Purim Celebration Tonight!

AlteRocker's Happy Hour
Thursday, Feb. 25, 4:30 pm – Room Heh
Come schmooze and celebrate Purim!

Purim Celebration
Thursday, Feb. 25, 6-8 pm – Room Aleph
Family fun, the megillah, and learning – all rolled into one! Let's celebrate the topsy-turvy upside-down-ness of Purim together. Come in costume with the kids, come to dance and listen to the story, and/or come for the megillah and the learning. RSVP here.

6:00: Music with Leah Shoshana
6:15: Costume and dance party with Sol Korin
6:45: Story time with Maggid Cassandra Sagan
7:15: Megillah chanting interspersed with Purim teachings from Rabbi Benjamin and Deborah Eisenbach-Budner

Also, check our Purim song share recording here!

Upcoming Events

Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, Feb. 26, 7 pm – Room Aleph
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.

Community Minyan
Saturday, Feb. 27, 10 am – Room Aleph
Please join us for Shabbat morning! This service includes davening, Torah reading and discussion.

Forests Are Life: From Ecstasy to Anger to Healing: Oregon Forests, Climate Change & Community Advocacy
Sunday, February 28, 4-6 pm – Special Zoom Room, RSVP for link
Our forests are crucial ecosystems that sustain many plants and animals, provide us with beauty and respite, and help keep climate change in check. But human activities and climate change itself are threatening our forests. A panel of local experts from the Coast Range Association, Forest Waters, KS Wild, and Tax Fairness Oregon provide an inspiring overview of what is happening and what we can do to help. Sponsored by Havurah's Climate Action Team. Questions? info@havurahshalom.org. RSVP here.

Havurah History Committee Seeking Members
Sunday, February 28, 5-6:30 pm
Yes, Havurah has a history! In 2018, we celebrated our 40th anniversary, and although much of our past has been recorded in photographs and oral histories, much remains to be done, and much of what has already been done needs to be organized. If you would like to be part of this effort, plan to attend the next meeting of the just-forming History Committee! For more information, contact Becky Seel or Marian Rhys via the Havurah Member Directory.

Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation
Tuesday, March 2, 12 pm – Room Bet
We gather to find some moments of quiet and shalom. Led by Rabbi Benjamin, Adela Basayne, or Nancy Becker.

BIPOC Community Meetup
Tuesday, March 2, 7-8:30 pm – Room Heh
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 via the Havurah Member Directory.

Morning Minyan
Wednesday, March 3, 8:30 am – Room Aleph
For all who want a regular prayer practice and for people saying Kaddish.

HIAS Refugee Shabbat
Friday, March 5, 7 pm – Room TBA
Havurah is participating for the third year in HIAS’ Refugee Shabbat, during which Jews in the US and around the world will reaffirm our commitment to welcoming refugees and asylum seekers. Please join Rabbi Benjamin, Leah Shoshanna and community members for services on Friday, March 5 at 7 pm as we integrate themes of refugees and asylum seekers into the readings, prayers and music of our service, and learn how we can take action.

Q&A with the Filmmakers of "A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff"
Saturday, March 6, 8:30 pm
A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff, the acclaimed one-woman show by Alicia Jo Rabins, has been adapted into a film, to be featured in Portland International Film Festival. Join us as Havurah Shalom hosts the Jewish community in a talk-back and Q&A with Alicia Jo and her director, Alicia J. Rose! To participate, purchase a ticket through PIFF for virtual viewing. The film will be available to you Friday, March 5, to Sunday, March 14. Consider watching it individually or in a group you organize at 7 pm on March 6, then join our Havurah-hosted Zoom Room at 8:30 pm for the talkback. RSVP here. Zoom join info will be included in your confirmation email.

Gefilte Fish Class with Rachel Shimshak
Sunday, March 14, 2 pm – Room Gimel
To overcome your years of hesitation, join Rachel Shimshak to learn how to make her mother’s gefilte fish. It will impress those in your pod. With so many of us spending increased time at home cooking almost all of our meals, it’s time to take the plunge and give homemade fish a try. RSVP here.

Havurah Musicmakers Survey

We are assembling a database of all Havurah members who make music and want to share it. It will be used to identify singers and musicians for regular and special services, Shabbat school activities, holidays, song-shares, and other events. If you or anyone in your family is a musicmaker — experienced, fledgling, or aspirational, all ages welcome! — and would like to be included in the new database, please click here to take the survey.

Passover Is Coming Up!

It's a month until Passover! We are offering virtual seders again this year. If you would be willing to host a seder, please let Debbi Nadell, Eve Berry or Shelley Sobel know (get their emails via the Havurah Membership Directory). We will gladly offer resources and ideas for how to host a successful online seder. Everyone else, stay tuned for more information as to how to attend one of these virtual gatherings.

Space Jam Update

The Space Jam Committee is exploring options to meet Havurah’s space needs. The March Hakol will have an article sharing and explaining the Expansion Opportunities Report from our architect on “build up” options and that report will also be posted on our website. In the meantime, we want to share some Q&As in Hineinu that have come up in various meetings.

Q: What about parking?
A: The parking situation at our current location will not be resolved by “building up.” If we stay in our current building, lack of parking will continue to be an issue. Even if we tore down our building and started over, there is not enough space under the “footprint” of our property lines to create more than a few parking spaces. The architect informed us that adding parking under our building would not be easy, cheap or worth it. We are very much looking for ease of parking as we explore other locations. Looking for more parking options in our neighborhood will likely be necessary if we decide to stay in our current location.

Tikkun Olam Events & Updates

Jewish Earth Alliance Presentation
Sunday, March 7, 4 pm
An engaging and interactive presentation by Jewish Earth Alliance. Come away feeling empowered. Presented by the Climate Action Team, but appropriate for any person, even if not of voting age, who wants to make a difference by engaging with their elected officials. RSVP for join info.

Caring for Our Houseless Neighbors
From Jenn Louis: Our contributions to our homeless neighbors have been useful and appreciated! Thanks to everyone for your participation. Want to ride along? Extra car space and assistance in is needed on Tuesdays and Thursdays to transport and distribute goods. Reach out if you are interested via the Havurah Membership Directory.

Help is still needed. Here are items that are needed most:
- Canned foods, food and meals to reheat (non-perishable)
- Blankets and comforters
- Lantern mantles (see Amazon wish list)

Please see jennlouis.com (homeless relief) for more information on how you can participate.

Lunch Brigade Volunteer Opportunity
Tikkun Olam's Poverty and Homelessness Committee has been a part of the lunch brigade program at the Bybee Lakes Hope Center (BLHC) since September. We, along with six other congregations from the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty, have delivered daily lunches to those in shelter at BLHC. Sunday is our day. If you would like to participate with a small group of other Havurahniks there are Sundays in February and March available. Please contact Gloria Halper via the Havurah Member Directory.

Community Events & Offerings

Through a Reconstructionist Lens: An Adult B- / Re- Mitzvah Program
March 1, 2021 - March 27, 2022
As a prequel to our 2022 Convention and in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Judith Kaplan Eisenstein becoming a Bat Mitzvah, we are offering a once-a-month virtual class for those who are studying for their B-Mitzvah or recommitting to Reconstructionist learning. The goal of this class is for adult learners to engage with the movement in exploring evolving Reconstructionist thought and practice. More info on the registration page here.

HIAS: Refugee Shabbat Havdalah
Saturday, March 6, 5 pm
Advance registration required here.

HIAS: Perspectives on the Global Jewish Movement for Refugees
Sunday, March 7, 10:30 am
Educational program about the global Jewish movement for refugees.
Advance registration required here.

2021 Weekend in Quest
Circus Jews Under National Socialism: A Lecture & Performance
Sunday, March 7, 11 am
Scholar in Residence Stav Meishar
2021 Weekend in Quest is a free virtual program that honors the roots of the program as a Shabbaton Study Weekend. This year’s program has shifted to a webinar format with Scholar in Residence Stav Meishar. The true stories of Jewish circus artists between the world wars are told with sensitivity and humor by Stav Meishar, a circus artist and academic. The lecture is based on over seven years of extensive research and combines photos from personal albums, recorded testimonies, and personal stories. Additionally, Meishar will present excerpts from her show "The Escape Act", a show based on one of the stories she uncovered–that of a Jewish acrobat who survived the Holocaust hiding in a German circus. Stav Meishar is a theatre maker, multidisciplinary performer, academic researcher and educator, working across circus, theatre, and contemporary performance. Register for Weekend in Quest at OJMCHE website.

Uncovering the Hidden History of Discrimination in Oregon
March 8
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. See more info here.

Healing the Heart: A Jewish Meditation Retreat
with Rabbis Yael Levy, Joshua Boettiger, and Benjamin Barnett
April 15-18
How can we draw from the healing capacities of Jewish contemplative practice? What are the spiritual tools that can nurture healing, that make room for it in our lives, our communities and our world? See further details and registration information here.

COVID-19 Vaccines & Assistance

Are you eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine? Sign up for one through the OHA website here. You can look for new appointments on Monday and Thursday mornings at 9 am. The website currently has many issues. It may take an hour or two to get through. Open new tabs and keep trying!

Also, Congregation Neveh Shalom COVID-19 Outreach and Services can help you make sense of all there is to know about the pandemic, testing, and vaccines. For those who have been exposed to the virus or tested positive and need to quarantine, CNSCOS can assist with and cover costs for things like grocery shopping, finding housing, childcare, or transportation. For those who have been affected by Covid-19 in an indirect way, CNSCOS can help with finding and applying for financial resources, running errands, accessing food assistance, finding other helpful services, or just calling to chat with folks who are feeling isolated or lonely.

The CNSCOS team also provides timely information online here and via a weekly email here. Contact covid19@nevehshalom.org or call 971-990-5652 if you need COVID-19 assistance.

Do You Need Help?

Havurah Zoom Rooms

To see our full Zoom room instructions, click here. Member sign-in required.

Questions About Havurah?

The Transparency & Inclusivity Committee is an avenue within Havurah Shalom to help members find the answers to question they have wondered about. Please send your questions to transparency@havurahshalom.org. We will anonymously publish your question in Hakol and then answer that question. Everyone in our community benefits from this clarity!