הקשר HaKesher
TBT's Newsletter: The Connection
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Come be a part of our growing Reform synagogue.
All are welcome!
Temple Beth Tikvah is pleased to welcome our newest members:
Ruth (Ricci) Stephenson & Allan Detrick
Cathy Nygren
Wendy & Tony Hynes and daughters Audrey & Adelaide
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EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The following Events are held via Livestream or Zoom unless otherwise noted:
September 6 - 7:00 pm Erev Rosh Hashanah Service
September 7 - 10:00 am - Rosh Hashanah Service
September 7 - 3:00 pm - Tashlich (in person)
September 12 - 2:00 pm - Kever Avot (in person)
September 13 - 11:00 am - Board Meeting
September 15 – 7:00 pm - Kol Nidre Service
September 16 - 10:00 am - Yom Kippur Morning Service
September 16 - 11:45 am - Yizkor and Neilah Service
September 16 - 3:00 pm - Yom Kippur Adult Learning
September 24 - 5:30 pm - Sukkot Tisch at Shalom Bayit (in person)
September 24 - 4:00 pm - Rhythms in Jewish Living
September 28 - 6:00 pm - Simchat Torah Trivia Night
CHEVRUTA
"The Mussar Torah Commentary"
Via Zoom
Weekly on Sundays 9:00 am - 10:15 am 9/5, 9/12, 9/19, 9/26
JEWISH WELLNESS INITIATIVE
Via Zoom
Fridays 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm - 9/3, 9/10, 9/17, 9/24
ON THE HORIZON
Moral Courage Group resumes in October
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President's Message
Kerrie Zurovsky
With the High Holy Days fast approaching, I feel called to talk about resiliency. For me, the past 17 months have been one gigantic lesson in flexibility. Have I adapted well to every new situation? Absolutely not. Have I shed a tear over almost every sudden plot twist in this crazy chapter of our lives? Absolutely. As a mom, wife, business owner and now TBT president, my own emotions don’t always get the full attention and acknowledgement they deserve. Isn’t that the way?
Personally, I have felt the last few months to be even more difficult than spring 2020. Are we heading out of the woods? Still in the woods? Why are some people out of the woods and others not so much? And why is there so much yelling? I want to take time to sit with my thoughts and simply PROCESS. But life - work, raising kids, travel with family, college visits for my son, a daughter starting middle school, the list goes on - does not leave much time for sitting with feelings and just…being.
Still, I love this time of year when it’s still warm enough to enjoy everything about a Central Oregon summer, but there is enough of a chill in the air to start thinking about fall and pumpkin spice everything and yes, new beginnings. Resiliency has been an ongoing theme in my life (story for another time…), but as the summer comes to a close and fall begins to appear and the High Holy Days bring us all a chance at forgiveness and renewal, I want to commit myself and all of us to the endeavor of resilience. We cannot recover and grow from difficult situations without properly caring for our souls and our emotions. This month, I urge everyone, myself included, to take the necessary time to care for ourselves, to think about what we’ve been through and how it has affected us, and to envision where we want to go from here and how we want to get there.
Being resilient is thought of as a compliment, but to make this true, we must go through the process in a healthy and self-loving way. This is my wish for all of us as we enter the High Holy Day season. May we all be resilient enough to understand what has happened, make peace with it all, and eagerly await the next chapter.
B'virkat Shalom
Kerrie
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Divrei Tikvah
From Rabbi Johanna Hershenson
It is hard to believe the summer season is waning and autumn is filling the void. Crisp, cool mornings warmed by the sun finding its shorter path across the sky. Clear nights and stars. Final preparations for the start of the school year. And, the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.
How I fantasized gathering in person this year. In May I vaccinated and felt liberated and safe. So many of us visited family we had not seen in over a year. Our congregation has frolicked in local parks, gathering outside to notice the Sabbath eve or end and look at each other’s faces, unmasked. We were supposed to launch Temple Beth Tikvah’s Bar Mitzvah year, together, come Rosh Hashanah. And we will. Only, via screens once again.
I have noticed in conversations with TBT members and leaders as well as in my clinical practice at Bend Counseling and Biofeedback, that many of us are shaken yet again. We are disappointed in the Covid numbers. The Delta variant has usurped the confidence we felt at the start of summer. Predictions for the fall are unsettling at best.
The divisiveness that spoiled our engagement in our democracy and current events has spilled into our public health buy-in and participation. Central Oregon’s Clergy for Justice, who committed ourselves to deescalating conflict at last year’s Black Lives Matter gatherings, has committed our public service, this season, to school board meetings in an effort to deescalate conflict between anti-masking and anti-vaccinating parents and schools trying to keep kids safe.
The bottom line is that Oregon’s hospitals and clinics are either bursting or close to bursting. If they are handling Covid patients it is at the expense of non-urgent procedures and medical attention. Our health care workers are reporting that they are exhausted, teetering on the edge of burn out, angry, and see no light at the end of the tunnel.
The science has suggested all along that vaccinations would likely require boosters in the future, yet as the supporting evidence is coming in and proving what was predicted, we still feel like the carpet was pulled from beneath our feet. Testimony that in the midst of chaos, our minds can only hold on to so much information.
Local churches, including First Presbyterian, have delayed their projected September openings. Bend Church even linked several small summer-time gatherings to small outbreaks of positive tests among their members.
We have no choice, but to livestream our High Holy Day services this year. Please know that while some of us are relieved and others disappointed, we are doing our very best to improve our virtual connection. We know that attending Kabbalat Shabbat Zoom gatherings was nice, if not really satisfying. We noticed the numbers of participants dropped off as the year unfolded.
Our livestream will differ from last year’s prerecorded offerings for the High Holy Days. First of all, it will be live. I will gather with the musicians and limited service participants and conduct the services in real time. While the recordings of the services will be available later, please know the livestream is the best way we can build community given our responsibility to the safety and wellness of everybody during a pandemic. I need to know you are there. I promise to craft our virtual experience to move us into optimism for riding the chaotic waves and finding strength. Riding the waves and tapping into our innate resilience is the foundational theme of the High Holy Day season. I think we need to reconnect more than ever.
To a hopeful Jewish new year, shanah Tovah.
Rabbi's office hours are by appointment.
Click here to schedule a Zoom meeting.
Click here to schedule an in-person office meeting (115 NW Oregon Ave, Suite 26 - on second floor, stairs only)
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High Holy Days
September 6-September 16
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Join us in celebration of the High Holy Days!
For information, a complete listing of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Service times, go to:
Both evening and morning Rosh Hashanah services will be virtual with Rabbi Johanna and our wonderful musicians streaming live from the sanctuary.
• Tashlich will be in person (outdoors, masked and distanced) with a shofar sounding every 15 minutes.
• Kever Avot will be in person (outdoors, masked and distanced) at the cemeteries.
• Yom Kippur evening service will be virtual with Rabbi Johanna and our musicians streaming live from the sanctuary
• The Yom Kippur morning service will be live-streamed from the sanctuary as well, and will include the yizkor service and the end of the Neilah service.
• Yom Kippur adult learning will be held on Zoom
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New Adult Learning Offerings at TBT! |
As Temple Beth Tikvah enters into our Bat Mitzvah year, Rabbi Johanna Hershenson is offering several new adult learning opportunities to deepen our knowledge of Jewish ceremony & ritual as well as our sense of community together.
For 2021-2022, we encourage everyone to participate in the Jewish Wellness Initiative, TBT’s own Learner’s Minyan, and a course titled “Rhythms in Jewish Living”.
See the weekly Happenings for more details.
Jewish Wellness Initiative
Every Friday
Next meeting: September 3
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Zoom
We feel better in life when we feel understood. Many of us in Temple Beth Tikvah share personal and familial challenges, but we tend to navigate them alone. How do we in Temple Beth Tikvah discover one another through our shared concerns or worries? What would it feel like if we had an opportunity to hear each other’s stories? Could we find friends we didn’t know were right in our midst? Could we acquire insight and ideas that help us get a new perspective?
For the month of September, we will be exploring the topic, “Single in the Synagogue”.
Please sign up to receive the Zoom information.
Rhythms in Jewish Living
One Friday a month
Next meeting: September 24
4:00 - 5:30 pm
Are you interested in exploring the rhythms of the Jewish calendar? Join Rabbi Johanna Hershenson one Friday a month to learn more about Jewish holidays, synagogue and home rituals, and life cycle milestones.
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Friday, September 24
5:30 pm
Join Rabbi Johanna Hershenson and your TBT friends for a Sukkot Tisch (table) with food, music, ritual, and community. Bring your own dinner to enjoy in Congregation Shalom Bayit’s Sukkah, where we will wave the lulav and etrog, followed by music provided by a songleader.
To reflect on the new year, we will also participate in an art project, where we each write a prayer for the Jewish community going into 5782. Our colorful wishes will decorate the Sukkah for the community-wide event on Sunday! (see Community News below)
Masks will be required, even outdoors, per Governor Brown’s most recent mandate. As health safety measures change, updates will be included in the Happenings.
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Trivia Night for Simchat Torah |
Tuesday, September 28
Time to be Announced
In celebration of Simchat Torah— a time for joy and fun— join Rabbi Johanna Hershenson and your TBT friends for a Trivia Night!
More information coming soon in the weekly Happenings.
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Chevruta: Weekly Torah Study through the Lens of Musar Masters
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Sundays at 9:00 am - 10:15 am
Through Summer of 2022
Zoom
What is a Chevruta? Chevruta (pronounced chev-roo-ta) is a group of adults committed to lifelong Jewish learning together, where camaraderie and friendships are cultivated through discourse. A fitting name for TBT’s adult education group!
Each week, we explore the Torah portion through the lens of the Musar Masters. Musar is best described as a character development practice. Its rabbis taught that the ethics we derive from our sacred stories and legal codes call us to behave differently in the world and in relationship with others.
Come, let's study together!
See the weekly Happenings for the Zoom information.
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TBT Board Notes
Next Board Meeting: September 13, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.
Due to COVID-19, all board meetings are being held via Zoom. If you would like to attend, contact Lauralei Garrity at lauralei.garrity@gmail.com.
If you would like to read minutes of previous board meetings, you can request a copy from Board Secretary, Lester Dober at les36dob@gmail.com
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It’s Jan...and I’m happy to be back as Oneg coordinator and supply inventory and supply purchase person.
Onegs will look a bit different this year. Keep reading so you’ll be “in the know!”
Once we return to in-person Shabbats, your program committee invites our congregation to mix and mingle between our kinder Shabbat service with young children and our Erev Shabbat service for adults. Call it a proneg, a PRE-SERVICE ONEG! Or, call it Kabbalat Shabbat as we light candles and bless the fruit of the vine and challah. A few appetizers will be served to hold us through the service and d'var Torah until Friday night dinner at home or with friends.
This change will be simpler and less time on setup and cleanup.
As in the past, if I don’t have a volunteer, I may be calling you to bring some savories, such as cheese & crackers, fresh or dried fruit, nuts and so on. Of course we will have juice, wine and challah. We will slice the challah after it is blessed and something like nuts will be in portion cups, so all will be on the safe side.
Thank you for supporting our monthly onegs which will hopefully start again in October.
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October Newsletter Deadline: September 25th
This newsletter is emailed to both members and non-members each month. If you have something you want to include in the newsletter, please e-mail it to Eileen Katz: eileentam@aol.com by the 25th of each month for the following month's publication. As always, you will continue to receive "e-minders" before important events take place.
Shalom,
Eileen
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Congregation Shalom Bayit Community Sukkot Picnic |
Sunday, September 26
Save the date for a Sukkot picnic! More information to come! Keep an eye on weekly Happenings.
Please note that all in-person events are subject to change with shifting health safety measures regarding COVID.
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Temple Beth Tikvah gratefully acknowledges the following contributions:
- Larry Barker In Memory of Maurice Brostoff
- Bonnie Chaikind In Memory of Caroline Chaikind
- Tully Ellsberg In Memory of Nadine Hartley
- Rudy Gold In Memory of Harry Gold
- Chuck & Marilyn Shattuck In Memory of Rich Shattuck
- Ralph & Marcia Uri In Memory of Max & Frieda Uri
Donations listed above were made to the Temple's general fund unless otherwise specified.
You may honor the lives and achievements of friends and relatives via a tribute with a donation to TBT. You can do this online by clicking here, or by sending a check and the name and address of the person being honored to TBT at P.O. Box 7472, Bend, OR, 97708.
Donations may be designated to a specific fund, including:
- General Fund
- Gary Reynolds Memorial Fund
- Youth Education Fund
- Music Fund
- Special Projects Fund
- TBT's Goodwill Fund
- Social Action/Tzedakah Fund
- or the Corrie Grudin Memorial Fund
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Temple Beth Tikvah
P.O Box 7472
Bend, OR 97708
541-388-8826
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Your secure online donation to
Temple Beth Tikvah
is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your generosity.
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Celebrations in September honor the following:
Birthdays:
September 3
September 7
September 8
September 9
September 14
September 15
September 17
- Gustav (Gusty) Berger-Brown
- Rebekah Siegel
September 21
September 22
September 23
- Ed Chernoff
- Jeffrey Garon
- Leslie Garon
- Stephen Katz
- Alina Meinig
- Marilyn Shattuck
September 25
September 26
September 28
September 29
Anniversaries:
September 8
- Cere & Scott Fingerhut
- Sidney & Marcia Garon
September 12
- Michael & Cathy Wynschenk
September 13
September 19
- Suzanne Schlosberg & Paul Spencer
- Zac & Randi Zlatkus
Milestones:
- Congratulations to TBT member9 Tim Casinelli on his record ninth grand title at the 44th World Bodysurfing Championships in Ocianside, California!
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President:
Kerrie Zurovsky
Past President:
Sheila Luber
Vice President
Cere Fingerhut
Secretary:
Lester Dober
Treasurer:
Mark Schindel
Members-at-Large:
Jillian Frankl
Paul Spencer
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Budget & Finance
Chuck Shattuck
Membership
Sheila Luber
Program Oversight
Kathy Schindel
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Adult Learning
Mel Siegel
Bikur Cholim
Suzanne Schlosberg
Evie Lerner
Linda Brant
Calendar Keeper
Kathy Schindel
Chevra Kadisha
OPEN
Communications & Public Relations
Kathy Schindel
Sheila Luber
Fundraising
OPEN
Music
Julie Geveshausen
Newsletter
Eileen Katz
Onegs
Jan Freeman-Bauer
Program Coordinator
Lauralei Garrity
Religious Education
Melissa Wikler
Social Action
OPEN
Venue Logistics
Mark Schindel
Webmaster
Jeanne Freeman
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Your secure online donation to
Temple Beth Tikvah
is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your generosity.
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About Temple Beth Tikvah
For Jewish families, retirees and singles at every level of faith in Central Oregon, Temple Beth Tikvah provides a comforting embrace for the soul of your DNA. We are a dynamic Reform Jewish congregation with friendly, giving, active people drawn to Bend and Central Oregon because of the active lifestyle we find here.
We come together in different ways, inspired and informed by our common thread of Jewishness. Whether you were born Jewish, love someone who is Jewish or choose to be Jewish. Practice Judaism a little, a lot or not at all. TBT can serve as the heart of your vibrant, connected life.
We can be your primary source of friendship, purpose, spiritual and intellectual pursuit. Or a side note adding flavor and dimension how and when you want. Whichever you choose, TBT offers an inclusive, communal foundation on which to build your relationships, experiences and practice. From social activities to social action, worship to study, participation to leadership. It's your choice, in this community of yours.
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PO Box 7472
Bend, OR 97708
(541) 388-8826
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