Welcome to the Adas Israel Ruach Minyan Webpage
We are a traditional, spirited, lay-led, egalitarian Kabbalat Shabbat service. The Ruach Minyan seeks to create an environment that will welcome and enrich Jews from all backgrounds and provide a warm environment for prayer, study, and growth.   The Ruach Minyan The Ruach Minyan meets on the first and third Fridays of each month. During the summer months, services begin at 7:00 pm and are generally held either in the Sisterhood Hall (2nd floor) or in the Miller Chapel (1st floor). Services are followed by either a potluck at a home/party room nearby or by a catered dinner at Adas Israel. Adas Israel is located at 2850 Quebec Street, NW at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Porter Street about five miles from the Connecticut Avenue (south) Exit on the 495 Beltway. It is conveniently located 2 blocks away from the Red Line Metro, Cleveland Park Station. Click here for location Jump to... » Upcoming Minyanim and Dinner Info » Dinner Payment Information » Ruach Minyan Calendar 2007-08 » Get involved (with davening, publicity, potlucks) » Ruach Minyan Potluck Kashrut Guidelines
Questions or comments? We'd like to hear from you! If you have any questions, ideas to help run the minyan, or would like to volunteer to help with organization, please email RuachMinyan@adasisrael.org.			Subscribe! If you would like to be on the Ruach Minyan email list, please subscribe to our Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Vanness-RuachMinyan or email Vanness-RuachMinyan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Or... join our Facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6280982681
Potlucks and Community Dinners
Potluck dinners Usually take place on the third Friday of the month, at a location other than Adas Israel. Please check the calendar below for exceptions to the usual schedule. For kashrut guidelines and other ways of contributing to potlucks, please see the Ruach Minyan Potluck kashrut guidelines below.			Community dinners Usually take place on the first Friday of the month at Adas Israel. Please check the calendar below for exceptions to the usual schedule. No outside food should be brought to these dinners. Advanced RSVP is required to attend these dinners.
Upcoming Minyanim & Dinners			Paying for your dinner
Friday, May 16, Ruach Minyan at Adas Israel followed by Potluck Dinner offsite 7:00 p.m.: Services in the Miller Chapel. Email Ben Schultz if you would like to daven (lead services). 8:30 p.m.: Dinner follows davening at the home of Bill Levenson (Van Ness South) Dinner RSVP: By Thursday, May 15, to bill_levenson@hotmail.com and mention what you will bring, such as main or side dishes, salad, dessert, etc.			Catered (non-Potluck) Dinners are usually $11/person Make checks payable to "Adas Israel Congregation" and send to:    Judith Hellerstein    3001 Veazey Terrace NW, #1308    Washington, DC 20008 If cost is too high, don't let that deter you. Email judith@jhellerstein.com and we can discuss! (See left side for email)
Volunteers are needed to help with dinner set up and clean up. Your help is very much appreciated! E-mail ruachminyan@adasisrael.org to let us know when you can help. Helping with setup/clean-up also enables us to work with you if you need a discount on the price of dinner. Remember: while the Ruach Minyan welcomes you to both davening and dinner, if you cannot come to both portions of the evening, don't let that stop you from attending either just dinner or just davening!

Save the dates... Ruach Minyan Calendar 2007-08 (subject to change) Minyanim start at 7:00 p.m. Exception: November 16 through March 7, start at 6:30 p.m.

Jul 6	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by potluck dinner offsite	Jul 20	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by potluck dinner offsite
Aug 3	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by dinner at Adas Israel	Aug 17	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by potluck dinner offsite
Sep 7	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by dinner at Adas Israel	*Sep 28	Minyan (7:00n pm) followed by dinner in Adas Israel Sukkah!
Oct 19	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by potluck dinner offsite	*Note that this is a special event, on the 4th Friday of the month! Reserve dinner by 9/24
Nov 2	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by dinner at Adas Israel	Nov 16	Minyan (6:30 pm) no Shabbat dinner
Dec 7	Minyan (6:30 pm) followed by dinner at Adas Israel	Dec 21	Minyan (6:30 pm) no dinner
2008
Jan 4	Minyan (6:00 pm--early start time) followed by dinner at Adas Israel	Jan 18	Minyan (6:30 pm) followed by potluck dinner offsite
Feb 1	Minyan (6:30 pm) followed by dinner at Adas Israel	Feb 15	Minyan (6:30 pm) followed by potluck dinner offsite
Mar 7	Minyan (6:30 pm) followed by light dinner at Adas Israel	Mar 21	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by potluck dinner offsite
Apr 4	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by dinner at Adas Israel
May 9	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by dinner at Adas Israel	May 16	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by potluck dinner offsite
Jun 6	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by dinner at Adas Israel	Jun 20	Minyan (7:00 pm) followed by potluck dinner offsite

<back to top> We welcome your involvement
Davening: If you would like to daven (lead Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma'ariv) for the Ruach Minyan Shabbat evening services (Carlebach-style), please contact davening coordinator Ben Schultz at ben.dov.schultz@gmail.com. NEW—an announcement list to coordinate people leading Friday evening services. Sign up to receive emails by sending an email to ruach-minyan-daveners@googlegroups.com or visiting http://groups.google.com/group/ruach-minyan-daveners. Publicity Coordinator needed: If interested email RuachMinyan@adasisrael.org		Host a Potluck Dinner: If you would like to host a potluck Shabbat dinner, or if you live in a building with a community party room that does not charge to rent, please contact Bill Levenson, at bill_levenson@yahoo.com. Potluck Schedule/Logistics Coordination + Set-up/Clean-up Coordinator Needed: Please email RuachMinyan@adasisrael.org if you're interested in the position, or in helping with set up/or clean-up. If the cost of a community dinner is a barrier for you, don't let it be! Consider hosting or helping with set up for a dinner in exchange for a reduction of the price of your dinner.
Ruach Minyan Potluck Kashrut Guidelines The Ruach Minyan Kashrut Committee drafted the following guidelines. We hope these guidelines will allow as many people as possible to both contribute to and partake of the Ruach Minyan potlucks.  There are two basic principles that apply to minyan potlucks. First all potlucks will be dairy/pareve. Second all potlucks will have two tables: a Hechshered only table for foods cooked in a kosher kitchen or for items bought that contain a hechsher. The other table will contain dairy/veggie food. These rules apply to Ruach Minyan-sponsored potlucks; Ruach minyan members hosting potlucks in their own homes are welcome to set their own standards for those events.  Here are some suggested guidelines, in the spirit of Conservative Judaism, that seem appropriate for our minyan.   1. No meat or poultry or products with those ingredients, even if kosher.  2. No shellfish or non-kosher fish.  3. Food served at a Ruach Minyan potluck should not be purchased or cooked on Shabbat.  4. All non-meat products with kashrut certification are acceptable.  5. Dairy or parve products (including prepared foods) are okay and can be placed on the Dairy/Veggie tables, provided that careful reading of the ingredients is made to ensure that small amounts of non-kosher ingredients are not included. Non kosher ingredients include (but are not limited to) lard, animal shortening, or suet. (Watch out for pie crusts - most of them contain lard.) Watch out for "shortening," it should specify "vegetable shortening". Also, products with glycerin or gelatin should only be purchased with kashrut certification.  6. For ritual purposes (e.g. kiddush, havdalah), wine and grape juice should have kashrut certification.  7. All cheeses, even those in which rennet is used as a curdling agent, are acceptable, even without kashrut certification.  8. Everyone is encouraged to prepare cooked foods, provided that they use dairy or parve ingredients and put their food on the appropriate table.  9. If you buy bread or prepared foods from a bakery or take-out establishment, please inquire as to the ingredients used. If you have any questions, or if you're not comfortable deciding if you ought to consider your home kosher, you can consult Judith Hellerstein at judith@jhellerstein.com or Gabe Taraday at dcgabe@gmail.com. For more info on the Two Tables system which we created and which has been copied by many Independent Minyanim see the Mah Rabu blog: http://mahrabu.blogspot.com/2006/02/hilchot-pluralism-part-i-two-table.html
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