This workshop for parents intends to launch families on the b’nei mitzvah journey. We will focus on the rite of passage itself, then families will learn about the date selection process. Led by Rabbi Benjamin, Deborah Eisenbach-Budner and the B’nei Mitzvah Committee. This workshop takes place in Zoom Room Bet. Please see the weekly Hineinu newsletter for the link.

Jenn Louis will share her experiences in developing relationships with various homeless camps. Getting to know the regulars, bringing needed food, clothing, and ‘tent’ items. Facing our fears and awkwardness in talking to folks. Learning to acknowledge and respect people whose lives are different from ours, but who share many similar needs. Join us for an honest and probing discussion. This event will take place in Zoom Room Bet.

This month, in honor of Purim, we are singing songs about the topsy-turvy, the inside-out, the "not-what-you'd-expect" and the upside-down! Bring your voice and your instruments. All are welcome. If you are interested in sharing a song, please email Leah.shoshanah@havurahshalom.org. This event will take place in Room Aleph.

The Israel/Palestine committee will meet to firm up plans for possible film discussions, the beginnings of a list of books to suggest to the Havurah book club, and other tentative programming ideas. This is a working committee not a forum for discussion about Israel/Palestine issues. New committee members are welcome. Contact any of the 3 committee co-chairs with questions. Please note: Open only to Havurah members. Questions? Email Elinor Gollay, Lee Gordon, or Joel Beinin. We will meet in Zoom Room Heh.

Have you ever wanted to explore stories in Torah and use the writing process to personally understand the significance of Torah stories in your life? Join a small group of Havurahniks to delve into Torah using the writing process to explore and record our journey. Each evening will include a summary of that week's Torah portion and pearls from commentary. We will then begin two free-writes from prompts from the portion. All that is required is a journal. There is an optional opportunity to choose one portion to study, summarize and use to create writing prompts. Facilitated by Harriet Cooke and Jenni Besen. Harriet trained and led groups with Portland's Write Around Portland, then led an eight-year writing group on Torah. 10-person maximum.

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.)

This class will focus on the modern history of the Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa, roughly from 1860 to the present. To orient ourselves, we will begin with a brief discussion of Spanish Jewry (Sephardim) and the Jewish communities of Iraq, Iran, Yemen and Ethiopia. We will devote particular attention to the communities of Morocco, Algeria, Iraq and Egypt. We will examine the complex relationship between these Jewish communities, the local cultures and European colonialism. We will also discuss the sociology, politics and culture of these communities in Israel today. Taught by Joel Beinin. This class takes place in Zoom Room Bet. Please see the weekly Hineinu newsletter for the link.

Through readings, writing prompts and discussion, we will deepen our understanding of how we are impacted by the intersection of Jewishness and white supremacy. Facilitated by members of the IMIrJ Countering White Nationalism cohort. Limited to 20 participants. This class takes place in Zoom Room Gimel. Please see the weekly Hineinu newsletter for the link.

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.

In this time of national and local reckoning with our country and city’s grim legacy of discrimination and hate, we have come together as a broad coalition of friends and allies to create a series of public programs to confront hate. We have been reminded almost daily that our communities of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ persons, as well as many of our neighbors of various religious faiths, are frequent targets of vicious hatred. Nevertheless, we have also seen seeds of hope. We have witnessed an upsurge of people ready to stand in solidarity with those who are targets of discrimination and hate—people who are eager to listen, to learn, and to take action to make Portland a place that truly protects the lives, well-being, and dignity of all who live here. We are hosting monthlyish webinars representing people who have historically—and continually—been the targets of discrimination and hatred in Oregon. These webinars are presented by a broad group of organizations and speakers in our greater Portland community. This will culminate in a half day virtual summit on May 26th on Confronting Hate in Oregon. More info: https://www.jewishportland.org/uncovering

This service will take place in Zoom Room Aleph.

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.

One of the four names for Pesach is Hag ha-Herut (The Feast of Freedom). Jews in different historical contexts have understood Mitzrayim (the narrow space) differently and therefore freedom has looked different in different generations. We will look at this evolution; one focus will be on the liberation of gender, which has been a hallmark of contemporary seders. Taught by Deborah Eisenbach-Budner. This class takes place in Zoom Room Bet. Please see the weekly Hineinu newsletter for the link.

In 2016, a group of armed, divinely inspired right-wing protestors led by Ammon Bundy occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the high desert of eastern Oregon. Encamped in the shadowlands of the republic, insisting that the Federal government had no right to own public land, the occupiers were seen by a divided country as either dangerous extremists dressed up as cowboys, or as heroes insisting on restoring the rule of the Constitution. From the Occupation's beginnings, to the trials of the occupiers in federal court in downtown Portland and their tumultuous aftermaths, Shadowlands is the resonant, multifaceted story of one of the most dramatic flashpoints in the year that gave us Donald Trump. Sharing the expansive stage with the occupiers are a host of others-Native American tribal leaders, public-lands ranchers, militia members, environmentalists, federal defense attorneys, and Black Lives Matter activists-each contending in their different ways with the meaning of the American promise of Liberty. Gathering into its vortex the realities of social media technology, history, religion, race, and the environment-this piercing work by Anthony McCann offers us a combination of beautiful writing and high-stakes analysis of our current cultural and political moment. Shadowlands is a clarifying, exhilarating story of a nation facing an uncertain future and a murky past in a time of great collective reckoning. Discussion led by Marjorie Walters. This discussion will take place in Zoom Room Dalet.

Come schmooze and celebrate Purim with us. And mark your calendars for monthly schmoozes - last Thursday of the month. Room Heh.

Family fun, the megillah, and learning all rolled into one! Let's celebrate the topsy-turvy upside down-ness of Purim together. This event will take place in Zoom Room Aleph.

Have you thought about trying to write prose? Do you want to try with others? This year’s Havurah Adult Writers Workshop (for Non-Writers!) begins January 14 and continues for the next 7 Thursdays, through March 4. The workshop is for anyone who wants to explore prose writing – and is NOT a published writer or working on a big writing project. The focus is memoir writing generated through reflection, engaging prompts, discussion and feedback. While the Jewish experience often comes up in memoir writing in a Jewish community, our focus is the writer’s personal exploration from any perspective. Participants develop one piece from the workshop and may choose to read at a culminating Friday Oneg Reading for the Havurah community. Led by David Kertzner. Group size limited to 8.

Please join us for our spirited and joy-filled Kabbalat Shabbat Service led by Ilene Safyan. Music will be provided by our talented Havurah musicians. This service will take place in Zoom Room Aleph. Please email info@havurahshalom.org if you need Zoom join info.

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 us for a Shabbat morning service in Zoom Room Aleph.