Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.), recently delivered a presentation entitled “Jerusalem: What is At Stake?” to about 100 legislators, congressional staffers, and think tank members in the Senate Auditorium of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) hosted its fourth annual Black Jewish Unity Seder at Adas Israel in Washington, D.C., on March 11. Politics and the story of the Seder—the ceremonial Passover meal to commemorate the exodus from Egypt — were intertwined as participants explored the Black and Jewish communities’ shared message of freedom from slavery. Rabbi Aaron Alexander of Adas Israel and the Rev. Ronald Hopson of the Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ (which also sponsored the event) led the program.

Maryland State Sen. and Congressional candidate Roger Manno visited the Potomac, Maryland, community on Sunday night, March 19, at an event in his honor hosted by Jules Polonetsky and Na’ama Lewin.

Rabbi Yosef Singer, spiritual leader of the Young Israel of Potomac and President of the Rabbinical Council of Greater Washington, was one of several honorees representing a cross-section of American Jewry National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) Gala Dinner March 15 in Flushing, New York.

It’s a simple question, yet when Elizabeth Piper, health educator for Jewish Community Services (JCS), asks it to a room full of high school students, she is always amazed at the response.

On Wednesday March 14, American-Israeli Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Palestinian activist Shadi Abu Awwad spoke before a packed audience of 150 people at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, Maryland. The event, titled “Other to Brother,” was part of a grassroots initiative led by Roots/Shorashim/Judur, an organization that fosters dialogue between Jews and Palestinians living in the West Bank.

On the evening of March 15, Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax, Virginia, hosted “Virginia is for Israeli Tech Lovers,” the latest event in this year’s “Gesher With a Twist” series. The headline speaker was Sheryl Schwartz, COO of CareTek, LLC, who has a résumé replete with technology and consulting roles. Recognized as a “Technology Titan” by Washingtonian Magazine, Schwartz is a board member of American Friends of Hebrew University and passionate about Israel’s tremendous ability to use technology research to address the world’s problems.

On March 11, more than 70 singles between the ages of 22 to 35 from the Greater Washington and Baltimore area and beyond convened at Young Israel Shomrai Emunah in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The Baltimore Chesed League (BCL) provides Jewish boys in Baltimore the opportunity to engage in meaningful “chesed-focused” service activities (chesed is the Jewish term for an act of kindness). BCL Founder Dovi Ziffer recently spoke to Kol HaBirah about BCL’s origins and what lies ahead.

Eleven hundred students, teachers, and parents came to Maryland’s capital to rally for the continued support and expanded funding of the BOOST (Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today) Scholarship Program and other initiatives that benefit both Jewish and non-Jewish families who send their kids to nonpublic schools.