Dec. 14 Community Email
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Snow & Ice, RSVP for Jan. 6-7, Chanukah Celebration & Tikkun Olam
UPCOMING SHABBAT Bat Mitzvah of Ravit Pearlman This Saturday, Ravit Pearlman, daughter of Sacha Reich and Aaron Pearlman, will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah. If you attended some of our Saturday services over the past several weeks, you probably heard Ravit lead many parts of the service beautifully. Please join us in celebrating with Ravit and her family as she becomes a bat mitzvah and welcome her to our community. Mazel tov! CLASS CANCELLED TONIGHT & INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY The class "Being Jewish Makes a World of Difference" which was scheduled for tonight, has been cancelled because of the snow. Also, Havurah's office will be closed on days when Portland Public Schools close due to weather. For more information about closures and cancellations at Havurah, call 503-248-4662. The voicemail will include the latest updates. You can also visit www.havurahshalom.org for updates. CHANUKAH: ADDING LIGHT TO THESE DARK DAYS - DEC. 28, 29 & 30 Chanukah Hakol Mailing On Wednesday, Dec. 28, we'll have a Chanukah Hakol mailing gathering at Havurah, with Chanukah treats for all of our wonderful volunteers. If you can join us, please RSVP to info@havurahshalom.org. Photo below was taken at a Havurah Chanukah Celebration last year.
A Chanukah Celebration for All Ages Our Dec. 29th Chanukah Celebration will offer fun for all ages: a potluck oneg of plate-free desserts, storytelling and candle lighting led by Rachel Duke and Deborah Eisenbach-Budner, and singing led by Beth Hamon, Aaron Pearlman, Barbara Gundle, and other Havurah musicians. Afterward, we'll have several tables of dreidel playing for those who want to play - including multigenerational tables playing for fair trade Chanukah gelt and a table of adults playing for money. In addition to bringing a plate-free dessert for the oneg, please bring a favorite adult drink to share with the adult-aged crowd if you wish. We’ll add lots of light and laughter to the evening! RSVP here. Photo below was taken at a Havurah Chanukah Celebration last year.
Coming Together in Dark Times We invite you to join us on Friday, Dec. 30, to welcome Shabbat, spread the light of the Chanukah candles, and share our feelings, fears, and hopes for the difficult times we are facing as a country. For those of us who came together on the Sunday after the election, it was a powerful expression of community, and there have been requests to identify some next steps. It continues to feel premature to launch a specific action plan. Instead, it seems more appropriate to gather in community, listen to how we are doing, and continue conversations about our hopes and fears about areas such as immigrants and refugees, poverty and homelessness, climate change, equity, and gun control. Please RSVP here so we will know if this date will work for people who are interested. Email chriscoughlin60@gmail.com if you are interested in helping with planning, or if you want to help but can’t attend on Dec. 30. RSVP FOR RABBI BECKER-KLEIN'S VISIT JAN. 6-7 Thank you again for attending so many events at Havurah during Rabbi Benjamin Barnett's visit - and thank you for your feedback on the weekend. We're looking forward to meeting Rabbi Micah Becker-Klein on Jan. 6-7. Please be sure to RSVP here so we know which events you will attend. You can read more about both Rabbi Barnett and Rabbi Becker-Klein here.
LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES & UPDATES
Thank You, Stacy Hankin! At last Saturday's Shabbat School, parents and students celebrated Stacy Hankin's time as Assistant Coordinator of Education (ACE). Thank you, Stacy, for all you've done for Havurah's education programs. We will miss you! High Holidays Readings Thank you to all the Havurah members who led prayers, read Torah, blew shofarim, led music, organized services, led Tikkun Olam talks, and gave readings or drashot during the High Holidays services this year. And thank you to those of you who shared your readings and drashot with Havurah so the rest of us could read what was spoken during High Holidays. These writings and readings offer inspiration during difficult times. Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation Circle Continues Bird's Eye View of Jewish History 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 lifelong student of Judaism and Jewish History, will teach this course. Register here by Jan. 4. Having the Conversation: Workshops to Discuss Quality at End of Life Many of us spend a great deal of time thinking about how we want to live our lives, but many of us avoid thinking about how we would like our end of life care to go. Havurah will be facilitating a two-part workshop in February to help community members begin to think about what quality means at the end of life. Working from The Conversation Project model, we will support each other as we explore this challenging topic. If you would like to join us we ask that you commit to both workshops. Deadline to register is Jan. 23. Learn more here. TIKKUN OLAM
Interfaith Advocacy Day, Tuesday, Feb. 7 Please consider joining a group from Havurah Shalom and other members of the Portland interfaith community in a lobbying activity in Salem to advocate with legislators and their staff for compassionate legislation regarding various areas of our common concern. These meetings provide a first-hand opportunity to express your beliefs in a setting where you can make a difference—directly influencing legislation. The exchanges with legislators can be enlightening and potentially satisfying. This is also an unusual opportunity to have contact with other faith groups, which is especially meaningful right now. Lift Urban Portland Christmas Dinner 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. You can sign up here. Portland Homeless Family Solutions Tikkun Olam Volunteer Project Next new volunteer orientation is Dec. 28, 5:00 - 6:00 pm, at the Goose Hollow Shelter, 1838 SW Jefferson. Please RSVP to Bethany (contact info below). Join us! Questions regarding volunteering at Goose Hollow? To help with meal preparation: Len Shapiro at lenshap@gmail.com. Any other PHFS questions, Gloria Halper, Tikkun Olam Committee member, losninos6@gmail.com. Volunteer at Goose Hollow Holiday Village on Dec. 16 Want to celebrate with our homeless families this holiday season? Join us at our Holiday Village event on Dec. 16 at the Goose Hollow shelter. 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. IN OUR COMMUNITY ... Education Opportunities at PSU Read about PSU’s Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies and Winter 2017 classes here. 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.
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. RABBI CANDIDATE VISITS & UPDATES As most of you know, the Rabbi Search Committee selected two candidates for the position of rabbi at Havurah Shalom. Rabbi Benjamin Barnett visited Havurah on Dec. 2-3, and Rabbi Micah Becker-Klein will visit Havurah on Jan. 6-7. Please be sure to RSVP here for the events on Jan. 6-7 so you can meet Rabbi Becker-Klein. More answers have been added to this blog post regarding the process of our rabbi selection. Please check out the updates here. |
