March 20 - Chag Sameach! Purim Celebration Tonight
HAVURAH HAPPENINGS: (1) Upcoming Shabbat (2) Live the Chai Life! Purim Celebration (3) Havurah Sanctuary Committee Meeting (4) Tikkun Olam Global Meeting(5) Gardening Party (6) Book Discussion of Quiet Americans (7) Drawdown Book Discussion (8) Havurah Evening at PHFS Family Winter Shelter (9) IMIrJ Advocacy Day (10) Kabbalat Shabbat on April 12 (11) New Connections Tables at Kabbalat Shabbat Dinners (12) Have a Question About Havurah? (13) Looking for B'nai Mitzvah Photos for Michele Goldschmidt's Celebration (14) Shabbat School Enrollment (15) ASL and High Holidays (16) Indecent Shabbaton (17) Lost & Found Will be Emptied Soon
COMMUNITY EVENTS: (1) Portland to Israel Centennial Trip (2) Stand with Immigrants & Refugees (3) Exiled to Nowhere: A Symposium on the Rohingya Crisis (4) Little Shtetl on the Prairie
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(1) UPCOMING SHABBAT AT HAVURAH
Tivnu & Havurah Teens Kabbalat Shabbat Dinner & Service, Friday, March 22, 6:00-7:00 pm Service, 7:00-8:30 pm Dinner– Parents will have their own table(s) for dinner. $15.00/person. For more information about activities and dinner, be in touch with davidfeder@sbcglobal.net. All Havurahniks grades 8-12 are invited to meet and hang out with a group of teens from New York and New Jersey Reconstructionist synagogues, who will be in Portland on a Tivnu Building Justice program March 22-23. You'll have a chance to see construction of tiny homes for and with formerly houseless people, hike on Shabbat, and show the visitors the best ice cream in town. (Above photo of tiny houses was taken by Beth Nakamura.)
Bar Mitzvah of Isaac Benjamin Cissna, Saturday, March 23, 10:00 am – This Saturday Isaac Benjamin Cissna, son of Jill Ory and Joe Cissna, will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah. Come celebrate with Isaac and his family and welcome Isaac as a member of our community!
(2) Live the Chai Life! Purim Celebration, Wednesday, March 20, 6:00-8:30 pm – Come one, come all, for a night of joy, masquerade, and retelling the story of the courageous individuals from long ago whose valor saved the Jewish People. We will have pizza and vegetarian potluck, Megillah chanting, spieling, a costume parade, Hamantaschen contest, and dancing.
6:15 pm - Pizza will be provided by Havurah. Please bring a salad or vegetarian side dish if your last name begins with A-L. Bring a dessert if your last name begins with M-Z.
(3) Havurah Sanctuary Committee Meeting, Thursday, March 21, 7:00-9:00 pm –Come learn with us as we prepare for the IMIrJ Advocacy Day in Salem. We will discuss the different House bills for which we will be advocating, Bob Brown will lead a workshop on the history and importance of Drivers Licenses for All, and Hank Kaplan will share with us tools on how to effectively lobby in Salem. In case you are wondering, it IS legal for faith communities to do lobbying. Participation in civic and public life is an integral part of many faith traditions. Advocating for legislative changes that align with our values is an important and legal part of that. Questions? Contact Bob Brown at rebrown47@gmail.com.
(4) Tikkun Olam Global Meeting, Sunday, March 24, 10:00 am – The Tikkun Olam Global Meeting date and time has changed from the date posted in Hakol. It will be on Sunday, March 24, at 10:00 am. Tikkun Olam Global is a new Havurah work group focused on international social justice and issues related to global poverty and inequality. We take a holistic view of world as we endeavor to do our part to make it a better place for all. The planet is a village and everybody in it is our neighbor. Please join us as we discuss which international service project to focus on for the coming year. There are several exciting proposals under consideration. We need your ideas, enthusiasm, and skills.
(5) Havurah Gardening Party, Sunday, March 24, 10:00 am–2:00 pm – Like digging in the dirt? Join a group of like-minded outdoors people for a tune-up of our lovely grounds. Contact Barbara Gundle at bgundle@gmail.com for more information.
(6) Book Group Discussion of Quiet Americans by Erica Dreyfus, Tuesday, March 26, 7:00 pm – Dreyfus’s short stories tell of lives enmeshed in the Holocaust, scenarios that highlight the existential anxieties of Jewish Americans in the age of Hitler and afterwards. The characters include: a high-ranking Nazi wife and a Jewish doctor in prewar Berlin; a Jewish immigrant soldier and the German POW he is assigned to supervise; a refugee returning to Europe for the first time only to encounter the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics; a son of survivors who discovers long-held family secrets. These Americans are “quiet”—most don't talk about what they've been through, and some continue to be afraid. Deceptively simple, Dreyfus's tales reframe familiar questions about what is right and wrong, remembered and repressed, resolved and unending. Discussion will be led by Stacey Hankin.
(7) Drawdown Book Discussion, March 28, April 25, May 23, 7:30-9:00 pm – There is way out of the climate change disaster. And there are many things we can do to have an impact. These solutions are addressed in depth in the New York Times best seller, Drawdown. We will meet to discuss the solutions and actions in Drawdown that can reverse climate change. Each meeting will have a reading assignment from the book. Please check the online event calendar for more information. Questions? Email Andy Beers at andy@andybeers.com.
(8) Havurah's Evening at the Family Winter Shelter, Sunday, March 31, Cooking at 4:15 pm, Havurah Kitchen; Kid Host or Helping Hand at 6:30 pm, Family Winter Shelter for Portland Homeless Family Solutions – We have now had two successful collaborative cooking sessions using the Havurah kitchen preparing dinner for the families in the Family Winter Shelter. Some of us bring the meal over to serve. Others join as "kid hosts" playing with the kids in the shelter, and others work as "helping hands," helping out with whatever needs to be done. The next date Havurah has signed up for is March 31. If you want to be part of this event, please sign up at this link or contact Deborah Mandell at deborah.mandell@gmail.com.
(9) IMIrJ (Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice) Advocacy Day, Monday April 8, 8:00 am-4:00 pm, Salem – Join Rabbi Benjamin and members of the Sanctuary Committee as we participate in the IMIrJ Advocacy Day in Salem. We will come together with people of faith and conscience from across the state to meet and build relationships with our Oregon state senators and representatives to amplify the demands and priorities of Oregon’s immigrant and refugee communities. A key issue we will highlight is the Equal Access to Roads Act, which would ensure standard licenses are available to all qualified drivers regardless of their ability to prove their status. Register to attend here. Carpooling is available. Questions? Contact Kathy Gordon (farvergordon@gmail.com) or Shari Raider (shari.raider@gmail.com).
(10) Kabbalat Shabbat, Friday, April 12, 6:30 pm Dinner, 7:30 pm Service – Join us for a catered vegetarian dinner at 6:30 pm, followed by a short, musical service at 7:30 pm. RSVP here for the dinner by Sunday, April 7. For cost adjustments, call 503-248-4662 ext. 2. No RSVP is required for the service. Just join us as we welcome Shabbat! Childcare is provided.
(11) Make New Connections at Kabbalat Shabbat Dinners – For the next three months, Kabbalat Shabbat dinners will be offering an opportunity for members to meet “new faces” and make new connections within our community. This is entirely optional, we know that these dinners provide a welcome opportunity for many to catch up with old friends. For members who choose to participate, we will offer reserved seating at “New Connections” tables, where you will have an opportunity to talk to someone you do not know, or do not know well. The new Kabbalat dinner form will have a place for you to indicate if you wish to be seated at a New Connections table. For further information contact Susan Lazareck, susanlazareck@gmail.com, or Judy Steinberger, jlasteinberger@gmail.com.
(12) Have a Question About Havurah? – The Transparency/Inclusivity Committee welcomes your questions! We will find the answer and publish the question (but not the questioner) and answer in an upcoming Hakol. It is our intention at Havurah that what you know and understand about our congregation should not be a function of who you know. So if you find yourself wondering about something related to Havurah, or if someone shares their question with you, we hope you will send your question to transparency@havurahshalom.org.
(13) Looking for B'nai Mitzvah photos for Michele Goldschmidt's Celebration – Did your child have the pleasure of having Michele Goldschmidt be their b'nai mitzvah tutor? We are collecting photos for her celebration on April 6. No commitment is required beyond emailing a few pictures from your child's bar/bat mitzvah to racheli.karlinskyross@gmail.com in the next couple of weeks. Thank you in advance!
(14) Enrollment in Havurah's Shabbat School for 2019-20 – We are currently planning for next year’s Shabbat School, our cooperative Jewish education program for children and families. If you have a child who is entering grades K-6 in the autumn of 2019-20 and are considering having them participate, please note that May 1 is the enrollment deadline to become Havurah members and enroll in Shabbat School. Learn more here.
(15) American Sign Language (ASL) and the High Holidays – In the past, Havurah has provided an ASL interpreter during High Holiday services. We would like to know if that accommodation would be appreciated or needed this year, so we can budget ahead for it. If you or another High Holidays attendee would benefit from an ASL interpreter, please email Rachel Pollak (rachel@havurahshalom.org).
(16) Indecent Shabbaton in Ashland, Friday, Aug. 30 – This season Oregon Shakespeare Festival is presenting the Tony Award winning play Indecent, written by Paula Vogel. A spirited and revolutionary love story (with fabulous music and dancing) that celebrates Yiddish language and literature, Indecent charts the real-life controversy surrounding Sholem Asch’s play God of Vengeance and the Jewish artists who faced persecution when bringing it to Broadway in 1932. It features a Jewish cast and production team and was developed and commissioned by OSF as part of their American Revolutions series. Learn more and sign up here.
(17) Heads up: Lost and Found will be Emptied Soon – The Lost and Found box has gotten very full again! Please take a moment to root around for your lost gloves, water bottles, scarves, toys, glasses, and other items. Anything remaining in the box will be taken to Goodwill after April 15. Contact Rachel Pollak at rachel@havurahshalom.org with concerns. This is also a great time to look through the closet for coats you have left.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
(1) Portland to Israel Centennial Trip – The Portland to Israel March 2020 Trip currently has over 400 people registered. Since so many people are going from Portland there will be three options for travel to the north of the country and three options for travel to the south. The price is currently $3,000 which includes nine nights in hotels, most meals, 10 days of transportation and 10 days of guided tours. Some of us on the trip plan to focus on meeting with members of the LGBTQ community in Israel, and we would love to have you join us! On March 31 the price goes up to $4,000, which is the actual cost of the tour. If you are at all interested, please contact the Federation really, really soon. Questions? Email Carmella Ettinger, carmellae@aol.com or Jewish Federation of Portland Oregon, pdxisrael2020@jewishportland.org.
(2) Stand with Immigrants and Refugees, Sunday, March 31, 6:30-8:00 pm, Milagro Theater, 525 SE Stark – Join artists and activists for an evening of music, prose, and poetry dedicated to protecting the human rights of immigrants and refugees and stopping the detention and deportation of our brothers and sisters. The event will raise funds for the Rapid Response and Deportation Defense Project, organized by the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition, which serves the emergency needs of the Oregon immigrant community. Hosted by Los Porteños, Portland Latino Writers, and the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition. Contributions: $20 per person (cash or checks). No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Wine, coffee, tea, and snacks will be served. Questions? Contact Bob Brown at rebrown47@gmail.com.
(3) Exiled to Nowhere: A Symposium on the Rohingya Crisis, April 5-7, Oregon Historical Society – This symposium brings together survivors, activists, and experts to foster a better understanding of the Rohingya crisis. The symposium will be centered around the exhibit Exiled to Nowhere by documentary photographer Greg Constantine. Panels and conversation are free and open to the public:
Bearing Witness: Documenting Genocide and Mass Atrocities
Stories of Survival: A Conversation on Genocide, Past and Present
In-depth Discussion about the Rohingya Crisis
A Path to Justice: Examining the Legal Challenges of the Rohingya Crisis
Sexual and Gender Based Violence against Rohingya Women and Girls
Exiled to Nowhere will be on display April 5-11 at the Oregon Historical Society. The exhibition continues April 15-May 12 at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, including additional events. Click here for more information.
(4) Little Shtetl on the Prairie: Reckoning with the Past Through Teshuvah, Wednesday, April 10, 12:00 noon–1:00 pm, Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education – Havurah member Rebecca Clarren, an award-winning journalist, will present a free hour-long slide show and talk. Clarren's relatives escaped pograms in Russia and became Jewish ranchers and homesteaders in South Dakota. Throughout her childhood, Clarren was told stories of their fortitude and luck – stories of her uncle "Bronco Lou" and the mikvahs her great-great-grandmother took in the ice-choked creek behind their shack on the prairie. Yet among the narratives that were never shared were stories of the Lakota, their neighbors. In an effort to better understand the truth of the past and possibly find some healing, Clarren, who has written about Indigenous Americans for national magazines such as The Nation, Indian Country Today and High Country News, set out to find the descendants of the Lakota families who were displaced and harmed by the amoral land allotment policies which provided her family with free land. The program, funded by a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, is part of the OJMCHE's brown bag lunch series. Learn more here.
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Havurah Shalom is a vibrant, diverse, participatory Jewish community steeped in Jewish values promoting spirituality, learning, and acts of social responsibility.
(HYB) Shabbat Morning Shabbat, May 3rd 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.
(IP) Shabbat School Shabbat, May 3rd 3:00p to 5:15p This program gives children a foundation for lifelong Jewish learning and engagement while integrating parents and children in a caring Jewish community.
(ZM) Progressive Israel Network Sessions Sunday, May 4th 11:00a to 12:00p Havurah Shalom is hosting a four-session series from the Progressive Israel Network. Come learn in collaboration with representatives from five to six of the participating Progressive Israel Network organizations, including T’ruah, New Jewish Narrative, Partners for Progressive Israel, New Israel Fund, J Street, and Reconstructing Judaism.
All perspectives on Israel-Palestine, as well as all curious people, are welcomed and encouraged. Our guests will give presentations and take questions. You can register for all sessions, below, but it's okay if you can't attend all three sessions.
(Reconstructing Judaism, the central organization of the Reconstructionist movement, of which Havurah Shalom is a part, is a member of the Progressive Israel Network.)
(IP) Writing for Peace and Reconciliation, Within and Between Us Sunday, May 4th 6:30p to 8:30p Commemorate the last day of Pesach and Yitzkor in community Passover not only invites us to retell our ancient story but to look at our current reality and ask: what is our mitzrayim today? The obstacle in our personal and communal life? Where can we break through in an act of courage and compassion? April 20th & May 4th, 6:30 PM at Havurah, join Harriet Cooke for a writing/drawing group to explore this theme along with Yitzkor, the Sephirot and Counting the Omer. (It is recommended to attend either just the first session or both sessions.)
(IP) Jewish Ethical Responses to the Problem of Racism Monday, May 5th 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.
(CANCELED) Collage Art with Jewish Symbols Wednesday, May 7th 6:30p to 7:45p This class has been canceled by the instructor. If you are interested in doing art at Havurah, please reach out to Adela Basayne (info@havurahshalom.org). Bring your crafts and creativity out for making collage art with Jewish symbols. We will create hamzas, stars of David, trees of life, and images for blessing the home. All ages are invited! Led by Carolina Martinez.
(IP) Hebrew as a Tool: Prayer and Torah (registration closed) Wednesday, May 7th 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.
