The Core Crisis Team is moving forward with a careful, phased approach to opening our sanctuary under current Oregon Health Authority rules and limitations. We are now moving forward with guidelines for allowing limited indoor gatherings in our building for Wednesday Morning Minyans and upcoming B’nei Mitzvah. For more information about these guidelines, read the full article here. The Core Crisis Team is also exploring opportunities for greater community input on re-opening issues and will be sharing more about that in the near future.
Havurah Census
Your Response is Needed!
The Long Range Plan team is counting on your participation in the Havurah Census. If your household hasn't completed the Havurah Census yet, you will receive an email with the link in the next few days. Please click on the link to provide your household's input for our demographic census.
We need this information to accurately reflect our community, to enable us to be inclusive, responsive and self-aware as we plan for Havurah's future. Your responses are confidential. They are being received and processed by the Oregon Beliefs and Values Center, a market research non-profit organization.
Upcoming Events
Kabbalat ShabbatCANCELED
Friday, June 11
Bar Mitzvah of Judah Barnett Saturday, June 12, 10 am – Room Aleph
Please join us in welcoming Judah Barnett as a Bar Mitzvah and member of our community!
Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation Tuesday, June 15, 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, June 16, 8:30 am – Room Aleph
For all who want a regular prayer practice and for people saying Kaddish. Led by J.D. Kleinke.
Community Minyan Saturday, June 19, 10 am– Room Aleph
Please join us for Shabbat morning! Led by community members and Rabbi Benjamin, this service includes davening, Torah reading, and discussion.
Book Group Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots Tuesday, June 22, 7-8:30 pm – Room Bet
As a member of the strictly religious Satmar sect of Hasidic Judaism, Deborah Feldman grew up under a code of relentlessly enforced customs governing everything from what she could wear and to whom she could speak to what she was allowed to read. Yet in spite of her repressive upbringing, Deborah grew into an independent-minded young woman whose stolen moments reading about the empowered literary characters of Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott helped her to imagine an alternative way of life among the skyscrapers of Manhattan. Discussion led by David Newman.
LGBTQIA+ Advance Care Planning Tuesday, June 29, 7-8:30 pm– Room Bet DATE CHANGE The Ma'avar Committee is hosting an Advance Care Planning workshop on creating an Advance Directive with a special focus for the LGBTQI+ community. Advance care planning is a process of considering the types of healthcare decisions that may need to be made in a medical crisis or at the end-of-life then writing those decisions and preferences into an Advance Directive. Space is limited and RSVP is required. Please contact Ericka Kimball via the Havurah Member Directory with questions. RSVP here.
Maria & Carlos's Move
Help needed by “young athletic types” as someone called them, to move the many items donated to furnish their apartment. The move will take place on July 1, with some loading the night before. Please sign up on the spreadsheet. Feel free to call or write me, Barbara Hershey, via the Havurah Member Directory, as I am coordinating this move. Let me know your time availability.
It is now time for all you generous donors to Maria and Carlos to deliver your items for their apartment to either my house (inner NE) or to Nancy Chesser (NW). Contact us to arrange a mutually acceptable date/time.
Thank you to many generous menschen, we have most of what is needed to settle Maria and Carlos in their new apartment at the end of the month. There are just a few critical items outstanding (see a list here):
One twin mattress and box spring
Sharp kitchen knives for slicing and dicing (not eating utensils)
Iron and ironing board
First Aid kit
Monetary contributions are also accepted and you can give here.Thank you all!
Tikkun Olam
Nicholas Kristoff's Discussion on Poverty: Recording
Nicholas Kristoff's discussion around poverty issues on June 7 was well attended by Havurahniks. The event was sponsored by the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty with whom Havurah's Poverty & Homelessness Committee works as a member congregation. If you missed Nicholas's discussion and would like a recording, please contact Havurah member Gloria Halper via the Havurah Member Directory.
Congregation Neveh Shalom COVID-19 Outreach and Services (CNSCOS)
CNSCOS can help you make sense of all there is to know about the pandemic, testing, and vaccines. 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?
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) Shabbat Morning with Bar Mitzvah of Brandon Keys Shabbat, Oct 18th 10:00a to 12:00p Please join us for Shabbat morning services, including welcoming Brandon Keys as a Bar Mitzvah and member of our community.
This service includes davening, Torah reading, and discussion. Join us afterward for a light community brunch. Free childcare is provided. For Zoom information, please email info@havurahshalom.org.
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.
