This July, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation is hosting its annual Summer Nights in Park Heights series, a discussion-based program “with a Jewish twist.”

While the series has been a staple for over a decade, this year, for America250, the events look a little different.

“Often, our topics are current events or contemporary issue-based,” said Rabbi Andrew Busch. “This may involve American policy issues, discussions related to Israel, or global issues, such as refugees or climate change. Sometimes we advertise the topic in advance, sometimes not.”

He added: “There is always a Jewish connection, more or less, to what we’re talking about … that’s generally not been connected to the Torah portion, but rather may be connected to a value or somewhere else in … rabbinic literature.”

This year, discussion leaders such as Busch are pulling their materials from the American Scripture Project. Launched in 2018 and created by Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation, it connects the weekly Torah portion to historical texts.

“The goal is to let people have discussions with each other and … to have as many people end up talking as possible as the night goes on,” added Busch.

Every week, rabbis relate that week’s Torah portion to present day. The American Scripture Project relates the Torah portion to American history.

“Torah portions are certainly more complicated,” he said. “But it is certainly what we do every Shabbat anyway … try to connect somehow the Torah portion to the lives we’re leading around us.”

For the first week of Summer Nights in Park Heights, Busch facilitated a conversation among congregants about manifest destiny, both the first use of the word in American history and how it relates to the Torah.

“I was leading a discussion on an 1845 essay that might have been the first use, or certainly the first significant use, of the term “manifest destiny” in American history,” he said. “And tied to that week’s Torah portion, Matot, in terms of Matot’s grappling with rights to the land and land acquisition.”

According to Busch, there are many congregants who particularly like this program but don’t often attend other programs. “It was a great gathering,” he said.

Busch mentioned the series, depending on the weather, is often hosted in Baltimore Hebrew’s Bernstein Garden, built two years ago.

“[The garden] is a lovely setting to enjoy our discussions and refreshments,” he said.

However, due to weather, the first discussion was held inside.

“I introduced the Torah portion and what we were dealing with,” Busch added. “We then had three paragraph excerpts from [an] essay that, at the several tables, we had them read out loud at the tables, and then I gave them some questions to help them talk about it at their tables.”

Baltimore Hebrew Congregation also hosts Winter Nights on Park Heights, a similar program hosted on Zoom in January.

“We hope that we build a thoughtful community of congregants dealing with real themes,” Busch said. “[Summer Nights in Park Heights] is really discussion-based, with leaders facilitating, but not teaching. As with all programs, we hope to connect our congregants to one another and to their BHC community. [Summer Nights in Park Heights] also is one of our many opportunities to connect our Judaism to our world.”

mresnicow@midatlanticmedia.com