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Congregation Adat Reyim

GPS Coordinates: 38.7739415, -77.2616258
Closest Address: 6500 Westbury Oaks Court, Springfield, VA 22152

Congregation Adat Reyim

Here follows an excerpt from the synagogue's website:

We are a welcoming, caring congregation in Northern Virginia. From our name — which means a “community of friends ”— to our inclusive approach to Judaism, this is a place you can feel at home. Our highly participatory independent congregation draws on the richness of Jewish tradition and respects the many ways our diverse community members connect to each other and the Divine.

Rabbi Tzvi Porath served Adat Reyim as our part-time rabbi from 1984 to 1991. A distinguished and respected rabbi in Maryland for decades, Rabbi Porath came to Adat Reyim to help build our fledgling congregation.

Rabbi Emeritus Bruce D. Aft served as the spiritual leader of Adat Reyim from 1991-2020. The congregation's first full-time rabbi, Rabbi Aft helped the independent congregation nearly double in size and become a respected Jewish institution in the Washington region.

Rabbi Chana Leslie Glazer served our congregation from July 2020 through June 2023. She carried Adat Reyim through the difficult months of the pandemic with pastoral skills and ritual innovation.

Rabbi George Billinson was ordained in 2022 and has been serving as the Rabbi for the Fort Belvoir Jewish Congregation in Fairfax, Virginia.

Congregation Adat Reyim is a welcoming, caring congregation in wooded Fairfax County, Virginia, a short drive from Washington, D.C. From our name — which means a “community of friends ”— to our inclusive approach to Judaism, this is a place you can feel at home. Our independent congregation draws on the richness of Jewish tradition and respects the many ways our diverse community members connect to each other and the Divine. Music and ruach -- spirit-- are at the center of our congregation life.

We value those who have been with us for years and those who have just joined; individuals, couples and families; multi-racial and multi-cultural families; interfaith families; individuals who are LGBTQ+ and straight; Jews by birth and by choice -- you are all part of our community.

Join us on a Friday night, and you will be personally welcomed. Come on Saturday morning, and you will be offered an honor and invited to lunch. Bring the kids to our religious school, our preschool, a Family & Friends Service, or any service – and they will be part of our family. Take part in an Adult Education program and share your ideas and perspectives - we will listen. Join in a social action program that supports our broader community and our world. Whether you enjoy the traditional harmonies of a choir, or the ruach of our Spirit of Shabbat service with guitars and more, or a moving string quartet sharing Kol Nidre, there is music to inspire you.

Our synagogue is located on the border of Springfield and Burke, Virginia, on five wooded acres. Our welcoming building includes a lobby, sanctuary, library and school wing used by our preschool and Religious School.

We also love connecting with nature and enjoy services and picnics outdoors in our permanent Sukkah structure or on our lawn. Summer brings our popular Service Under the Stars.

Our newly rejuvenated sanctuary and lobby reflect the values of our congregation – welcoming, warm, inclusive, and accessible to all. Working with architects Ritter-Norton Architects of Alexandria, we created a one-of-a-kind ark that reaches out to the congregation while reaching up to the heavens. Natural light flows from above, creating a true focal point in our sanctuary for the meditative, reflective, healing, celebratory, mournful and hopeful work that takes place here.

Our Torah covers are works of art, created for Adat Reyim by noted artist Jeanette Kuvin Oren. Jeannette hand-dyed each piece of fabric and then carefully placed them to create an inspiring design of a tree of life spreading through the Torah covers. The glass ark doors are etched with Jeannette's design that carries on the theme of the tree of life, with etched leaves of varying degrees of translucency, bringing the Torah closer to the congregation. The ark is surrounded by wood, metal, and stone tiles – tiles that were actually quarried in Israel.

Our ner tamid (eternal light) is another striking work of art, handcrafted with care for Adat Reyim by artist Claude Riedel who has made creating these holy lights his life’s work. The grandson of a Jewish man who was taken to Buchenwald on Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass in Germany in November of 1938, Claude continues to find deep personal meaning in his work, which, in his words, is his way of putting the broken pieces of glass of Kristallnacht back together. In describing Adat Reyim's eternal light, Claude sees the "burning bush," the intense splash of water, the energy in the origins of the universe in his creation. If you look at his artwork from the bottom, where the base is black, you see the light coming from the darkness. In his words, you see hope.

ABOUT ME

Award-winning local historian and tour guide in Franconia and the greater Alexandria area of Virginia.

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ADDRESS

Nathaniel Lee

c/o Franconia Museum

6121 Franconia Road

Alexandria, VA 22310

franconiahistory@gmail.com

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