Daily Elul Kavannah and Shofar blasts will be posted on the Havurah Shalom Facebook page and the Havurah Shalom YouTube page by Diane Chaplin, Howard Patterson & Andrine de la Rocha. Elul Tov! The daily shofar blasts are being offered as part of Havurah Shalom’s celebration of the Hebrew month of Elul! As Elul precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we use this time for study, reflection, and mental and spiritual preparation. All are invited to attend our gatherings, which span spiritual, text-based, political, ecological and creative topics. We hope you will find them enriching, fun, moving, and worthwhile. For questions about this programming, please reach out to Rachel Pollak.

This walk/hike will focus on the environmental transformation of an urban/suburban watershed by beavers . We'll observe and discuss the rise in the water table and resulting growth in vegetation, underground storage of water, flood control and learn about the positive effects of the return of beaver to the Fanno Creek watershed. Please note this program will require walking about 1.5 miles on uneven and at times muddy ground. Led by Jeffry Gottfried.

Want to be part of another meaningful art installation at Havurah? Let's gather and get Creative for the Climate! We will be knitting, crocheting, weaving, etc. a tapestry that tracks the temperature during different times in history up to the present for Portland, Oregon. Coordinating colors, we will make stripes representing the temperature. For example, red for the hottest and purple or blue for the coldest, with other colors representing in-between temps. Using weather data, we will make rows that designate the high temperature for that day in Portland. We will meet at Havurah in person and then right after virtually to get started together. Led by Judi Soloway.

Want to be part of another meaningful art installation at Havurah? Let's gather and get Creative for the Climate! We will be knitting, crocheting, weaving, etc. a tapestry that tracks the temperature during different times in history up to the present for Portland, Oregon. Coordinating colors, we will make stripes representing the temperature. For example, red for the hottest and purple or blue for the coldest, with other colors representing in-between temps. Using weather data, we will make rows that designate the high temperature for that day in Portland. We will meet at Havurah in person and then right after virtually to get started together. Led by Judi Soloway.

An informal discussion about the pilgrimage taken by four Havurah members in March to Alabama and Georgia with 200 other Reconstructionist Jews from around the US, including twenty Jews of color, some of whom were rabbis of color. Highlights were Bryan Stevenson’s Legacy Museum and Memorial to lynching victims, the Rosa Parks Museum, hearing from survivors of Bloody Sunday in Selma, and attending Sunday church service at the Ebenezer Baptist church, founded by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Calling ALL Teens (7th-12th Grade) For Mural Painting and Poster Making! We had a fantastic first day painting a mural on one of the walls in the new Teen Room and the entryway at the Havurah Annex. Join us on Sunday, August 27th, from 3:00-5:00 as we continue painting the murals, plus making posters for the Rose Haven Book Drive. Come reconnect with Havurah friends and meet new teens too! Cupcakes, cookies and drinks provided. Please RSVP on the link.

The Poverty and Homelessness Committee will be holding a face-to-face social gathering in our courtyard for Elul as a way of saying thank you to all who appreciate and respect our courtyard space, and to remind us to recognize each other’s basic humanity. We will sit together and enjoy a treat. Not to discuss social problems, not to offer service, just share with folks who so often can feel invisible—a small way of gaining understanding for all who attend. We believe this event is in the spirit of Tikkum Olam and Teshsuvah.

Daily Elul Kavannah and Shofar blasts will be posted on the Havurah Shalom Facebook page and the Havurah Shalom YouTube page by Diane Chaplin, Howard Patterson & Andrine de la Rocha. Elul Tov! The daily shofar blasts are being offered as part of Havurah Shalom’s celebration of the Hebrew month of Elul! As Elul precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we use this time for study, reflection, and mental and spiritual preparation. All are invited to attend our gatherings, which span spiritual, text-based, political, ecological and creative topics. We hope you will find them enriching, fun, moving, and worthwhile. For questions about this programming, please reach out to Rachel Pollak.

Havurah's Steering Committee is considering our application to become a Tikun Olam committee. They want to know how we plan to advocate for Palestinian justice. Please come to this meeting to discuss this and other important topics. Bring your ideas and proposals. This will be a hybrid meeting. Havurah members only.

Daily Elul Kavannah and Shofar blasts will be posted on the Havurah Shalom Facebook page and the Havurah Shalom YouTube page by Diane Chaplin, Howard Patterson & Andrine de la Rocha. Elul Tov! The daily shofar blasts are being offered as part of Havurah Shalom’s celebration of the Hebrew month of Elul! As Elul precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we use this time for study, reflection, and mental and spiritual preparation. All are invited to attend our gatherings, which span spiritual, text-based, political, ecological and creative topics. We hope you will find them enriching, fun, moving, and worthwhile. For questions about this programming, please reach out to Rachel Pollak.

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.

Do you get emails asking you to contact your elected official, but don’t find the few minutes it takes to call or email them? Looking to connect with other Havurahniks? We have the solution. Together, by Zoom, we’ll eat lunch, chat, and spend a few minutes taking our political action. From climate change to social justice, we’ll have info on who to call or write. Bring your suggestions too. Questions? Contact Elianne Lieberman. (Havurah members only.)

Peter Beinart will soon take part in a nationally organized and conducted conversation with Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman of Reconstructionist Congregation Shaarei Shamayim. He will discuss Reparations and the Palestinian Right of Return as a Form of Teshuvah for the Nakba.

The ancient rabbis used midrash—meaning inquiry—to create new stories that explained contradictions, filled in gaps, or explored deeper meaning in Biblical stories. Using Life Story Midrash developed by Rabbi Dayle Friedman, we will inquire into our own life stories through individual writing and chevruta (paired) discussion. We will study traditional midrash, and then creatively reimagine and rewrite personal stories that—as we approach the High Holy Days—beckon our attention, with an eye toward embracing our fragmented stories as a coherent, meaningful narrative. (Each class builds on the next, so participants are strongly encouraged to attend all three sessions.) Led by Tivona Reith.

Daily Elul Kavannah and Shofar blasts will be posted on the Havurah Shalom Facebook page and the Havurah Shalom YouTube page by Diane Chaplin, Howard Patterson & Andrine de la Rocha. Elul Tov! The daily shofar blasts are being offered as part of Havurah Shalom’s celebration of the Hebrew month of Elul! As Elul precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we use this time for study, reflection, and mental and spiritual preparation. All are invited to attend our gatherings, which span spiritual, text-based, political, ecological and creative topics. We hope you will find them enriching, fun, moving, and worthwhile. For questions about this programming, please reach out to Rachel Pollak.

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.

Using simple, incremental birthright practices of story, voice, movement, and stillness, we'll enter the text and discover our own personal midrash, stories, chochma flashes (insights, ahas!). Open to everyone: cultural creatives and recovering serious people, newbies and scholars. Led by Cassandra Sagan. Childcare will be provided.

A gender-inclusive New Moon group, learning and celebrating each Rosh Ḥodesh with ancient and contemporary ritual. Open to any and all genders, inviting each to connect with our closest heavenly body, the Moon. An introductory meeting will happen on the full moon of Elul on Wednesday, Aug. 30 outdoors—weather permitting—in North Portland. Subsequent meetings will be on or near the new moon of each month either in person in North Portland or on Zoom, depending on seasonal shifts in the weather. Attend any or all sessions. RSVP to be updated on location and other details throughout the year.

Daily Elul Kavannah and Shofar blasts will be posted on the Havurah Shalom Facebook page and the Havurah Shalom YouTube page by Diane Chaplin, Howard Patterson & Andrine de la Rocha. Elul Tov! The daily shofar blasts are being offered as part of Havurah Shalom’s celebration of the Hebrew month of Elul! As Elul precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we use this time for study, reflection, and mental and spiritual preparation. All are invited to attend our gatherings, which span spiritual, text-based, political, ecological and creative topics. We hope you will find them enriching, fun, moving, and worthwhile. For questions about this programming, please reach out to Rachel Pollak.

Four-week class for exploring our understanding of and relationship with God for T’shuvah. Through meditation, journaling, reading and discussing excerpts from Rabbi Alan Lew’s book, “This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared”, and Rabbi Abner Weiss’s book, "Connecting to God, Ancient Kabbalah and Modern Psychology", we’ll turn the ideas of Elul into the practice of Elul. Limit 10 participants. Led by Harriet Cooke.

Using simple, incremental birthright practices of story, voice, movement, and stillness, we'll enter the text and discover our own personal midrash, stories, chochma flashes (insights, ahas!). Open to everyone: cultural creatives and recovering serious people, newbies and scholars. Led by Cassandra Sagan. Childcare will be provided.

Daily Elul Kavannah and Shofar blasts will be posted on the Havurah Shalom Facebook page and the Havurah Shalom YouTube page by Diane Chaplin, Howard Patterson & Andrine de la Rocha. Elul Tov! The daily shofar blasts are being offered as part of Havurah Shalom’s celebration of the Hebrew month of Elul! As Elul precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we use this time for study, reflection, and mental and spiritual preparation. All are invited to attend our gatherings, which span spiritual, text-based, political, ecological and creative topics. We hope you will find them enriching, fun, moving, and worthwhile. For questions about this programming, please reach out to Rachel Pollak.

We offer free childcare to all attending our High Holidays services. To guarantee a spot for your child(ren), please submit your completed RSVP by September 1!

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 for Shabbat morning services, including welcoming Roger Veneklase as a Bar Mitzvah and member of our community.