Program details to come!

Havurah's Climate Action Team invites you to join them in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day with a movie discussion of The Human Element, by Zoom, on Sunday, April 26 from 7 to 8 pm. The movie is being offered for viewing April 17-26, for free, at https://www.interfaithpowerandlight.org/2020/01/the-human-element/. For details about the movie, and descriptions of other interactive Earth Day activities HCAT members are participating in, go to the HCAT page on our website. This discussion will take place on Zoom. Please be in touch with the office for join info at 503-248-4662, ext. 2 or rachel.pollak@havurahshalom.org.

Join the Climate Action Team's monthly meeting in Zoom Room Gimel: 5 pm to 6:30 pm. (For Zoom room login info, log in to your Havurah member account on the website, go to the Contact tab, and click on Zoom Meeting Rooms in the drop-down menu.)

During these seven weeks of Counting the Omer, the period linking Pesach with Shavuot, our Tuesday meditation will focus on the sefirot, or qualities, associated with each week. Rabbi Benjamin will guide us in reflecting on and practicing with these attributes, as tools for resilience and support in this moment. This meditation will take place online in Zoom Room Bet. For join info, please be in touch with the office at 503-248-4662, ext. 2 or rachel@havurahshalom.org.

If there's such a thing as a white nationalist prodigy, Derek Black might have been one. The son of Don Black, the founder of the racist website Stormfront, and godson of former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, he was deeply immersed into the philosophies of white supremacy through his homeschooling and his parents' activities. In an effort to win the hearts and minds of white Americans, Derek ran a daily radio show in which he used rhetoric that avoided harsh racial slurs in favor of junk science and white grievance. That is, until he enrolled at New College of Florida in 2010, when the worldview he had built up over a lifetime began to unravel. And, with the prodding of a surprisingly diverse group of friends, he began the painful process toward unlearning his beliefs. This book is about Derek Black’s transformation from a white nationalist to an anti-hate messenger. Author Eli Saslow is a Washington Post reporter who lives in Portland. This is a well-written book to help us understand this American moment and to help us better understand one another. Led by Dale Schwartz. This discussion will take place online in Zoom Room Bet. See the weekly newsletter for join info or contact the office at 503-248-4662, ext. 2 or rachel@havurahshalom.org.

Why did Eastern European Jewry embrace Zionism in the late 1800s? Was it inevitable that the revival of a Jewish national community in Israel would entail confrontation with the existing Palestinian Arab community and repeated wars with its Arab neighbors? We’ll address these and many other questions. Taught by Prof. Joel Beinin. Room Aleph This class will be taking place via Zoom only--not in person--while Coronavirus precautions remain in place. Students, please be in touch with Joel for join info.

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.

Havurah High will take place in Zoom Room Gimel. Join info can be found in the weekly newsletter, Hineinu.

Havurah High will take place in Zoom Room Gimel.

“I Am a Stranger”: Becoming Ruth – a lecture by Dr. Avivah Zornberg Ruth is a stranger in more senses than one. Who is this unknown woman who is destined to become mother of royalty? What is the process by which she finds her way into a foreign and unwelcoming culture and religious tradition? How does destiny come about? There will be a Q&A and book signing afterwards. Dr. Avivah Zornberg Dr. Avivah Zornberg lives in Jerusalem where she has been lecturing on Torah since 1980. She reads biblical narratives through the prism of midrash, literature, philosophy and particularly psychoanalysis. She teaches throughout the Jewish world, at synagogues, universities, and psychoanalytic institutes. She is the author of five critically acclaimed books. Her latest book, Moses: A Human Life, was published by Yale University Press.

Themes of change, family loyalty and the struggle for autonomy permeate early 20th century Yiddish literature, as so many Jews became emigrants—leaving their shtetls for cities, leaving orthodoxy for other forms of Jewish cultural expression, leaving the Eastern European Jewish historical experience altogether. Using sexuality as a focal point, we will see how Jewish language and culture are used to explore themes of generational conflict, identity and cultural transition. This is a good follow-up to the Havurah activities around the play Indecent. No prior knowledge is required. Led by Deborah Eisenbach-Budner. CLASS CANCELED

Join us this Friday for a kirtan-infused Shabbat service. (“Kirtan” is Sanskrit for “repeat” — a simple, call-and-response form of devotional, communal singing that originated in Eastern religious traditions, and moved to the west with yoga and meditation.) A kirtan Shabbat follows the arc of the tradtional Friday night service, slowed down and simplified, to invoke the meditational spirit at the heart of all Jewish prayer. This service will take place in Zoom Room Aleph. Find the link in the weekly email, Hineinu, or contact the office at rachel@havurahshalom.org or 503-248-4662.

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.

Please join us in welcoming Gautam Josse as a Bar Mitzvah and member of our community. This service will take place online in Room Aleph. Members can find join info in Hineinu. Others, please be in touch with the office for more info (503-248-4662, ext. 2).