Sat. Aug. 1st - Bar Mitzvah of Ben Finestone  10:00 a.m. at First United Methodist Church.

Thur. Aug. 6th - Adult Ed. on Hereditary Cancers  7:00 p.m. St. Charles Hospital Event Center, with 3 guest speakers.  More info below.

Fri. Aug. 14th - Kabbalat Shabbat and Potluck  5:00 p.m. at home of Ron and Seana Jollo.

Sun. Aug. 16th - Annual TBT Picnic in the Park 12:00 noon at Pioneer Park Picnic Shelter, hosted by the TBT Men's Club.

Fri. Aug. 21st -  Erev Shabbat service  7:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, with guest songleader, Beth Hamon.  

Sat. Aug. 22nd - Bar Mitzvah of David Feldman   10:00 a.m. at First United Methodist Church.

Summer is flying by and we are busy planning for the next religious school year. New this year and part of our Sunday school programming will be family activities centered around some of the Jewish holidays. These activities will be a wonderful way for families to learn and celebrate together.

The religious school calendar and registration forms for the coming school year will be available on our website very soon. Watch for an email notifying you that religious school registration is open or just check our website.

As a reminder, we offer Sunday school classes for children Kindergarten through Bar/Bat Mitzvah (usually 7th grade). It is recommended that children start Hebrew school by eight years or third grade. This allows time to master basic Hebrew skills before it is time to begin preparing for Bar/Bat Mitzvah.

We look forward to seeing our returning students and families and warmly welcome our new students and their families.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Kathy Schindel

Religious Education Chair

The August heat can stop neither summer's end nor autumn's call.  Outdoor concerts and festivals fade, school bells and the sound of the shofar call the new year into our midst. 

The Hebrew month that begins during August is Elul, twenty eight days of opportunity to prepare ourselves for Rosh Hashanah. A lunar cycle dedicated to moving us from frolicking through our sparkling Central Oregon summer days to purchasing school supplies, setting up new routines, and if we take the time, thinking about what is truly important in our lives and how the New Jewish Year can usher in our best selves.

Enjoy the wild flowers before they are gone. Breathe in the warm high desert air before the chill lays plant life dormant and snow coats our seven peaks. Death and life go hand in hand. Winter's rest makes spring's rebirth wondrously appear. Decay literally nourishes the earth from which grasses sprout, trees grow, and cattle graze.  One chapter must end so that the next can begin. 

Two very special members of our congregation reached the end of their days this summer. Both in their ninth decade, both blessed with children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. We miss them dearly.

Ceil Hermann, a feminist before feminism was a word.  We so loved her strength, wit, and zest for enjoying life, and, we admired her relationship with Ann.

Rolf Beier, a most gentle gentleman. The improbability of his life story aroused wonder in us and taught us to embrace one another without presumption. 

Both children of the depression. Both veterans of World War II. Both witness to incredible change and transformation - in their own personal lives and in the world.

Many of our lives have been deeply influenced either by simply meeting or truly loving Ceil and Rolf. They were first and foremost true to themselves and their loved ones. But they were also both symbolic of the passing of time, the passing of old ideas and entire systems of governance. Ceil, a Jew in the deep South before the Civil Rights acts passed by Congress, a woman in sports, the military and business before Title IX. Rolf, a German conscripted into a cause he did not support who shortly thereafter met and loved a Jewish woman, raised Jewish children and, much later in life, became a Jew himself.

Our tradition teaches zichronam tsaddikim l'vracha...that the memories we choose to keep in mind, of kind and just people, serve as a blessing in our lives. Ceil and Rolf did their share of the sacred work of letting love and self-respect defeat hatred and judging others according to experience with them, their merit rather than labels or assumptions. 

We have learned from them as well as others whom we've loved and are now gone. In this moment, the task is ours to continue their labors. Remembering them is not simply recalling a snapshot in time and feeling the warmth of a smile that spontaneously follows. The blessing comes when we are better people because we knew the people we've bid farewell. The divine quality of love and evolution is to keep leaning in the direction of learning to love unconditionally, to accept one another wholeheartedly, and to make the world a better place for living. 

On August 1st, we will celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Ben Finestone. Then, on August 22nd, we will celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of David Feldman. These are the culmination of a remarkable ten months in which we have had six Bar and Bat Mitzvahs at Temple Beth Tikvah, all special and amazing - Jared Charney Cohen back in October, Sid Rafilson and Rebecca Uri on back-to-back Shabbats (a first for us) in June, and Sophie Chudowsky last month.  Six Bar and Bat Mitzvahs in the last year is almost as many as we have had in our previous six years of existence.

While a Bar or Bat Mitzvah is a very joyous occasion for family and friends, it is actually a service open to the entire community to share in the wonderful celebration with the family. If you haven't attended, I would definitely encourage everyone to join us for these special services. You will be inspired by the poise and capabilities of our young people. They put in a lot of work and preparation for their big day. But also, they receive a lot of support and encouragement from their parents, family, teachers, Rabbi, and congregation. It is a collective community effort to nurture our children to the point that they have the confidence and ability to lead a service, read from the Torah, and share a teaching moment with their community.

What personally comes to mind when I attend these services is realizing that I am seeing the future of our Jewish community. In twenty or thirty years, these young people will likely be leaders in congregations somewhere; maybe not here at Temple Beth Tikvah, but wherever their dreams and journeys take them.

Thinking back to when Temple Beth Tikvah was first founded, just seven and a half years ago, we did not have ANY formal religious education arrangement for our children. Since then, we have established a robust Sunday School and Hebrew School program; and excellent Bar and Bat Mitzvah training. But, we still have more that needs to be done.

Right now, a Bar or Bat Mitzvah is a culmination in the religious education of our children - giving them an understanding and appreciation of their Jewish identity and heritage, teaching them about Jewish holidays and values, instructing them in learning Hebrew and prayers and Torah, and preparing them to take on the responsibilities of becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah and entering the adult world.

It is now a new beginning for them in this adult world. Their Jewish identity will be tested by a secular society around them. They will be challenged and distracted by other important matters as they move on to high school, college, careers, families, and life in general.

Now is the time for Temple Beth Tikvah to develop a religious education and youth program that provides continued Jewish training and development for our young people, to help them better understand and prepare for the challenges they will face as adults. The Board has pledged to work with the Rabbi, families, and community, utilizing resources and ideas from the URJ and elsewhere to develop a program for our post b'nai mitzvah young people. As always, we need the support and participation from our members and community to make it happen. We have done so much to provide for the enrichment of our children, now we must take the next step to continue that enrichment for our new young adults.

B'Shalom,

    Mark Schindel

The Back Door Café's TBT kitchen crew served up breakfast to 85 men, women and children on Wednesday, July 22nd. Many thanks to Jeff Adler, Phyllis & Jerry Greenbach, Neil Pyne, Ann & Michael Rosenfield, Bonnie Ruby, Kathy & Lauren Schindel, Burt Litman & Jeanne Freeman.

Our next breakfast is August 26th at 7:30 a.m. Email Jeanne Freeman at [email protected] if you'd like to help out.

The next Bethlehem Inn Dinner is scheduled on Thursday, September 17th, when the TBT Men's Group serves up BBQ to the residents. If you'd like to participate with the group contact Fred Rafilson, Lawrence Schechter, or Ralph Uri. 

It's the Temple Beth Tikvah 

Annual Poker Tournament!

Wednesday, October 21st

Watch for more information coming soon.