Feb. 28 Email - Live the Chai Life! & New Passover Plans
HAVURAH HAPPENINGS (1) Live the Chai Life! (2) Bat Mitzvah of Yael Raider (3) Shloshim Gathering for Karen Labinger (4) Kabbalat Shabbat (5) Discovering Shabbat Morning (6) Mosaic Unveiling (7) How to Love with All Your Heart, Soul, and Might: Listening to the Shema (8) Tikkun Olam Listening Opportunity (9) "Living While Dying" - March Movie Night at Havurah (10) NEW PLANS FOR PASSOVER (11) Portland Homeless Family Solutions Volunteering (12) Havurah Shindig
ANNOUNCEMENTS (1) Purim Line Up at The Alberta Shul (2) "Desert Wounds" (3) Missing Tikkun (4) International Women's Day Event
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(1) Live the Chai Life! A Purim Celebration, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 6:00-8:30 pm - Come one, come all, for a night of joy, masquerade, and retelling the story of some courageous individuals from long ago whose valor saved the Jewish People. We will interweave some chanting of the Megillah with dramatic narration and off-the-wall spieling. Get ready to make some noise as we recount the fateful events that led to the spoiling of the wicked plot of you-know-who! Followed by dancing, revelry, pomp, circumstance and l'chaiims. Havurah will provide pizza, and people with last names starting with A-L are asked to bring a salad or side dish to share. People with last names starting with M-Z are asked to bring a dessert. All food should be on plates or in bowls ready to be served. All are encouraged to bring hamantaschen and adult beverages to share! RSVP here!
Tzedakah - Please consider making a cash donation for Portland Homeless Family Solutions to support family homeless shelters or bring a book for children ages 1-10 to read at a local community center. Spanish or bilingual English/Spanish books are preferred. These books do not have to be new; well-loved books will also be treasured.
(2) Bat Mitzvah of Yael Raider, Saturday, March 3, 10:00 am – This Saturday, Yael Raider, daughter of Shari and Daniel Raider, will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah. Please join us in celebration with Yael and her family and welcome Yael as a member of our community.
(3) Shloshim for Karen Labinger, Sunday, March 4, 4:00 pm, 2421 NW Pettigrove - This Sunday, we will gather to mark the end of shloshim (the first 30 days of mourning) for Karen Labinger, of blessed memory. We will have an opportunity to remember and honor Karen as we enter the next stage of mourning. The gathering will be at 4:00 pm, at the home of Abigail Webb and Marjorie Bennett, 2421 NW Pettigrove. Please email Abigail at abigail1234@yahoo.com if you are able to attend. Food will be provided, but you're invited to bring a dish to share if you wish.
(4) Kabbalat Shabbat, Friday, March 9, 7:30-8:30 pm - Join one of Portland’s most musical and spirited Shabbat gatherings, led by Rabbi Benjamin and our talented Havurah musicians. Childcare is available. The service is preceded by a catered dinner at 6:30 pm, which requires advance registration. Due to space limitations, we must limit seats for the dinner, so please sign up as soon as possible to be assured of a seat. Registration will close when seats are filled; however, RSVP no later than noon on Wednesday, March 7. If your RSVP is being mailed, please let the office know. RSVP for the dinner here. All are welcome to attend the service at 7:30 pm - no RSVP required. If you are unable to attend the dinner, we hope you will join us for services starting at 7:30 pm.
(5) Discovering Shabbat Morning, Saturday, March 10, 10:00-11:30 am - Join this upbeat workshop/minyan where we will walk through the Shabbat morning service, learn about the general structure of the service, the key themes and prayers, and some of the choreography. We will practice some prayers together and answer questions. This service is especially for families with youth in grades 5 and up who are in the B’nai Mitzvah process, all adults who are curious or perplexed, and anybody else. Deborah Eisenbach-Budner will be leading, along with other community members. Childcare is available every Saturday morning for children 0-9. Light lunch provided afterwards with your RSVP here, preferably by March 4. The above graphic of the Shabbat morning service was created by Deborah Eisenbach-Budner.
(6) Mosaic Unveiling, Saturday, March 10, 4:45 pm, Bet Knesset & Courtyard - Join with us in unveiling our community art project, the courtyard mosaics. Working with artist, Lynn Takata, many in the congregation community have helped to create this beautiful addition to our entrance courtyard. Be there on Saturday, March 10, after Shabbat School Havdalah, to sing and bless our artistic creation. Questions? Contact Joan Peck atjoan.peck@icloud.com.
(7) How to Love with All Your Heart, Soul, and Might: Listening to the Shema, Wednesdays, March 14 & 21; April 11, 18 & 25; May 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30, 7:00-8:30 pm - The words of the Shema, and the prayers surrounding it in every service, are about love—how to give love, how to receive love, how to live with love at the center of our personal and cosmic universes. There is no Hallmark fluff, here, though! These prayers are pragmatic and visionary, affirming and aggravating. Word-by-word, we will study these few prayers to understand their complex meanings as well as our own sensibilities. Participants need to be able to sound out Hebrew words. Taught by Deborah Eisenbach-Budner. Free for Havurah members, $100 for non-members. RSVP here.
(8) Tikkun Olam Listening Opportunity: Tell Us What Issues Are Important to You, Sunday, March 18, 10:30 am-12:30 pm - Events happening around us may cause you to wonder or be concerned about justice, fairness, or compassion. The Tikkun Olam Committee wants to hear from you. What do you feel strongly about? What is our community’s response? What would action look like for you and your family? You are invited to this Sunday morning gathering to share your perspectives through dialogue with other Havurah members. This is part of listening that all Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good (MACG) institutions are doing now as a way to identify what is important in our communities. Bagels and lox (and more) provided. RSVP to Michael Heumann at heumanncycle@gmail.com if you can come and let him know if you'll need childcare.
(9) “Living While Dying," March Movie Night, Sunday, March 18, 7:00-9:00 pm - Death is a big mystery, yet the outcome is 100 percent certain. How do you plan for the unknown? Filmmaker Cathy Zheutlin tells the stories of four friends with terminal illness who chose to live out their final days at home with creativity humor and courage. It is loving, hopeful and full of joy. "Living While Dying" transforms sorrow and fear into inspiration and beauty.
The film will be followed by a panel discussion with Rabbi Benjamin, Havurah member and OHSU oncologist Charles Blanke, Havurah member and palliative care physician Karen Erde, and Susan Hedlund, Manager of Patient and Family Support Services at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. The discussion will be moderated by Keren McCord, Havurah member and LCSW, Knight Cancer Institute. Learn more and RSVP here.
(10) New Passover Plans! - Our plans for Passover this year have changed. Instead of hosting a community seder on March 31, as originally planned, we will link Havurah members in search of a seder with Havurah members who can welcome additional guests at their seder. This is a great opportunity to get to know other Havurah members better and to make our community connections stronger! If possible, we will try to link people with seders in their neighborhoods. If you are hosting a seder in your home this year, and you have room for one or more guests, please complete the form below. Then if a Havurah member calls our office in the hope of attending a seder at another Havurah member's home, we can tell you so you can connect with them. Thank you for helping bring our Havurah family closer together!
(11) Portland Homeless Family Solutions – Lots of homeless folks out there, lots of Havurahniks wanting to help! If you are one of those Havurahniks who has not yet taken the one-hour orientation at any of PHFS's three shelters, here are some more opportunities: Goose Hollow, 1838 SW Jefferson (parking behind the church), Monday, March 12 at 5:00 pm, and Tuesday, March 20 at 4:00 pm; 13 Salmon shelter, Monday, March 5, 6:15-7:15 pm; Family Winter Shelter, Sunday, March 11, 2:00-3:00 pm, and Wednesday, March 21, 4:00-5:00 pm. RSVP is required for orientations: Bethany Rocci, bethany@pdxhfs.org.
(12) Havurah Shindig! Sunday, May 6, 4:00-8:00 pm - Come party with your fellow Havurahniks! Plans are well underway for our premiere party and fundraising event. We're organizing volunteers now! Please contact Nancy or Fran to find out how you can participate- many options available. Nancy Becker, nancyjbecker@gmail.com, Fran Berg bergfr@gmail.com.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
(1) Purim Line Up at the Alberta Shul, Thursday, March 1, 5:30-10:00 pm, 4050 NE 20th Ave, Portland – Join this wild and wacky Purim celebration. 5:30-7:00 pm, smooze, check out the shul, hamantaschen potluck, costume prep, make up and face painting; 7:00-7:45 pm, Purim Parade, with members of the UnPresidented Brass Band (formed by Havurah members). Wear costumes of all kinds if you please, and feel free to bring light-up glowy things as it will be dark. EXTREMELY kid friendly! We’ll have kazoos for the KAZOO-ALONG of classic Jewish songs. 7:45-10:00 pm, smooze, telling of the Megillah.
(2) “Desert Wounds,” Sunday, March 11, 2:00 pm, Oregon Jewish Museum & Center for Holocaust Education, 724 NW Davis Street - West Coast premiere of Nili Dotan's film "Desert Wounds." With an international refugee crisis afflicting the entire globe, “Desert Wounds” follows the specific journeys of two women from Sudan and Eritrea, who are fleeing war, dictatorship, and religious persecution in their countries. Over a five-year period, they seek asylum in Israel, later in Uganda, attempting to build new lives while still remaining under the constant threat of deportation. A Q&A will follow the film. Tickets: $5 OJMCHE Members, $8 General Public, Free for Students with valid ID. Tickets and more information: www.neveragaincoalition.org/events
(3) Missing Tikkun - The Havurah library reference copy of the Tikkun is missing. If you have the Tikkun, please return it as soon as possible. Thank you!
(4) International Women's Day Event, Thursday, March 8, 4:00-8:00 pm - Come add Jewish Women Artists to Wikipedia in honor of International Women’s Day. No prior experience or special knowledge is required, and participants will not only help to help fill out the canon of Jewish Women Artist on Wikipedia, but they will also learn how to be a Wikipedia editor. Please register and choose your artist from this web page.
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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.
(HYB) Solidarity Shabbat Friday, Jun 27th 5:45p to 8:30p Join Havurah members and friends for a Solidarity Shabbat service and potluck nosh. This is a spiritual space for community members working in solidarity with Palestinians - and for the liberation of all peoples - to come together to pray, build connections, and renew ourselves on Shabbat to continue our justice work. Please review Havurah's Brit Kavod for our community guidelines. Masks strongly encouraged and provided.
(HYB) Climate Change Shabbat Morning Shabbat, Jun 28th 10:00a to 12:00p Led by community members and Rabbi Benjamin (who is on sabbatical until July 1, 2025), this service includes davening, Torah reading, and discussion. Join us afterward for a light community brunch provided by the Lunches and Noshes Committee! Free childcare is provided. For Zoom information, please email info@havurhshalom.org.
(HYB) Rosh Ḥodesh Tov! Gender-Inclusive New Moon Ritual Sunday, Jun 29th 7:00p to 8:15p A gender-inclusive New Moon group, learning and celebrating each Rosh Ḥodesh with ancient and contemporary ritual. Open to any and all genders, inviting each to connect with our closest heavenly body, the Moon. An introductory meeting will happen on the full moon of Elul on Wednesday, Aug. 30 outdoors—weather permitting—in North Portland. Subsequent meetings will be on or near the new moon of each month either in person in North Portland or on Zoom, depending on seasonal shifts in the weather. Attend any or all sessions. RSVP to be updated on location and other details throughout the year.
(ZM) Palestinian Justice Letter Writing Group Monday, Jun 30th 6:00p to 7:30p We hold monthly letter writing group Zoom gatherings to write letters to our lawmakers for Israel/Palestine justice. Questions? Email Dale Oller (member log-in required to access directory). Feel free to drop in any time! There’s no need to RSVP, but please do RSVP if you need the Zoom login. Non-Havurah-members very welcome as well.
(IP) Pride Kabbalat Shabbat in the Park Friday, Jul 11th 6:30p to 8:30p Celebrate queer and Jewish joy with a special Kabbalat Shabbat service at Columbia Park! We’ll enjoy a potluck dinner together afterward. Beverages will be provided. BYOB. All are welcome.
(HYB) Shabbat Morning Shabbat, Jul 12th 10:00a to 12:00p Led by community members and Rabbi Benjamin (who is on sabbatical until July 1, 2025), this service includes davening, Torah reading, and discussion. Join us afterward for a light community brunch provided by the Lunches and Noshes Committee! Free childcare is provided. For Zoom information, please email info@havurahshalom.org.
