Hineinu, October 18, 2023

Oseh Shalom: A Prayer for Peace
Oseh Shalom bim'ro'mav. Hu ya'aseh shalom alei'nu, v'al kol Yisrael, v'al kol yoshvei tevel, v'imru Amen

Talking about Israel & Palestine with Children
Click here for some suggested resources for parents, children, and others trying to understand and talk about the situation, as well as a list of just some of the charitable organizations you may wish to consider supporting at this time.

 

Now Hiring: Zoom Host
Havurah is hiring a Zoom host to manage the tech side of online gatherings, providing smooth and welcoming experiences for online attendees. Typical schedule consists of Shabbats and holidays, occasional other special events, usually 2-3 hours at a time. You will share the schedule with our other Zoom host, and you will choose the dates you wish to work or have off. Work is from home or onsite at Havurah. A laptop is available to use at Havurah. Training will be provided. Pays $40/hr. Please contact Rachel Pollak (rachel@havurahshalom.org). 

Jewish Performance and Education: theatre dybbuk
From the theatre dybbuk website: “theatre dybbuk creates provocative performances and innovative educational encounters that explore Jewish thought to illuminate universal human experience. We envision a world where people challenge themselves to revel in the complexity of our shared humanity.”

Scroll down to the "Out in the Community" section of this Hineinu for more, including info on theatre dybbuk events happening in Portland from Oct. 24 to 26.

General Info

Thank you for following our COVID safety guidelines for in-person gatherings, which were updated on June 15, 2023.
 

Havurah members: If a member's name is hyperlinked below, you can go directly to their contact page in the directory by clicking on their name and then logging into your Havurah account. Or search in the online Havurah member directory.

Zoom/YouTube stream links can be found near the end of this email.

Regular Happenings

Note: Tot Shabbat will take place on Saturday, November 4.

Weekly Torah Study​ 
9 am, Saturdays – Havurah Shalom and Zoom Room Bet
An in-depth look at the weekly Torah reading, led by congregants. No prior knowledge or study is necessary.

Shabbat Morning
10 am, Saturdays – Havurah Shalom and Zoom Room Aleph
All are welcome at our Shabbat services, including b'nei mitzvah services. Upcoming b'nei mitzvah (Nathan Zahm, October 21; Leo Seidman, October 28) are listed below and in the website calendar. (On November 4, there will be a Tot Shabbat at Havurah Shalom from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. RSVP for that Tot Shabbat.)

Mahjong Group
1 pm, first and third Mondays – Havurah Shalom Library
Mahjong is a fun, social activity that builds community, encouraging new friendships and cementing old ones. If you want to learn how to play, please contact Leah Hershey for teaching resources. If you are ready to join a game, please RSVP on the calendar. To receive Mahjong Group updates, ask Leah to add you to the email list.

Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation
12 pm, Tuesdays – Havurah Shalom (Sanctuary or Library) and Zoom Room Bet
We gather to find moments of quiet and shalom in a welcoming space. Various styles of Jewish meditation are explored. No meditation experience necessary. All are welcome to drop in. Led by Rabbi Benjamin, Adela Basayne, Nancy Becker, or Deborah Eisenbach-Budner.

Morning Minyan
8:30 am, Wednesdays – Havurah Shalom and Zoom Room Aleph
For all who want a regular prayer practice and those saying Kaddish. All are welcome.

Upcoming Events

Sukkah Take-Down
11 am to 2 pm, Thursday, October 19 – Havurah Shalom
Come join us in taking down the sukkah! Bring a drill or ladder if you have one, and we'll make the most of the (hopefully) good weather.

Shabbat Morning with Bar Mitzvah of Nathan Zahm
10 am, Saturday, October 21 – Havurah Shalom and Zoom Room Aleph
Please join us for Shabbat morning services, including welcoming Nathan Zahm as a Bar Mitzvah and member of our community. All are welcome.

Havurah Climate Action Team (HCAT) Monthly Meeting
5:30 pm, Monday, October 23 – Zoom Room Gimel 
Join the Havurah Climate Action Team's monthly meeting.

Havurah Book Group - Comrades and Chicken Ranchers: The Story of a California Jewish Community by Kenneth Kann
7 pm to 8:30 pm, Tuesday, October 24 – Zoom Room Bet
During the heyday of the kibbutz movement, several leftie communities formed in California and New Jersey to practice the Kibbutz lifestyle, sort of. Kenneth Kann, an oral historian who interviewed more than 200 of the former members of this California commune, presents three generations talking about being radical chicken ranchers, their Yiddish cultural life, and their intense political commitments and conflicts. By juxtaposing often opposite views of the same situation, the interviews come alive, and on the whole, it's a pretty amusing and also honest look at a radical Jewish community. Discussion led by Havurah's Holly Hoffnung. Nonmembers welcome. RSVP for Zoom info.

Shabbat Morning with Bar Mitzvah of Leo Seidman
10 am, Saturday, October 28 – Havurah Shalom and Zoom Room Aleph
Please join us for Shabbat morning services, including welcoming Leo Seidman as a Bar Mitzvah and member of our community. All are welcome.

Havurah Climate Action Team Book Group (Under the Sky We Make, Ch. 4 to 7)
5 to 6:30 pm, Monday, October 30  - Zoom Room Bet
All Havurah members are welcome to become part of the HCAT Book Group as we go through each chapter of our next book addressing the climate crisis, Under the Sky We Make, by climate scientist Kimberly Nicholas, PhD. In this best-selling book, Dr. Nicholas offers a hopeful, clear-eyed, and sometimes hilarious guide to affecting real change. For the October 30 meeting, please aim to read Chapters 4 to 7. Future book group sessions for Under the Sky We Make will take place on Mondays, Nov. 13, Nov. 27, and Dec. 11. Questions? Contact Michael Heumann. RSVP for the October 30 discussion.

Tot Shabbat
10:30 am to 11:30 am, Saturday, November 4 – Havurah Shalom
Young children (0-5) and parents celebrate with singing, movement, blessings, and storytelling. All are welcome. RSVP

The Naked Room: A Synthesis of the Life of a Poet and Psychotherapist with Discussant Frances Payne Adler
7 pm to 8:30 pm, Tuesday, November 7 – Havurah Shalom and Special Zoom Room
In this time of mental health crisis among youth and adults, as well among the houseless, Willa Schneberg's new poetry collection, The Naked Room, illuminates such issues pertaining to mental health. These are poems of the unconscious, the dreamscape, the despondent, the unmoored and the mortal. Reading followed by Q&A with Frances Payne Adler. RSVP

Save the Date & Sign Up ASAP: Havurah Racial Justice Committee Book Discussion How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith
7 pm to 8:30 pm, Sunday, November 12 – Havurah Shalom
Please come for a lively discussion! How the Word is Passed illustrates how some of our country's most essential stories are hidden in plain view—like in downtown Manhattan, in which the brutal history of the trade of enslaved peoples has been deeply imprinted. Clint Smith's book is a landmark work of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in understanding our country. Questions? Contact Kathy Gordon or Barbara Gundle. RSVP

More Tikkun Olam 

News & Events from Our Tikkun Olam Partners

Path Home (formerly PHFS): Volunteer for our monthly Path Home dinner | Interfaith Alliance on Poverty (IAP) | Lift UP | MACG | Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NW ​​​​​​ | Rose Haven

Out in the Community

MONUMENT Film Showing for One Night Only (with Filmmaker Q & A)
7:15 pm, Wednesday, October 18 - Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Avenue, Portland, Oregon)
For one show only, and with the filmmaker staying for a post-film Q & A, Cinema 21 will host a special screening of MONUMENT in community partnership with the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. Filmmaker Michael Turner (The Way We Talk) documents his first visit to a Holocaust memorial created by his grandmother Lici, a Hungarian Jew whose parents and sister were killed in Auschwitz. The resulting personal documentary is a powerful and poetic story of two relatives meeting through time and space to carry their family memory forward. (75 minute film + filmmaker Q&A afterward.) For the trailer and more, click here (or go straight  here for ticket purchases, $12 general, $10 students/seniors).

Coming to Portland in Late October: theatre dybbuk
From the theatre dybbuk website: “theatre dybbuk creates provocative performances and innovative educational encounters that explore Jewish thought to illuminate universal human experience. We envision a world where people challenge themselves to revel in the complexity of our shared humanity.” There should be a wide array of opportunities for engagement with theatre dybbuk.

Check out the theatre dybbuk events happening this year in Portland:

Writing Workshop with Artistic Director Aaron Henne (This workshop is focused on senior members of the community.) – Tuesday, October 24, 11 am - 1 pm at Eastside Jewish Commons (EJC) – Click here to get tickets.

"One Community, Many Stories: Belonging" (This event is focused on LGBTQ+ members of the community.) – Tuesday, October 24, 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm at Eastside Jewish Commons (EJC) – Click here to get tickets.

"One Community, Many Stories: Looking Forward" – Wednesday, October 25, 6 pm - 8:30 pm at the Mittleman JCC (MJCC) – Click here to get tickets.

Performance installation of The Villainy You Teach – Thursday, October 26, 12 pm - 2:30 pm at Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE) – Click here for event details (tickets come free with museum admission).

"Shakespeare in Performance" illuminated lecture – Thursday, October 26, 7:30 pm at Portland State University (PSU) Lincoln Studio Theater – No tickets, but RSVP/Registration is recommended.

To learn more about all of the above theatre dybbuk events (and to read about theatre dybbuk residency opportunities in Portland), click here.

Resources

Do You Need Support?
If you are facing emotional, financial, or health challenges and would welcome support, please consider contacting the (a) Bikkur Holim (Visiting the Sick) Committee for spiritual support, (b) Lotsa Helping Hands for help with food, transportation, or other errands, or (c) Rabbi Benjamin, for spiritual and moral support – benjamin@havurahshalom.org or 503-248-4662 ext. 3. If you're interested in being on a list of people who support others in concrete ways, such as grocery shopping or running other errands, please contact Lotsa Helping Hands. To request that the name of a relative or Havurah member be read during the Misheberach (healing prayer) at Shabbat services, please use this Misheberach Request Form.

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

Havurah Zoom Rooms

Havurah Zoom Rooms

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