Monthly Mitzvah Project – January
Each month, the MJCC and PJA communities will collect items for the monthly mitzvah. These projects reflect the Jewish commitment to Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), providing opportunities to give back to our community.
Please drop off items in the blue bin in the MJCC Lobby.
January – New and gently used socks for Janus Youth Programs
Support the MJCC and PJA communities by donating books for our annual Used Book Sale.
Book Collection Drive: January 14 – March 15. Donate your used books to the MJCC. Drop off at the front desk. Need a pickup? Email pjabooksale@gmail.com to schedule pickup. No encyclopedias, please.
The Book Sale will be at the MJCC March 31 – April 2
Free and open to the community.
Israeli Dancing
Join us for a fun, introductory Israeli folk dance class. All levels are welcome. Six people needed to run class.
Wednesday Evenings,
Dec. 26 – Feb. 27
Cost: $100 Members + Guests.
Drop-in Fee: $15 per class.
Registration information: CG105, oregonjcc.org/registration
Seniors and young families enjoy an inter-generational celebration of stories and songs each Thursday.
Join Kim Schneiderman for this weekly inter-generational story hour for young families with music, PJ Library books, and the residents of Cedar Sinai Park.
Come study and discuss the Bible with Rabbi Isaak at Neveh Shalom.
INTRODUCTION TO JUDAISM CLASS
Winter/Spring 2019 Session begins January 17. This 18-week course is taught by members of The Oregon Board of Rabbis, representing a variety of Jewish affiliation. A carefully constructed curriculum includes Jewish history, life cycle events, holidays, ritual and daily practice, theology, study of Torah and contemporary Jewish America. While not a conversion class, most OBR members consider it a prerequisite for students beginning study for conversion. Classes 7-9 pm, Thursdays, at rotating Portland area synagogues, course fee $360 includes class materials. Register online or contact JoAnn Bezodis, Class Facilitator, at 971-248-5465, or by email at info@oregonboardofrabbis.org. Website: http://oregonboardofrabbis.org/introduction-to-judaism-class/
Education Administrator
Monthly Mitzvah Project – February
Each month, the MJCC and PJA communities will collect items for the monthly mitzvah. These projects reflect the Jewish commitment to Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), providing opportunities to give back to our community.
Please drop off items in the blue bin in the MJCC Lobby.
February – Lunch + snack items for Portland Backpack
Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders
1st and 3rd Shabbat every month at 10:00am
Torah Troop allows families at Congregation Neveh Shalom to move into the main sanctuary while still enjoying youth-oriented activity. At 10:00am, families meet in the main service. After the beginning Torah service, youth join their friends for a lesson on the Torah portion (parsha) of the week with adult leaders, and come back to help lead the Adon Olam at the end of the service.
As always, we end with our community for lunch!
Talk with Esther Podemski following the screening!
Tracing the history of an old family photograph, the filmmaker, Esther Podemski, travels to Poland with a group of her parents’ contemporaries. Fifty years after surviving the Holocaust, the elders return to their hometown, Poddebice, to conduct a memorial service in the Jewish graveyard. They find an empty field, marked by a lone tablet, the only testament to the history of this place to survive the wartime desecration. In the nearby city of Lodz , we meet Layb Pradskier, custodian of the immense, crumbling Jewish cemetery. Here we discover that all that remains of the once several hundred thousand strong Jewish population of Lodz is a handful of aging Holocaust survivors. Lodz, and indeed all of Poland, exemplifies the success of the Holocaust; Poland is all but totally cleansed of Jews. A montage of historical images, snapshots, and archival music, together with new location footage, House of the World moves between personal accounts of Jewish Poland and historic events.
Esther Podemski is a filmmaker and visual artist whose works have been exhibited in galleries, film festivals and academic venues. House of the World, her documentary about the aftermath of the Holocaust, was shot in Poland and has been showcased in European and American art centers and festivals, including Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, Lincoln Center, and Los Angeles International Jewish Film Festival.
The screening is in conjunction with Memory Unearthed at the Portland Art Museum and Last Journey of the Jews of Lodz at OJMCHE.
Jewish Women’s Roundtable annual Sisterhood Havdalah will be lead by Rabbi Ariel Stone. Afterwards there will be refreshments, a social hour and an exhibition of Israeli dancing.