Washington, D.C

DC’s Shawn Shafner Brings Jewish Tradition to Center Stage

Published

10 months ago

April 30, 2025

DC’s Shawn Shafner Brings Jewish Tradition to Center Stage

Shawn Shafner. (Photo by Jay Belsky)

Shawn Shafner balances many roles: teaching artist, educator, activist, actor, mindfulness coach and longtime summer camp staff member.

Shafner, who holds a bachelor of fine arts in drama and theater arts, facilitates Jewish ritual theater programs, educating audiences on the East and West coasts about Torah and Jewish tradition.

The multidisciplinary artist is an early childhood educator and ritual facilitator for the nonprofit Storahtelling, where he’s worked since 2005. Shafner runs the theater department at Camp Ramah in northern California in addition to his seasonal work with Trybal Gatherings, a summer camp experience for young adults.

Shafner looks forward to premiering one of his solo shows in June at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C., where he is an Atlas Arts Lab resident. It’s called “Sheldon Feldman Sings the Songs They Told Me Not to Sing.” Shafner lives with his fiancé in the Brightwood Park neighborhood of D.C.

Tell me about your Jewish upbringing and background.
I guess you could say I grew up in the Conservative movement [in Colorado]; the synagogue we belonged to growing up was within the Conservative movement, but we were always on the Reform side of that. We definitely celebrated Jewish holidays, [but we] didn’t have a strong Shabbat practice growing up — we didn’t go to temple very often — although my sister and I both went to religious school once a week, then twice a week to prepare for our b’mitzvah.

I went to NYU … and college was when I began to find my own journey through Judaism. I was at the musical theater school at NYU Tisch [School of the Arts] and I remember asking a friend, “Are you going to Hillel for the High Holiday service?” — I think I went to the Rosh Hashanah service and I didn’t find it super inspiring. And she said, “I don’t do that; I’m going to the art museum where I’m doing my observation of the holiday.” I was like, “You can do that?” That year, I followed [my friend] there and realized that there is a different way to have contemplative experience.

How did you get to where you are today?
I did a project with Hillel, a devised play about someone wrestling with their queer identity called “Song of Solomon.” Through that, I met the women who would later found the Kohenet Institute and a year later, I received a Spielberg fellowship through the Foundation for Jewish Camp. I was tasked with creating a theater program at a Jewish summer camp. The training for it was a fellowship for a week at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute with [Rabbi] Amichai Lau-Lavie, the founder of what’s now called Lab/Shul, but was then called Storahtelling. That was really my full entrance into Jewish adulthood.

At one point, Amichai and other faculty started playing music and said, “Flip through the siddur. Whenever you find a line or even a word that moves you, go ahead and say it out loud.” We sort of made our own prayer that way. That really changed my understanding of what it meant to be Jewish and to practice Judaism.

What were your responsibilities at Lab/Shul?
I started making interactive theater that brought the stories of the Torah alive. We’d go to communities and when the Torah service began, myself, another actor and two musicians would open the story into this interactive play that was either translated by biblical characters in the story or modern-day people who were reading the story. [Our performances] included the pshat (literal meaning) of the Torah with midrash (rabbinic additions), both ancient and more contemporary.

We were also inspired by the Jewish Renewal movement to open the Torah up with group aliyot (calling up to the Torah), and an interactive question session where we invite the audience to put themselves in the stories. We essentially used techniques from psychodrama in order to reveal their own feelings and emotions around stories.

You’ve been an actor and artist since the age of 5. What about art appeals to you?
Art is a window into what the human experience is in a way that removes our specific identities and enables us to imagine what it could be like to be anybody. I think we’ve always needed it, but now, especially, the ability to have empathy and compassion for an experience that’s not your own is so important. It’s really integral in the Jewish experience as well. “I’m a stranger in a strange land and I have been a stranger before.” Our midrash teaches us this idea that we are to see ourselves through the other. It’s important that we have access to universality of the human experience, and this is really where art comes in.

How do you make summer camp fun for young adults through Trybal Gatherings?
Trybal Gatherings is for adults, primarily for people in their 20s and 30s, and we have a cohort of folks from the D.C. area who come every year, and it’s been a pleasure to watch that community grow. There, it’s kind of like giving young adults a taste of their childhood back, whether they went to summer camp and loved it, or went and didn’t like it and are coming back to reenact their summer camp experience, or if they never went to camp but want a taste of it, or maybe their partner went to camp but they’re not Jewish.

What’s great about Trybal is that they give this connection to Judaism that’s really open. It doesn’t proclaim to have the one true way to practice. However you show up Jewishly is the right way. Our Jewish connection can be through liturgy, through Shabbat, but also through things I do at camp, like through making pickles, doing improv together and celebrating some of our Jewish comedians, through meditation [and] through practicing mindfulness within the Jewish tradition.

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Washington, D.C

DC Public Health to begin daily testing of Potomac, Anacostia rivers for E. coli

Published

7 hours ago

February 28, 2026

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DC Public Health to begin daily testing of Potomac, Anacostia rivers for E. coli

WASHINGTON – Beginning on Monday, the D.C. Department of Health will be conducting daily tests for E. coli in the Potomac and Anacostia rivers.

It comes more than five weeks after the Potomac interceptor collapse sent millions of gallons of sewage into the river.

The testing will also coincide with an important safety advisory being lifted.

Why it matters:

Director of the D.C. Department of Health, Dr. Ayanna Bennett, says they will begin daily testing for E. coli in the Potomac and Anacostia rivers on Monday, along with help from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Currently, D.C. is only testing weekly.

“We feel really secure that the initial sewage is not a threat to people, it’s passed through some time ago, but we do want to get more information about what the long term condition of the river is gonna be and how we should look at it going forward.”

Big picture view:

Monday is also an important day because it’s when the District is expected to lift its advisory that recommends against recreational activities on the Potomac — we’re talking boating, fishing, walking pets by the water.

It’s important to note, however, that D.C.’s advisory pertains to its portion of the Potomac, and it has no bearing on advisories issued by officials in Maryland or Virginia.

Still, this is being treated by many as a hopeful sign.

What they’re saying:

But significant concerns absolutely remain for residents.

“I’ve had tons of messages from people saying they’re not going to let their kids row crew, they’re not going to go to sailing schools. We catch three million tons of blue cats out of the Potomac River. That season starts next week, and they’re not gonna be able to bring those blue cats to market,” said Dean Naujoks with the Potomac Riverkeepers.

“You knew years ago that parts of this Potomac Interceptor were corroded and vulnerable, especially where it broke, in Cabin John, our neighborhood,” one resident said, speaking at a public meeting in Bethesda on Thursday.

“I know there are small business owners here. Who’s accounting for all of our losses that we’re getting due to your sewer blowing up?” another resident asked.

Officials with D.C. Water, which is a public utility, have been running daily tests and will continue to do so as well.

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Washington, D.C

Pleasant, spring-like weekend for Virginia, Maryland, DC ahead of active start to March

Published

19 hours ago

February 27, 2026

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Pleasant, spring-like weekend for Virginia, Maryland, DC ahead of active start to March

After one of the coldest winters in years, the DMV is ending the month of February, and meteorological winter, with a nice spring preview.

Temperatures will reach the low 60s area-wide Saturday afternoon under mostly sunny skies. A real treat for the final day of February, enjoy!

Sunday will bring a few changes as an active weather pattern begins to bring in March.

A cold front will slowly move through the area and be mostly starved of moisture. There is a chance at a spotty shower or two, but most stay dry under mostly cloudy skies.

Temperatures will drop throughout the day as the front moves through with most afternoon temperatures in the 50s falling to the 30s by nightfall.

European model forecast rainfall totals

This front will stall just to the south and be a focal point for several days of active weather next week around the DMV.

A wintry mix looks likely Monday with temperatures near freezing with little to no wintry precipitation accumulation, but a different story as that will then switch to all rain chances Tuesday through about Friday.

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Stay tuned to the First Alert Weather team as they continue to monitor forecast trends heading into next week.

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Washington, D.C

DC celebrates boost in college grant program for students – WTOP News

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

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DC celebrates boost in college grant program for students – WTOP News

The expanded funding aims to make college more affordable for thousands of D.C. students, continuing a program that has already helped nearly 40,000 graduates pursue degrees nationwide.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser went back to school on Thursday. She headed to the gym at Coolidge High School in Northwest to make an announcement that could make college more affordable for eligible D.C. high school students.

Standing at the podium in front of a vibrant mural in the gymnasium, Bowser told the students, “A few weeks ago we got some good news from the United States Congress!”

“Even they can get it right sometimes!” she added.

The news from Capitol Hill was that funding for the 25-year-old D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant program, or DCTAG, has been increased, something Bowser said she’s been working toward for 10 years.

Starting in the 2026-27 academic year, the maximum annual award for students who apply and qualify for the grants will go from $10,000 a year to as much as $15,000, and the overall cap increases from $50,000 to $75,000.

“These are real dollars guys, a real $15,000!” Bowser told the students. “This year alone, 4,500 students were approved for DCTAG, and that’s the highest number that we’ve had in the last five years.”

Since DCTAG was established, Bowser said nearly 40,000 D.C. high school students were serviced through the program, attaining degrees at more than 400 colleges across the country.

Among those who benefited from the DCTAG program was Arturo Evans, a local business owner who grew up in Ward 7 and graduated from D.C.’s Cesar Chavez Public Charter School.

Speaking to the Coolidge students, Evans explained that as a high school student, he didn’t know if his dreams would ever come true.

“Do your homework, go to class, be on time, listen to your teachers,” he said. “Do not let your current situation determine who you can be tomorrow.”

Evans said without the grant money available in the DCTAG program his college prospects would have been “very limited.”

“I probably would have stayed local, probably would have had to go to a community college,” he said.

But he told WTOP, since he applied for and received grant money through the program, “TAG was able to pave the way for me to go ahead and achieve my dreams and go to my dream school,” at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

While he was at UNLV, Evans said his mother’s illness meant he had to return to the District to help care for her. But thanks to help from his DCTAG adviser, he was able to complete his degree before becoming the CEO of his own D.C.-based business.

Among the Coolidge students attending the event was senior Victoria Evans (no relation to the speaker Arturo Evans), who also was in the DCTAG program and serves as the Command Sergeant Major of the Coolidge Junior Army ROTC.

Victoria Evans said she hopes to study medicine, and explained, “I found out about DCTAG through my school counselors and my college and career coordinators.”

Asked about the application process, she said, “It’s not hard at all. I would definitely say go and get the money they’re providing.”

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton pushed to establish the funding when she introduced the D.C. College Access Act, which passed Congress in 1999. It was designed to address the fact that, since D.C. doesn’t have a state university system, D.C. students had limited access to in-state tuition at public colleges and universities.

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