Parashat Sh’mini: Consecration of the Priests, First Laws of Kashrut, Purity and Impurity, and Support for Ukraine

Parashat Sh’mini is the third Torah portion in the book of Vayikra/Leviticus. We learn ideas, concepts, and practices that remain meaningful and relevant to Jews today throughout the world. The portion opens with the completion of the eight-day ceremony for the consecration of the Priests/Kohanim charged with conducting the sacrificial...

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A Prayer for Peace in Ukraine

God of Peace, Eternal Source of Love: Be with the people of Ukraine In this, their hour of need. Strengthen their resolve to fight For their freedom and independence. Be with their friends of every faith and nation in their support of the Ukrainian people. Bless the citizen soldiers, mothers,...

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Mask Policy Update

Dear KI Congregants, In keeping up with the recent recommendations from the CDC, as well as the Montgomery County Office of Public Health, and in the spirit of Pikuach Nefesh, the Jewish value of safeguarding life, we are updating our Covid safety protocols. These changes do not apply to our...

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Why Putin Bombed Babi Yar

On March 1, 2022, artillery shells fired by the Russian Army in Ukraine fell in and near Babi Yar, the Holocaust’s largest mass grave. On September 29-30, 1941, led by the SS commanders, a large number of Einsatzgruppen, Wehrmacht and German police units as well as Ukrainian collaborators combined to...

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