Come one, come all, children of all ages! Over 140 people have confirmed they will celebrate Shir Tikvah’s Annual Hanukkah Party and Dedication of the Children with us on December 20, 6pm at the Laurelhurst Club, for dinner, dreydel playing, and music by a local klezmer band. Don’t miss it, and don’t forget to bring your hanukkiyah pre-loaded with 2 candles.

And here are the potluck assignments (vegetarian/dairy please!):

If you’d rather make Latkes, that would be fantastic–just let the office know you’ll be joining the group of latke makers!

The Laurelhurst Club is -across from Laurelhurst Park at 3721 SE Ankeny Street, Portland, OR 97214.

erev Shabbat December 9
6:30 pm service at Bridgeport

Join us to hear a few words and ask all your questions about Occupy Portland with Kip Silverman. Rabbi Ariel met him at the Occupy Vigil at City Hall on Nov 19 to mark one week after the end of the park occupation. Agree or don’t agree with the Occupiers? Come and hear, come and listen, come and ask. See coverage of Rabbi’s visit to the Occupation here: www.portlandoccupier.org

Learn about :
- spiritually based peace work bridging Israelis and Palestinians
- history and wisdom that emerged from the encounter between the mystics of the Middle East
- share a circle for peace, with chants in the Jewish & Sufi Muslim traditions
Eliyahu McLean is director of Jerusalem Peacemakers, a network of religious leaders & grassroots peacebuilders in Jerusalem, which host events such as the Abrahamic Reunion: Christian, Jewish, Muslim & Druze religious leaders working together to re-claim religion as a voice for peace. Izzeldin Bukhari, son of the late Sheik Bukhari, who was head of the Naqshabandi Sufi order & of the Uzbek community in the Holy Land, splits his time between Portland & Jerusalem. He is continuing his father’s work as a Muslim peacemaker, building bridges of understanding between religions & cultures. Sponsors: P’nai Or, Portland Baha’i Center, J Street, Interfaith Council of Greater Portland, Shir Tikvah, Complementary Healing, St. Mark Presbyterian Church and more. Donations: a $5-$18 goodwill offering is appreciated. For a tax-deductible contribution, write checks to: ‘Center for Religious Tolerance’, make note on memo line: ‘for Jerusalem Peacemakers’ & leave in donation box or send to: The Center for Religious Tolerance, 520 Ralph St., Sarasota, FL 34242  Online Donations can be made here.  The First United Methodist Church is located at 1838 SW Jefferson St., Portland, OR 97201

Basic Rights Oregon’s Board of Directors released the following statement earlier this week:

“For three years, Basic Rights Oregon has led a proactive community education campaign to build public support for the freedom to marry for all caring and committed couples. We have reached out to our neighbors in communities across the state, engaged in thoughtful conversations, and shared our stories in TV ads and online.

This work is opening hearts and changing minds. Every day more and more Oregonians are coming to support the freedom to marry.

In Oregon, the only path to allowing same-gender couples to join in civil marriage is through the ballot. It is not a question of if we will cross this threshold, but when.

We have considered the possibility of putting this issue on the ballot for the 2012 election. However several factors, including the expense of waging a statewide political campaign in the midst of an economic crisis, led us to conclude that we are better off extending our education campaign and building momentum for a later election.

Ballot measures in Oregon have historically been used to attack the gay and transgender community. Today, we are finally in the driver’s seat, deciding when to go forward with a proactive ballot measure to achieve equality, instead of just fighting back. That presents our community with a tremendous opportunity and an immense responsibility.

To reach this decision, we evaluated a variety of data including an online survey with over 1,000 respondents from across Oregon. We convened a group of community leaders and campaign professionals, and held town halls in communities around the state.

The feedback we have overwhelmingly heard is that we must allow our education work to continue. The progress we’ve made in increasing support for the freedom to marry will only get better in the next two years.

Today we re-commit ourselves to this effort. We’re committed to opening a new dialogue with our friends, family and neighbors and, ultimately, winning the freedom to marry.”

– Basic Rights Oregon’s Board of Directors

Shir Tikvah is committed to the absolute equality of all its members, of all Jews, and of all people. Our support for Basic Rights Oregon is ongoing.
Thus we fulfill the mitzvah: tzedek, tzedek, tirdof, l’ma’an tikhyeh – “justice, justice you shall pursue, that you may live.” (Deut.16.20)

“Torah shall go forth from Zion and the words of HaShem from Yerushalayim….” but when the words go out via Shir Tikvah’s blog, they must travel through a WordPress installation on a Linux server. We’re upgrading the engine (WordPress 2.9 to WordPress 3.2.1.) It’ll be chrome wheeled, fuel injected, and stepping out over the line, so you may see some changes around here over the next few days, but in the end, the buttons should all work in pretty much the same way.

Don’t panic, and please excuse our dust.