Nov. 23 - Community Email
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NEW BABY, RABBI BARNETT, CHANUKAH PARTY, DECEMBER ART WORKSHOPS
UPCOMING SHABBAT Community Minyan In this week's parsha, Chayei Sarah, Sarah dies and is buried in the Machpelah Cave in Hebron. Abraham’s servant goes to Charan to find a wife for Isaac, and meets Rebecca, the daughter of Abraham’s nephew. Rebecca travels with the servant to the land of Canaan, where they see Isaac praying in the field. Isaac marries Rebecca, loves her, and is comforted over the loss of his mother. NEXT WEEK AT HAVURAH Talmud Lite Talmud Lite is led by Rabbi Joey. We are currently studying a section from Tractate Brachot, which grapples with the ordering for familiar rituals, such as Kiddush and Havdalah and the washing of the hands – and how we lend structure to the passage of sacred time. Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation We gather on Tuesdays, from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm, to find some moments of quiet and shalom. We start with a brief teaching and gentle song, then have a sitting or walking meditation that is guided, in silence. This is for folks either with experience in meditation or for those with curiosity but no experience. Led by Deborah Eisenbach-Budner, who completed a two year training in Jewish Mindfulness and Meditation with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and by Michelle Bobowick, who is a trained teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion workshops and has been practicing and teaching mindfulness for over 15 years. Please contact Deborah Eisenbach-Budner for more information. Currently scheduled dates are: Nov. 29 and Dec. 6 and 13. Come when you can. Havurah Book Discussion Morning Minyan This weekday service is for people who want to integrate prayer in their daily lives and for those saying Kaddish, or not. Please join us! Hakol Mailing Party This is our last Hakol folding and mailing with Rachel Palmer. Please join us for this important project and opportunity to say farewell to Rachel. Email Rachel if you can come. MAZEL TOV & WELCOME, AVIVA SHIRA Mazel tov to Havurah members Sarah Liebman and Channing Dodson on the birth of their daughter, Aviva Shira. And mazel tov to Aviva Shira's grandparents, longtime Havurah members Robert Liebman and Elaine Friedman. OPENING FOR OFFICE & FACILITIES MANAGER AT HAVURAH This full-time position provides critical functions in our administration and contributes to the success of the community. Click here to see the job description. To apply, please send cover letter and resume’ to info@havurahshalom.org. - Havurah Shalom Steering Committee Click here to read a note from outgoing Office and Facilities Manager Rachel Palmer COURTYARD ART WORKSHOPS IN DECEMBER Glazing Workshops for Ages 10 to Adult ... Sunday, Dec. 4 Sunday, Dec. 11 You can see photos here of Havurah members creating our courtyard art together.
SAVE THE DATE! CHANUKAH CELEBRATION DEC. 29 Thursday, Dec. 29 Our Chanukah celebration will offer fun for all ages. It will begin with a potluck oneg of plate-free desserts, followed by candle lighting, singing and dreidel playing for those who are interested. If you have a dreidel, chanukiot and candles, please bring them with you. We'll have lots of tasty guilt-free gelt! RSVP here if you can come. TIKKUN OLAM What We Can Do - From Deborah Eisenbach-Budner Discover/Remember What You Care About and Commit to Doing Something Doable. There are so many needs right now, with so many critical issues we must pay attention to. Yes, give some consideration and do some research. But, then, just pick one! Giving whatever you can give to a group, organization, or cause is better than not doing anything because you use too much energy being overwhelmed by all the needs. Talk to people about what you are doing. Ask them what they are doing or hope to do. I have some buttons for anybody who wants them. They say “Ask: What Can YOU do to help protect justice for all?” Email me if you would like a button. Las Posadas The Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIrJ) and Vecinos en Alerta are organizing the celebration of the annual Las Posadas tradition in the Cully neighborhood. This event is a beautiful celebration of community, with its special focus on honoring and lifting up the immigrant experience in Portland, in the U.S., and across the world. This is also a great opportunity for Havurah to connect our faith tradition with others in celebration of dignity and human rights. Las Posadas fiesta is also a good event to include children since there will be lots of children attending from Vecinos en Alberta families. What are "Las Posadas?" As part of the Christmas celebration, these traditional Mexican fiestas (posadas - inns) are held for family, friends, and neighbors. A posada is the reenactment of the pilgrimage to Bethlehem by Mary and Joseph (los peregrinos) in search of a room. From Dec. 15 through Dec. 23, families will hold a posada party one evening in each of their homes. During the reenactment, the posada hosts act as the innkeepers while their guests act as the pilgrims (los peregrinos). Each group takes turns singing verses to each other. What we need to do. 1. Choose an evening between 12/15 and 12/23 that will be the Havurah night. Please let Bob Brown (rebrown47@gmail.com) know if you are interested and if there any evenings that do not work for you. Bob will coordinate dates with IMIrJ and the host family for our date. 2. Create a short activity based on themes suggested by Vecinos. Themes range from immigrants’ rights to health, to education, to affordable housing. Activities are brief, perhaps 15 minutes, and can be a story, a song, a poem. 3. Share some snacks. (optional) 4. Enjoy warmth and community! Please contact Bob Brown (rebrown47@gmail.com) if you are interested in participating and if there are any evenings that do not work for you. We need to pick the date that we want. Lift Urban Portland’s Annual Holiday Dinner on Dec. 25 Every year for the past 30 years, Congregation Beth Israel has hosted Lift Urban Portland’s community holiday dinner, and Havurah Shalom has supported Lift Urban Portland and the holiday dinner for more than a decade. Currently, Havurahnik Mike Feldman is a member of Lift’s board of directors. Volunteers are needed before, during and after the dinner to prepare and decorate, fill gift bags, greet guests, serve meals, and clean up. You can sign up here. The photo below was taken at a Lift Urban Portland holiday dinner.
Portland Homeless Family Solutions Tikkun Olam Direct Service Project Volunteer at Holiday Village on Dec. 16 Want to celebrate with our families this holiday season? Join us at our Holiday Village event on Dec. 16 at Goose Hollow. Every year, Portland Homeless Family Solutions hosts a holiday party for the families in shelter and any families who accessed services earlier in the year. They'll have dinner, music, crafts and games for kids, the opportunity for parents to shop for presents, and lots of holiday cheer! Volunteers are needed for the following roles:
Shift times are approximate and may change as the event date gets closer. Can't volunteer but want to donate items towards our other donation needs? Ready to volunteer at Holiday Village? Contact Bethany. Questions? To help with meal preparation: Len Shapiro at lenshap@gmail.com. Any other PHFS questions, Gloria Halper, Tikkun Olam Committee member, losninos6@gmail.com. Save the Date for Interfaith Advocacy Day 2017 Tuesday, Feb. 7 With the theme, "Raising Diverse Voices of Faith to Strengthen Oregon Communities," Interfaith Advocacy Day 2017 will bring together people of many religious traditions from throughout Oregon for a day of prayer, dialogue and advocacy with state legislators. Join us in addressing housing, hunger, health care, gun safety, and climate justice. A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF JEWISH HISTORY Wednesdays, Nov. 30, Dec. 7 & 14; Jan. 3, 10 & 17 Do you have a vague sense that a lot happened to the Jews between the exodus from Egypt and our modern era, but you aren’t sure what actually happened, where, or why? Have you ever wondered how and why Jewish people dispersed from one small land in the Middle East to live in every part of the globe? Have you ever wondered what brought your ancestors to live in the United States? Using illustrations and maps, we will enjoyably learn the themes, geography, and journey of the Jewish people. Please obtain Barnavi's A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People from the Time of the Patriarchs to the Present in advance. Havurahnik Roger Brewer, a life-long student of Judaism and Jewish History, will teach this course. Register here by Jan. 4. PACIFIC NW RECONSTRUCTIONIST SHABBATON Online registration is open now for the Pacific NW Reconstructionist Shabbaton Weekend, May 5-7, 2017. Celebrate Shabbat at Camp Solomon Schechter with members of the five Pacific Northwest Reconstructionist congregations!
See the attached flier for more details and register here. There's priority registration for those who register by today, Nov. 23! IN THE COMMUNITY ... Fair Trade Chanukah Gelt Buy fair trade Chanukah gelt that tastes great! Scroll down this email from Fair Trade Judaica to learn more and order your gelt.
Season of Lights\ Havurahniks Ilene Safyan, Andrew Ehrlich, and Ed Kraus are part of a benefit concert for the Alzheimers Association on December 3, 2016.
Weekend In Quest The 11th annual Weekend in Quest, a Shabbaton (study weekend), will be held March 3-5, 2017 in Astoria, Oregon. It is sponsored by The Institute for Judaic Studies of the Pacific Northwest in Portland and co-sponsored by Havurah Shalom. The scholar-in-residence is Professor Roger Porter, Emeritus Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College. Professor Porter’s program is entitled “Who is the Jew?” Anti-Semitism in Shakespeare and Philip Roth. Shabbat services will be led by Rabbi Yitzhak Husbands-Hankin, Emeritus Rabbi at Temple Beth Israel, Eugene. Catered kosher-style meals include a festive Erev Shabbat dinner, Kiddush lunch and Saturday evening dinner, with round-table discussions, social time and entertainment woven throughout the weekend. For more information, to download a brochure and to register, go to http://weekendinquest.org and/or contact Havurah member Mimi Epstein at mimiepstein42@comcast.net. RABBI CANDIDATES VISITS & PROCESS The Rabbi Search Committee is pleased to announce that we have two candidates for the position of rabbi at Havurah Shalom. They will be visiting with us in December and January. Unfortunately, our third candidate had to withdraw his application due to family circumstances. These are the two weekends when our candidates will visit:
Click here to see their bios and links to materials they have written found on the rabbi search website.
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