Havurah’s Chanukah Celebration offers fun for all ages. A potluck oneg of plate-free desserts at 6:30 pm will be followed by candle lighting, storytelling, and singing led by Beth Hamon, Aaron Pearlman and other Havurah musicians.
For all who are interested, we’ll have a few tables of dreidel playing too. If you have a dreidel, chanukiah and/or candles, please bring them with you. We’ll add lots of light and laughter to the night!
RSVP at http://tinyurl.com/ChanuHS
We invite you to join us on Friday, Dec. 30, to welcome Shabbat, spread the light of the Chanukah candles, and share our feelings, fears, and hopes for the difficult times we are facing as a country. For those of us who came together on the Sunday after the election, it was a powerful expression of community, and there have been requests to identify some next steps. It continues to feel premature to launch a specific action plan. Instead, it seems more appropriate to gather in community, listen to how we are doing, and continue conversations about our hopes and fears about areas such as immigrants and refugees, poverty and homelessness, climate change, equity, and gun control.
We will begin by lighting the Chanukah and Shabbat candles, sing some songs, and then spend our time talking and listening. There will not be a formal Friday night service.
During March Movie Night on Sunday, March 18, Havurah Shalom’s Ma’avar Committee will show “Living While Dying,” a film made by P’nai Or member Cathy Zheutlin.
Here is a brief description of the film: Death is a big mystery, and yet the outcome is 100 percent certain. How do you plan for the unknown? Filmmaker Cathy Zheutlin tells the stories of four friends with terminal illness who chose to live out their final days at home with creativity humor and courage. One might think that it would be depressing or morose. In fact, just the opposite – it is loving, hopeful and and full of joy. Despite cultural norms that death is meant to be vanquished, “Living While Dying” transforms sorrow and fear into inspiration and beauty. It honors what University of California San Francisco palliative care physician BJ Miller says, that “dying is a human act, not just a medical one.”
The film will be followed by a panel discussion with some experts in end-of-life care, many of whom are Havurah members.
Panelists include:
- Rabbi Benjamin
- Charles Blanke – Havurah member and OHSU oncologist specializing in end-of-life care and death with dignity
- Karen Erde -Havurah member and palliative care physician
- Susan Hedlund – Manager of Patient and Family Support Services at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. She has over 30 years of experience in oncology and hospice care, and worked on the original task force to legalize death with dignity.
A suggested donation of $10 will directly help the filmmaker so she can continue to pay for the production of this very beautiful and important film.
Please RSVP at tinyurl.com/Live-HS.