As this is the Fifth Friday of the month, a  Shabbat at Home with members of the community is celebrated. There will be no erev Shabbat at Bridgeport on  July 30. Check out the great tefilah options available this month:
“East side, west side, all around the town….”
Tefilah in the Park: Erev Shabbat Services
Join us for Shabbat evening services under the open sky. We’ll gather in Wilshire Park for a short service around 6:30 p.m. then stay for kiddush, mozti, and a picnic. Bring a blanket, chairs, bug spray, and food. Turn into the park at NE 33rd and Skidmore; there is a park sign at the corner. Park anywhere you can along Skidmore just after you turn. We will gather in the open space behind the sign. There is a single picnic table you can use as a landmark. If all else fails, look for the wandering Jews.
Shabbat at Robison
Once again, we are coming to a Fifth Friday and the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvot of honoring our elders, visiting the sick and infirm, and davening with kavannah when we join the residents of the Robison Jewish Health Center to welcome Shabbat, Friday evening, July 30.  Services start at 6:30 in the Robison synagogue at 6125 SW Boundary Street.  Plan to arrive a little early so we can assign prayer leading duties and help our elders migrate from the dining room to the synagogue.  Children are especially welcome. Contact Charlie Rosenblum if you have any questions. (Erev Shabbat at Robison is always an option on Fifth Fridays.)
Tot Shabbat Gathering at the Boroks’
Join with the other Tot Shabbat gang for a summer celebration! Contact Lisa Borok to RSVP.
Shabbat at Home
If you are hosting a Shabbat at Home and would like some musical back up, we have something for you! Copies of the Shir Tikvah Shabbat at Home CDs are available in the office. Please call ahead to arrange a pick-up time.

18 Shir Tikvah members participated in the  Oregon Food Bank volunteer evening for Tisha b’Av – affirming the sacredness of working to support the hungry and vulnerable even in the symbolism of their number,  as 18 equals the numerical value of “life” in Hebrew!

Shir Tikvah members prepare food for food boxes

According to their web page, the mission of the Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation ‘is to secure the future of Jewish philanthropy and to develop a strong generation of future Jewish leaders. The Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation (OJCYF) is an initiative of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation designed to fuel a lifelong passion for philanthropy and social activism. Through OJCYF, students develop a deep understanding of the importance of non-profits and their inner workings.’ After evaluating secular and Jewish charities, and leading fund-raising efforts, participants allot the funds they have raised.
High school students with a demonstrated knowledge of and appreciation for tzedakah in their communities are invited to participate in the OJCYF. There will be 8 monthly meetings, plus an event in May and one or two organizational site visits. There will be opportunities to represent OJCYF at several community events. Applicants should be mature and articulate as they will be involved in fundraising and interviewing prospective grantees for tzedakah money they will be responsible for allocating in the Jewish community. Applications are being received now; the deadline for applying is August 31.  For more information, visit the OJCF website and click on ‘OJCYF-Youth Foundation on the left hand side: Oregon Jewish Community Foundation.  For the application, download forms from their website, or click here: ojcyfseason8application

We are thrilled to announce the upcoming publication of two books by Shir Tikvah members, JD Kleinke and Mia Birk. While very different in subject matter, the two new books will explore material close the the hearts of many. Mazel tov, JD and Mia!

Catching Babies by JD Kleinke

Catching Babies is a medical novel that charts the professional and personal struggles of a group of OB/GYNs as they complete their residency in a busy urban teaching hospital, embark on ambitious careers, and try to mend personal relationships neglected through years of training and sacrifice. Catching Babies also explores the broader landscape surrounding obstetrics and women’s health…
* the culture clash of religion, reproductive rights, and medical technology
* the emotional brutality of residency training
* the politics and bureaucracy that drive today’s academic medical centers
* the struggles of disenfranchised women trapped inside a broken health care system
* the truimphs of many women to get and stay pregnant against the medical and technical odds and America’s ongoing civil war over abortion rights
Catching Babies weaves together a series of gripping stories about individual doctors, nurses, midwives, and patients, in the process telling the larger story of how and why we deliver babies and care for women in the odd and often maddening ways we do.

Check out his website at jdkonline.com or see  catchingbabies.com for more information and to place a pre-order for his book

Joyride: Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet by Mia Birk

I am pleased to share the release of my book Joyride: Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet with the Shir Tikvah family.
I’ve been so blessed by a career of tikkun olam in my work creating a more healthy, safe, and livable world. Joyride tells the story of my 20-year crusade to integrate bicycling into daily life. With a table scrap of funding, we grew Portland, OR into the #1 American cycling city. Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. In Joyride, you get the hilarious and poignant stories of the people behind the scenes, the battles we fought, our successes and our failures. I then hit the road, helping make communities across the nation – even my hometown, Dallas TX – more human, healthy, safe, and livable. While many books today extol the pain of our world’s problems, Joyride is the antidote, offering hope to any and everyone interested in changing our world for the better, one pedal stroke at a time.
Please join me for the Joyride release party August 15th, 10 am to 4 pm, at Sunday Parkways, Portland’s heaven-on-earth car-free community celebration. We will be serving up free hot dogs at my house on SE Lincoln Street between 35th and 37th, right along the route . Live music all day from our favorite Shir Tikvah musician, the incomparable J.D. and his Sunday Parkways Bluegrass Jam Band.
Joyride will be in stores soon, or you can pre-order on my website miabirk.com, come by my house during Sunday Parkways, or let me know if you want a copy and I’ll bring to an appropriate Shir Tikvah event. $2 of each book sale to Shir Tikvah members and friends goes back to Shir Tikvah.
Thanks for your support! Mia Birk

…and check out her video here: Joyride and Mia Birk