This is the one opportunity that leaders have, for the entire year, to get a full understanding of what is happening with Havurah, share the successes, the challenges, reinvigorate our work and nourish community. We appreciate that your time is valuable and plan on accomplishing a lot with your help. Please RSVP on the Havurah calendar! Send all your completed 2020 Program Planning Worksheets to Adela Basayne by January 24.

If you consider yourself a creative actor/singer who loves musical theater and trying new things, then please join us for this first ever musical theater workshop series. We are writing a musical - Freedom: The Untold Story of Moses – and want to work with a group of passionate performers to develop a physical, spiritual, and musical language for the piece. You can be a part of bringing the script to life and pick up a few tips and tricks to musical theater performance along the way! This will culminate in a staged reading performance of the first act at Havurah Shalom. Performance dates: Sunday, April 5, 2pm and 7pm 10 spaces open to adults. Questions? Contact Chari Smith

Leading up to B'Shvat, the Havurah Climate Action Team is sponsoring a special book group. We will discuss The Hidden Life of Trees, a groundbreaking book that is guaranteed to surprise you and change the way you think about trees and forests. Read before your next hike in the woods! Please join us, you will not be disappointed. Led by Andy Beers.

We gather to find some moments of quiet and shalom. Led by Rabbi Benjamin, Adela Basayne, Deborah Eisenbach-Budner, Nancy Becker, or Ria de Neeve. We will meet both in-person (Havurah Sanctuary or Library) and in Zoom Room Bet. Log in to the website and then visit havurahshalom.org/zoom or call the office for join info (503-248-4662). All are welcome.

Deborah will share impressions and questions from her recent return to Israel/Palestine and her encounters with: religious relatives living on the West Bank, a few of today's Jewish and Palestinian peace activists, 'regular' Israelis trying to live their lives, Druze community members, and some of the amazing and disturbing changes in Israel in the last two and a half decades. She also learned far more than planned about the current health care systems in Palestine and in Israel due to a freak accident (everybody is okay, now). Please RSVP if you plan to come (or are unable to come but are interested; she may plan an additional time for this talk if there is interest).

Monthly meeting of the HCAT. Zoom available!

For all who want a regular prayer practice and for people saying Kaddish. We meet both in person and streaming online in Zoom Room Aleph. All are welcome. Please email info@havurahshalom.org for join info.

Facilitated by Rabbi Benjamin In what ways can Jewish spiritual practice guide our work for healing and justice in the world? In this group we will explore this question together through learning, discussion, and practice. At each meeting we will engage in various modalities, including meditation, chanting, contemplative study, and self-reflection. Guidance will be given for continued practice and engagement between sessions. Our intention will be to form a trusting and supportive group as a foundation for this sacred work. No experience necessary, but participants should be able to commit to all or nearly all of the meetings. Please RSVP by January 15. Limited to 12 participants.

What does it mean that Havurah is a member of Reconstructing Judaism? We will explore values and approaches that have inspired and guided the movement, engaging with material from founder Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan as well as contemporary Reconstructionist leaders. Taught by Rabbi Benjamin.

Havurah members are welcome to join in two evenings of honest and respectful dialogue about Israel and Palestine. In an intentional and supportive format, we will encounter one another’s positions regarding this important and difficult topic. No prior knowledge or experience required, simply an open mind and a willingness to meet one another with honor and curiosity amidst our differences of perspective. Participants must attend the first session to attend the second session. Limited to 40 people.

David Kertzner will be leading another Havurah adult amateur writers group for anyone who wants to explore their interest in prose writing – and is not a published writer or working on a big writing project. This group welcomes people who have never shared their own writing or worked in a group before, but would like to try! The focus will be memoir writing in the broadest sense of the word. We will strive to be a supportive, reflective community using writing prompts and discussion to generate short pieces each week. Participants will select one of their pieces to develop in more depth and then share at a culminating Friday oneg for the Havurah community. Group size is limited to 8 participants. We will meet together for 8 sessions on Thursday evenings from 7-9 pm, January 16, 23, 30; February 6, 13, 20, 27; March 5 and a public reading with an Oneg on March 6. Spot reservations do not open until the spring! Please call David Kertzner if you have questions.

An in-depth look at the weekly Torah reading, led by congregants. No prior knowledge or study is necessary. At Havurah Shalom and in Zoom Room Bet. Email info@havurahshalom.org for Zoom link.

Join our Community Minyan in celebrating Shabbat. Led by community members and Rabbi Benjamin, this service includes davening, Torah reading, and discussion, as well as an opportunity to say Kaddish. We will meet virtually through Zoom Room Aleph while COVID-19 precautions are being observed. Log in to the website and then visit havurahshalom.org/zoom or call the office for join info (503-248-4662 ext. 2).