Hineinu: Passover Seders, AlteRockers Happy Hour, and More!
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Passover Seders: Sign Up!
With appreciation for our members who are opening their homes to us, we have virtual seder invitations to pass on to you!
Check your Hineinu emails to RSVP.
A special event for wee Jews
Pesach Tot Shabbat Saturday, April 3, 10:30-11 am – Room Bet
Join us for a short and sweet Passover Shabbat morning with singing and stories. Especially for families with wee Jews (0-5). Led by Leah Shoshanah and Adela Basayne.
And listen to Leah's Passover song for kids!
Our music coordinator, Leah Shoshanah, is releasing a special song for Passover for kids and families. It's called "Symbols" and it's a ska song about the symbols on the seder plate! The song will officially be out Thursday. Megan Koler is helping to create a music video, which will also be released on Thursday. You can listed to a demo version of the track on Soundcloud. Once the official song and video are released, the information will be available on the track information section. Here's the link to listen.
Other Upcoming Events
AlteRockers Happy Hour Thursday, March 25, 4:30 pm – Room Heh
Come schmooze with us. And mark your calendars for monthly schmoozes every last Thursday of the month!
Kabbalat Shabbat Friday, March 26, 7 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, March 27, 10 am– Room Aleph
Join us for an uplifting morning service. For the time being, all services will take place on Zoom.
Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation Tuesday, March 30, 12 pm – Room Bet We gather to find some moments of quiet and shalom. Led by Rabbi Benjamin, Adela Basayne, or Nancy Becker.
Morning Minyan Wednesday, March 31, 8:30 am – Room Aleph For all who want a regular prayer practice and for people saying Kaddish. Led by J.D. Kleinke.
Accompanying Maria & Carlos
This season of Pesach, as we commemorate our exodus from Mitzrayim, we also reflect on those still struggling in the narrow places. Havurah is sponsoring Maria and Carlos, Guatemalan asylum seekers whose search for safety echoes our own foundational story. If you are able, please consider contributing to our fundraiser to support Maria and Carlos as they prepare to move from the home of a Havurah family and into an apartment of their own.
Havurah Music Makers 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 database. Click here to take the survey!
New Committee for Teenagers
Teenagers are an integral part of Havurah Shalom and it is important to ensure their continued sense of Jewish identity and community with the synagogue. With that in mind, a new committee is forming. The committee will be focused on the needs of young people, aged 13-18. The vision is that this committee will be made up of parents of teens, teens themselves, and adults who have an expertise working with teens. If you or your child is interested in becoming involved in creating and serving on this committee please contact Galit Reilly or Eve Berry via the Havurah Member Directory.
Tikkun Olam
Interfaith Alliance on Poverty's Monthly Meeting: Shelters in PDX Thursday, April 1, 12-1:30 pm Plan to join April’s First Thursday meeting for an extensive update on the work of Shelter NOW. The session will highlight the various issues and opportunities that Shelter NOW is engaged in. RSVP and more info here.
April Family-Friendly Letter Writing Party Sunday, April 11, 5-6 pm
On Passover we celebrate redemption from slavery and entry into the Promised Land, where we could derive our livelihood from the land of milk and honey. Now climate change threatens our food system. Farmers need the tools to rebuild the soil and make our food system resilient. Join our fun, family-friendly multi-generational party to write to our members of Congress to fund climate solutions in agriculture. Check out the Jewish Earth Alliance for more information. Facilitated by Rebecca Darling-Budner and Marianna Grossman from the Havurah Climate Action Team. RSVP here.
Third Annual Fair Fight Bond Fund Virtual Fundraiser Sunday, May 2, 6 pm Havurah's Sanctuary Committee is co-sponsoring this virtual event which is being put on by The Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NW. The organization's purpose is to secure the release of immigrants from the NW Detention Center. The fund is a revolving community bond fund that gives immigrants a 70% increased chance of winning their case by bonding them out of detention so they can gather evidence. To date, 40 people have been bonded out. RSVP 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.
PNW Reconstructionist Community Shabbaton April 30 & May 1
Join (online) together for services, learning, yoga, meditation and discussion with communities from Ashland to Seattle. Featuring Reconstructionist movement ethicist and Talmudist Dr. Mira Wasserman as Scholar-in-Residence, topic TBA. Shabbaton will include Friday evening and Shabbat morning communal prayer and gathering options as well as keynote late Saturday afternoon, with discussion and Havdalah Saturday evening. Further details and registration info coming soon.
Chronicling These Times
Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education just announced the second phase of a project to document these extraordinary times through a powerful oral history project and is looking for the help of the Jewish community. Through a short online interview you can become part of a national project that will provide a snapshot for researchers and future generations of the Jewish experience during these unprecedented times. Jewish community members of all ages and backgrounds who live throughout Oregon can participate by contacting Alisha Babbstein, OJMCHE archivist ababbstein@ojmche.org. The full story of the Chronicling These Times oral history project can be found here on OJMCHE’s website.
COVID-19 Vaccines & Assistance
Congregation Neveh Shalom COVID-19 Outreach and Services (CNSCOS)
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.
Assistance for Seniors
If you have seniors in your organizations who need help signing up for vaccinations JFCS is partnering with Positive Charge! PDX to get them their appointments. Here is the link to the sign up form.
Do You Need Help?
If you are facing emotional or 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 or emotional 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 Rabbi Benjamin.
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!
(HYB) Solidarity Shabbat Friday, Jun 27th 5:45p to 8:30p Join Havurah members and friends for a Solidarity Shabbat service and potluck nosh. This is a spiritual space for community members working in solidarity with Palestinians - and for the liberation of all peoples - to come together to pray, build connections, and renew ourselves on Shabbat to continue our justice work. Please review Havurah's Brit Kavod for our community guidelines. Masks strongly encouraged and provided.
(HYB) Climate Change Shabbat Morning Shabbat, Jun 28th 10:00a to 12:00p Led by community members and Rabbi Benjamin (who is on sabbatical until July 1, 2025), this service includes davening, Torah reading, and discussion. Join us afterward for a light community brunch provided by the Lunches and Noshes Committee! Free childcare is provided. For Zoom information, please email info@havurhshalom.org.
(HYB) Rosh Ḥodesh Tov! Gender-Inclusive New Moon Ritual Sunday, Jun 29th 7:00p to 8:15p 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.
(ZM) Palestinian Justice Letter Writing Group Monday, Jun 30th 6:00p to 7:30p We hold monthly letter writing group Zoom gatherings to write letters to our lawmakers for Israel/Palestine justice. Questions? Email Dale Oller (member log-in required to access directory). Feel free to drop in any time! There’s no need to RSVP, but please do RSVP if you need the Zoom login. Non-Havurah-members very welcome as well.
(IP) Pride Kabbalat Shabbat in the Park Friday, Jul 11th 6:30p to 8:30p Celebrate queer and Jewish joy with a special Kabbalat Shabbat service at Columbia Park! We’ll enjoy a potluck dinner together afterward. Beverages will be provided. BYOB. All are welcome.
(HYB) Shabbat Morning Shabbat, Jul 12th 10:00a to 12:00p Led by community members and Rabbi Benjamin (who is on sabbatical until July 1, 2025), this service includes davening, Torah reading, and discussion. Join us afterward for a light community brunch provided by the Lunches and Noshes Committee! Free childcare is provided. For Zoom information, please email info@havurahshalom.org.
