FROM OUR CALENDAR 1 Text Torah This Saturday 2 Office Closure Next Tuesday 3 Tuesday Meditation Group Update 4 Wednesday Morning Minyan 5 Dorot in the Park on July 14 6 RSVP for Scholar In Residence Day with Israeli Scholar Emanuel Ben-
Weekly Community Email, June 28
FROM OUR CALENDAR (1) Text & Torah This Saturday (2) Office Closure Next Tuesday (3) Tuesday Meditation Group Update (4) Wednesday Morning Minyan (5) Dorot in the Park on July 14 (6) RSVP for Scholar In Residence Day with Israeli Scholar Emanuel Ben-David (7) Call It Sleep is July Book Discussion Selection (8) Save the Date! - Aug. 19 - for Havdalah & Potluck Picnic to Welcome Rabbi Benjamin & His Family
ANNOUNCEMENTS (1) Vote for Portland Homeless Family Solutions (2) Havurah Representative on New Mikvah Advisory Board (3) Is Your Directory Photo the One You Want? (4) Security (5) Opportunity in Israel for People Ages 21-30
Wikimedia photo above is by Helen Cook.
1) Text & Torah with Bagel Nosh, Saturday, July 1, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon Diane Chaplin will lead a discussion titled "What is a Mitzvah." Bagels, juice and coffee will be provided. Please arrive early so you can have a bite to eat before we begin. The discussion will be followed by a short service.
2) Office Closure on Tuesday, July 4, for Independence Day Havurah's office will be closed on July 4 in honor of the Independence Day holiday.
3) Tuesday Meditation During Summer Months Except for Tuesday, July 4, when Havurah is closed for the holiday, the Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation group will continue to meet at noon on Tuesdays during the summer. The group will meet as long as two people plan to come, and Deborah will be at Havurah most Tuesdays this summer. To be sure at least two people will attend, please add your name to this doodle poll to indicate when you plan to come.
4) Wednesday Morning Minyan at 8:30 am Join us on Wednesday mornings for a short service for those who want to make daily practice a part of their lives and those who want to say Kaddish.
5) Dorot Kabbalat Shabbat & Potluck Picnic In the Park, Friday, July 14, 5:30 - 8:30 pm (Service begins at 6:00 pm), Laurelhurst Park Picnic Area "D" (near intersection of Ankeny & Cesar Chavez)
Please join our Dorot musicians, Tanja Lux, Sarah Shine, Gabe Adoff and Jacob Mandelsberg as we bring our family-friendly, musical Dorot service from the sanctuary to the beautiful grounds of Laurelhurst Park. Bring a veggie dish to share and blankets to spread as we welcome Shabbat in true summer-style. Who knows ... we just may break into a camp-style song session while we're at it. Kiddos and parents are welcome to bring a music-making instrument and/or spirit!! We have Picnic Area "D" reserved from 4:00 pm until closing, and the site contains five picnic benches. For questions, contact jmandelsberg@gmail.com or sarah.shine@gmail.com. RSVP here!
6) Scholar In Residence Day with Emanuel Ben-David on July 15 - Community Minyan at 10:00 am, Potluck Lunch & Afternoon Presentations on Israel
Havurah is honored to welcome Emily Simon's good friend from Ashland and Israel, Emanuel Ben-David, as our Scholar In Residence on Saturday, July 15. Emanuel and Emily will lead morning services at 10:00 am, which will be followed by a potluck vegetarian lunch and two afternoon presentations on Israel. Emanuel is studying for the rabbinate, and he and Emily have led services together in Ashland, where he and his wife Connie (pictured above) live now.
Being a native Israeli, Emanuel notices nuances in Hebrew, and as a result his teachings have great depth. His "day job" in Israel involved the technical side of Israeli military defense, and Emily notes that his knowledge on that topic is terrific to hear. The 1:30 pm presentation will be a humorous perspective on the "Ten Commandments" of being an Israeli, and the 3:00 pm presentation will focus on Israeli defense technologies and their applications in the medical field. You are invited to the morning service and potluck lunch, or the afternoon presentations, or both. Learn more and RSVP here. Childcare will be available for all of the events. Please arrive on time!
7) Havurah Book Discussion, Tuesday, July 25, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Join us as Barry Kast leads a discussion of Call it Sleep. Written by Henry Roth in 1934, the novel tells the story of an eight-year-old boy growing up in the East Side of Manhattan as an immigrant from Eastern Europe. As a sensitive and imaginative child, he had experienced the security of his mother’s coddling, but now he is terrified by the world that lies beyond sight and sound of her. The pageantry of the East Side is displayed in all "its polyglot, polychrome crowds" (NY Times, 1935). The book is now regarded as a classic of Jewish literature. Learn more and RSVP here.
8) Havdalah Picnic to Welcome Rabbi Benjamin & His Family
We are holding a picnic and Havdalah celebration to welcome Rabbi Benjamin and his family on Saturday, Aug. 19. We will have games for children, potluck dinner, music and Havdalah. Come at 5:30 pm to start the games, and dinner will begin around 6'ish. Please RSVP here if you can come!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Above are Havurahniks at a Planned Parenthood rally last week.
1) Portland Homeless Family Solutions (PHFS), Goose Hollow Shelter Volunteer Project News - PHFS is a semi-finalist to receive an Advantis Credit Union GROW Community Fund Grant to expand the Goose Hollow shelter, where Havurah Shalom has been volunteering once a month since July 2015. You can vote here once a day until 5:00 pm on July 7. Please also share this Facebook eventwith your friends. Thank you so much!
2) Want to be Havurah's Representative on the new Mikvah Advisory Board? - Would you like to be Havurah's representative on the advisory board for the new Portland mikvah, Rachel's Well? If so, please contact Havurah's office. The inaugural Mikvah Advisory Board meeting is scheduled for 9:00 am on Friday, Aug. 11, at the MJCC. Everyone who attends will receive an update on the Mikvah, which may even be available for viewing, along with a review of the responsibilities and opportunities available for Advisory Board members. Naomi Malka, the director of the Adas Israel community Mikvah in Washington, DC, will join the inaugural meeting and also lead a Mikvah guide training on Sunday Aug. 13. The Mikvah Advisory Board is still accepting applications for its first guide cohort. You can access the application here.
Above photo is of Havurah Sanctuary Team members Gloria Halper, Deb Kallen, Robbin Isaacson Deweese, Fran Berg, Kathy Gordon, and Marjorie Walters at the new affordable housing in the Cully neighborhood.
3) Is Your Photo in Our Directory the One You Want? - Thank you to the more than 25 people who have uploaded photos of yourself and/or of you and your family to our online directory! This will help Rabbi Benjamin get to know us by name and face. Teri Ruch also located photos of 100 other members in our website/Facebook photo collections and uploaded them to the directory. See if the photo of you is the one you want in the directory, delete it if it isn't, and upload the photo you want - and please accept Teri's sincere apologies!
To upload or delete a photo in the directory, log into your account, click on "Setup Your Directory Listing" in the "Manage People" section, then click on the bright red button to upload your photo. If you haven't logged into your membership account yet, you can go to our website, click on "login" in the upper right corner, enter your email address as your ID, and create a password - any password you wish! If you logged in long ago and forgot your password, just create a new one. After you receive an email confirming that Havurah has received your password, you can log in any time. Thank you for helping Rabbi Benjamin get to know all of us!
4) Security - Havurah encourages all members to use the door code to enter the building when attending Wednesday and Saturday services. This will allow more Havurah members to participate in services rather than leave to open the door when people arrive after services begin. If you don’t know the door code, please call or stop by Havurah's office. Also, we'd love to have more volunteers who are willing to take a shift sitting in back to watch the door during services. Many thanks to all who have already stepped up to help!
5) Opportunity in Israel for Adults Ages 21-30 - BINA ("understanding” in Hebrew)designs and implements programming integrating cultural, social and educational elements of Judaism, while promoting religious pluralism, honoring secular Israeli identity, and focusing on social justice work across all kinds of lines and sectors in Israeli society. One of BINA's programs is available to young North American adults ages 21–30. It’s a 10-month-long fellowship, in which young adults teach in Israel and receive a small monthly stipend. Participants pay $1000 and in return receive free airfare, housing, Ulpan (Hebrew language immersion classes), and amenities. While they’re in Israel in this program, they receive a stipend, which is about $650/month for participants who serve as teaching assistants, and about $1,430/month for participants who are certified teachers and are assigned a full teaching role. Learn more at www.bina.org.il/itf or contact Elliot Glassenberg at elliot@bina.org.il if you have questions.
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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.
(IP) Shabbat School Summit Shabbat, May 17th 3:00p to 5:15p Summit for all Shabbat School Families. At least one parent/adult from each familiy needs to attend. If you have two adults and children in more than one grade, it is best to have one adult attend per grade.
(IP) New(ish) Member Brunch Sunday, May 18th 10:00a to 12:00p A schmear & schmooze brunch at Havurah Shalom from the Havurah Welcoming Committee for new members, newish members, and any Havurahniks who would appreciate being welcomed in again and learning about new ways to become more connected within the community. Questions? Email Wendy Castineira. Please RSVP!
You can also reach out to Tara Anderson, Havurah's Participation and Publications Coordinator (phone: 503-248-4662, ext. 4; email: tara@havurahshalom.org).
When you register, please let us know in the Notes section about any relevant dietary needs (vegan, gluten-free, etc.)
(IP) Jewish Ethical Responses to the Problem of Racism Monday, May 19th 6:30p to 7:45p We will address topics such as countering white nationalism and antisemitism, Jewish perspectives on reparations, repairing Jewish pioneer memory, and responding to racial microaggressions. Facilitated by Karen Sherman and Adela Basayne.
(IP) Last Music Jam of the Season! Monday, May 19th 7:00p to 8:30p Join your fellow Havurah musicians for our last jam of the season. We'll play and sing Jewish and secular songs, just for the joy of it! Everyone has the opportunity to choose and lead songs from a wide range of artists and eras. Hope to see you there! Please RSVP.
(IP) Hebrew as a Tool: Prayer and Torah (registration closed) Wednesday, May 21st 7:00p to 8:15p (This class will now be starting on January 8.) Using an in-depth, word-by-word approach, we discover literal meaning(s), ancient layers of understanding, and our own personal interpretations that stem from the nuances of the Hebrew text. Basic Hebrew decoding skills necessary.
