Eleanor Auerbach marries Richard Linde in congregation’s first wedding. First fiscal year is completed: Expenses total $24,300. Religious School enrollment reaches 111.

High Holy Day services are celebrated at First Christian Church of Falls Church due to increased attendance.

Rabbi Laszlo Berkowits begins his long service to the Temple as its first Rabbi. His first official function is the Brit Milah of David Levin.

Search committee recommends purchase of 7-acre lot on Westmoreland for $40,000. Following heated debate, the recommendation is withdrawn. 10 Temple members decide to purchase the land themselves to hold until the congregation is ready to commit itself the following year. Temple Women of Rodef Shalom is formed, establishing committees for flowers, Oneg Shabbat, hospitality, Shabbat […]

Temple Rodef Shalom joins the Union for American Hebrew Congregations, later the Union for Reform Judaism. Temple office is rented in Ravensworth Towers. A typewriter is rented for $8 per month. An organ is purchased and dedicated in grateful appreciation to Herman and Ruth Fink for regular use of space in the Fink Professional Building

Membership dues during this first year are set at $120 per year for a family; single adults and newly-married couples would pay $80 a year and “junior members” $40.

A Committee is formed to organize youth activities. In 1966, Rodef Shalom Youth will begin its active participation with the National Federation of Temple Youth and the Mid-Atlantic Federation of Temple Youth. It will continue to be supported by volunteer adult advisors until a part-time staff member is hired in 1986.

An estimated 270 seats are needed for the first High Holy Day services at Arlington Unitarian Church.

Religious School is organized by Ida and Joseph Auerbach in 3 months on a preliminary budget of $150. Ultimately, 5 classrooms are rented at Thomas Jefferson Elementary for 106 religious school students. Cost for each room is $4.10 per week. Before the congregation has its own building, classes will also be held at Lemon Road […]

Stephen Abramson becomes the first Bar Mitzvah on a Friday night as no Saturday services were held. David and Patsy Kruger offer the gift of a Torah. A second Torah is donated by Philip and Beatrice Rudin, a relic from an Orthodox Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Our original Ark is designed by Nan Rudin and built […]