-- older webpage of Virginia Avniel Spatz --
links to books, community groups, and other stuff of possible interest still here, but this website is no longer regularly updated.
PLEASE VISIT "A SONG EVERY DAY"
at http://songeveryday.wordpress.com
for thoughts on Torah, prayer and other Jewish topics.
or
“Ward 7 Connections”
for news of one of Washington, DC's two wards east of the Anacostia River
Jewish Inter-Denominational Dialogue
The AJC Women's Inter-Denominational Jewish Leadership
Dialogue in Washington, DC, brings together DC-area women from
Conservative, independent/havurah, and Orthodox, Reconstructionist,
and Reform congregations as well as women whose Jewish identification
is not primarily religious. The DC Dialogue has no web page, so I've
provided some information here.
Study materials the Dialogue prepared for "Make for Yourself a
Teacher: Learning Across Denominations" are available at DC
Beit Midrash (Click on Source Sheets and Teachers, then July 27,
2004 -- near the top of the list).
The American Jewish
Committee does have a webpage, but
it is important to note that the AJC as an organization and the
Dialogue members as individuals do not necessarily share views.
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Kol Isha ("A Woman's Voice") -- Jewish
Spirituality from a Woman's Perspective
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Reading and Writing
Here is a bibliography of Books (possibly of Jewish interest) begun for "Books and Bagels," an activity of Hill Havurah. Thanks to Riverby Books for hosting book discussions; see their website for other events. For more on books, book-buying, and libraries, click here.
The Institute for Contemporary Midrash says
"Midrash fills in the cracks... puts flesh on the bones...
reinterprets stories and characters... gives a voice to those in the
story who have no voice."
In the summer of 1999, I had
the great good fortune to participate in the Institute's summer
workshop, the writing portion of which was taught by Alicia
Ostriker. ICM no longer offers its workshops, but Alicia teaches
writing, often in Jewish contexts -- at the 2007 Havurah
Institute, e.g., -- and I heartily recommend her classes to anyone
interested in deepening his/her own writing and/or learning more
about biblical text.
ICM published a short-lived journal,
Living Text , which one member of Temple Micah (DC) prononced
"too beautiful to survive." It was a gorgeous publication
filled with amazing visual and verbal art, as well as essays about
bibliodrama and related topics. Back issues of Living
Text are still available, as far as I know.
Some results
of that 1999 workshop I attended were published in Volume 6 of Living
Text -- which means that a few of my pieces -- such as they were
-- appeared in the same volume with new translations of poems by
Yehuda Amichai (z''l)
and spectacular artwork by Archie
Rand, along with essays, narratives, reviews, and other fine
contributions!
Partial Publications List
"Cain
Discovers Infinity"; "Japheth and Son," Living
Text, The Journal of Contemporary Midrash, The Institute of
Contemporary Midrash, (Volume 6, 1999).
"Drawing Back"
in Rebecca Schwartz, ed. All the Women Followed Her: A Collection
of Writings on Miriam the Prophet & the Women of Exodus
(Rikudei Miriam Press, 2001).
"Surviving Smallpox,"
"Out the Window: Female Activism During the Revolution,"
and "Family Feud: Loyalists Versus Revolutionaries" The
Adams Family - Cobblestone, (November, 1993).
"Scat
and Improvisation" Louis Armstrong - Cobblestone
(October, 1993).
"Early Jewish History" Judaism -
Calliope, (March/April 1994).
"Statues in Ancient
Greece" Science Fiction: The Wondrous and the Real - Odyssey
(September 1994).
"Conferences and Events: Full and Equal
Enjoyment for All Participants," ACED Advisor: The Journal of
Conference and Events Directors-International 2
(1990):11-14
"Computers and Equity," Equity and
Choice 1(3):52-54 (Spring 1985)
Recent Hill Rag articles
on local issues -- such as education and traffic -- are available in
PDF, some html at http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com.
Ancient ones, from my earlier (1992-1994) stint writing about
community issues, are not.
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Libraries are our culture's lifeblood; please
make sure they're here for our own and future generations. Use your
local public libraries. Ask your librarians what kind of help they
need, and advocate for them. Give the public library your time,
money, or books -- here in DC, visit Friends
or Foundation.
Explore
private libraries -- here in DC, we have Provisions
Library: Resources for Arts and Social Change, for example, which
is a very cool place to hang out, use resources not available
everywhere, and enjoy exhibits.
Book-Buying Soap-Box: Please consider supporting
local and independent book shops first. Many have
customer-appreciation discounts that rival the big chains' --
although you might have to inquire -- and all provide diversity
essential to our civilization (not to put too fine a point on it)
plus great browsing and interesting selections. Check out the
Andersonville
Study (Chicago) of retail economics for more on what/how
independent shops contrbute to a neighborhood. See also economics
on homeschooling page.
Beyond your own area, you might try
Powell's for great selection,
reviews, and service, or Support
Literacy and other good causes through used book purchases. Other
used outlets can be found through ABE.
In
Washington, DC, both Olsson's -- which had been a small local chain -- and Trover's -- which owned once owned two card shops and a bookstore -- have closed (Trover's downtown cardshop remains).
Remaining are: Bridge Street Books (Foggy Bottom/Georgtown), Glover Books and Music (Georgetown, 338-8100), Kramerbooks and Afterwards (Dupont Circle), Politics and Prose (Van Ness) and others (see Booksense.com or "Bookstores in the District of Columbia").
For progressive books and community events (with fine food,
drink, and company sharing the same space), visit Bookstore
at Busboys and Poets
For a great collection of children's
books and knowledgable, friendly help, visit Fairy Godmother at 317
7th Street, SE, right near Eastern Market; owner Roberta Blanchard --
202-547-5474 -- knows what's classic, what's new, and what kids of
all ages, reading abilities, and temperments are likely to
enjoy.
For Jewish books, try the Jewish Bookstore of Greater
Washington (contact information here), where owners are knowledgable and friendly, and you can often watch a sefer Torah, or perhaps tefillin, being repaired.
Eli Chai's on University Boulevard also stocks Hebrew and English books. Both are near the Wheaton Metro stop.