Dupont Circle B&B fluffs pillows—and matzah balls

WASHINGTON -- If your idea of a Washington, D.C., getaway includes a Shabbat dinner with homemade matzah ball soup supped amid the strains of klezmer and the dreamlike images of Marc Chagall, Shalom House may be for you.

At least that's what Dr. Paul "Peretz Shalom" Rhodes, host of this Jewish bed & breakfast, is hoping. He aims to create an environment that is "warm, beautiful, spiritual, relaxing and a celebration of Jewish arts, history and culture."

Rhodes, a physician with a geriatrics practice, bought the three-story brownstone at 1902 R St. N.W., also known as Inn Washington, 15 years ago. He finds playing host to guests "a happy business that really complements the weighty aspects of my geriatric work."

Since Sept. 30, the doctor/innkeeper also has launched walking tours of Jewish Washington. Leaving Shalom House at noon on the fourth Sunday of each month, the free tours touch on the inn's own art works, the B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, the Jewish War Veterans Museums and other nearby sites.

"I hope in a small way my tours of Jewish Washington will add to tourism beyond the monuments," said Rhodes.

In turning his Dupont Circle property into an inn during the past year and a half, Rhodes has sought to recreate a bit of family history.

His great-grandparents, Shalom and Rachel Reizen, Polish immigrants to the United States, had a Brooklyn apartment building that they threw open to friends and neighbors on Shabbat. In time, it became known as Shalom House.

Its latter-day re-creation serves up Ashkenazic comfort foods such as lox and matzah brei. Rhodes says he is moving toward an all-kosher establishment. As it stands, he avoids use of traif foods such as pork and shellfish in the main kitchen and keeps a stocked (and when not in use, locked) rabbinically supervised kosher kitchenette in two of the six guest rooms.

The inn also features a profusion of Jewish art, ranging from lithographs by Edna Hibel to murals adorning stairwell and guest rooms.

In Elliot's Crown, a room named after Rhodes' father, three biblical murals flanking built-in bookcases depict Jacob's dream, the binding of Isaac and Jacob wrestling the angel, respectively.

Painted upon the walls of the Peretz Shalom Room is a reproduction of a centuries-old Dutch house mural, complete with Hebrew inscriptions.

Guests at the inn have free access to the gym and cultural events at the nearby District of Columbia Jewish Community Center.

Rounding out the haimish atmosphere at Shalom House is Rhodes' friendly menagerie, consisting of cocker spaniel Nathan, Sidney the Senegal parrot and Mr. Mistopheles, a shaggy rabbit.