Kesher Israel (Washington, D.C.)
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Kesher Israel (Hebrew: קשר ישראל, "Kinship of Israel," also known as the Georgetown Synagogue) is a
Modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...
synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The congregation is over 100 years old and its worshipers have included prominent politicians, diplomats, jurists, journalists, and authors.


History

In 1910, six local Jewish merchants organized the Georgetown Hebrew Benevolent Society, which began to conduct religious services above a storefront on M Street, NW. A year later, this kernel, now numbering 50 families, founded Kesher Israel Congregation, which thus became the seventh synagogue organized in the nation's capital. In 1915, the congregation acquired, renovated, and began to meet in a premises at 2801 N Street, NW. The current synagogue building, which was constructed in 1931 on that site with a construction budget of $28,000, is a
contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...
to the Georgetown Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The synagogue also administers two congregational cemeteries, one in Anacostia and the other in Capitol Heights, Maryland. Kesher Israel is the last of the city's original pre-war Orthodox synagogues located in walking distance of downtown Washington. Beginning in the 1950s, as the local Jewish community grew exponentially, all the others relocated uptown or to suburban
Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...
. This demographic trend, coupled with the passing of the founding generation, reduced Kesher Israel's membership in the 1960s to the point where it was difficult to ensure daily '' minyanim''. The synagogue, however, experienced a renaissance beginning in the late 1970s, spurred by
young urban professionals Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...
who were moving to Georgetown and nearby neighborhoods, including the West End, Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle,
Burleith Burleith is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., United States. It is bordered by 35th Street NW to the east, Reservoir Road NW and the historic Georgetown district to the south, Whitehaven Park to the north, and Glover Archbold Park to the west ...
, and even those further afield like
Adams-Morgan Adams Morgan is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., centered at the intersection of 18th Street NW and Columbia Road, about 1.5 miles (2.54 km) north of the White House. Notable establishments in the neighborhood include the ...
, Kalorama and Rosslyn, across Key Bridge in Arlington County, Virginia. Its current membership now stands at approximately 250 families and singles. Kesher Israel also attracts many students enrolled at nearby Georgetown University and George Washington University. Following the signing of the
Camp David Accords The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retrea ...
in September 1978, members of the Israeli delegation to the subsequent Blair House negotiations, including Foreign Minister
Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...
and Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, attended '' Kol Nidre'' services at the synagogue. Kesher Israel attracted national media attention during the
2000 U.S. presidential election The 2000 United States presidential election was the 54th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. Republican candidate George W. Bush, the governor of Texas and eldest son of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush ...
when a member,
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Joseph Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for Vi ...
, was selected as the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States. When the Senate scheduled important votes on
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
, Lieberman walked nearly from the synagogue to the United States Capitol, a trek he made over 25 times during his Senate career. Author
Herman Wouk Herman Wouk ( ; May 27, 1915 – May 17, 2019) was an American author best known for historical fiction such as ''The Caine Mutiny'' (1951) for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. His other major works include ''The Winds of War'' and ' ...
, who joined Kesher Israel upon relocating to Washington when he began to research his novels of World War II, called it "the best little ''
shul A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
'' in America" and "a haven of true '' Yiddishkeit'' at the center of the finest neighborhood in Washington." It was due to his long association with the community that Kesher Israel was commonly known in Washington as "Herman Wouk's synagogue." Wouk recalled Kesher Israel one last time in his final book and memoir, '' Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author'' (2015), stating that “The little old synagogue at one end of N Street was our kind of ''shul''.”


Rabbinic leadership


Early years

After it was founded, the Georgetown Hebrew Benevolent Association hired Elias Stolar as "minister and Hebrew teacher" and "recognized religious leader." Born in Russia in about 1881, he was referred to as "
reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...
," a widely used title at the time for synagogue functionaries who were not ordained rabbis. The synagogue's first spiritual leader was the Polish-born, British-trained
Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
George (Gedaliah) Silverstone, who concurrently served Ohev Sholom Congregation (then located at 5th and I Streets, NW). He remained with both congregations until he announced his intention to make ''
aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
'' to the
Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...
in 1923. While he made several return trips back to Washington after that, Rabbi Silverstone died in Jerusalem in 1944 and was buried on the Mount of Olives. Rabbi Silverstone was a vice president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, a director of the Hebrew Sanitarium of Denver and the Hebrew Home for the Aged of Washington and a member of B'nai B'rith. He also founded the first '' Talmud Torah'' in Washington and many of his sermons refer to the poor state of
Jewish education Jewish education ( he, חינוך, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and religious laws of Judaism. Known as the "people of the book", Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish cul ...
. An active Zionist, he attended the
Sixth Zionist Congress The Sixth Zionist Congress was held in Basel, opening on August 23, 1903. Theodor Herzl caused great division amongst the delegates when he presented the "Uganda Scheme", a proposed Jewish colony in what is now part of Kenya. Herzl died the follow ...
in 1903 as a delegate from Belfast before he emigrated to the United States.


From 1925 to 1949

The first rabbi named to lead Kesher Israel on an exclusive basis was Rabbi Jacob Aizer Dubrow, a Chabad ''hassid'', who was appointed in 1925 and remained with the synagogue until his death in 1944 at the age of 64. Born in
Žlobin Zhlobin ( be, Жло́бін; russian: Жло́бин, pl, Żłobin, lt, Žlobinas) is a city in the Zhlobin District of Gomel Region, Belarus, located on the Dnieper river. As of 2017, the population was 76,078. The city is notable for being t ...
in what is today Belarus, he was one of the original students of the fifth Lubavitcher '' rebbe'',
Sholom Dovber Schneersohn Sholom Dovber Schneersohn ( he, שלום דובער שניאורסאהן) was the fifth Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad Lubavitch chasidic movement. He is known as "the Rebbe Rashab" (for Reb Sholom Ber). His teachings represent the emerge ...
, at the Tomchei Temimim '' yeshiva'' in
Lyubavichi Lyubavichi (russian: Любавичи) is the name of several rural localities in Russia: * Lyubavichi, Monastyrshchinsky District, Smolensk Oblast, a village in Lyubavichskoye Rural Settlement of Monastyrshchinsky District in Smolensk Oblast *Lyub ...
, where he studied for seven years. After receiving '' semikhah'', Rabbi Dubrow became the '' melamed'' of the son of the Skverer ''rebbe'' before becoming a ''
rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
'' in a town near
Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
. He then served as a rabbi and '' posek'' in a number of
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
'' shtetlekh'' before leaving for
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
in 1924. Rabbi Dubrow's main focus was education. He instituted daily Talmud classes, both at the synagogue and at the Hebrew Home for the Aged, and an afternoon ''Talmud Torah'' for the synagogue's children, hiring Rabbi Oscar Summer as their teacher. He was also one of four Washington rabbis who initiated the establishment of the city's first
Jewish day school A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate s ...
, the Hebrew Academy of Greater Washington (now known as the
Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy The Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, referred to locally as Berman or The Hebrew Academy, is a coed Modern Orthodox Jewish day school serving the greater Washington area. It is in Aspen Hill, Maryland, with a Rockville postal address. The scho ...
). Rabbi Dubrow also organized a congregational '' hevra kadishah''. He is remembered in Chabad for being instrumental in facilitating the wartime evacuation of the sixth Lubavitcher ''rebbe'', Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, from German-occupied Warsaw in 1940 by interceding, together with several rabbinic colleagues, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a number of senators. Rabbi Dubrow's first wife died after their arrival in the United States. He was survived by his second wife, five daughters and his only son, who had remained in the Soviet Union and would fall in battle as a soldier in the Red Army near the close of the war. Another married daughter had predeceased him. During his
funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
at Kesher Israel parts of Pennsylvania Avenue, two blocks away, had to be closed off in order to accommodate the crowds that came to pay their last respects. Rabbi Dubrow bequeathed in his
will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
that his personal library of religious books was to be auctioned off after his death and the money raised be donated to help support the poor of Jerusalem. Mention of this final act of charity was etched into his gravestone. He was buried in Kesher Israel's Capitol Heights cemetery. Rabbi Dubrow was succeeded by Rabbi I. Meckler (1945–1946) and Rabbi Sidney Shulman (1946–1949).


From 1950 to 1988

Rabbi Philip L. Rabinowitz was appointed rabbi of Kesher Israel in 1950. Born Jeruchom Fiszel Arje Rabinowicz in Łomża, Poland in 1920, he and his twin sister were the youngest of 13 children. With World War II on the horizon, he left home at the age of 18 to study at an American yeshiva, the Hebrew Theological College in Chicago, Illinois, where he would receive ''semikhah''. His immigration to the United States was sponsored by his eldest brother, who had arrived in Chicago two years before he was born. Another brother emigrated to the Land of Israel in 1933 but his other relatives, including his parents, Rabbi Asher and Miriam Rabinowicz, were murdered in the Holocaust. At Kesher Israel Rabbi Rabinowitz focused on three objectives: to study and teach Torah, sustain the daily ''minyanim'' and watch over the welfare of his community. His home was always open to anyone in need, even strangers, and he helped assure that the community was spiritually enriched. He was instrumental in founding the Washington '' Beit Din'' (rabbinical court) and the ''Vaad HaKashrut,'' Greater Washington's
kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
food supervisory body. On the evening of February 28, 1984, Rabbi Rabinowitz, a 63-year-old widower who lived alone, was murdered in his West End home by an unknown assailant shortly after returning from '' Maariv''. His bludgeoned body was found the next morning on the floor of his small study by four congregants whose concern was raised by his atypical absence from that morning's incomplete ''
Shaharit ''Shacharit'' ( he, שַחֲרִית ''šaḥăriṯ''), or ''Shacharis'' in Ashkenazi Hebrew, is the morning ''tefillah'' (prayer) of Judaism, one of the three daily prayers. Different traditions identify different primary components of ...
'' ''minyan'' (had he attended, he would have been the tenth). It is presumed that the rabbi knew his murderer because he was always careful to peek out the window pane in order to check the identity of whoever rang his doorbell before opening the door. Moreover, while the door was closed and unlocked, there was no evidence of forced entry or robbery. The case was never solved and remains open to this day. An estimated one-thousand mourners attended Rabbi Rabinowitz's funeral held on the morning of March 1 at the synagogue, including the Israeli ambassador, Dr. Meir Rosenne, who delivered one of the eulogies. He was buried in Israel one day later next to his wife, who died unexpectedly from natural causes in 1978. He was survived by a son (named after his father), a daughter (named after his mother), several grandchildren, and his brother in Israel. An '' eruv'' encompassing Georgetown, adjacent neighborhoods and all of downtown Washington was established by the congregation in 1990 and named in Rabbi Rabinowitz's memory. The Hebrew Academy, where he taught from 1958 to 1979, named its '' Kollel'' '' Beit Midrash'' in memory of the rabbi and annually presents its Rabbi Philip Rabinowitz Memorial Award for Excellence in ''
Limudei Kodesh Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the ''mitzvah'' ("comma ...
'' to outstanding students. Rabbi Rabinowitz was succeeded by Rabbi Rod Glogower (1985–1988).


From 1989 to 2014

Rabbi Dr. Barry Freundel was named to the pulpit of Kesher Israel in 1989. He would soon develop a reputation as "a brilliant scholar," a "profound" orator and an authority in several areas of '' halakha'', including '' eruvim,'' which he assisted in constructing in a number of cities, including Washington. In early October 2014 the lay leadership of Kesher Israel and the National Capital
Mikvah Mikveh or mikvah (,  ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purifi ...
, an independent facility located in an adjacent synagogue building that Freundel had been instrumental in founding in 2005, delivered to the police a suspicious
clock radio An alarm clock (or sometimes just an alarm) is a clock that is designed to alert an individual or group of individuals at a specified time. The primary function of these clocks is to awaken people from their night's sleep or short naps; they ar ...
that was placed in the ''mikvah'' shower room, disappeared and suddenly appeared again."Upon receiving information regarding potentially inappropriate activity, the board of directors quickly alerted the appropriate officials," the synagogue and ''mikvah'' boards wrote in a joint statement. "Throughout the investigation, we cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to do so." On October 14, Freundel was arrested for recording women showering using the clock radio, which was equipped with a hidden video camera. He was suspended without pay upon his arrest and then fired. The synagogue board immediately directed its attention to the victims of his actions by arranging a support group led by a licensed psychologist and consultations with therapists, as well as organizing a closed community meeting with Cathy L. Lanier, Washington's chief of police. On December 2, a student at Georgetown University Law Center, where Freundel taught a seminar on
Jewish law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...
, filed a lawsuit against Kesher Israel, as well as Georgetown University and the National Capital Mikvah. The unnamed student, who had written a term paper on the ''mikvah,'' seeks class action status and claims that the defendants turned a blind eye and failed in their responsibility to protect students from the rabbi, whose behavior she claims, was becoming ever more bizarre and who was mistreating women subjected to his authority. On December 18, a student at Towson University, where Freundel also taught, added her name to the lawsuit, claiming that Freundel encouraged her to take a "practice dunk" in the ''mikvah'' as part of her studies, even though she was not Jewish and had no interest in converting. She was joined by another woman who had been converting to Judaism under Freundel's auspices and who had likewise been encouraged by Freundel to take a "practice dunk." They added the Rabbinical Council of America as a defendant as well. In August 2016, the class action lawsuit was amended to add the Beth Din of America as a defendant, bring the total number of institutions named as defendants to four. The synagogue board responded with this statement: "Kesher Israel's leadership is deeply concerned about the harm caused by Rabbi Freundel's actions—of which we did not and could not have known—and for the personal welfare of all those individuals who may have been violated. The lawsuits that were recently filed are completely without merit. Our energies remain focused on working towards healing our community and building a vibrant future for Kesher Israel." Freundel ultimately pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison and fined $13,000. On October 22, 2018, a class action lawsuit against Freundel and four religious organizations named as defendants – Kesher Israel, the National Capital Mikvah, the Rabbinical Council of America, and the Beth Din of America – was settled for $14.25 million.


From 2015

In July 2015 the congregation hired Rabbi Dr. Avidan Milevsky as its part-time interim spiritual leader. Milevsky, an associate professor of psychology at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, was the author of five books and previously served as interim rabbi of Ner Tamid Greenspring Valley Congregation in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
. The Milevsky family made ''aliyah'' to Israel a year later. On March 16, 2017, the synagogue announced the appointment of a full-time replacement, Rabbi Hyim Shafner, who had been serving for the previous 13 years as a congregational rabbi in St. Louis. He formerly served for eight years as the Hillel chaplain at Washington University in St. Louis and, before then, worked for a year in the Jewish community in Mumbai, India.


Notable past and present members

* Peter Beinart, political
pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...
and former editor of '' The New Republic'' * Laura Blumenfeld, journalist, author and
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
official * Dr. Marshall Breger, Ford,
Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
administration official *
Alex Brummer Alex Brummer (born 25 May 1949) is an English economics commentator, working as a journalist, editor, and author. He has been the city editor of the ''Daily Mail'' (London) since May 2000, where he writes a daily column on economics and finance ...
, British journalist, editor and author * Warren Cikins,
Kennedy Kennedy may refer to: People * John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th president of the United States * John Kennedy (Louisiana politician), (born 1951), US Senator from Louisiana * Kennedy (surname), a family name (including a list of persons with t ...
and Johnson administration official and member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (deceased) * Dr.
Jaime Daremblum Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and i ...
, former
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
n ambassador to the U.S. (deceased) * Peter Deutsch, former
U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from Florida *
Norman L. Eisen Norman L. Eisen (born November 11, 1960) is an American attorney, author, and former diplomat. He is a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a CNN legal analyst, and the co-founder and executive chair of the States Un ...
, former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic * David Epstein, former
assistant U.S. attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...
and Georgetown Law adjunct professor *
Eugene R. Fidell Eugene Roy Fidell (born March 31, 1945) is an American lawyer specializing in military law. He is currently the Florence Rogatz Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School.
, president of the National Institute of Military Justice * Dan Glickman, former
Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...
and U.S. Representative from Kansas *
Linda Greenhouse Linda Joyce Greenhouse (born January 9, 1947) is an American legal journalist who is the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. She is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who covered ...
,
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning former
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
correspondent of '' The New York Times'' * Tova Herzl, former Israeli ambassador to South Africa, ambassador to the
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and congressional liaison at the Embassy of Israel in Washington * Jeff Jacoby, journalist and syndicated newspaper
columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...
*
Lucette Lagnado Lucette Matalon Lagnado (September 19, 1956 – July 10, 2019) was an Egyptian-born American journalist and memoirist. She was a reporter for ''The Wall Street Journal''. Biography Lagnado was born to a Jewish family in Cairo, Egypt. She atten ...
, author and reporter for '' The Wall Street Journal'' (deceased) *
Frederick M. Lawrence Frederick M. Lawrence (born 1955) is an American lawyer, civil rights scholar and 10th Secretary and CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation's first and most prestigious honor society, founded in 1776. Lawrence is a Distinguished Lecturer at ...
, former president of Brandeis University * Jack Lew, former United States Secretary of the Treasury *
Nathan Lewin Nathan Lewin (born January 31, 1936) is an American attorney who has argued many cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. Early life and education Lewin was born in Łódź, Poland. His grandfather, the chief rabbi of Rzeszow, was ...
, attorney, former U.S. Department of Justice official and former contributing editor of ''The New Republic'' * Joseph Lieberman, former U.S. Senator from Connecticut, and
Hadassah Lieberman Hadassah Lieberman ( Freilich; born March 28, 1948) is the second wife of former United States Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Life and work Hadassah Freilich Lieberman was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (a past report erroneously stated ...
* Mark Mellman, Democratic pollster and political consultant * Dr. Jay Michaelson, writer and LGBT activist * Alfred H. Moses, former
U.S. ambassador to Romania A United States diplomatic representative to Romania has existed since 1880. The United States formally recognized Romania in 1878, following the Treaty of Berlin; diplomatic relations were opened in 1880, and American diplomats were sent to the ...
and Carter administration official * Andrew H. Schapiro, former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic * Mitchell Silk, former Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury for International Affairs *
Tevi Troy Tevi David Troy is a best-selling presidential historian and the former United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (August 2007 - January 2009) during the Presidency of George W. Bush. He also served as a senior White House aide ...
, presidential historian and former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services *
Kenneth R. Weinstein Kenneth R. Weinstein (born November 4, 1961) is the Walter P. Stern Distinguished Fellow at Hudson Institute, a conservative Washington-based policy research organization. From 2005, he served as CEO of Hudson Institute, and from April 2011 until ...
, president and CEO of the
Hudson Institute The Hudson Institute is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporat ...
*
Mindy Weisel Mindy Weisel is an American abstract visual artist and author. Early life and education Weisel was born in Bergen-Belsen, Germany. Her parents were survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Weisel began to paint when she was 14 years old. S ...
, abstract visual artist and author * Baruch Weiss, Washington attorney and former federal prosecutor *
Leon Wieseltier Leon Wieseltier (; born June 14, 1952) is an American critic and magazine editor. From 1983 to 2014, he was the literary editor of ''The New Republic''. He was a contributing editor and critic at ''The Atlantic'' until October 27, 2017, when the ...
, author and former literary editor of ''The New Republic,'' whose book ''Kaddish'' notes his attendance at Kesher Israel's daily ''minyanim'' during the eleven-month mourning period following his father's death * Herman Wouk, Pulitzer Prize-winning author (deceased)


References


External links

*
Map of the Rabinowitz Memorial Eruv

Photograph of Rabbi Jacob Aizer Dubrow's grave

National Capital Mikvah website
{{Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Washington, D.C. Synagogues in Washington, D.C. Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) Modern Orthodox synagogues in the United States Historic district contributing properties in Washington, D.C. Jewish organizations established in 1911 1911 establishments in Washington, D.C. Synagogues completed in 1931 1931 establishments in Washington, D.C. Spanish Colonial Revival synagogues