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 MinyanThe 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.
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» Upcoming Minyanim and Dinner Info
» Dinner Payment Information
» Calendar 2008-09
» Get involved (with davening, publicity, potlucks)
» Potluck Kashrut GuidelinesQuestions 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.
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.Friday, July 3, Minyan and dinner offsite near the Van Ness metro, 7:00 p.m.
Email ruachminyan@adasisrael.org for location and to RSVP
Catered (non-Potluck) Dinners are usually $12/person
RSVP to carol.ansell@adasisrael.org and include if you are a vegetarian or have other concerns.
USE GOOGLE CHECKOUT TO PAY NOW FOR YOUR DINNER!
Click on the drop down menu to select the date of the dinner you're paying for. Clicking "Add to cart" will direct you to Google for checkout.OR make checks payable to "Adas Israel Congregation" and send to:
Adas Israel Congregation
Attn: Carol Ansell
2850 Quebec Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
If cost is too high, don't let that deter you. Email judith@jhellerstein.com and we can discuss!
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!
Ruach Minyan Calendar 2008-09 (subject to change)
Start times for minyanim are listed below
2008 Aug 15 Minyan (7:00 pm). Combined with YP@AI to welcome Rabbi Gil Steinlauf and family. Details forthcoming Sept 5 Minyan (7:00 pm)
followed by dinner at Adas Israel with the SteinlaufsSept 19 Minyan (7:00 pm)
followed by potluck dinner offsiteOct 17 Minyan (7:00 pm)
followed by dinner in the Adas Israel Sukkah!Nov 7 Minyan (6:30 pm--note time change)
followed by dinner at Adas IsraelNov 21 Minyan (6:30 pm)
followed by potluck dinner offsiteDec 5 Minyan (6:30 pm)
followed by dinner at Adas IsraelDec 19 Minyan (6:30 pm)
followed by potluck dinner offsite2009 Jan 2 Minyan (6:30 pm)
followed by potluck dinner offsiteJan 16 Minyan Joins the Martin Luther King Jr. Shabbat Service, 8:15 pm Feb 6 Minyan (6:15 pm--note time)
followed by Tu B'Shevat Seder and Shabbat dinner at Adas IsraelFeb 20 no separate Ruach Minyan
Join the 6:15 pm service with visiting Artist Cantor Jacob MendelsonMar 6 Minyan (6:30 pm)
followed by Purim-themed dinner at Adas IsraelMar 20 Partnering with Scholar in Residence service, details forthcoming
Joining Congregational/Scholar Dinner (special svc. time 6:15 pm)Apr 3 no minyan Apr 17 Minyan (7:00 pm)
followed by potluck dinner offsiteMay 1 Minyan (7:00 pm)
followed by dinner at Adas IsraelMay 15 Partnering with Scholar in Residence service, details forthcoming
Joining Congregational/Scholar Dinner (special svc. time 6:15 pm)Jun 5 Minyan (7:00 pm)
followed by dinner at Adas Israel
Guest speaker follows dinnerJun 19 Minyan (7:00 pm)
followed by potluck dinner offsiteJuly 3 Minyan (7:00 pm)
followed by potluck dinner offsite
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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 ruachminyan@adasisrael.org.
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.
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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