Rabbi

Hunger Walk set for May 20 The Greater Howard County CROP Hunger Walk, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, will be held at 2 p.m. May 20 at the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center, 5885 Robert Oliver Place, Columbia. Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) is a locally organized effort to raise funds to help stop hunger in the local community and around the world through self-help initiatives. A portion of the funds raised in the county will go to the Interfaith Coalition for Compassion for Howard county.

When Methodist clergy and congregations around Baltimore have questions about Jesus' Jewish heritage, they can turn to their conference rabbi. The Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church appointed Rabbi Joshua Martin Siegel last year to help put the Jewish roots of the Protestant faith in context through Bible study and demonstration. The Jewish observance of Passover begins at sundown tonight.

It wasn't until the sixth grade that Michael Durst decided he wanted to become a bar mitzvah, but his parents didn't belong to a synagogue. These days, that's not a problem. The Fallston family hired a freelance tutor who taught the 12-year-old his Torah passage and officiated at the ceremony marking Michael's journey into Jewish adulthood, held in the hall of a Methodist church. Bar mitzvah ceremonies like Michael's - without years of Hebrew school, without a congregational membership, without a traditional sense of Jewish community - worry some area rabbis so much that they're rethinking their congregations' approach to the rite of passage.

Woman dies at hospital after blaze in Westport A woman died last night at Harbor Hospital after she was rescued by firefighters from her burning home in Westport, a city Fire Department spokesman said. The 68-year-old woman, whose name was withheld pending notification of family members, suffered burns and smoke inhalation and died before 9 p.m., said Chief Kevin Cartwright, the spokesman. Reported at 7 p.m.

Leaders of Judaism's Conservative Movement approved interpretations of Jewish law yesterday that would permit same-sex commitment ceremonies and the ordination of openly gay and lesbian rabbis. The historic decision offers wide latitude for Conservative rabbis, most of whom are in North America, to make individual choices for their congregations about whether to bless gay relationships. The two Conservative rabbinical colleges within the United States already have begun discussing the admission of openly gay candidates.

Leaders of Conservative Judaism will consider interpretations of Jewish law tomorrow that could render homosexual acts acceptable. If approved, the decision would open the door for the ordination of gay men and lesbians and recognition of same-sex relationships within America's second-largest branch of Judaism.

Baltimore: Concert Event today to honor fallen city officers The third annual concert to remember Baltimore City's fallen officers is set for 4 p.m. today at the New Metropolitan Baptist Church, 1501 McCulloh St. The free concert is sponsored by the Baltimore City state's attorney's office and the Baltimore City Police Memorial Fund Board. The concert shows appreciation to fallen officers and their relatives, friends and co-workers; money collected during the event will benefit the memorial fund.