Early Days There is general agreement that Temple Micah was started in 1963 by a few families in Southwest Washington, DC. But the memories of the earliest members differ on the precise circumstances and reasons for its founding. To have a nearby place to observe the High Holy days, says one. To provide a religious…
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Just Having Fun Together
Just Having Fun Together As Temple Micah has always been a community and not just a place of worship, its members have enjoyed getting together to do many things—learning, working on projects, raising money. Most of these activities have a fun component. The primary purpose of the Kallot, for example, was learning but participants also…
A Home of Our Own
A Home of Our Own For the first few years after Temple Micah was born in 1963, services, religious school and other activities took place at various venues in the southwest neighborhood of Washington, DC. Although it began to hold worship services exclusively at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church at 6th and M St., SW, in…
Raising Money
Raising Money Fund raising drives are probably as old as synagogues and Temple Micah has had its share—including two major capital campaigns, one to build its home on Wisconsin Avenue and another to expand that building. And, of course, the synagogue has a dues structure and encourages members to make donations for a variety of…
Our Rabbis
Our Rabbis The Southwest Hebrew Congregation hired Bernard H. Mehlman, its first full time rabbi, in 1967, four years after its founding. Prior to that, the fledgling congregation had relied on Rabbi Richard Hirsch, the director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center in Washington, and rabbis from other cities who happened to be visiting…
Sharing the News
Sharing the News In the days before the digital revolution, Temple Micah relied on the telephone and the post office to maintain regular communication within the community. The telephone was the instrument to get out urgent news: last minute change of plans, weather emergencies, or the then blessedly rare occasion of a death in the…
Worship
Worship What would become Temple Micah held its first High Holy Day services in 1963 at the Bethel Pentecostal Church in Southwest Washington. Rabbi Martin Cohen, a professor at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform rabbinical seminary in New York, conducted the worship, using a conservative prayer book. According to the incipient…
Listening Campaign
The Listening Campaign On Rosh Hashanah in 2010, Rabbi Esther Lederman gave a sermon about “listening projects” that congregations around the country were undertaking to, among other things, discover congregational needs that were going unmet. She initiated a series of community conversations to discover issues that members felt strongly about and identify broadly held concerns,…
Micah Art
Art Work This is a slide show of Micah art works. Use the white arrows on the right or left side to scroll through it.
Micah Love Connection
The Micah Love Connection When Temple Micah was young, so were most of its members. Also single. So, not infrequently, love happened and marriage followed. For example, Sid Booth and Elka Fargotstein—perhaps the first Micah couple—met in 1967 while stuffing envelopes for a temple mailing. They married in 1968. Others met at the singles brunches…