www.orshalom.org                      415.469.5542         625 Brotherhood Way, SF CA 94132 
Or Shalom Weekly Newsletter
CALENDAR  HIGHLIGHTS - April-May 2019
A complete calendar is available at OrShalom.org 

Sun 4/21 12:00 pm Volunteer at the SF Marin County Food Bank
Details Below
Fri 4/26 6:00 pm Or Shalom Community Passover Seder
Details below, please RSVP
Wed 5/1 5:30 pm
Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Memorial Day
Memorial Service led by Bet Sefer Students
Fri 5/3
6:30 pm
Shabbat Seeha/ Home Hosted Shabbat Meals
Details below
Sun 5/5 10:00 am Sing Shalom
Wed 5/8 4:00 pm
Bet Sefer End of the Year Picnic
at Picnic Tables at Lake Merced,
1 Harding Rd, SF
Thu 5/9
7:00 pm
Domestic Violence Education Night in Honor of Or Shalom's Partnership with Shalom Bayit
Details below
Fri 5/10 7:30 pm Chant & Drum with BIJ
Count the 21st day of the Omer with OmerProject.org
Details below
Sat 5/11 10:00 am
Shabbat Service and Bar Mitzvah of Ananda White
Son of Seraph and Marshall White
Fri 5/17 6:30 pm Shabbat Kulanu
Honoring David Cohen-Tzedek
Dinner followed by a service
Sat 5/18 10:00 am
Shabbat Service and Bar Mitzvah of Zev Vestel
Son of Leora and Michael Vestel
Sun 5/19 6:00 pm
Break the Fast Iftar at B'nai Emunah
Details below
Fri 5/24 - Mon 5/27
Or Shalom Community Retreat
Details below
 
Or Shalom Community Retreat
Memorial Day Weekend - May 24-27, 2019
Walker Creek Ranch, West Marin County
Register by April 22!

We look forward all year to Or Shalom's Annual Community Retreat.   It's fun. It's spiritual. It's the best thing we do all year - no exaggeration.

This year we are having the retreat on Memorial Day weekend so we can still have plenty of programming -- Shabbat services, art and writing and music, swimming and hiking, Torah Study -- but with more just plain relaxing built in. You can stay all three nights or  come for a day or two.  

Scholarships are available to all members. Please contact the office to arrange.  The first 10 teens to sign up camp for free. There is still plenty of space for your teen!

Registration is now open.   Sign up here by April 22 for the best weekend of the year!
Join Or Shalom in Performing a Mitzvah at the SF Marin Food Bank
Sunday, April 21 at 12:00PM
900 Pennsylvania Ave, SF



Or Shalom had such a great time helping the Food Bank in February (we helped repackage  2100 pounds  of white rice for distribution) that we're doing it again in April.

We will participate on the stockroom floor, helping to organize the Food Bank's stock and parcel it out into manageable packages for distribution. Kids ages four and up are welcome to join in this act of Tikkun Olam, including friends that are not Or Shalom members!
Or Shalom Community
Passover Seder
Friday, April 26 at 6pm



Why is the Or Shalom Seder Different from all Other Seders?

Join us for a timeless exploration of freedom, slavery, and the living story of human liberation as it touches our lives in this moment.  Where else can you experience a seder with a little bit of everything?
  • Moving music
  • Relevant and thought-provoking discussion
  • Family Friendly elements for all ages
  • Amazing Vegetarian Food
  • Special Guests from other faith communities
  • Leadership from OS Social Action groups
  • Connection with fun, thoughtful, authentic searchers like yourself 
Would you like to be part of our Passover team?  Sign up here to volunteer! Many people are needed to make this a successful community event and your help is greatly appreciated.

Not sure what is allowed?  Check out the Or Shalom Kosher for Passover Guidelines here.  

Your RSVP is required by April 19.  Click here to RSVP

Shabbat Seeha/Conversations around the Shabbat Table
Friday, May 3 at Members' Homes at  6:30pm


Join your fellow congregants for a potluck Shabbat dinner at the table  for connection and conversation. The theme is Your Immigration Story. We will talk about how immigration has affected our families. Part of our focus will be on food memories from our mother countries.

If you can, bring a dish which reflects your family's immigration story.

Click here to RSVP.  W e will be creating a few dinners that are particularly child-appropriate, so please indicate ages as you RSVP. Please also indicate any serious allergies or dietary restrictions. Ages and dietary restrictions can be indicated in notes as you RSVP. 

Speaker from Shalom Bayit in Honor of
OS's Commitment to Stand with Survivors of Domestic Violence

Thursday, May 9 at 7:0 0pm


Come together with Or Shalom and Shalom Bayit to honor the completion of Or Shalom's Community Domestic Violence Response Policy.  A survivor from Shalom Bayit's community will come and share her story, followed by a brief teaching co-led by Or Shalom and Shalom Bayit with a dessert buffet. 

This evening is an opportunity to learn more about domestic violence as an issue and be proud of our work to stand with survivors in the Jewish community. If you have any questions about the event or the policy, please contact our Social Action Fellow Ezra Leventhal

Chant and Drum with Special Guests
from the Omer Project

Friday, May 10 at 7:30pm


Or Shalom and BIJ are coming together for their monthly Chant and Drum evening Shabbat service in May, but this month we will be joined by the Omer Project!  We will count the Omer, outside, at 9:00 pm, after the Shabbat Service and dessert oneg.  You are invited to join in the monthly Chant and Drum Shabbat Service, which begins at 7:30 pm; or join us afterwards to count the Omer!

The Omer Project is a San Francisco based Jewish group dedicated to counting the 49 days of the Omer on each of San Francisco's 49 numbered streets in the Sunset and Richmond. They will join us for services and we will count the 21st day of the Omer, and the Omer Project will teach us about this day's spiritual significance. 

If you are interested in counting the Omer with the Omer Project, learn more about them here!

Shabbat Kulanu in Honor of Former Music Director, David Cohen-Tzedek
Friday, May 17 at 6:30pm


Enjoy a Shabbat Kulanu dinner and service with a special focus on honoring David Cohen-Tzedek and his many years of musical service and inspiration at Or Shalom.

Blessing and dinner start at 6:30pm followed by a service around 7:15 pm. For meal planning, please   RSVP here.

Members of the Ensemble - Please sign up  here to let us know what you are bringing and what volunteer jobs you can do.

Ramadan Interfaith Iftar Dinner
"FINDING COMMONALITY"
Sunday May 19, 2019 at 7:00pm
Congregation B'nai Emunah 
3595 Taraval Street at 46th Avenue, SF


Please join the congregations of the South Side Jewish Collaborative for an Interfaith program followed by Iftar dinner in observance of the holy month of Ramadan and help create a peaceful society by getting to know each other.

6:50 pm - Registration and Socializing 
7:10 pm - Program 
8:10 pm - Break the fast followed by potluck vegetarian dinner
 It will fill up - please  RSVP Here!

Get Involved in a New Social Action Committee:
Sanctuary Or Shalom

Sanctuary Or Shalom is a new action group forming at Or Shalom to focus on a congregational-wide effort to support immigrants in detention or under threat of detention.  This group intends to create awareness and opportunities for action within the wider congregation and allow for more deeply engaged work for interested members. 

If you want to learn more or be part of the development of this new action group (without making a specific time or meeting commitment), please contact Leslie Roffman at leslier@littleschool.org.  The group is being guided by work within Faith In Action Bay Area and other local groups working with immigrants.

Check Out Rabbi Katie's Article in the J!
After the Israeli Election, What Do I Mean by "Next Year in Jerusalem"



When Jews said "next year in Jerusalem," they were not making pledges about their travel plans. They were expressing hope, exercising the redemptive imagination. Next year in Jerusalem - next year may we be safe at home, next year may we have the freedom to travel to our most sacred place... 
Reconstructing Judaism Juicy Tidbits

 


Baruch Dayan HaEmet: Remembering Emet Tauber
Learn more about the great teacher of Torah, LGBT and disability advocate, and 24 year old RRC student who passed away this past month. Learn more about Emet Tauber and his legacy here.


Are you ready for a fun, meaningful Passover, Reconstructing Judaism style? Get all the resources you need for the perfect Seder and more here!


Learn more about what's going on in the movement in their monthly newsletter
Social Action Corner  

To help free people of color from incarceration during this Passover season as part of an inter-synagogue effort supported by Sha'ar Zahav, Mission Minyan, The Kitchen and others, please donate to the  Bay Area Immigrant Bond Fund . This effort is sponsored by Sanctuary Or Shalom, a newly formed OS action group to support immigrants. Please contact Leslie Roffman at  leslier@littleschool.org to participate in this group or find out more.

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As part of this joint effort with the Interfaith Action Committee, you can also donate to   #FreeBlackMamas National Bail Out . If you would like to find out more about the Interfaith Action Committee, contact Margo Freistadt at ludstadt@gmail.com


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  • Get more news and events at Spark!, our Social Action Website
  • Still need to register for Spark? Email assistant@orshalom.org  and Ezra will get you started!
Mazel Tov to the Morenos on their New Baby!



Julian Miles Moreno was born on 3/28/19 at 3:09am. Both Mom and  baby  are doing well. Mazel Tov to Thea, Nicholas, and new big brother Maison Moreno!

Condolences

Or Shalom sends condolences to those in our community who have suffered recent losses.

Edit Doron, cousin of Charlie Varon
Make an Announcement to Or Shalom

Thinking about submitting an event for inclusion in the Or Shalom weekly email? We'd love to hear from you.
 
Please submit announcements 3 weeks in advance, with the appropriate RSVP information.  All non-official OS programs must meet the following criteria:
  • Doesn't conflict with an OS event 
  • Specifically relevant to the OS community
  • Has official OS  approval
All postings may be edited for content, format and/or length by office staff or volunteers.  For more information about getting an event listed, please contact Administrator Lillian Markind at admin@orshalom.org .


Or Shalom Jewish Community | assistant@orshalom.org | http://www.orshalom.org
625 Brotherhood Way
San Francisco, CA 94132