Jan. 25 Community Email
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DOROT SHABBAT, THE CONVERSATION, CONCERNED ABOUT ISRAEL?
UPCOMING SHABBAT Dorot - Short & Sweet Shabbat Our Dorot Service is specifically welcoming to families with children and also strives to create a space for all the generations of Havurah to connect and enjoy Shabbat together. It is a relaxed, meaningful and sweet way to end a busy week and start Shabbat. Havurah musicians Jacob Mandelsberg, Sarah Shine, and Gabe Adoff will lead us as we bring in Shabbat together with music and prayer.
Please bring a kid-friendly, vegetarian main dish to share at the potluck after the service. RSVP here if you think you might make it. Feel free to invite friends and family to come too - the more the merrier! Bat Mitzvah of Jasmine Yohalem Ilsley This Saturday Jasmine Yohalem Ilsley, daughter of Beth and Justin Yohalem-Ilsley, will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah. Please join us in celebrating with Jasime and her family, and welcome her to our community. Mazel tov! HAVE YOU HAD THE CONVERSATION? Many of us spend some time thinking about how we want to live our lives, but most of us avoid thinking about how we want the end of our lives to be. Avoiding the conversation about end of life has led to too many people dying in a way they wouldn’t choose, and to too many of their loved ones feeling bereaved, guilty, and uncertain. Havurah's Ma'avar Committee will facilitate two sets of workshops at Havurah to help community members think about what quality means at the end of life and how we can discuss it with our loved ones. One set of workshops will be on Sunday mornings and another on Thursday evenings. Our Sunday workshops are full, but we have several open spaces in our Thursday evening workshops: Thursdays, Feb. 16 & March 2, 7:00 - 8:30 pm. Working from The Conversation Project model, we will use this starter kit to support each other and explore this challenging topic. We will receive tools, guidance, and resources to help us begin talking with our loved ones about their wishes and preferences for their end of life, or with loved ones about our wishes and preferences for the end of our lives - before a medical crisis occurs.
Click on the above photo from ABC News to watch a feature on The Conversation Project about a family that had the conversation. Please RSVP here by Monday, Jan. 30, so you can receive reading material before the first workshop. The workshops are free for Havurah members, $40 for non-members. If you have any questions, please contact one of the Ma’avar Committee co-chairs, Keren McCord or Sidney Gold. NEXT WEEK Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation We gather on Tuesdays, from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm, to find some moments of quiet and shalom. Come when you can. Click here and scroll down to learn more, or contact Deborah for more information. Morning Minyan Join us for this weekly focused minyan for people who are saying Kaddish and/or want to incorporate a regular prayer practice in their lives. KABBALAT SHABBAT Friday, Feb. 10 - RSVP by Feb. 6 Our vegetarian Kabbalat Shabbat Dinner begins at 6:30 pm. We offer dairy-free, gluten-free, and nut-free choices. You’re invited to bring wine or juice to celebrate Shabbat. Please RSVP here by Feb. 6 to attend the dinner. Cost adjustments are available; call 503-248-4662 to learn more.
Whether or not you attend the dinner, we hope you'll join us for our spirited and joy-filled Kabbalat Shabbat Service, which starts at 7:30 pm. The service will be led by Rabbi Joey, with music by Havurah musicians Ilene Safyan, Scott Snyder, John Duke and Steven Sandberg-Lewis. Childcare available for kids ages 2 to 8.
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING Havurah Shalom
At our congregational meeting on Feb. 12, members will vote on the Steering Committee's recommendation regarding the candidate for our next rabbi. TIKKUN OLAM Solidarity March Photos Many clusters of Havurahniks marched in Portland's Solidarity March on Jan. 21. Sixty people also attended the community minyan before the march, where Emily Simon inspired us to resist early, as our people did in Egypt under a new, cruel Pharaoh. Click here to see photos of Havurahniks taken by Debbi Nadell and Heidi Grant Waxman.
Heidi Grant Waxman took the above photo at Portland's Solidarity March on Jan. 21. Oregon Sanctuary Initiative Meeting Seven Havurah members had the opportunity to attend the Oregon Sanctuary Assembly on Jan. 15, joining nearly 400 people from over 40 different faith communities to learn more about Sanctuary as part of the broader movement for immigrant justice. Click here to see photos of Havurah members that IMIrJ took at the assembly. We want to continue to show up and explore what Sanctuary means to us. Through IMIrJ (Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice) we have the opportunity to be part of the Sanctuary Cohort Initiative. For the next six months, IMIrJ will bring us and others from other communities together to explore "what it means to build, be and offer sanctuary and to support one another as we take the steps to make it happen."
We want to identify who from our community is interested in participating in this exploration. For more information see the attached flyer and let us know if you would be interested in being part of a Havurah Cohort. The first gathering will be Monday, Jan. 30, at St. Charles Church. Please RSVP here if you can come. Portland City Council Hearing At 2:00 pm on Thursday, Feb. 2, the Portland City Council will consider an extraordinary ordinance which requires landlords to pay moving costs of any tenant they evict for “no cause.” The draft emergency ordinance also requires landlords to pay moving costs if they raise the rent by 10% or more within a 12-month period and renters choose to move out. Landlords would have to pay renters between $2,900 and $4,500, depending on the number of bedrooms. Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good (MACG) has been working with Portland Tenants United to support this ordinance. Lack of affordable housing was the #1 issue that surfaced during MACG’s 2015 listening campaign. It continues to be a critical issue in Portland, impacting income and racial diversity in our city and contributing to huge rent increases for too many Portlanders. This ordinance is an important step to deal with this issue. Please join us for this hearing. It’s absolutely critical that the Council chambers be filled to overflowing. If you have questions, contact Steve Goldberg at stevengoldberg@comcast.net. Concerned About Israel in These Uncertain Times? Please join J Street and Havurah folks for an informative and thoughtful evening. Alan Elsner, J Street Special Advisor, will offer a program that will examine the American Jewish community’s response to the election of Donald Trump and how to respond to the new administration's appointments, especially his nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Israel. The discussion will focus on what a Trump presidency may mean for Israel, the region, and the two-state solution. Mr. Elsner will lead this informative program and subsequently open the session to discussion. For more information, contact Nancy Becker at 503-422-2482. Raising Diverse Voices of Faith to Strengthen Oregon Communities 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. The keynote speaker will be Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. You can read more here about the issues to be addressed, the schedule for the day, and event sponsors and endorsers.
Register and buy tickets-$20, at emoregon.org. Tikkun Olam will reimburse registration cost: please contact Chris Coughlin - chriscoughlin60@gmail.com to submit for reimbursement. For carpooling, and to RSVP for the event so we know who is coming from Havurah, and to get information on where the carpools will meet, the Havurah contact person is Marjorie Walters – marjoriewalters@gmail.com. Portland Homeless Family Solutions Goose Hollow Shelter Direct Service Project News CompassWorks presents "Displaced," An Innovative Documentary About Homelessness Eliza Jane Schneider, our Portland neighbor and Havurah friend, recently was on OPB's "State of Wonder." Listen to the replay here. Displaced is an innovative documentary theater experience that gives us a new and powerful way to connect with the phenomenon of homelessness. Through live-looped music (performed on a seven-string violin) and character impersonations, Eliza Jane undergoes astounding transformations as she shares the stories of the people she met in her travels around the world, from Liverpool to Seattle to Lagos to Hong Kong, about their lives in the streets. Next Goose Hollow Orientation: Tentative - Monday, Feb. 13, 5:00 - 6:00 pm at the shelter, 1838 SW Jefferson. More info: Havurah member Gloria Halper: losninos6@gmail.com Screening of "The Lost Boys of Portlandia" Join us for a screening of Outside the Frame's documentary "The Lost Boys of Portlandia" and a panel discussion with youth who have experienced homelessness. Homeless youth in Portland debate if and how to return to mainstream society while creating their own film version of the iconic story of Peter Pan.
“On its surface, it’s a film about the making of a film, but the backdrop is flooded with one of Portland’s most pressing social issues.” - KGW-TV The nonprofit Outside the Frame was founded and is directed by Havurah High teacher Nili Yossi. The evening is sponsored by the Tikkun Olam Committee of Havurah Shalom, Oregon Film, and KBOO Community Radio. Watch the trailer here. For more information visit Outside the Frame's website or the Facebook event page. PHOTOS OF RABBI JOEY AT YOUR CHILD'S B'NAI MITZVAH If you have photos of Rabbi Joey from your child’s b’nai mitzvah, please consider sending them, along with the date when they were taken, to Susan Lazareck. Thank you! CAMP HAVURAH Saturday, Feb. 18 Sport your summer camp T shirt and let’s see how many camps are represented. Have a rockin’ good time at "Camp Havurah," a musical, fun, upbeat Shabbat service great for all generations of Havuraniks. This service features sing-a-long style prayers in a mixture of Hebrew and English. Easy to follow, with lots of kavanot (intentional statements), you will enjoy lifting your voices, clapping hands and stomping your feet at this warm Shabbat morning service. It’s an ideal service for families, minyan “regulars," singles and empty nesters alike. We’ll cap the morning’s prayer with a shortened Torah service featuring fun group aliyot. The morning will be led by Havurah musicians and prayer leaders Susan Brenner, Jacob Mandelsberg, Tanja Lux and Sarah Shine along with other Havurah participants. A coordinated kiddush lunch will follow with the Spiritual Life Committee providing main dishes and cookies. Members, please bring sides and salads for lunch. Shabbat Shalom! HAVURAH HOLY PANDEMONIUM PURIM A Joyous, Capricious, Justice Celebration Join us for a Holy Pandemonium Purim Celebration on March 11, from 4:30 to 7:30 pm. We'll have Havdallah followed by a song or two, then a spiel filled with dancing, juggling, Hamantaschen prizes, a raffle for justice, and more. After, we'll eat cheese pizza (including gluten-free options) and potluck side salads. Please list the ingredients in your salads. We'll wrap up with games, such as Purim bean bag toss, for the kids and dancing for all, with Saul Korin as DJ. More details coming soon! RSVP here. IN THE COMMUNITY Calling Young Jewish Artists ORA Northwest Jewish Artists is proud to sponsor the first Young Artists Show, Sunday, Feb. 26 – Friday, March 3. The show will be held in the Mittleman Jewish Community Center’s lobby. It will be the first event to kick off the monthlong Jewish Arts Month which runs through the end of March and features art by ORA members. Children in grades 5-8 are invited to submit up to five pieces of art, of any medium, for jury review and consideration for the show. Prizes will be awarded in each grade level. Young artists must submit their artwork for jury consideration on Sunday, Feb. 12, between 10:30 am and 12:00 pm at Neveh Shalom, Room 105. Application and details can be found here. For more information, email youngartistsshow@gmail.com. Dare I Call You Cousin The “Dare I Call You Cousin” exhibition opening is 6:00 to 8:30 pm on Friday, Feb. 3, at West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 8470 SW Oleson Rd. At 7:30 pm, Havurah member Frances Payne Adler will give a brief poetry reading, followed by an artist talk. The exhibition includes poems, photographs and videos compassionate to the struggle of Israelis and Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line.
The exhibition can be viewed before and after services, from 9:30 to 10:30 am, and noon to 1:00 pm, on Sundays throughout February. "Dare I Call You Cousin" is a collaboration by three artists: Portland poet Frances Payne Adler, Jerusalem photographer Michal Fattal, and Tel Aviv videographer Yossi Yacov. RITES: A One Woman Show Havurah member Marjorie Rosenthal Hutsell’s sister, Rachel Rosenthal, will perform during Bad Reputation Production’s “Lone Wolves: A Night of Solo Sketch Comedy,” at The Siren Theater on Jan. 27 and 28. Visiting from NYC, Rachel is bringing her bat mitzvah-inspired solo comedy show, RITES: A One Woman Show, to Portland. Learn more about the show here or purchase tickets here. How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick Join Portland Hadassah for an evening with the author Letty Cottin Pogrebin. A founding editor and writer for Ms. Magazine, Ms. Pogrebin is also the author of eleven books, including How To Be A Friend to a Friends Who's Sick. Pogrebin's advice about friendship and illness - infused with sensitivity, warmth, and (believe it or not) humor - is interwoven with boldly candid stories from her own journey through the land of the sick and her sometimes imperfect interactions with friends who are sick or suffering. Register here. LGBTQ Birthright Israel Trip Shorashim is promoting a Birthright Israel LGBTQ Israeli Pride trip again this year - from June 4-14. Sign up for priority registration at israelwithisraelis.com/justgoLGBTQ before registration officially opens on Monday, Feb. 6. Through Pay it Forward, you can receive an entry to win a five-day getaway for three to Tel Aviv on Shorashim for each person you refer.
Reconstructionism Today Click here to read the current issue of Reconstructionism Today. Weekend In Quest The 11th annual Weekend in Quest, a Shabbaton (study weekend), will be held March 3-5 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. 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 Register online here for the Pacific NW Reconstructionist Shabbaton Weekend, May 5-7. Celebrate Shabbat at Camp Solomon Schechter with members of the five Pacific Northwest Reconstructionist congregations!
See the attached flier for more details. |
