Calendar

Havurah’s Dorot “Short & Sweet” Shabbat service was created to welcome families with young children, but the service and potluck are for all ages! Young ones look up to the older ones, and older ones enjoy the younger ones’ joy and singing. A casual, family-friendly and music-filled service, it begins with candle lighting, Kiddush and challah, and continues with prayers and music led by Havurah members.

After the service, we’ll enjoy a vegetarian potluck dinner. Please bring a kid-friendly main dish. For more information and to RSVP, please email dorot@havurahshalom.org. Feel free to invite some of your friends and family to join in as well–the more the merrier!

Dare I Call You Cousin, an exhibition of photos, poems, and videos compassionate to the struggle of both Israelis and Palestinians, will open on Thursday, March 3, at Havurah Shalom.

“…have the fears from our history/crusted our eyes like the inside of kettles/ have they rusted the hinges of our mouths…” – Frances Payne Adler

Cousin is a collaboration by three artists:

– Portland poet Frances Payne Adler
– Jerusalem photographer Michal Fattal (photo on left © Michal Fattal)
– Tel Aviv videographer Yossi Yacov

Many of the voices and images shared, from both Israeli and Palestinian points of view, are those that are often missing from national and international media narratives. These voices reveal the simmering conditions that underpin day-to-day lives—conditions that repeatedly erupt into war. Viewers will see and hear from both Palestinians and Israeli settlers in Hebron; Israeli and Palestinian high school students at the region’s only bilingual, integrated school; workers and students crossing over at Qalandiya checkpoint; rabbis; peace activists; and others.

The exhibition offers viewers the opportunity to experience, through art, some of the struggles of Israelis and Palestinians; to meet people perhaps not yet known to them, stories not yet heard. Dare I Call You Cousin provides the occasion to come together to participate in reflection and dialogue, creating breathing space for community discussion.

First Thursday, March 3
Opening & Reception, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Brief Poetry Reading, 8:00 pm
Havurah Shalom

Please join us at the opening on March 3 and return for a follow-up event of your choice:

• Sunday, March 6, 2:00-5:00 pm, Viewing at your own pace. Brief reading 3:00 pm.
• Tuesday, March 8, 7:00-9:00 pm, Poetry reading by Frances Payne Adler. Viewing of the exhibition is from 7:00-7:30 pm. Poetry reading is from 7:30 – 9:00 pm. Introduction by Paulann Petersen, Oregon’s Poet Laureate, 2010-2014.
• Thursday, March 10, 7:00 – 9:00 pm, Video screening. Reflect & discuss in community. Viewing of exhibition is from 7:00 – 7:30 pm. Videos are from 7:30-9:00 pm.
• Sunday, March 13, 2:00 – 5:00 pm, Video screening. Reflect & discuss in community. Viewing of exhibition is from 2:00-3:00 pm. Videos are from 3:00-5:00 pm.

Carpool and public transportation are recommended. The Lovejoy streetcar stops one block away.

Funded in part by Portland’s Regional Arts & Culture Council
Co-Sponsored by J Street Education Fund
Hosted by Havurah Shalom

About the artists:

A Jerusalem photographer and a Tel Aviv videographer whose ancestral families emigrated from the conflicts in Iraq and Yemen; a Portland poet whose grandmother, by herself at the age of 13, walked out of Russia and away from pogroms. Three artists concerned about the settlements have collaborated to create Dare I Call YouCousin. Poet Frances Payne Adler, author of five books and founder of the Creative Writing and Social Action Program at California State University Monterey Bay; photographer Michal Fattal, who works for Ha’aretz newspaper and whose photographs have been published in the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, and the Guardian; and videographer Yossi Yacov, who has documented the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements for years.

“Thank you for Dare I Call You Cousin. The poems and photographs are close to my heart. Sending my respect and appreciation.” – Amos Oz

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.

Please RSVP here.

Event page     |   Download Full Event Flyer

What: A screening of the restored silent film “Hungry Hearts” (1922) preceded by a reception with a choice of three parallel 20-min lectures. Q&A with the composer, David Spear, to follow.
When: Sunday, November 5, 2017 | 5:30pm to 9:30pm
Where: Lincoln Recital Hall (LH 75) | Pocket Lectures in LH 75, LH 21, and LH 37
Cost: Free and open to the public. RSVP requested, but not required.
Contact: Stacey Johnston | judaicst@pdx.edu | 503-725-8449

Join the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies for the Portland premiere of the recently restored and rescored silent film “Hungry Hearts” (1922), filmed on location on New York’s Lower East Side. Based on the short stories of Anzia Yezierska, one of the first immigrant authors to write about American Jewish women for a mainstream audience, the film focuses on the members of the Levin family who emigrate from Eastern Europe to New York City and captures the hopes and hardships of Jewish immigrants in the New World.

The National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis restored Goldwyn’s original print, and with generous support from the Casden Institute, a new score was composed and produced by David Spear in collaboration with his students from the USC Thornton School of Music. The new score for “Hungry Hearts” premiered at the 2007 New York Jewish Film Festival in Lincoln Center.

The event will begin at 5:30pm with a “Feast for the Senses and the Mind.” You are invited to sample hors d’oeuvres alongside three “pocket lectures” (20 minutes each) on various aspects of the film’s cultural and historical context. The film will begin at 7:00pm and will be followed by a conversation and Q&A with the lead composer, David Spear, about the process of scoring a historic silent film and breathing new life into “old art”. (Full Schedule Below)

• 5:30 pm      Welcome Reception with Food
  
• 6:00 pm      Choose your own mini-lecture!
  • LH 75 – Marat Grinberg, Reed College
    • “At the Intersection of Screen and Text: American Jewish Culture Before the War”
  • LH 37 – Joseph Butwin, University of Washington
    • “Exile and Return: Anzia Yezierska Finds her Vocation”
  • LH 21 – Amy Borden, PSU School of Film
    
    • “Immigration and Nativism in New York’s Nickelodeon’s”
• 7:00 pm      Hungry Hearts Film Screening
• 8:45 pm      Q&A with David Spear
  • Soundtrack Producer & 2017 Artist-in-Residence

This is the first half of the 2017 Levy Event, which focuses on the nexus between East European Jewish immigrants to the U.S. and twentieth-century American film and music. For information about the second half of the 2017 Levy Event, visit the event page.

This event is sponsored by the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies thanks to the generous support of Larry Levy and Pamela Lindholm-Levy. Cosponsored by the PSU School of Music + Theater and the Northwest Film Center.

(Photo by Pedro Greig)

White Bird welcomes Australian contemporary circus company, Circa, with their program HUMANS.

After an absence of five years, White Bird is delighted to present the return of the world-famous Australian contemporary circus company, Circa, with the West Coast premiere of their astonishing new work HUMANS. Since 2004, from its base in Brisbane, Australia, Circa has toured the world—performing in 39 countries to over a million people. As was the case in Portland in 2013, with their White Bird debut, Circa’s movement-based circus works have been greeted with standing ovations, rave reviews and sold-out houses across six continents. Under the direction of circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz, Circa’s HUMANS features an ensemble of 10 exceptional, multi-skilled circus artists whose physicality and artistry are put to the test in Lifschitz’ newest work.

Yaron Lifschitz

An article in the Australian Jewish News says: Lifschitz looks back on his career with lots of pride, as do his Jewish parents who may initially have preferred him to be a doctor.

Circa is at the forefront of the new wave of contemporary Australian circus—pioneering how extreme physicality can create powerful and moving performances. Circa pushes the boundaries of the art form, blurs the lines between movement, dance, theatre and circus, and leads the way with a diverse range of thrilling creations that ‘redraw the limits to which circus can aspire“ (The Age).

Over the course of 70 nail-biting minutes, HUMANS explores the limits of human physicality and perseverance. The stage remains stripped bare as the vulnerability of the artists is left exposed throughout this thrilling work. Seamlessly moving from one breathtaking acrobatic act to the next, HUMANS challenges both the artists and the audience members to answer the questions “what does it mean to be human? How can you express the very essence of this experience with your body, with the group and with the audience? Where are your limits, what extraordinary things can you achieve and how can you find grace in your inevitable defeat?” Lifschitz uses this work to report on what it means to be human. “In our limitations are our possibilities,” he says. It is “precisely because we are human that our physical achievements acquire dignity, meaning and poetry. It is in connection to our vulnerability that our strength finds its true articulation.”

In its glowing review, The Guardian (UK) sums up the power and beauty of HUMANS: “Circa’s brand new production Humans is the five-star favorite: a clear demonstration of the artistry of circus and its potential to draw together multiple theatrical forms. What I adored was its fluid take on humanity and gender roles: women caught men falling backwards; men leapt towards and were caught by men. As the ensemble moved themselves into sculptural, abstract shapes, reaching higher to the ceiling for the denouement, I felt moved by their vulnerable, collective humanity.”

Circa’s Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz is a graduate of the University of New South Wales, University of Queensland, and National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), where he was the youngest director ever accepted into its prestigious graduate director’s course. Since graduating, Yaron has directed over 60 productions including large-scale events, opera, theatre, physical theatre, and circus. His work has been seen in 39 countries and across six continents by over one million people and has won numerous awards including six Helpmann awards and the Australia Council Theatre Award. He is currently Artistic Director and CEO of Circa, and was the Creative Director of Festival 2018: the arts and cultural program of the 21st Commonwealth Games. In 2018, Yaron directed four new Circa creations, and a new production of Idomeneo which opened in Lisbon at The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos.

White Bird’s 21^st season (2018-19) is supported by the Regional Arts & Culture Council, including support from the City of Portland, Multnomah County and the Arts Education & Access Fund; Work for Art; The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and Oregon Arts Commission.