Registration emails for High Holidays have been sent! This is your gateway to High Holidays at Havurah — you must register to sign in to attend services, classes, and other programming taking place this fall. There is also amazing original content produced by fellow Havurahniks to enjoy.
Important: Check Your Junk Mail
If you haven't seen the registration email in your inbox, please check your spam/junk mail folder. We have unfortunately found that our emails from the event platform tend to be flagged as spam. We are very sorry for any inconvenience that creates and have alternatives for people who run into trouble. Please email info@havurahshalom.org if you have checked your junk mail folder and can't find the registration. (Look for subject line: "Join Us for High Holidays at Havurah Shalom")
Register ASAP!
Advantages to registering NOW and setting yourself up on the app when it becomes available Friday include:
Attending our app launch party on Friday, Aug. 20
Attending any of the other month of Elul programming
Not having to worry about how to log in right before services!
Having access to four beautiful albums recorded by Havurah musicians just for High Holidays 5781
Having more time to look forward to everything on our Schedule of Events
Being able to plan ahead for the Tikkun Olam Tzedakah Project
So register today! Download the app (or sign in to the web version of it) on Friday! We are here to help you and make connecting as easy as possible. We are so looking forward to being together in our online tent!
Sincerely,
The High Holidays Planning Team
Upcoming Events & Classes
Community Minyan
Saturday, Aug. 15, 10 am – Room Aleph
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.
Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation
Tuesday, Aug. 18, 12 pm – Room Bet
We gather to find some moments of quiet and shalom. Led by either Rabbi Benjamin, Adela Basayne, or Nancy Becker.
Morning Minyan
Wednesday, Aug. 19, 8:30 am – Room Aleph
For all who want a regular prayer practice and for people saying Kaddish.
Grief Support Group: Online Drop-In Wednesday, Aug. 19, Sept. 9 & 23, 12:30 pm - 2 pm
Havurah Shalom is initiating a facilitated Grief Support Group. Participants receive support and are invited to share feelings and experiences in a confidential peer-group setting. Each session also includes grief education focused on a theme, such as common grief reactions or coping with stress. Participants are asked to pre-register for each individual session they wish to attend, and may attend as many or as few sessions as needed. Limited to 10 people, age 18+. The Zoom Room will be given out with the registration confirmation email. To register, click your desired date(s) below:
This is a new initiative by Havurah Shalom. Consideration will be given to extending these sessions through the end of 2020 or beyond if they appear to meet congregant needs and if in-person gatherings are still curtailed. Contact Tivona Reith at bikkurholim@havurahshalom.org with any questions.
Elul Offerings
Register for High Holidays at Havurah Shalom to RSVP for these events. Check your email for your registration link!
App Launch Party: Rosh Chodesh Elul
Thursday, Aug. 20, 5:45-8pm
Come kick off the month of Elul on our app! We'll hear the first shofar blast of the season, schmoose in a couple of Zoom rooms (one for adults, another for kids), play games, win prizes, and have a lot of fun.
Sound of the Shofar Aug. 21 - Sept. 17, 3:30 pm daily (except Shabbat)
When the Shofar is sounded, hear, all you inhabitants of the world. Isaiah 18:13 - It is customary to hear the sound of the Shofar every day of Elul. To observe this custom, Andrine de la Rocha, Howard Patterson, and Diane Chaplin will sound the Shofar every afternoon during the month of Elul, except for Shabbos. They will use the traditional Shofar calls and give a bit of kavanot each time. Each session will last only a few minutes, so be prompt or you’ll miss it!
Jewish High Holiday Cooking: Modern Recipes & Classics Tuesday, Aug. 25, 6:30-8 pm
With Jenn Louis. Each class will feature a chicken soup from around the world, with recipes from Jenn's upcoming book, The Chicken Soup Manifesto. The meal will be rounded out by modern and traditional dishes (all dishes other than the chicken soup will be vegetarian). One class will feature a new-to-Jenn challah recipe--her favorite homemade rendition yet! These sessions will be recorded and made available in the On Demand section of our website and app.
Four Wise Biblical Women (And They Aren't Who You Think They Are)
Monday, Aug. 24, 3-4 pm – Room Gimel
Please join Emily Simon as she features two more wise women who are entwined — Deborah and Yael (this is two classes worth). Please read Judges 4 & 5 and make sure to have a tanach available during the class. RSVP here.
Havurah Chai Hi Soiree
Tuesday, Aug. 25, 7 pm – Room Aleph
The Welcome Committee invites new and newish members to "Havurah Chai Hi" — an informal evening Zoom soiree on Tuesday, August 25 at 7 PM. Come and meet other new and prospective members, ask questions about Havurah, and be ready to have some fun!
Book Group Discusses The Water Dancer Tuesday, Aug. 25, 7 pm – Room Bet
In Ta-Nehisi Coates’s fiction debut, he creates a speculative imaging of America's pre-Civil War history with stops in both southern and northern states. He writes about the Tasked, rather than using the phrase slave or slavery, and that shift in language immediately opens the reader into seeing the narrative with new eyes.
Havurah Zoom Rooms
For info on Zoom, click here. You must sign-in after you visit the link.
Updates Inside Havurah
Song Leaders Needed for Elul Havdalah Sing Along! Saturday, Aug. 29, 7:30-9pm
Singing together has always been a way for people to gather together to lift our collective spirits whether in difficult or joyous times. While we are physically isolated, our community can still bring our voices together in song. The month of Elul, beginning August 21, is a month for return and restoration leading up to the High Holidays. Havdalah welcomes the new week with songs and blessings.
For this Havdalah sing along, we would like to stay somewhat close to our theme "Nishmat Kol Chai: The Breath of all Life," but let your creativity and interpretation run wild! Songs that are familiar and easy to sing along with are great.
Sign up to share a song (or a poem would work, too) with Sarah Shine, who will also need a digital copy of the words or lyrics of your song.
Add Your Voice to High Holidays with a Mini-Drash! As we did last year, we invite you once again to add your voice to our prayer and celebration at High Holidays by submitting a “mini-drash” or kavanah (intention). These are short reflections or sharing of life experience, 2-3 minutes long, either in response to this year’s theme (reference the theme here), or connected to the annual themes of teshuvah (returning/renewal/repentance) or forgiveness. Through your contributions we will include more voices and reflect more diversity of experience as we journey through Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur together.
Deadline for contributions is August 31.Send to Rachel at rachel.pollak@havurahshalom.org with the subject line: “Mini-drash 2020”
Space Jam Update
We need to tell everyone that we have had a setback in our efforts to secure new space and a potential option to purchase the Bage Building.
Nearly 100 people attended the Space Jam committee meeting in late June to learn more about the announcement that the Bage building behind us might be up for sale. You demonstrated that our congregation is filled with committed, connected, caring people, and we were deeply impressed with the thoughtfulness of your questions, several of which had to do with the amount of time we had to act, and whether we could acquire an exclusive option to purchase the building through a lease agreement.
The unfortunate news is that while we were figuring out our approach, and working with the Steering Committee and our real estate agent to craft a letter of inquiry, another buyer stepped forward with an offer that we were unable to match. It looks like the building will be sold to this new buyer unless something unusual happens during their due diligence investigation of the property.
There is more information in the August Hakol, but we wanted to give you this short update. This is not the last you will hear from us on the topic of our space crunch. We will continue our work and devote more energy to further dialogue among our members in order to be more agile when another opportunity presents itself. Stay tuned and stay involved.
Why Did We Choose Slack for Our Havurahood Groups?
See these helpful slides explaining why Slack was chosen for our community. You can also see the article in our August Hakol, which goes more in-depth.
Interested in Book Group? We have a new Book Group webpage found here! (You can also go to the Havurah website and hover over the Clusters tab to find Limud, and then hover over Limud to the Book Group page.) The Book Group webpage has tips for discussion leaders, and a list of previously read books, and most exciting of all, the list of books being read this year! Enjoy reading!
Sign Up to Be a Host or Scroller You have probably attended a service, class, meditation, or other Havurah event on Zoom by now. Have you ever wondered how we manage to get such a great experience for everyone, or who is scrolling through the siddur? Our hosts and scrollers are volunteers, and you can join them! Just sign up on the Hosts & Scrollers tab of this form. No experience? We can train you! Please sign up today, or contact Karen Westerman for more info.
Recon Connect & Virtual Shabbat Box from Reconstructing Judaism Visit ReconstructingJudaism.org and click on Recon Connect or the Virtual Shabbat Box. There you will find the community, innovation, spirit and depth that embody Reconstructionist Judaism. Recon Connect is an online hub updated regularly!
The Torah calls on us to welcome the stranger. In 2016, Havurah became a Sanctuary Congregation, and we are currently sponsoring Maria and her 16- year-old son Carlos, who left Guatemala in search of safety. Now seeking asylum in the U.S., Maria and Carlos are living temporarily with a Havurah family.
The Sanctuary Committee thanks the Havurahniks who have generously contributed to support Maria and Carlos. These funds have been helping with the family’s basic living expenses. Now that fall is approaching, we’re asking for donations to help Carlos with the supplies and clothes he needs as he begins his first year of school in Oregon. If you can help with a gift card to Kohls, Old Navy, or Target, please contact Kathy Gordon. Other donations can be made to the family’s support fund at this link.
Create or Join a Sacred Circle Orientations: Thursday, August 13, 6-8 pm and Tuesday, August 18, 11-1 pm Havurah is working with Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIrJ) to organize Sacred Circles across all of IMIrJ member organizations. “This is a time to be disciplined, rigorous, serious in our commitments to act for social justice and in our commitments to one another.… Now through the election, the Sacred Circles will be a sustained bridge between the sacred encounters we’re having with directly impacted communities and strategic sacred action that embodies a world we want to live in. Sacred Circles will provide accountability, direction and support as we collectively learn and live our way more fully into courageous action for racial and immigrant justice.” There are Sacred Circles forming within Havurah. You can find the IMIrJ vision for Sacred Circles here, and a recording of the virtual launch of the Circles here.
If you are interested in forming or joining a Havurah Sacred Circle as a member or a co-host, contact Bob Brown or Adela Basayne and please register for an upcoming orientation:
Lift UP Needs Food Gleaners
Lift UP needs substitute gleaners to collect donated food to distribute at Preston’s Pantry. Gleaners lift 50-75 pounds repeatedly, collecting about 2000 pounds usually from warehouses in NW. Shifts are Monday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon. If you are willing to be on the substitute list, please contact Jenn Louis at jenn@jennlouis.com.
Interfaith Alliance on Poverty's August Newsletter Features articles on Portland Forum on Alternative Shelters & Villages, Crisis of Homelessness, and Working Coalitions to Assist the Unsheltered. View the issue here.
If you are facing financial hardship from a loss of employment, decrease in income, or any other impact of this crisis; or, if you would benefit from the support of community members for grocery shopping, errands, or any other concrete needs, for any reason, please contact Rabbi Benjamin at benjamin.barnett@havurahshalom.org or 503-248-4662 ext. 3.
If you would like to be on a list of people to support others in concrete ways, such as grocery shopping or running other errands, please contact Susan Lazareck or Rabbi Benjamin at the email above.
Havurahnik Mahjong Group Monday, Oct 20th 1:00p to 4:00p Just for Havurah members, our Mahjong Group is a fun, social activity that builds community, encouraging new friendships and cementing old ones. And while some of us may play elsewhere as well, we all agreed that restoring its place as an ongoing congregational activity will be a good fit for Havurah and those of us who play or want to learn the game.
(ZM) Climate Change Book Group Slow Reading of "Not Too Late" Monday, Oct 20th 5:30p to 6:30p All are welcome! Havurah members and non-members alike are invited to join us in this slow, section-by-section reading of "Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility." Click and RSVP. Attend any or all of these HCAT (Havurah's Climate Action Team) Book Group discussions about "Not Too Late."
Hakol Deadline is Tuesday, October 21 Tuesday, Oct 21st (All day) Havurah members, click to learn how to submit your contributions to our monthly newsletter, Hakol.
(ZM) Cohort D of Coming Home to Solidarity Tuesday, Oct 21st 11:30a to 1:30p What is Coming Home to Solidarity? Coming Home to Solidarity is a workshop designed to help us create a culture and community where all members freely show up as their authentic selves; where all are valued, appreciated, and have a sense of belonging. The workshop is an opportunity for white-bodied or white-identifying congregants to come together in a supportive and caring environment to reflect, learn and unlearn, heal from the ways we have been impacted by white supremacy, and start to recognize new possibilities for taking action. Havurahniks, click to learn more and RSVP.
(HYB) Steering Meeting (Oct. 21) Tuesday, Oct 21st 6:30p to 8:30p Steering members and staff will meet to consider matters of governance. All Havurah Shalom members are invited to attend Steering Committee meetings.
A link to a draft agenda, accessible only to logged-in members, will be posted here in advance of the meeting.
(IP) Torah and Film: Ecclesiastes and Groundhog Day (1993) Tuesday, Oct 21st 7:00p to 9:00p What is the meaning of life, especially when you're living the same day over and over? In this two-part class, we’ll explore the themes of futility, impermanence, and transformation in the book Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) alongside the 1993 film Groundhog Day. Led by Rabbinic Intern Noah Lind.
