March 22 Community Email
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Charles McGee, Choices Lasting Decades, Torah Treasures, In Our Hands
UPCOMING SHABBAT Rabbi Joey & Black Parent Initiative Founder Charles McGee On Friday, March 24, Havurah will host a short Shabbat service followed by a conversation between Rabbi Joey and Charles McGee, co-founder and president of the Black Parent Initiative. This is the first of several events honoring Rabbi Joey as he leaves his decades-long role as Havurah Shalom's rabbi.
Above photo is of Charles McGee. The conversation between Charles McGee and Rabbi Joey will be facilitated by Steve Goldberg, with Michael Eric Dyson's book Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America as a launching point. The conversation will explore the history that Jews and African Americans have in common and the possibilities of supporting each other. You can learn more about Charles McGee here in Street Roots. Please RSVP here if you can come! You can also use the link to RSVP for other events planned for April 20-22 in honor of Rabbi Joey. Childcare will be available. Bat Mitzvah of Audrey Landau This Saturday Audrey Landau, daughter of Elona and Stephen Landau, will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah. Please join us in celebrating with Audrey and her family, and welcome Audrey as a member of our community. Mazel tov! TORAH TREASURES AND CURIOUS TRASH Screening of the Film "Torah Treasures and Curious Trash"
Join Jerusalem-based filmmaker and documentarian Paula Weiman-Kelman in the screening of her film, Torah Treasures and Curious Trash, a film about 87 year old outsider artist Jo Milgrom, who lives in Jerusalem. The filmmaker will lead a discussion following the screening, which is being shown as part of the celebration honoring Rabbi Joey Wolf who is retiring from Havurah Shalom after 30 years. The evening is co-sponsored by OJMCHE and Havurah Shalom. Register here through the OJMCHE website. L'HITRAOT JOEY March 24 - April 22
To help with planning, greeting, baking or lunch, contact Debbi at debbinadell@gmail.com. LAST CHANCE TO SEND YOUR B'NAI MITZVAH PHOTOS OF JOEY This is the very last chance to send b'nai mitzvah photos of Rabbi Joey and your children for the display in our foyer. Email your photos to Susan Lazareck, who will print and mount them. Thanks! SHEMA HAVURAH! Shema Havurah! Answer the call! A phone-a-thon for our Give Back to the Future! endowment campaign will take place Thursday evening, March 23. Fellow Havurahniks will be calling all members yet to donate, explaining the campaign and asking for your participation, at whatever level fits your family. Read this letter, visit the Give Back to the Future! web pages for details, and look for our letter with a pledge card in your snail mail. Please—hear and answer the call! HAVURAH BOOK DISCUSSION OF THE FAMILY Thursday, March 23 The next book group will meet at Havurah to discuss The Family by David Laskin. This is the story about the author’s own genealogy, which details three different paths that his family members took across the span of 150 years. One branch emigrated to America and founded the Maidenform Bra Company; one branch went to Palestine as pioneers and participated in the birth of the State of Israel; and the third branch remained in Europe and endured the Holocaust. Published in 2013, the book has been very well received, with good reviews. Please come and share you your thoughts and reactions about the book in the company of fellow Havurahniks. Bring a small snack if you like. Please RSVP here if you plan to attend. PGE POWER GENERATION: CHOICES THAT LAST DECADES Sierra Club Presentation on Closing PGE Coal-Fired Power Plant
The Havurah Climate Action Team will host a presentation by Gregory Monahan, Ph.D., from the Sierra Club. Dr. Monahan will discuss the implications of Portland General Electric’s proposal to replace the Carty-Boardman coal-fired power plant with two gas-fired power plants. This decision would lock Oregon into decades more of climate-disrupting fossil fuel energy just when clean and renewable energy sources like wind and solar are more affordable than ever. Find out more about this important issue and learn about options for action we can take to urge PGE to choose renewable energy for Portland. Please plan to join us for this informative presentation. For more information, contact Michael Heumann (503-880-2226, heumanncycle@gmail.com). Please RSVP here if you can come. HOW DOES HAVURAH REALIZE OUR SANCTUARY COMMITMENT? Community Meeting on Sanctuary Did you know that in 2016, Havurah Shalom signed the Sanctuary Pledge to be a Sanctuary Congregation? (See the pledge here.) We joined dozens of Portland Faith Communities, supported by Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice, pledged to stand in solidarity and support with immigrant and refugee communities who are facing extreme pressures to their everyday existence. By signing this pledge, we are dedicated to educating ourselves, speaking out and taking action.
But what does being a Sanctuary Congregation mean to Havurah? It is important and timely for the larger Havurah community to become involved in establishing what we can and are willing to provide toward this effort. Questions? Contact Kathy at farvergordon@gmail.com, or Shari at shari.raider@gmail.com, or Bob at rebrown47@gmail.com. Please join us for an important community meeting to explore our next steps. IT'S IN OUR HANDS: INTERGENERATIONAL ACTIVISM FAIR FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE Wednesday, April 5
Purchase beautiful hand-made items to benefit Planned Parenthood (providing reproductive healthcare), Momentum Alliance (inspiring youth), and Western States Center (building diverse reproductive justice leadership). Delight in the creativity of your community. Bring your checkbook, cash, and/or open heart! If you would like to donate your art, craft, baked goods … please contact Stefanie Hausman, as soon as possible. HAVURAH COMMUNITY SEDER Tuesday, April 11
Back by popular demand, Havurah's Beth Hamon and Adela Basayne will lead our community seder on Tuesday, April 11, at 6:00 pm. Adults and children of all ages are welcome! The dinner will be vegetarian, with gluten-free, nut-free, and dairy-free options. Reserve your place by April 5! Cost adjustments are available by contacting Havurah's office at rachelp@havurahshalom.org or 503-248-4662 ext 2. TROPE FOR NEW & REFRESHING SKILLS Wednesdays, April 19 & 26, May 3 & 10 This class is for Havurah members who want to read Torah or refresh their trope skills. Basic Hebrew reading skills are required. The goal is for each student to learn how to chant a short aliyah from the Torah. Taught by Ken Lerner. Limited to eight participants. Register here by April 5. DISCOVERING SHABBAT MORNING, A LEARNERS' MINYAN FOR B'NAI MITZVAH FAMILIES 5TH GRADE & UP Saturday, April 8 Have you ever felt mystified by the Shabbat morning service, wondering just what it all means? This learners’ minyan/workshop may answer some of your questions. We will walk, talk and sing our way through the b'nai mitzvah service, highlighting the prayers, rituals and components of the morning and Torah services. We will provide a colorful guide to the service along with a service outline suitable for any b’nai mitzvah at Havurah. Students will also have a chance to lead some prayers and blessings. The morning will be led by Susan Brenner, Diane Chaplin and Rabbi Joey. While this service is designed especially for families 5th grade and up, we welcome all Havurahniks to attend and participate as a community. Mourners Kaddish will be recited. Shabbat Shalom! Please RSVP here if you plan to come. PORTLAND HOMELESS FAMILY SOLUTIONS GOOSE HOLLOW SHELTER UPDATE What does one experience as a volunteer with Portland Homeless Family Solutions at their Goose Hollow evening shelter? The good feeling of knowing you are helping families in need; direct service volunteering locally; joining with other Havurah volunteers on a monthly basis; stretching past your comfort zone. Curious about Goose Hollow? Have you been thinking about this project for awhile? Start with an orientation – it's just one hour at the shelter: 1838 SW Jefferson, April 11, 4:00 pm. For more information about this Tikkun Olam sponsored project please contact Gloria Halper: losninos6@gmail.com. NEW EMAIL LIST FOR RALLIES
Havurahniks, there's nothing like a Trump presidency to inspire action! So, are you interested in attending rallies, protesting, calling senators, writing postcards, etc. with other Havurah folks? If so, the Tikkun Olam email list (separate from the committee list) is being repurposed, and instead Rebecca Darling-Budner is now facilitating an email list that will be solely used for organizing ourselves to take action together. To join the list, just shoot her an email requesting to be a member, rbudner@yahoo.com. NEW ADULT B'NAI/B'NOT MITZVAH GROUP FORMING Are you interested in … Deepening your knowledge and commitment to Torah, Tefillah (Prayer) and Kehillah (Community)? Expanding your Jewish literacy skills, confidence, and sense of connection with Judaism? Going through this process in community and celebrating your Jewish learning in Havurah? Then … consider joining the new ADULT B'NAI / B'NOT MITZVAH GROUP. This group will study together from May 2017 – December 2019, with Deborah Eisenbach-Budner and other teachers. This Adult Bnai / Bnot Mitzvah study process is for: Those who never became Bar or Bat Mitzvah AND those who had a Bar or Bat Mitzvah – in form but not in substance. There are some things that you can go back and do again – but better this time!!! Contact Deborah Eisenbach-Budner as soon as possible. COOKING DEMONSTRATION OF FAVORITE JEWISH & MIDDLE EASTERN FOODS Sunday April 30 Ellen Regal and the Tikkun Olam Committee invite members of Havurah Shalom and Muslim Educational Trust to come together for lunch and a cooking demonstration of favorite Jewish and Middle Eastern foods. More details to follow. CEMETERY MITZVAH Here’s a chance to do a mitzvah. For over 20 years I have been selling grave sites at our beautiful cemetery. Most of the time it is a leisurely stroll with a family, finding the right spot for themselves or their loved ones. On rare occasion, there is an unexpected death and an emergency burial needs to be dealt with. Since I now do a lot of traveling, we need one or two people willing to fill in when I’m gone. All that is necessary is knowing the layout of the cemetery, being knowledgeable about the map, and knowing our price structure. The funeral home and Metro do the hard work. It’s very easy and it is a wonderful mitzvah to be able to help families when they need it most. If you’re interested or feel you need more information, please call me at (503) 293-6806, or email at dave3082@aol.com. Thanks, IN THE COMMUNITY Ritual Unmoored Opening, March 22, 5:00-7:00 pm, PSU Broadway Gallery Good Deeds Day, April 2 Volunteer with family and friends, putting into practice the simple idea that every single person can do something good. Projects are available all day, including Passover food boxes, blanket-making for vulnerable children, food preparation for the hungry, card-crafting to cheer seniors and more. Family-friendly options are available. All projects will be held at the Schnitzer Family Campus (MJCC/PJA). Calling all 6-12th graders to join us for J-Serve and The Butterfly Project as part of Good Deeds Day Community service hours available! The Butterfly Project uses the lessons of the Holocaust to educate teens about the dangers of hate and bigotry through the painting of ceramic butterflies memorializing each of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. 6th-12th graders are invited to create a Portland installation of butterflies and learn the importance of #NeverAgain. Spiritrials Havurah member Ruth Wikler-Luker curates and produces a nonprofit theatre/performing arts presenting organization called Boom Arts (www.boomarts.org), which focuses on social justice issues. Spiritrials combines Hip Hop and theatre, two amazing ways to tell stories. What happens when you put them together? In Spiritrials, Def Poetry Jam alum Dahlak Brathwaite does just that, touching on issues like racial profiling, religion and faith, addiction and drug policy, criminal justice, and human imperfection through his own personal story. Reading at Annie Bloom's Books, April 20 Havurah members Ruth Feldman and Amber Keyser will read from their new novels, "Seven Stitches" and "Pointe, Claw," at Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, on Thursday, April 20, at 7:00 pm.
M’Yad L’Yad: From Hand to Hand — The Chain of Our Tradition How does Judaism get passed on within communities, from person to person and from one generation to the next?
As we celebrate Shabbat in a beautiful PNW setting, we will look at the challenges we face now, with a focus on inclusivity and hopes for the future, informed by traditional wisdom and a Reconstructionist lens. Download the event program here. Rising Up for Human Dignity - 2017 Film Festival
Havurah Shalom is a vibrant, egalitarian, and diverse Jewish Reconstructionist community. Steeped in Jewish values, Havurah promotes spirituality, learning, and acts of social responsibility. Find our calendar and learn more at www.havurahshalom.org. 825 NW 18th Ave, Portland, OR 97209 503-248-4662 |
