BT INSIDER
TZEDAKAH | LEADERSHIP | INVESTMENT
“A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD”
Beth Tfiloh’s warm, supportive and diverse community is rooted in Torah values and Jewish traditions –values drive our mission. They are the foundation of everything we do as an organization. So much of this is made possible by you, the generous supporters of our school and synagogue’s mission. We invite you to read about the remarkable experience made possible by your generosity.
We are fortunate to be on campus everyday and see our mission come to life in our school and shul, but we want you to see it too. We look forward to sharing BT Insider with you throughout the year, and if you would like to know more about any of our specific programs or initiatives, please reach out to a member of the Beth Tfiloh Development Team at development@btfiloh.org.
Todah rabba for your continued investment in Beth Tfiloh.
PRESCHOOL
Our PreSchool’s play-centered curriculum maximizes our youngest students’ academic and social-emotional learning –both of which are necessary to thrive in school and beyond. Morah Lindsey and Morah Kelly’s PreSchool 3’s class jumped for joy while learning about patterns and patience. To the students, this just felt like fun, jumping from hoop to hoop in physical education class. But it was so much more than that; they were actually learning how to create new patterns with their hoops while also learning how to wait their turn and respect their friends. The children worked in small groups for this mental and physical exercise, contributing to our PreSchool’s joyful community.
LOWER SCHOOL
We are so proud of our second grade students who recently received their first Chumashim. As second grade Judaics teacher Ms. Luna Maman so poignantly states, “Excitement for this milestone is built day by day as students prepare to navigate, explore, and understand their Chumash.” From this day forward, they can proudly learn from, and cherish, their own personal,
book-bound Torah text throughout Lower School and beyond, as their Chumash becomes a most prized possession. This marks the beginning of a lifetime of learning, and living the important mitzvot and values those sacred books contain.
We are grateful to Mr. Searle and Mrs. Deborah Mitnick, who endowed the second grade’s Chumash Program. Their generous gift provided the resources for both the program and the Chumashim for many future generations of BT second grade students.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Mrs. Ellen Agronin’s sixth grade humanities class invented and played thought-provoking and creative board games, which depicted the Titanic’s tragic last night. This innovative lesson, designed to help students review the book A Night to Remember, was created by English teacher Mrs. Maureen Jaffe and has excitedly engaged sixth graders for several years. This year’s group designed original and challenging games that required players to use their knowledge from the book to advance on the game board and make it to a lifeboat – and survive!
HIGH SCHOOL
BT Honors Engineering students spent an inspiring morning testing the bridges they designed and constructed at Loyola University of Maryland’s Engineering Department. The students developed and built their test bridges in BT’s state-of-the-art STEM Center and after several weeks of research, designing, and building, the students finally put their prototypes to the test to see how much weight they could hold. They harvested data generated by their tests and evaluated design failures with suggestions for improving the overall bridge design. Loyola Assistant Professor of Engineering Dr. Suzanne Keilson commented on how impressed she was with the student's designs, several of which were able to withstand higher loads than designs by first-year engineering students at Loyola!
Beth Tfiloh’s Mock Trial team, along with their coach and BT alum Adam Kruger ‘05, recently brought home a massive victory against Towson High School in the Circuit Semifinals. In a close performance, our BT attorneys and witnesses brought their best to the courtroom, turning out an impressive win over a longtime rival.
ISRAEL ADVOCACY
Our High School students and faculty engaged in thoughtprovoking dialogue with BT alum and OpenDor Media Executive Vice President Dr. Noam Weissman ‘03. Dr. Weissman presented a series of discussions on what it means to be a Jew and a Zionist. He engaged the students in a dynamic conversation about our responsibility to think like an entrepreneur, to ask good questions, and to take meaningful action. Department of Jewish History Chair Dr. Neil Rubin summarized the experience: “Using what we’ve already learned about the Jewish presence in the Land — and how Jews alone remain the people connected to it — we brought up some of the uncomfortable issues about what it means to have Jewish power, etc. They wanted more discussion so the goal of promoting meaningful dialogue is working.”
CREATIVE ARTS
Beth Tfiloh’s Creative Arts Department provides a far-ranging curriculum in creative and performing arts including visual arts, instrumental and choral music, dance, music theory, film and digital video editing, technical theater, and stage craft. Our talented fifth grade students recently presented A Year with Frog and Toad to a sold-out audience. Our young performers jumped right into character, performing this whimsical show that follows
two great friends – the cheerful, popular Frog, and the rather grumpy Toad – through four fun-filled seasons. There were endless opportunities to participate in this production. From costume design, to managing the stage production – lights, cameras and set design, to choreography, and character portrayal on stage, our 5th graders shined both on stage and behind the scenes.
ATHLETICS
With 43 interscholastic athletic teams, our Beth Tfiloh students have a variety of opportunities to engage in athletics and distinguish themselves through competitive sports. This includes our basketball program, whose High School teams put forth an impressive performance throughout this past year’s Weiner Family Tournament. For the first time in three years, Beth Tfiloh welcomed guests from all over North America and Israel. The excitement was palpable as both students and parents alike packed our gyms to the brim, showing their BT spirit and enjoying our newly renovated Marvin H. Weiner Gymnasium. Our students and faculty in every division, as well as our guest athletes and staff, all felt that warm, welcoming feeling for which our Beth Tfiloh family is known. The tournament featured intense competition, inspiring comradery, and a wonderful Shabbat experience hosted by our school and shul community. What an incredible weekend for our BT family! Thank you to the Weiner family who endowed our annual Weiner Family Tournament –one of the most exciting times of the year at Beth Tfiloh for our students, our athletes, and the entire community.
CENTENNIAL CAMPAIGN
In a warm and intimate gathering held on Giving Tuesday, Beth Tfiloh celebrated and honored the 60+ families who made extraordinary gift commitments to the Centennial Campaign. One of the highlights was the unveiling of the beautiful new Centennial Campaign Donor Wall in our synagogue Lobby. The generosity of these donors will have an indelible impact on Beth Tfiloh for generations to come. For more information on how you can be a part of the Centennial Campaign, please contact Mandi Miller: MMiller@btfiloh.org.
The energy at Beth Tfiloh has been unstoppable with school parents, teachers, athletes, and students of all ages celebrating not one, but two championship victories for our Varsity and JV Boys Basketball teams!
Our Varsity boys beat Saints Peter and Paul High School to take home the MIAA C Conference Champion title, while our JV boys beat Park School, also bringing home the MIAA C Conference Champion title!
IVDU
IVDU, Beth Tfiloh’s new program center, serves as a source for authentic, inspiring, and relevant Jewish learning, engagement, and connection for our shul members, such as Women and Wisdom, Moms and Midrash, and Shabbat Scholars-in-Residence. IVDU was generously made possible by Irene and Robert Russel and family.
At the recent Women and Wisdom sessions, mothers of teens joined together for meaningful discussion about how to bring Judaism into their home. In December, the group joined Rabbi Chai Posner in a discussion about the magic of Shabbat, where they enjoyed a relevant conversation about striking the balance of helping teens appreciate Shabbat while recognizing where they are right now, and moving the needle forward as they continue to create sacred spaces in their homes. More recently, our Women and Wisdom group came together once again at the home of Vered Taylor to discuss “A Jewish Perspective on Love and Marriage” with Dr. Zipora Schorr who related the Five Love Languages to the different aspects of a Jewish marriage. The women enjoyed a great conversation and brought home practical ideas to strengthen their relationships.
Beth Tfiloh congregants enjoyed a delicious Shabbat dinner and a fascinating, candid conversation with scholar-in-residence Rabbi Chaim Jachter about some of today’s hotly debated halachic issues and the challenges of modernity. This Scholar-in-Residence program was generously sponsored by The Nathan and Louise Schwartz Tzedaka Fund.
YOUNG FAMILY PROGRAMMING
Our young family community is growing and thriving! What started as 20, has become 60 young families regularly attending Shabbat services at Beth Tfiloh. This past year, our creative and engaging programming for these families has inspired much of this community growth. There are so many ways our young families can connect Jewishly and socially at BT!
More than 300 people enjoyed our Parshat Noach Petting Zoo & Chesed Day, which was infused with kindness, Jewish values and community with a fun-filled day featuring a petting zoo and pony rides, make-your-own rainbow ices, and various chesed and craft activities.
More than 30 families joined us for a beautiful day of pre-Rosh Hashanah apple picking, craft-making and singing holiday songs while learning about the simanim (symbols) with Rabbi Jason Goldstein. Beth Tfiloh thrives because of our diverse and multigenerational community. We can take pride in knowing that the strength of our BT programming and community as a whole positions us to enjoy a robust future.
B’NEI MITZVAH PROGRAMMING
Our B’Nei Mitzvah program is built upon 5 core pillars: responsibilities to our self, family, community, Jewish peoplehood and the world as Jewish young adults.
Our family-oriented programming emphasizes the importance of Jewish traditions, our history, our culture, and the challenges we face in our Jewish world today.
Our 2022-23 Bar & Bat Mitzvah class recently met for their final program of the year. After joint Jewish text study for parents and children, the families made casseroles for clients of My Sister’s Place Women’s Center The five-session program concluded with a conversation with the students led by BT’s Shelichim, Shani and Matan Shefler about the Jewish values they will take upon themselves as they reach their big milestone. At the completion of the program, each student received a personalized gift including a certificate, keychain of their Hebrew name, and a membership to the Jewish Museum of Maryland.
WOMEN’S ENGAGEMENT
Providing meaningful Jewish experiences for women has been a Beth Tfiloh priority since its inception. BT was the first Orthodox synagogue in Baltimore to institute a group bat mitzvah ceremony back in 1936. Considered a radical innovation by Orthodox standards at the time, BT set the example for the other Baltimore Orthodox congregations led by English-speaking rabbis, to follow.
Today, Beth Tfiloh proudly continues that tradition, engaging women spiritually, religiously, intellectually and socially through a variety of programs, services and other experiences. Women enjoy weekly Shabbat morning parshah learning, and deliver summaries of the parshah from the bima in the Dahan Sanctuary; they lein from the Torah on Simchat Torah and from Megillat Esther on Purim; mothers of preschool-aged children gather monthly to learn about and be inspired by female characters in the Torah in the Moms & Midrash series, while mothers of teens gain insight into creating sacred spaces in their homes to help solidify their teens’ Jewish identities through the Women and Wisdom workshops.
Recently, Melissa Wohlberg and Chana Slavaticki led an introspective session on “The Joy of Jewish Mindfulness.” Melissa introduced the group to deep breathing exercises which can boost energy and balance the nervous system. She also guided the group through various mindfulness exercises to support relaxation and enhance everyday life experiences.
Chana interspersed the exercises with a deep dive into the Modeh Ani prayer and the recitation of brachot to promote Jewish mindfulness and gratitude throughout the day.
Our Moms & Midrash group had a great time enjoying wine and sushi at the third session in the “Biblical Women You Should Know” series. This week they met Devorah and Yael — two powerful heroines who broke traditional female molds to save the Jewish people. Inspired by these narratives, they reflected on their complex identities as modern Jewish women.
BETH TFILOH DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Mandi G. Miller
Director of Institutional Advancement
Michelle Cherry ’02
Assistant Director of Development
Lisa Silverstein
Development Associate
Julian Sless ’13
Development Associate
Itael E. Toibman
Development Project Manager
Roz and Marvin H. Weiner Family Campus 3300 Old Court Road | Baltimore, MD 21208