HAVURAH HAPPENINGS: (1) Community Minyan (2) Shavuot Celebration (3) Shavuot Service with Yizkor, 10:00 am Sunday (4) Tikkun Olam Global Meeting (5) Interfaith Alliance on Poverty Meetings (6) Want to Come to Ashland on Labor Day Weekend to See "Indecent"? (7) Rob Freedman Reading at Oregon Jewish Museum (8) Kabbalat Shabbat Focuses on Pride (9) Portland Pride Parade (10) MACG Delegate Assembly & Annual Meeting (11) Mid-Year Planning Retreat (12) Book Group Discusses "Mornings in Jenin" (13) Have a Question About Havurah? (14) Portland Homeless Family Solutions

(1) Community Minyan, Saturday, June 8, 10:00 am – Rabbi Benjamin, Maria Lisa Johnson, Susan Brenner, Maddie Teitelman, Tivona Reith, and Roger Brewer will lead, read Torah, and guide us in a discussion of Parsha Bamidbar.

(2) Shavuot Celebration, Saturday, 4:30 pm until Late, Havurah – Shavuot is our celebration of the early harvest and receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai: revelation, a first fruits festival, a potluck dairy dinner delight, a literary event, and an opportunity to learn! Something fun for all ages.

4:30 pm, we'll make Shavuot paper crafts, celebrate the bounty of our spring gardens with a First Harvest Procession, beautify the Sanctuary, celebrate Havdalah, and sing. (for all ages)  

5:45 pm, we’ll have blintzes and cheesecake for our potluck dinner, followed by Havdalah. (for all ages) Please let us know what you will bring here.

6:30-8:00 pm, Havurah members Alicia Jo Rabins and Rebecca Clarren will read from their newly published books, Fruit Geode and Kickdown. (Older teens and adults. Childcare will be available.)

Fruit Geode was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, and Alicia's first collection of poems, Divinity School, won the APR/Honickman First Book Award; she is a poet, musician and Torah teacher, and will perform live music as part of the reading. You can read more here.

Rebecca is an award-winning journalist with extensive experience reporting on environmental issues; Kickdown, her debut novel, was shortlisted for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. 

8:15 pm, Deborah Eisenbach-Budner will teach Earthbound Revelation: Shavuot and Environmental Stewardship. She says: "Shavuot is a mixed heritage holiday: one part biblical harvest holiday and one part rabbinic celebration of revelation and Torah. We will look at the values and questions underlying the agrarian focus of Shavuot, especially as they relate to our current condition as humans dominating the earth. What does the Torah have to say about the role of humans vis-à-vis using the earth’s resources? How does our treatment of the earth mirror or interrupt our treatment of other humans, panim al panim (face to face)? What is the spirituality of being a citizen of the earth?"

9:30 pm, Rabbi Benjamin will teach “Sacred Betweenness”: Relational Living in Buber’s Hasidic Tales. Through the lens of Martin Buber, the Hasidic world (in its earliest and purest forms) modeled an engaged community which, despite our inhabiting a very different world with a distinct set of values, can teach us much about living panim el panim — living life as genuine encounter. We will delve deeply into several tales from Buber’s Tales of the Hasidim, exploring this sacred relationality as it sheds light on our individual and communal lives today.
 
*** We need help at the celebration with set up, greeting, and clean up. Can you help? Sign up here to help!

(3) Shavuot Service with Yizkor, Sunday, June 9, 10:00 am-12:00 pm – Join us for a morning Shavuot Service with Yizkor. (Please note that the start time for the service was incorrect in previous emails. The service will start at 10:00 am.)

(4) Tikkun Olam Global Meeting, Sunday June 9, 3:00 pm – The Tikkun Olam Global work group is the forum for Havurah’s international social justice work. Our mission statement says that, “Through advocacy, fundraising, and direct service we aim to be a force for equity and human rights in the developing world." As we work to “repair the world,” we are extending our gaze outward, towards the entire global village. At this meeting we will be considering a proposal to help fund a solar energy project at a Tanzanian Secondary School. We hope you will join us as we continue our planning for the coming year. Questions? Contact David Newman, whose email address and phone number can be found in our online membership directory.

(5) Interfaith Alliance on Poverty Monthly Meeting, Thursday, June 6, 12:00-2:00 pm, Genesis Community Fellowship, 5425 NE 27th – The agenda for June 6 meeting: 1) To break bread together in celebration of our hard work this year. Sandwich makings and drinks are provided; please bring salads, or desserts. 2) To hear about the Portland 2.0 Project, looking to the future of our city/region, and to discuss the implications for the Interfaith Alliance. 3) To confirm our budget for the coming year with recommended spending for part-time support help. **No monthly meetings for July or August. Meetings resume on Sept. 5. If you're interested in IAP monthly meeting info or joining a sub group of the IAP, please contact Steve Rudman or Gloria Halper, whose email addresses are in Havurah's online membership directory. IAP's website: www.allianceonpoverty.org.

(6) Mayor Wheeler Staff Follow-up Discussion, Tuesday, June 11, 7:00-8:30 pm, Westminster Presbyterian, 1624 NE Hancock – This meeting is for people who would like to learn more from Mayor Ted Wheeler’s staff about the issues raised at previous IAP meetings. Register by June 7 with Bonnie Gregg (bonniejgregg@msn.com).
 

(7) Want to Come to Ashland on Labor Day Weekend to See "Indecent" & Share in the Shabbaton with Emek Shalom? It's Not Too Late! – We have the possibility of securing 25 more seats at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's performance of "Indecent" over Labor Day Weekend. Are you interested in joining the 50 Havurahniks who already have tickets? E-mail Adela at adela@havurahshalom.org no later than Tuesday, June 11, to let her know you would like a ticket. (Above photo taken during a performance of "Indecent.")

(8) Rob Freedman Reading at Oregon Jewish Museum, Wednesday, June 12, 12:00-1:00 pm, Oregon Jewish Museum, 724 NW Davis – Rob Freedman, who taught Jewish Memoir Writing at Havurah for several years, will read from his recent book Beach Bum: A Life in Pieces and lead a discussion about the nature of Jewish memoir. More information here.

(9) Kabbalat Shabbat, Friday, June 14, 6:30 pm Dinner, 7:30 pm Service – Join us for a tasty, catered vegetarian meal and good fellowship on Friday, June 14, at 6:30 pm. RSVP for the dinner by June 9. No RSVP is required for the Kabbalat Shabbat Service. Come celebrate Pride! Incorporated into our monthly service will be ritual, songs, and kavanot that help us celebrate the LGBTQIA++ communities. Everyone welcome! Childcare will be provided.

(10) Portland Pride Parade, Sunday, June 16, 10:45 am, NW Davis & Broadway – Join Havurah Shalom and Jewish Pride Greater PDX as we march in celebration of civil rights. We will gather at the corner of NW Davis and Broadway to claim our spot #75 at 10:45 am. Want to carry the Havurah banner or be a monitor? Contact adela@havurahshalom.org.

(11) MACG Delegate Assembly & Annual Meeting, Thursday, June 20, 7:00-9:00 pm, Saint Andrews Church, 5310 NE 42nd, Portland – Havurah is a member organization of MACG, Metropolitan Alliance for the Common Good. MACG is an alliance of faith, labor, health education and community organizations dedicated to building a base of leaders to effectively stand for change they want to see in their communities. MACG works with member organizations to develop campaigns and take action on issues of concern in the tri-county area. All Havurahniks are invited to attend this annual meeting of MACG member organizations to learn more about what MACG is doing and how you can get involved. Learn more at http://www.macg.org/. Questions? Email Andy Beers, whose email address is in our membership directory.

(12) Book Group Discusses Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa, Tuesday, June 25, 7:00-8:30 pm – The renowned Palestinian writer Susan Abulhawa describes the creation of Israel and what it meant for those who lived there before. Written as a fictional memoir, it follows a family forcibly removed from their olive-farming village by the new Israeli state, then displaced to canvas tents in the Jenin refugee camp. Cinderblock huts replace their tents. But amidst their loss and fear, hatred and pain, there is always the waiting to return to a lost home. The novel's story is told through the voice of the village patriarch’s granddaughter, a bright, sensitive girl. She makes it out of the camps, yet returns years later, to marry and bear a child. One of her brothers is kidnapped to be raised Jewish, and one will end with bombs strapped to his middle. Discussion led by David Newman.

(13) 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. In June's Hakol, the question dealt with the issue of Havurah's growth. Our current co-presidents were interviewed to provide an answer.

(14) Portland Homeless Family Solutions (PHFS) – The building in the Lents neighborhood purchased by PHFS is just a few months away from opening its doors to approximately 26 homeless families. These families will not have to move between two buildings for day and night shelter as in the past. Join our very dedicated, active group of Havurah volunteers at the Lents shelter by attending a PHFS orientation. Next one will be held at the Lents building on June 19 from 5:00-6:00 pm. RSVP at TC@pdxhfs.org. PHFS questions? Email John Devlin (Havurah member and PHFS board member) or Gloria Halper (Havurah member and PHFS coordinator), whose email addresses are in our online membership directory.

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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.

Find our calendar and learn more at www.havurahshalom.org.

825 NW 18th Ave, Portland, OR 97209
503-248-4662