We have started planning for Hanukah at Havurah! Many details will be shared in the coming weeks. Please fill out our quick two-question survey below if you'd like to participate in the fun!
We are looking forward to an online celebration with the community!
Upcoming Events & Classes
Zoom room links and codes can be found at the bottom of the weekly email.
Post-Election Community Gathering Thursday, Nov. 5, 7 - 8:30 pm – Room Aleph
There are so many unknowns about what will happen on our next election day, November 3. You are invited to a facilitated community gathering so that we can be together for mutual support at a time when there may be some answers about the election outcome. Please email Bob Brown if you have any questions. RSVP here.
Kabbalat ShabbatNow every week at 7:30 pm on Fridays! Friday, Nov. 6, 7:30 pm – Room Aleph
Please join us for our spirited and joy-filled Kabbalat Shabbat Service, led by J.D. Kleinke. Music will be provided by our talented Havurah musicians.
Community Minyan Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 am – Room Aleph
Join us for Shabbat morning! Led by community members and Rabbi Benjamin, this service includes davening, Torah reading and discussion.
Step Into the Living Torah! Sunday, Nov. 8, 2 pm – Room Bet
We’ll begin wherever we are physically, emotionally, energetically, individually and collectively, and then step into the text where we’ll use simple storytelling practices to play with voice, movement, story, stillness, and a bissel silliness to encourage and cultivate personal midrash (Torah-based narrative). Through embodied Torah study, we will find ways to discover and express meaning, even when we can't articulate it! For newbies and Torah scholars, cultural creatives, and recovering serious people. It will also be great to be together in a new way during this stressful time! RSVP here.
Human Power & Human Dignity: A Conversation with PNW Reconstructionist Rabbis Sunday, Nov. 8, 2 pm – Join info to be emailed to RSVPs!
On the Sunday after election day, join a Pacific Northwest Reconstructionist conversation on human power through Jewish frames of human dignity. Rabbis (including Rabbi Benjamin) from Reconstructionist communities throughout the Northwest will speak to this topic in conversation with one another and each of us in this moment of precariousness and potential. RSVP here.
Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation Tuesday, Nov. 10, 12 pm – Room Bet
This week we will meditate together and also have time to reflect and derive support from each other’s presence, nourishing resilience as we move across the threshold of Election Day. Rabbi Benjamin will facilitate.
BIPOC Community Meetup Tuesday, Nov. 10, 7 pm – Room Dalet If you identify as Black, Indigenous or other person of color, we hope you will join us. This will be a casual get together with the sole purpose of listening to, learning from, and supporting one another. This monthly meeting requires no ongoing commitment. Please RSVP here or just show up. If you're unable to make it but like this idea, or have other ideas as a BIPOC community member, please contact Yshai via the member directory.
Morning Minyan Wednesday, Nov. 11, 8:30 am – Room Aleph
For all who want a regular prayer practice and for people saying Kaddish.
Drop-In Grief Support GroupsNEW DATES Thursdays, Nov. 12, Nov. 19, Dec. 3, Dec. 24, 7-8:30 pm – Room Heh
As we approach the winter holidays, especially in this time of COVID, Havurah Shalom supports members grieving a death. Drop-in grief group sessions are facilitated by Havurah Shalom members experienced in grief support and confidential group facilitation. Pre-registration is required by Thursday noon the day of each session. Each session is limited to 10 people. Additional details will be sent to those registered. For more information, contact Tivona Reith at bikkurholim@havurahshalom.org. RSVP via the links on the dates above.
Tikkun Olam Events
Interfaith Alliance on Poverty: The Budget as a Moral Document Thursday, Nov. 5, 12 pm
The conclusion to our three-part series! Please contact Gloria Halper for the Zoom link.
PHFS New Volunteer Orientation Wednesday, Dec. 2, 5:30-6:30 pm An hour long zoom orientation with PHFS will leave you with an understanding of what PHFS does for homeless families at their Lents shelter, and what volunteer jobs are available during Covid-19. RSVP to TC Schumacher at tc@pdxhfs.org for Zoom access.
Tikkun Olam Updates
Interfaith Alliance on Poverty's November Newsletter
Read the November IAP newsletter here. Information on the Wapato prison building (now called Bybee Lakes Hope Center), Alternative Shelter and Village Forum: Learning From Seattle article, and speakers for their first Thursday meeting: November 5, 12-1:30 pm.
Update on Children's Book Donation Through Lift UP
There was a traffic issue/construction detour last week and some folks had issues donating children's books. If you are still able to donate books, please contact Leah Cooper via email (lcooper@innovativehousinginc.com) for more information.
What's Up with Lift UP?
Partner with Lift UP for the Fall Food and Fund Drive! Help us provide healthy, nutritious foods to our neighbors in need. To learn more, visit www.lifturbanportland.org or contact brett@lifturbanportland.org
Judaism for the World: Reflections on God, Life, and Love A talk by author Rabbi Art Green Tuesday, November 10, 8 pm –RSVP required Rabbi Art Green, PhD, is recognized as one of the world’s preeminent authorities on Jewish thought and spirituality. He is one of the founders of IJS and is currently professor at Hebrew College and rector of the Rabbinical School, which he founded in 2004. A prolific author, Rabbi Green's most recent book, Judaism for the World: Reflections on God, Life, and Love was published in September by Yale University Press. RSVP above.
Do You Need Help?
If you are facing financial hardship from a loss of employment, decrease in income, or any other impact of our recent crises; 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 and Rabbi Benjamin.
Havurah Zoom Rooms
For info on Zoom rooms, click here. You must sign-in after you visit the link.
Havurah Shalom
825 NW 18th Ave. Portland, OR 97209
Thanksgiving Shabbat: Gratitude Here & Now Friday, Nov 27th 7:30p to 8:30p This Friday night, welcome Shabbat with your Havurah community in a service that's warm and bright. Invite your friends and family, far and near, to join us - share the Zoom link with them, and we can ALL fit around this virtual table! Just as Thanksgiving dinner is full of favorite dishes, this Friday night will be filled with familiar songs. Leaders Barbara Slader, Leah Shoshanah and Sarah Shine will facilitate our sharing gratitude. Let your camera "see" your candles, or bright autumn leaves, as well as your own face. See you there!
This service will take place in Zoom Room Aleph. Please email info@havurahshalom.org if you need Zoom join info.
Hanukah Song Share with Leah Shoshanah and the Havurah Music Collective Sunday, Nov 29th 4:30p to 6:00p Join our Music Coordinator, Leah Shoshanah and musicians from the Havurah Musician’s Collective for an evening of learning and sharing songs. This month, our theme focuses on the upcoming holiday of Hanukah. We will be sharing songs of resilience, justice and light that run the gamut of genres, as well as Hanukah classics. We will provide song sheets, chord sheets and a brief singing/playing tutorial so that folks can continue playing these songs in their own homes. While not a kid-focused event, this is a kid-friendly event, and we encourage families to join us.
Transfers of Power in Tanach: How do they happen, who wins or loses, and why Monday, Nov 30th 3:00p to 4:00p As we experience our own election cycle and all of the attendant trauma and drama (where the stakes have never, in our lifetimes, appeared to be higher), what can our sources and sages teach us to help us navigate these times??? Our class will begin with some of the transfers of power in Genesis, move on to Exodus, make a brief stop in Numbers, and finally end with Hanukkah. RSVP to receive precise references. Taught by Emily Simon.
This class takes place in Zoom Room Bet. Please login to the website or find the weekly email for the Zoom link.
BIPOC Community Meet-Up Tuesday, Dec 1st 7:00p to 8:30p If you identify as Black, Indigenous, or other person of color, we hope you will join us. This will be a casual get together with the sole purpose of listening to, learning from, and supporting one another. This meeting requires no ongoing commitment. Please RSVP here, or just show up. If you're unable to make it but like this idea, or have other ideas as a BIPOC community member, please contact Yshai at yshaib@gmail.com. This will take place in Zoom Room Gimel.
The Torah of Our Lives: Havurah Spiritual Writing Group Wednesday, Dec 2nd 7:00p to 9:00p 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.
This class takes place in Zoom Room Gimel. Please see the weekly Hineinu newsletter for the link.
Interfaith Alliance on Poverty Monthly Meeting Thursday, Dec 3rd 12:00p to 1:30p Imagine a place where everyone has an opportunity to succeed! Imagine a place where social and economic justice rules! Imagine a place where the past injustice is acknowledged and ameliorated by the future! Let’s help to create that community by joining those who aim to “Reimagine Oregon” Recognizing that systemic racism is a clear and persistent root cause of poverty in communities of color, the Alliance formed a small team to explore the project’s mission, focus, and specific strategies, including legislative proposals. And now, the team brings its conclusions and its strategies for Alliance action in support of the project to our “First Thursday” meeting on December 3. Interested? Contact Gloria Halper OR Steve Rudman.
