August 10th, 2010
Calling all shofar blowers, public readers, and volunteers: your services are needed! Contact Amelia in the office to let her know how you would like to help out.
For a complete listing of services, click here. Due to space limitations, please remember that the evening services, with regret, are limited to Shir Tikvah members and their families. All daytime services are open to all people in the community. If you are planning to attend any of the services, email Amelia in the office with your name and contact information so we can reserve a spot for you.
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August 10th, 2010
This year, Shir Tikvah is pleased to host Visiting Scholar Dr. Byron Sherwin, Rabbi Ariel Stone’s doctoral advisor. Rabbi Ariel is looking forward to introducing him to the Shir Tikvah congregational family.
From Thursday Oct. 7 through Sunday Oct. 10, Dr. Sherwin will be featured at a number of events around Portland. He will address the Oregon Board of Rabbis, speaking to the community on erev Shabbat at Neveh Shalom, and joining us for Torah study and Nashira, among other appearances. For complete details, click Upcoming Events.
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July 21st, 2010
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.
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July 21st, 2010
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
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July 19th, 2010
From the Rabbi’s desk:
Tisha b’Av, literally “the 9th of [the month of] Av”, is a day which has existed on the Jewish calendar since sometime in the darkest days of our national despair after the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed by the Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE. In the millennia since then, the day has come to symbolize all that our Exile has come to mean to us. We have come to know the vulnerability of the unprotected weak to the uncaring strong, the wandering of the homeless who have no sure refuge, and the poverty of those who are marginalized by the community.
Today Jews are strong and fully accepted members of our American community, and the lesson we carry from Tisha B’Av is repeated throughout our Torah: “you shall not oppress the strangers among you, for you know their feelings, since you yourselves have been strangers.” (Ex. 23.9). We observe Tisha B’Av best today by acting to ensure that no one will ever again experience the suffering and vulnerability we have known in exile.
And as my favorite slogan reads, “it is not enough to be compassionate; you must act.” So I invite you to join me in observing Tisha B’Av by participating in our congregation’s volunteer evening at the Oregon Food Bank on Tisha B’av, July 20, arranged by our Rodfey Tzedek social justice committee. We will begin with a special blessing to dedicate the evening’s work to our highest purpose: gemilut hasadim, the acts of loving kindness which sustain the world.
Shir Tikvah at the Oregon Food Bank, July 20, 6:30-8:30 -contact the office at 503-473-8227 for more information and to RSVP.
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