What Is Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good?
7 pm, Thursday, Oct. 20 — Offsite Zoom Link
Havurah is a long-time member of MACG (Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good) but many congregants do not know how it works. This orientation is for you! Learn: What is MACG? What is institutional organizing? How does it strengthen my institution? How does it reduce isolation and build connection? How does it lessen polarization and strengthen the center? How does being part of the MACG alliance lead to real positive changes in the public arena?
Banot Mitzvah of Lyla and Violet Maxen
10 am, Saturday, Oct. 22 — Havurah Shalom and Zoom Room Aleph
Please join us in welcoming Lyla and Violet Maxen as Banot Mitzvah and members of our community.
Gardening Party
10 am, Sunday, Oct. 23 — Havurah Shalom
Come do some gardening to keep our space beautiful! Bring gloves, clippers and an appreciation for our fall weather!
Music of Jews of the Middle East and North Africa
2 pm, Sunday, Oct. 23, 30; Nov. 6, 13 — Havurah Shalom and Zoom Room Gimel
A maqam is an Arabic and Ottoman Turkish musical mode. Mizraḥi and Sephardic Jewish communities traditionally made religious and secular music using these modes. This class will give a short background to maqams and how they work and explore some examples from Jewish communities in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and Greece. The instructor will demonstrate some of the music on the oud. There will be opportunities for singing, and musicians who want to join in are encouraged to bring an instrument. Guitars will work for some pieces, but instruments that can play microtones such as the violin family, clarinet, etc. are recommended. Led by Channing Dodson. RSVP here
Book Group: The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen
7 pm, Sunday, Oct. 23 — at Havurah and in Zoom Room Bet
Corbin College, not quite upstate New York, winter 1959–1960: Ruben Blum, a Jewish historian—but not an historian of the Jews—is co-opted onto a hiring committee to review the application of an exiled Israeli scholar specializing in the Spanish Inquisition. When Benzion Netanyahu shows up for an interview, family unexpectedly in tow, Blum plays the reluctant host to guests who proceed to lay waste to his American complacencies. Mixing fiction with nonfiction, the campus novel with the lecture, The Netanyahus is a wildly inventive, genre-bending comedy of blending, identity, and politics. Fiction: 240 Pages. Discussion led by Stacy Hankin.
Enjoy the Benefits of Solar Power Without Putting Solar Panels on Your Roof!
5 pm, Sunday, October 23 — Zoom Room Bet
Exciting news: individuals, businesses, and houses of worship can gets the benefits of solar power—lowering your carbon footprint and lowering your electric bill—without installing solar panels on your roof. For PGE and Pacific Power customers, find out how you can be part of "community solar." This is different from the green energy programs offered by the electric companies. For information, contact Elianne Lieberman, Havurah Climate Action Team. RSVP here
Morning Minyan
8:15 am, Wednesday, Oct. 26 — Zoom Room Aleph & In Person
For all who want a regular prayer practice and those saying Kaddish. This week week we will start early to make room for a Rosh Chodesh Torah reading.
What is Reconstructionism?
5:00 PM - 6:15, Wednesdays, Oct. 26, Nov. 2nd, and Nov. 9 -- Zoom Room Gimel
A three-part series on the history, beliefs, and practices of the Reconstructing Judaism movement with which Havurah Shalom is affiliated. Led by Rabbi Maurice Harris, Associate Director for Thriving Communities and Israel Affairs Specialist at Reconstructing Judaism. RSVP here.
Intermediate Hebrew
7 pm Thursdays, Oct. 27, Nov. 3, 10, 17 (no class Thanksgiving Nov. 24), and
Dec. 1 — in-person at Havurah Shalom
Join us in practicing Hebrew and learning new vocabulary through listening to Israeli songs and watching short video clips. Participants will receive a shared Spotify playlist with all songs taught in class (and a few more) for practice and for their own enjoyment. In class, we will discuss lyrics, make connections to different topics, and practice using the new vocabulary through games and conversations.
Requirement: You should be able to read and write Hebrew, be able to hold a simple conversation, and understand (not necessarily master) the three verb tenses. Led by Racheli Ross. RSVP here.
Defining Jewish Identity: Communal Responses to Interfaith Marriage & Families
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM Thursdays, Oct. 27, Nov. 3, Nov. 10 -- Zoom Room Heh
Starting with biblical texts and finishing with contemporary responsa from a variety of Jewish movements, we will explore how Jewish communities have defined Jewish identity and the boundaries of who is a Jew in response to interfaith families. RSVP here.
B'nei Mitzvah of Yon Zalkow-Blue
0:00am, Saturday, Oct 29th
Please join us in welcoming Yon Zalkow-Blue as a B'nei Mitzvah and member of our community.
Finding The Mother Tree, Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest Book Study
First and Third Mondays, beginning Nov. 7 — Zoom Room Bet
We’ll meet the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month, until we finish Suzanne Simard's inspiring and illuminating exploration of the world of trees. She reveals that trees are a complex, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks by which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities with communal lives not that different from our own. We’ll start by reading the first 44 pages. Join us whenever you can. For information, contact Michael Heumann, Havurah Climate Action Team. RSVP here
Alte Rockers Happy Hour and Michelle Goldberg gives the13th Annual Sara Glasgow Cogan Lecture,“Autocracy and Anti-Feminism"
Tuesday, Oct. 25 — Rogue Hall and Smith Hall at PSU
5:00 PM for Happy Hour (Rogue Hall)
7:00 PM for Lecture in Smith Center Ballroom, Room 355.
This series has been a wonderful traditional event for Havurah Alte-Rockers. This lecture series honors Sara Glasgow Cogan, wife of Havurah Member Nathan Cogan until her tragic death.
Information and RSVP for the Lecture
RSVP to Ted Scheinman for Alte-Rockers Happy Hour.
Admission is free.
Israeli Folk Dancing
Sunday afternoons 12-2:30 pm, Monday evenings 7-10 pm, Thursday evenings 7-10 pm
Whether you haven't danced in a while, or want to try something new in the new year, there's beginner and intermediate Israeli dance instruction and lots of circle, line, and couples dances. Please join us to dance for part or all of any session! For details including cost and locations, look here. (Link corrected from last week.) For more information, contact Cindy Merrill.
