The Davis Center for Social Justice

Thanksgiving Bag Project
2025-11-16 08:30 - 13:00 UTC
Join our annual tradition of providing tikkun olam for needy families! Help us put together Thanksgiving bags full of food and grocery store gift cards that we will give to several non-profits* for distribution. We need volunteers to pick up groceries, unload groceries and/or help fill the Thanksgiving bags with other Temple Sinai families.
Please note: This project is best suited for adults and for children 8+ if volunteering with their parent (please register). Younger children (ages 5+) can also participate by decorating cards to go in the bags (no registration required for card making; parents should plan to supervise their children). Please note that the playground will not be open during the program.
You can also participate by donating towards the cost of this program. To support the program, please donate here. (Please enter “Thanksgiving” in the payment notes).
As part of this project, we are also collecting boxes of mac and cheese! Bring your boxes to the collection bin in the member lounge (by the security desk) between November 2 – 16.
*Organizations receiving baskets include The Family Place, Wheatley Education Campus, Sinai House, Roosevelt High School, A Wider Circle, and Highland Elementary School.
Please register in advance HERE

Serve with Sinai: A Wider Circle
2025-11-20 10:00 - 12:00, 2025-12-18 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-01-15 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-02-19 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-03-19 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-04-16 10:00 - 12:00 UTC
Volunteer at A Wider Circle (9159 Brookville Road in Silver Spring) on the third Thursday of each month, 10 am – 12 pm with your fellow members – all congregants are invited to join. Lunch is not included in this program but those interested in going to Parkway Deli afterwards are more than welcome!
If you have questions, please contact Jim Jaffe or Ed Cohen.
Register

Serve with Sinai: So Others Might Eat
2025-11-23 06:30 - 09:30, 2025-12-28 06:30 - 09:30, 2026-01-25 06:30 - 09:30, 2026-02-22 06:30 - 09:30, 2026-03-22 06:30 - 09:30 UTC
Join other Temple Sinai volunteers in serving breakfast at So Others Might Eat (71 O Street, NW) on the 4th Sunday of the month from 6:30am – 9:30am – all congregants are invited to join! Please register at least a week in advance. We have a limited number of volunteer slots and they sometimes fill up. *Once signed up, you will receive instructions for how to register as a volunteer with SOME.
​If you have questions, please contact Wendy Kahn at wlkahn44@gmail.com.
REGISTER

Serve with Sinai: DC Diaper Bank
2025-12-09 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-02-10 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-03-24 10:00 - 12:00 UTC
Volunteer alongside your fellow congregants while repacking and bundling diapers for the DC Diaper Bank’s clients. You will meet at the DC Diaper Bank warehouse (8860 Monard Drive).
Register

Volunteer Info Session: Washington English Center
2025-12-09 19:30 - 20:30 UTC
Want to help immigrants and refugees? Learn about the English language and workforce programs at the Washington English Center. By volunteering just a couple hours a week, you can make a real impact. There are opportunities to volunteer virtually and with other temple members. Join us on Zoom to learn more!
Zoom link provided upon registration

MLK Mitzvah Day
2026-01-18 10:00 - 12:00 UTC
Join us for Temple Sinai’s Congregation-Wide Mitzvah Day!
On Sunday, January 18, 10am – 12pm, we will honor Dr. King’s vision by giving back to our community.
Together, we’ll take part in hands-on projects that support our neighbors in need throughout the Washington, DC area.
All ages are welcome! Children under high school age should be accompanied by an adult.
We have something for everyone – including projects you can do from home! For the complete list of projects and all the information you need to know, click on the link below!
LEARN MORE HERE
Please register in advance

This program is generously underwritten by the Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation.

Serve with Sinai: A Wider Circle
2026-01-31 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
Volunteer at A Wider Circle (9159 Brookville Road in Silver Spring) on a Saturday morning – think of it as “praying with our feet”. We will volunteer 10 am – 12 pm with your fellow members – all congregants are invited to join! Youth between 7-13 are welcome to volunteer. Each youth must be accompanied by an adult.
Register

Davis Center Docs: Screening of "Credible Fear"
2026-02-01 15:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
The Davis Center for Social Justice at Temple Sinai is proud to present the latest in our Davis Center Docs series.
Please join us for a sneak preview of several scenes from “Credible Fear”, a work-in-progress documentary about immigrant rights directed by local DC filmmaker Gabrielle Ewing. Through one woman’s harrowing personal account of escaping brutal gang violence in Guatemala, “Credible Fear” reveals a complex, rarely seen portrait of the ongoing immigration crisis in the US and explores how the asylum process consistently fails the people it was designed to protect.
A panel discussion and Q & A will follow this advance screening. Panelists include:

Gabrielle Ewing, documentary filmmaker and director of “Credible Fear”,
Amy C. Roma, Partner, Hogan Lovells, attorney featured in “Credible Fear”,
Sarah Pierce, Director of Social Policy at Third Way,
Yael Schacher, Director for the Americas and Europe, Refugees International, and
Moderated by Royce Murray, Former Assistant Secretary for Border and Immigration Policy at the Department of Homeland Security.

You don’t want to miss this incredibly moving and timely event!
Note: this event is recommended for age 18+ due to the sensitivity and nature of the material.
Please register in advance

Tu B'Shvat Seder
2026-02-01 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
Celebrate Tu BiSh’vat, the Jewish “New Year for Trees,” with a meaningful evening honoring nature and spiritual growth. Cantor Rhodes will lead a Tu BiSh’vat Seder followed by a vegetarian potluck dinner and an opportunity to hear from guest speaker Mike Tidwell, Executive Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
6:00 to 6:30: 30-minute Seder led by Cantor Rhodes

Tu B’Shvat is the Jewish “New Year for Trees.” This holiday celebrates nature’s beauty, calls us to our responsibility to care for the earth, and open the journey into our own spiritual growth. During the seder, we eat symbolic fruits and nuts, each representing aspects of the natural and spiritual world: fruits with inedible peels (protection and physicality), fruits with edible peels (balance of inner and outer worlds), nuts (spiritual potential), and dried fruits (wisdom and life’s cycles). We offer blessings of gratitude for the earth’s abundance, reflecting on our connection to creation and our duty to nurture it. As we share this meal, we renew our appreciation for nature’s gifts and commit to planting seeds of kindness, growth, and environmental stewardship.

6:30 to 7:00: Potluck dinner

Attendees are asked to bring a vegetarian side dish or dessert, according to the first letter of the attendee’s last name. (A-P bring side dish; Q-Z bring dessert)

7:00 to 7:30: Guest speaker, Mike Tidwell, Executive Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Tidwell is a journalist, author, and climate activist living in Takoma Park, MD. His most recent book is an exploration of global warming’s impact in his own front yard, called The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A story of Climate and Hope on One American Street (St. Martin’s Press, March 2025).

Please register in advance

Jews Against ICE Action
2026-02-11 13:30 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
Please join Rabbi Goldstein for an upcoming Jewish-led action that will make visible the powerful Jewish opposition to ICE’s cruel and destructive immigration enforcement system.
ICE is killing civilians, separating families, kidnapping students, and racially profiling and targeting vulnerable communities. As Jews, we know in our bones and through our moral teachings, that this cruelty and injustice must stop.
Location: Outside ICE Headquarters, 500 12th St SW, Washington, DC
Temple Sinai is proud to support this action alongside our friends at T’ruah, Bend the Arc, and other cosponsors listed here. Show up to learn, pray, and act together. Over 100 Jewish clergy, leaders of our communities, are coming together from across the country to lead this event. And – we need your help to make it a success! Please bring a shofar if you have one!
Learn more here
Let us know if you plan to attend!

Repro / TSWRJ Shabbat
2026-02-13 18:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
The Davis Center’s Reproductive Health & Rights Group and Temple Sinai Women of Reform Judaism will join together in celebrating Repro/TSWRJ Shabbat on February 13th at 6:30 pm, honoring the Jewish value of reproductive freedom.
We are delighted to welcome Allison Tombros Korman, Founder and Executive Director of the Red Tent Fund as our guest speaker. The Red Tent Fund is a national abortion fund rooted in the Jewish teachings that affirm the right to abortion for all.
At the service we will honor TSWRJ leaders and Temple members who provide, advocate for, educating about, and protest for abortion and reproductive health care.
During the Oneg following services, attendees will be encouraged to write postcards to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in response to the Administration’s recent actions targeting medication abortion and access to mifepristone. Attendees will also have the opportunity to create handwritten encouragement cards that will accompany the care items we are donating to abortion patients at CARE Reproductive Health Care. (Learn more about the project here, under “Fundraising”.)
Celebrate TSWRJ/Repro Shabbat in song by joining the pop-up choir! No prior music training necessary- just come sing with us. We will meet at 6pm to rehearse and will sing during the service that evening. To RSVP, please email Gail Sell.

Antisemitism on College Campuses: The Current State
2026-02-19 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Please join Temple Sinai’s Antisemitism Working Group for a thoughtful and timely discussion on antisemitism on college campuses, featuring Washington Post religion reporter Michelle Boorstein, GW political science professor and former provost Forrest Maltzman, and attorney Baruch Weiss. The conversation will be moderated by Mike Abramowitz.
This promises to be a thought-provoking evening. We hope you can join us in person on February 19 from 7pm to 8:30pm and stay for some snacks and beer at 8:30pm! Please email Pam Kurland with questions.
Please register in advance
Note: This program is in-person only and will not be recorded.

JUFJ Labor Seder at Temple Sinai
2026-03-22 15:30 - 17:30 (America/New_York)
All of Us Are Free: JUFJ Labor Seder at Temple Sinai!
Each spring, hundreds of people in the Jews United for Justice community come together to retell the story of Passover and take action toward collective liberation right now. Temple Sinai is excited to be hosting this year!
Join us on Sunday, March 22 at 3:30 PM for “Until All Of Us Are Free,” a seder about democracy.

Democracy is an ancient Jewish value, a central principle of labor organizing, and a crucial piece of so many of the struggles that JUFJ and our partners engage in, from DC home rule to local control of Baltimore’s police department to voting rights in Virginia.
Tickets are $36 or pay-what-you-can. Sponsorships start at $180 and include two or more tickets — many also include ad space in the Haggadah.
Get your tickets at jufj.org/seder.

Cards and Coffee Social: Reproductive Health & Rights
2026-03-25 09:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York)
Cards and Coffee Social: Wednesday, March 25, anytime between 9 am and 11am
Stop by the member lounge to socialize, have a cup of coffee and snacks with Temple Sinai’s Reproductive Health and Rights Group. AND while you are there, write a couple of postcards to HHS Secretary RFK Jr. to urge him to keep medication abortion legal and accessible.
Every postcard is a reminder that our community is engaged and paying attention to ongoing restrictions on reproductive rights.
Please register to give us an idea of how many people to expect. See you then!

Refugee Shabbat with Rabbi Jill Avrin
2026-03-27 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
Join us on Friday, March 27 for Refugee Shabbat where we will honor refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced people. At this time when immigrants are being targeted, we will learn from other communities who have stood up with their neighbors in order to educate and mobilize our local community. We will welcome Rabbi Jill Avrin, Director of Campus Affairs at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas.
Rabbi Avrin’s work addressing the ICE surge in Minnesota has included organizing and attending interfaith gatherings and vigils, protesting, advocacy, education, and mutual aid efforts. She helped host the 700 clergy who came to Minnesota in January with MARCH, including national leaders from the Reform movement. She has been protesting at the Whipple building where detainees are still being held, as well as at her local suburban protests. Rabbi Avrin has always centered social justice as a primary part of her portfolio as a rabbi. She was co-chair of the Minnesota Rabbinical Association in 2020, when George Floyd was murdered, and helped organize the Minnesota Jewish community’s united response at that time. In recent months, she has taken a lead role in addressing Operation Metro Surge through her work at JCRC and YourJewish.
Our Oneg, starting at 6pm, will feature food from Emma’s Torch, a local organization that equips refugees with the skills and confidence to create meaningful careers in the food industry through their culinary training programs. John Odenwelder, Executive Director of Washington English Center, our tzedakah recipient for the month of March, also plans to attend the Oneg.
***Poster supplies will be available at the Oneg for those who want to make a poster for the No Kings Rally on Saturday, March 28. Learn more here

No Kings Rally: Connecticut Ave & Military Road
2026-03-28 10:30 - 11:30 (America/New_York)
Temple Sinai will gather at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Military Road on Saturday, March 28, 10:30am – 11:30am with signs and energy to protest “No Kings”! Join us for Refugee Shabbat services on Friday, March 27 – we will have materials to make posters for the rally.
Please register if interested.

Multiracial Sinai Kehillat Shabbat Service
2026-04-04 10:30 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
Are we as welcoming as we believe ourselves to be?
On the yahrzeit of Martin Luther King Jr., Temple Sinai’s Multiracial Sinai Committee invites you to join us for a Shabbat of reflection, music, and honest conversation.
We are honored to welcome Rabbi Isaama Goldstein-Stoll, who grew up at Temple Sinai and now serves as a national URJ leader committed to affirming and celebrating Jewish diversity. Rabbi Isaama will offer the d’var Torah, inviting us to consider how we create space for Jews of color and multiracial Jewish families—and where we may still have room to grow.
This year, MRS partners with Kehillat Shabbat, Temple Sinai’s lay-led twice-monthly Shabbat minyan. Music will be led by Anita Stoll, featuring melodies that reflect the rich cultural diversity of the Jewish people, reminding us that Jewish identity has always spanned continents, languages, and lived experiences.
Dr. King’s legacy challenges communities of faith not only to speak about justice, but to embody it. On this Shabbat during Pesach, as we celebrate the “mixed multitude” marching from Egyptian bondage, we strive to look inward with courage and outward with compassion as we continue shaping a synagogue grounded in belonging.
A Kosher-for-Passover lunch will follow, offering time for connection and conversation around the table. Please RSVP to help us plan.
All are welcome as we continue working toward a community where everyone can feel at home.
Click here for livestream

Serve with Sinai: Goody Bags for Kids
2026-04-12 10:15 - 11:15 (America/New_York)
Our Serve With Sinai initiative is offering another direct service project for volunteers of all ages. Timed between religious school sessions so you can join your kids either before the late session or after the early one.
Our work on that Sunday will benefit Goods for Good, which sponsors children’s birthday parties at local shelters. Together, we will create 125 age-appropriate goodie bags filled with small toys, fun surprises, and festive touches, all meant to help mark birthdays for children who are residents connected to shelters or under-resourced, low-income communities in the DC area. To make the celebrations even sweeter, Serve with Sinai will also coordinate cupcakes to be shared at these community birthday gatherings.
Join us to help make birthday celebrations a little sweeter for some of our young neighbors!
Advanced registration required
REGISTER HERE

Advocacy Playdate with Jews United for Justice
2026-04-12 15:30 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Join Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) staff and volunteers and Rabbi Goldstein for a “Playdate with JUFJ” at Temple Sinai on Sunday, April 12th at 3:30 pm – 5 pm.
Come for a playdate where kids can play and you can learn about JUFJ’s parent focused advocacy efforts, including support for the Pay Equity Fund for Early Childhood educators and Paid Family Leave. Both of these programs are at risk of being scaled back, so join JUFJ as they outline how you can get involved and help support these critically important resources! Snacks and beverages will be served. Questions? Contact Abi Shakur at abi.shakur@jufj.org.
Let us know you’re coming by registering here!
