Calendar

Apr
22
Fri
PJ Library Southeast Story Hour @ Seahorses
Apr 22 @ 10:00 am – 10:45 am

 

A weekly story hour for young families with music & PJ Library books!

No story hour on April 29th.

May
6
Fri
PJ Library Southeast Story Hour @ Seahorses
May 6 @ 10:00 am – 10:45 am

 

A weekly story hour for young families with music & PJ Library books!

No story hour on April 29th.

May
13
Fri
PJ Library Southeast Story Hour @ Seahorses
May 13 @ 10:00 am – 10:45 am

 

A weekly story hour for young families with music & PJ Library books!

No story hour on April 29th.

May
20
Fri
PJ Library Southeast Story Hour @ Seahorses
May 20 @ 10:00 am – 10:45 am

 

A weekly story hour for young families with music & PJ Library books!

No story hour on April 29th.

May
27
Fri
PJ Library Southeast Story Hour @ Seahorses
May 27 @ 10:00 am – 10:45 am

 

A weekly story hour for young families with music & PJ Library books!

No story hour on April 29th.

Dec
29
Thu
Chanukah Celebration for All Ages @ Havurah Shalom
Dec 29 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

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
Dec
30
Fri
Coming Together in Dark Times @ Havurah Shalom
Dec 30 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

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.

Dec
11
Mon
“Jewish Luck” (1925) Yiddish Silent Film: Selected Scenes Scored @ Portland State University - Lincoln Recital Hall
Dec 11 @ 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Event Link: http://tinyurl.com/JewishLuckPDX
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/295086217663190/

What: A screening of selected scenes from the silent film “Jewish Luck” (1925) with scores collaboratively written and performed by PSU students under the direction of Artist-in-Residence, David Spear
When: Monday, December 11th at 8:00pm
Where: Lincoln Recital Hall (LH 75)
Cost: Free and open to the public.
Contact: School of Music & Theater – Ian Wallace | iwallace@pdx.edu | 503-725-3011
Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies – Stacey Johnston | stacey8@pdx.edu | 503-725-8449

Please join us for a performance of selected scenes from the Yiddish silent film “Jewish Luck” (1925) with music composed and performed live by PSU Music students under the direction of 2017 Artist-in-Residence David Spear.

The silent film Jewish Luck (1925) was among the first Soviet Yiddish films to be released in the US during the 1920s. Based on Sholem Aleichem’s stories, the film revolves around the daydreaming entrepreneur Menakhem Mendl who specializes in doomed strike-it-rich schemes.

Jewish Luck features some of the finest artistic talents of Soviet Jewry during this period. The original Russian intertitles were written by renowned Soviet Jewish writer Isaac Babel, who later became a victim of the Stalinist purges in the late 1930s.

Thanks to the restoration of Jewish Luck by the National Center for Jewish Film, the moving “images” of Sholem Aleichem’s philosophical daydreamer have been miraculously preserved. A new score will allow contemporary audiences to view and ultimately “hear” this classic Russian Yiddish silent film.

Sponsored by the School of Music & Theater and the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies.

Jul
6
Fri
THEATER: Adroit Maneuvers @ Imago Theatre
Jul 6 @ 7:00 pm – Jul 22 @ 8:00 pm

Adroit Maneuvers by Michael Bertish.

This timely and thought-provoking drama portrays a very different view of the personal impacts of war in a touching study of intergenerational trauma and the painful dysfunctions that continue to haunt an entire family. The play is full of music, and discussions of art, philosophy, culture, science and politics on a world stage. As details of the story lay out the facts of the past, the audience can’t help but be reminded of the political climate of the present.

Not suitable for children.

ABOUT THE PLAY

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

This well-known anonymous statement from the 1930s (often erroneously attributed to American novelist Sinclair Lewis) is a prophetic warning about the rise of authoritarian regimes. With the recent tragic events of Charlottesville and other flashpoints of intolerance in the news, assaults on members of the LGBTQ community and racial, religious and ethnic minorities, attacks on a free press, and the rise of voices advocating extreme nationalism throughout the civilized world, many say that our current time is reminiscent of the advent of World War II. However, the real test of our time is to avoid the trap of reactionary fear and to commit to healing change. Adroit Maneuvers offers a compassionate, hopeful perspective on bridging these divides that threaten to fracture our humanity.

The play is set in New York City in 1996 at the Dinger family home. The story revolves around an elderly grandmother, Tilde, and her adult grandson, Micky, who comes back to the city for a final visit. Micky is determined to get Tilde to open up about her experiences during the Anschluss in Vienna. Until this point in her life, Tilde has never spoken about living through the Nazi invasion and World War II. As Tilde tells her story, her memories come to life and the characters from her past enter to relive vignettes from the golden era of Vienna’s famous café society. Micky discovers Tilde’s acts of selfless courage and her friendships with world-class figures of the day: Sigmund and Martha Freud, Albert Einstein, and members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Tilde’s story is interwoven with true historical events, and hearing her story gives Micky the courage to be open for the first time about his own deep-rooted secrets.

This timely and thought-provoking drama portrays a very different view of the personal impacts of war in a touching study of intergenerational trauma and the painful dysfunctions that continue to haunt an entire family. The play is full of music, and  discussions of art, philosophy, culture, science and politics on a world stage. As details of the story lay out the facts of the past, the audience can’t help but be reminded of the political climate of the present.

In October 2017, actor/director Tom Hanks said, “If you’re concerned about what’s going on today, read history and figure out what to do because it’s all right there.”  Adroit Maneuvers delves into the history of intolerance and brings us to the realization that we have the power to rise above it all through devoted relationships, humility, compassion and forgiveness.

Aug
30
Thu
Introduction to Judaism Course @ various local synagogues
Aug 30 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

This 18-week course is taught by members of The Oregon Board of Rabbis, representing a variety of Jewish affiliations. 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.