Help Field Community Inquiries about Havurah as an Ambassador

Training Session: Monday, Nov. 22, 6-7 pm

The Portland community loves Havurah! People who are curious about Havurah frequently send us inquiries asking who we are and what membership is like. These conversations are interesting and fun to have, with no "selling" involved – just an opportunity to share what we like and know about Havurah. If you would like to help staff by chatting with folks who contact us with general inquiries, please RSVP for a training session. At the session, you will learn about what questions tend to be asked and how to answer them, where to refer folks for questions you can't answer, and about Havurah's process for becoming a new member. If you decide to volunteer, Havurah staff will support you all the way!

Letter from the Communications & Membership Coordinator

Dear Havurahniks,

After almost two and a half years of serving as your Communications & Membership Coordinator, I will be saying goodbye to the Havurah Shalom community on Friday, November 19. I'm so grateful to have been connected to a comprehensive Jewish organization whose history speaks for itself – creating something out of nothing and always striving to welcome anyone who shares its value set of bettering our world. This was the first Jewish organization I joined since I was a kid, and it has given me so much insight – it fundamentally changed what I imagined Jewish life to be. Since I joined in August 2019, I've welcomed in almost 100 new member families and we're now at almost 500 member families total – what a journey it has been.

For those whom I collaborated with and those who were always warm and welcoming – thank you. I will miss so many faces and spaces. Although I'm sad about leaving, I'm also excited to move on to new opportunities in Chicago. If you'd like to stay in contact, please reach out to info@havurahshalom.org and ask to be connected with my personal email. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful community.

Sincerely,
Brad Pector

Rabbi On Vacation Next Week

Hakol & Hineinu Editor Update

Latke Recipes & Hanukah Stories

Photo by Robert Zunikoff on Unsplash.

Upcoming Classes

Shmita Year Winter Art Class
Sunday, December 12, 7-9 pm – Zoom Room TBA

A drawing class that will help with your Shmita year relaxation. Adults and children are welcome. No prior art experience necessary. Carolina Martinez will lead you in creating a picture that incorporates your style and uses a minimal amount of art supplies! Please RSVP here. Art supply list will be provided after RSVP.

Upcoming Events

Friday, Nov. 19, 6:30 pm – Room Aleph
A musical, soulful way to welcome Shabbat. Songs of joy and peace for rest, reflection, and renewal.

Community Minyan
Saturday, Nov. 20, 10 am – Room Aleph
Led by community members and Rabbi Benjamin, this service includes davening, Torah reading, and discussion.

Refa'einu Healing Service
Saturday, Nov. 20, 3-4:15 pm – Room Aleph
Refa’einu Healing Services provide sacred space and time to focus on healing and wholeness. Through contemplative teachings, sacred chant, guided and silent meditations, embodied practice, and prayer, we open to healing energy — however it is needed in our lives, our families, our communities, our planet. Please RSVP for the November 20 service, to be co-facilitated by Laine Barbanell Schipper and Tivona Reith. Refa’einu, Yah, v’neirafei — Heal us, Source of All Healing, and we will be healed. RSVP here.

Shmita Living Lightly: Hanukah Card Making for Adults & Children
Sunday, Nov. 21, 2 pm – RSVP for Zoom link
Please join us at this event geared towards adults and children, making illustrated and collaged cards to send or hand deliver to friends and family. We will use supplies you can purchase, upcycle, or have at home already. Materials list at the RSVP link.

Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 12 pm – Room Bet
We gather to find some moments of quiet and shalom. Led by Rabbi Benjamin, Deborah Eisenbach-Budner, or Nancy Becker.

Book Group
An Egyptian Novel by Orly Castel-Bloom
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 7 pm – Room Bet
A family saga in realist style resembling a linked set of short stories. The protagonist has Egyptian roots going back many generations: on her father’s side, to the expulsion of the Jews of Spain in 1492, when seven brothers of the Kastil family (from Castille) landed on the Gaza. Two brothers of the family, Vita and Charlie Kastil (i.e. from Castille) immigrated from Egypt to Israel in the 1950s with their future wives Adele and Vivienne and settled on a kibbutz of the Marxist-Zionist Hashomer Hatzair. They were soon expelled for Stalinism and moved to Tel Aviv. Discussion led by Joel Beinin.

Morning Minyan
Wednesday, Nov. 24, 8:30 am – Room Aleph
For all who want a regular prayer practice and for people saying Kaddish.

Bar Mitzvah of Gavin Galderisi

Saturday, Nov. 27, 10 am – Room Aleph
Please join us in welcoming Gavin Galderisi as a Bar Mitzvah and member of our community!

Saturday, Dec. 4, 1:30-3:15 pm at Havurah
There are many lovely gift items from our swap meet that still need a good home: games, puzzles, books, jewelry and more. Stop by Havurah for your last minute shopping for the final two nights of Hanukah! To be COVID safe, masks are required and dress for the weather, as you may have to wait outside before you can enter. Do not bring any new items.

Hanukah Song Share Sing-a-long

Sunday, Dec. 5, 10:30 am – RSVP to receive Zoom link
Come join Havurah's Israel/Palestine Committee as we host two principals from Israel's Hand-in-Hand integrated schools, serving Jewish and Palestinian Arab citizens. Manar Hayadre, who is Palestinian-Israeli, and Efrat Meyer, who is Jewish-Israeli, will share personal and professional stories. Feel free to invite friends. We've invited other Reconstructionist synagogues in Oregon/Washington. This is not a fund-raising event. Register here to receive the Zoom link to attend. For more info, go to the Israel/Palestine Committee portal here.

Tikkun Olam Updates & Events

Refugee Support Collection Drive
Now until Nov. 21

Portland Refugee Support Group 10175 SW Barbur Blvd Suite 102B, 9:30-3 pm M-F
Donation of new or gently used winter clothes to help support Refugee families for the coming winter months. Coats, hats, gloves, raincoats, jackets, and scarves all needed.

Tikkun Olam Has a New Committee! Join Now
Thursday, Dec. 9, 6:30-8 pm – Zoom Room Bet
On Tuesday, November 9, Havurah Steering unanimously approved the charter for the new Racial Justice Committee. The groundwork for this new committee has been in the works for several months and has involved the input from many Havurah members. The purpose of the Racial Justice Committee is to provide a container within Havurah to educate ourselves and to seek opportunities to work toward racial justice. Two workgroups have convened focusing on Social Justice Advocacy and Individual Education/Reckoning. Please join us for the first official meeting of this new committee! Questions or want to be added to the Committee email list or join a workgroup? RSVP here. Contact Bob Brown for more info.

News & Events from Our Tikkun Olam Partners

Portland Homeless Family Solutions (PHFS) | Interfaith Alliance on Poverty (IAP) | Lift UP | MACG

Jewish Community Offerings

Get Your 5-11 Year-Old Vaccinated Against COVID-19!
9 am - 1 pm
Mittleman Jewish Community Center: 6651 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR 97219
Join CNSCOS at the Portland Jewish Academy on Sunday, Nov. 21 for a pediatric (ages 5-11) COVID-19 vaccine clinic! This is pediatric only and there will not be vaccines available for adults. Sign up for a vaccination slot here. More info on pediatric vaccines here.

Order Guilt-Free Hanukah Gelt from T'ruah

T’ruah is partnering with Divine Chocolate USA to bring you kosher, guilt-free chocolate gelt made from Fairtrade cocoa grown by family farmers in Ghana. Order here. Divine Chocolate USA is co-owned by cocoa farmers who share in its profits. When you order gelt from Divine Chocolate USA this Hanukah, you’re making a commitment to value small-scale farmers by buying a product made of Fairtrade cocoa with no palm oil and no GMOs. When you buy Guilt-Free Gelt ⁠— available in both milk chocolate and dark chocolate — you will also be supporting T’ruah. Ten percent of all sales ordered through this link go directly to T’ruah.
 

Musical & Artistic Opportunities for Convention
Deadline Dec. 15 for video premiere March 23-27

Calling all Reconstructionist singers, musicians, dancers and artists to participate remotely in a video that will premiere at Convention. Deadline to indicate interest is Dec. 15.
Seeking new/recent Jewish music by writers connected to the Reconstructionist movement for inclusion in a Convention program. Deadline to submit is Dec. 31. More info here.

Reconstructing Judiasm Together Convention
March 23-27, 2022 in Washington DC and online
Come gather from March 23–27, 2022 for B’Yachad: Reconstructing Judaism Together. During Convention, we will be together both in-person and virtually to learn from and with experts, scholars and lay leaders. We will engage in conversations, ask questions, and listen. We will pray together, sing together, dance together and celebrate all that we do every day in our communities to reconstruct Judaism. More info here.

COVID-19 Vaccines & Assistance

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 cnscos@nevehshalom.org or call 971-990-5652 if you need COVID-19 assistance or info. 

Do You Need Help?

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!

Havurah Zoom Rooms

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