Board of Directors has always been hard work. The policy-making body is just that–policy-making. In partnership with the rabbis, the board sets the tone, direction and substance of the congregation. Just like the no-plaques rule which refuses to honor wealthy members just because they are able to donate…

Social Justice

Social Justice (Tzedek) From its earliest days in the 1960s, Temple Micah has been guided by a deep commitment to social justice. Early newsletters announced meetings on civil rights, called on members to tutor at-risk students in the Southwest DC neighborhood where the congregation began, participated in community-wide social justice projects, and took an active…