Bet Mishpachah, Egalitarian synagogue in Dupont Circle, Washington D.C., United States
Bet Mishpachah is an egalitarian synagogue housed within the Washington D.C. Jewish Community Center in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. The congregation holds regular worship services there and also gathers for community events throughout the year.
The congregation was founded in 1975 under the name Metropolitan Community Temple Mishpocheh, making it one of the early LGBTQ-inclusive Jewish congregations in the country. In 1979, Westminster Synagogue in London donated a Torah scroll to the community, a gesture that tied it to a broader Jewish world from the start.
Bet Mishpachah is one of the earliest synagogues in the US to openly welcome gay and lesbian members as full participants in religious life. Visitors attending a service today will find a congregation where that founding spirit still shapes how people gather and pray together.
Services are held on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, though exact times can vary depending on the week. It is worth checking the congregation's schedule in advance, as the Jewish Community Center building hosts other groups and events as well.
The Torah scroll donated from London in 1979 is what is known as a rescued Holocaust Torah, meaning it came from a Central European Jewish community that was destroyed during World War II. The scroll is still used in services today, so a text that nearly disappeared continues to be read aloud in a living congregation.
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