Bar Mitzvah Project

You are invited to check out Gusty’s first two official, privately released EPs of original music! They are part of his bar mitzvah fundraising. Donations for Wildheart Nature School are totally optional.  https://plazm.com/gustys-mitzvah-project/.  At the password prompt, enter “gusty.“

If you're not in the mood for music but would like to donate to the cause, head straight to:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/gustys-mitzvah-project-wildheart-scholarships

Shabbat Services March 8 & 9

Erev Shabbat Service

Friday, March 8, 6:30 pm

Please bring a snack to share at the oneg

Shabbat Morning Service

Saturday, March 9, 10 am

On March 8 and 9, Kim Schneiderman returns to Bend to lead our services and offer her beautiful music. You won't want to miss this!

Passover Seder

Save the Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024 for our TBT Seder!

The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Contested Histories Discussion - Coming in April

Hot off the presses, TBT's board has just approved the Adult Ed proposal for a TBT member-exclusive study and discussion series based on Neil Caplan's The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Contested Histories. Caplan's book, one in the Wiley-Blackwell Contesting the Past series, sheds new light and insight on how different people's differing narratives of their shared history exacerbate conflict, and how understanding where each is coming from can contribute to their conflict's resolutions.

Our program series will be preceded on March 16 by a Shabbat morning service and discussion in which Rabbi Hershenson's topic will be Realizing the Promised Land: History of the Modern Jewish State of Israel. Although it probably won't be feasible to hold our first session until early-mid April, it's not too early to tell us that you're interested and you want to participate. Contact: Mel Siegel 412-983-2626 mws@cmu.edu

Open Conversation on Israel-Palestine

Temple Conversation on Israel/Palestine

Date TBD and will be announced soon, 5-8pm

Potluck and facilitated conversation

As Jewish community members, we have felt a deep need for community and connection to reflect together about current events in Israel/Palestine. Join us for an intentional conversation where all members of the congregation are welcome to share how they are feeling, regardless of their level of knowledge of political history, or what their political perspectives are! 

Being able to rigorously disagree with each other, and still respect one another, is core to how we are. Without having community conversations on this topic, it is easy to make assumptions about what others believe, leading to further separation. This community conversation is for Temple Beth Tikvah members, and will be based on a tool from the Union of Reform Judaism called “How to Facilitate Productive Conversations about Hard Topics.”  

Please RSVP for the conversation by emailing Emma Ronai-Durning at eronaidurning@gmail.com. 

Childcare available! Please include numbers and ages of kids in your RSVP.

Upcoming...

Saturday, March 9 4:15 - 5:30 pm is the next Young Family Shabbat Service! Get details by RSVPing to Natalie: nhorwitz@bbcamp.com

TBT Board Notes

Next Board Meeting: Friday, March 8, 9 am

All board meetings are being held in person. Contact Cere Fingerhut if you want to attend. cere@bethtikvahbend.org

Your TBT Board meets monthly and members are invited to attend. Dates and times of Board meetings are on the TBT calendar at: https://bethtikvahbend.org/calendar/

If you would like to read minutes of previous board meetings, you can request a copy from Board Secretary, Kathy Schindel at kathy@bethtikvahbend.org

TBT Voices and Helpful Hands:

We Need You!

This week, as we’ve promised, our members will be receiving a survey from Temple Beth Tikvah. Before responding to the questions, you might want to know more about our committees and activities. Following are articles letting you know more about our plans and needs. Read on to learn about what’s happening at TBT, and then please share your skills and expertise. Tell us the things you love to do and the ways that you can participate with us. Let us know how you can contribute. We need people to share their hobbies at an adult-ed program. We want people who love to plan and organize. We need people who love to shop online for the best deals -- on horseradish for seder, chocolate gelt for Hannukah, and so much more! We need cooks and bakers, fundraisers, social activists, teachers, writers, craftsmen.

Please Help us Put the Fun in Fundraising

Today we need to secure Temple Beth Tikvah’s future – a synagogue where our senior members have a supportive community, our youngest members can find an inclusive community of Jews, and everyone has a place to support their Jewish journey.

Financial stability is required to ensure a strong congregation – now and for future generations. To help us grow strong, it’s time to have a fundraising brainstorming session and we need your expertise and ideas! If you have experience in fundraising and philanthropy or you’ve worked a charitable event, or even if you’ve just got ideas you’d love to share – please share your knowledge and sign up to participate.

Caring for Each Other

by Lester Dober

Why is TBT such a great place to belong to? One of the most important reasons is that we care about each other and look for ways to help each other. So much so, that we have a committee dedicated to helping – Bikkur Cholim. 

If someone is recovering from an illness, our “Meal Train” asks our members to assist them by delivering food to their home or offering transportation to an appointment. If you need help, all you do is ask and a message is sent to all our

members and they can sign up to assist you.

I can speak personally as I needed some help this past December when I suffered a heart attack. After getting home from the hospital, our wonderful members delivered dinner every other evening for almost two weeks. The food was delicious and it gave us the opportunity to meet members we did not know and to learn more about members we knew. Every person delivered a meal and stayed and talked with us. A few even had dinner with us. It made my recovery so much easier and took a lot of burden off my wife.

If you’d like to see this tradition continue, consider working with our Bikkur Cholim committee or maybe just help with a Meal Train some time. And please, if you ever are in need of help, remember that you have a Jewish family willing to help you out.

Here's who to contact:

If you, or someone you know, need help following surgery or due to an illness, please contact Suzanne Schlosberg, schlos1@gmail.com, Evie Lerner, evielerner60@gmail.com, or Ari Halpern, aridhalpern@yahoo.com. An email will be sent to TBT members requesting meals, transportation or visits based on individual needs.

Linda Brant, lindybrant@aol.com is in charge of needs for a single day such as a ride to a medical test or appointment. She is in the process of establishing a list of volunteers willing to help out. If interested in helping, please reach out to Linda.

Micah Slate, micahaslate@gmail.com is our first teen member of the committee. If you have a teen who would be interested in helping Micah, please let him know.

Social Action Update

Jeanne Freeman, Chair

Do you dream of putting your shop-class skills to use building houses with Habitat for Humanity. Or maybe you’d like to have a team walking for Heaven Can Wait. How about helping at Bethlehem Inn, NeighborImpact, or the High Desert Food & Farm Alliance?

Social Action has been a pillar of our TBT community since inception – from hands-on working in various food kitchens, to fielding a team at Relay for Life, to “Havdallahs with a Purpose” where we have learned about so many different worthy organizations while sharing a nosh with friends. Currently, coming out of isolation, we’re only working with Family Kitchen, a wonderful and worthwhile group. And now it’s time to expand our good deeds.

Where is your passion? Share your vision for Social Action and make a difference for our TBT members and the greater Central Oregon community.  

Adult Learning

Mel Siegel, Chair

Our Adult Education Committee has primary responsibility for keeping active programs moving forward, and for conceiving, developing, and launching new programs. We are fortunate and grateful that Rabbi Johanna is still in Bend, active in our community, and available to teach and guide us on an occasional basis.

Our congregation and our broader Bend area community are blessed with numerous individuals who have much to teach us. A substantial part of the Adult Education Committee's role has been to conceptualize and host enjoyable and stimulating programs presented by these "mavens" among us. In addition to supporting the Rabbi's teaching one-time, fixed series, and open-ended series events, we have organized one-of-a-kind programs in the context of Havdallah services and Sunday evening get-togethers with our local mavens. We also enjoyed watching Jewishly-themed movies and after-film discussions.

The Adult Education Committee is actively and seriously seeking "new blood," so if you are interested, or even maybe just a little interested in joining us, please let me know about that too. Even if you're not able to join in the committee's work, we would welcome your ideas for specific programs, or even just broad topics that would attract your interest. Contact: Mel Siegel +1 412 983 2626 mws@cmu.edu

High Holy Day Committee

Chair Kathy Schindel

Have you been inspired by TBT’s High Holy Days Services? Was it the beautiful music that resonated with you? Perhaps you were moved by the Rabbi’s sermons. Did you enjoy Tashlich and the delicious picnic Rosh Hashanah afternoon? Were you just happy to gather with fellow Jews? Whatever your motivation, we can use your help.

TBT’s High Holy Days services and related events are both the most well-attended each year, and those requiring the most help from our member volunteers. There are opportunities like baking for the Erev Rosh Hashanah oneg or helping with the Break the Fast after Yom Kippur. Perhaps you could be a greeter at the services or help with check-in. If you enjoy connecting personally with members, you might want to volunteer to recruit our member service participants. And we always appreciate help with setting up the sanctuary and then returning it to the way we found it.

Always know that if you volunteer for a task, you will be given support and guidance and much appreciation. Oh, and if you would like to read a short Torah part at High Holy Days services, please let us know.

Passover Committee

The Passover committee looks forward each year to putting on a Seder for more than a hundred members and their guests. With years of successful seders, we have our work well planned. We are always looking for new members to join the committee – from finding boxes of matzoh and enough shank bones for all the tables, to creating the invitations and organizing our reservations, to arranging the cooks and bakers who assist making charoset and baked goods -- there’s plenty of work for many hands. Whatever skills you can bring to helping are welcome to the Passover committee.

Jewish Holidays

Celebrating and Sharing Traditions Together

Judaism gives us so many chances to celebrate and so many opportunities to bring our community together! From dreidl spinning and Paul Spencer’s Latke-Making Team, to Sukkah building and decorating, to Hamantaschen and Purim carnivals.

These “minor” Jewish holidays are a major and joyful way to bring our multi-generations together. They let our youngest members know that there are lots of people celebrating just as they do.

If you love event planning or have only a little time to give; if you’d enjoy working on a single, small event or you have a backyard in which to build the Sukkah; if you can bake hamantaschen or hold a dreidl-making workshop – whatever talent and experience you can bring, to whichever holiday is your favorite – we’d love to have you join us in planning and celebrating our Jewish holidays. 

Finance Committee

Chuck Shattuck, Chair

Every year at our annual TBT meeting, the Board president presents the budget for the following fiscal year. Have you ever wondered who created the budget or who is providing fiscal oversight? Those jobs, among others, fall into the purview of the TBT Finance Committee. This committee’s responsibility is to provide insight to the Board on key financial matters and trends. We create the annual budget and create, review, and oversee legal agreements and make recommendations to the Board. We review committee requests for funds and provide education and support to committee chairs. Our current and past treasurers are standing members of this committee, but we rely on temple volunteers to fill other seats. If you have leadership, financial, management and analytical skills and are looking for volunteer opportunities within our TBT community, please reach out to me. We’re looking for members for our next fiscal year beginning in July. Please contact Chuck Shattuck: ckshat@aol.com.

Member Engagement Committee

The purpose of Member Engagement is to help new members find others in the community who will be their connection to TBT, to Judaism, and to other members. Our process is to create a network of people in TBT to connect with each new and prospective member. Our hope is to engage new members in participating and ultimately volunteering in our community to secure their connection to us. We try to meet new members in person, deliver gift bags, answer questions, and find out about skills, experience, and interests. We also try to develop programs for the integration and retention of all members, while encouraging everyone to become active participants. We plan 1-2 new member socials each year, as well as a fun member gathering open to all members. If interested, please contact Kerrie kerrie@bethtikvahbend.org

Games Club: March 24

Learn a new game or play an old favorite! Join us occasionally or every month.

The member games club meets monthly on Sunday afternoons at a private home

Please email Suzanne Schlosberg at schlos1@gmail.com or Evie Lerner at evielerner60@gmail.com to receive an invitation.

Market of Choice: Thank you!

Continued thanks to Market of Choice for donating a monthly challah bread for our services.

April Newsletter Deadline: March 24th 

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 Sharon Maier-Kennelly 

sharon_maier@yahoo.com for the following month's publication. As always, you will continue to receive "e-minders" before important events take place.

Taizé Service

Next Taizé: March 7

The Taize Choir of Central Oregon invites you to participate in an hour of meditative non-denominational Taize music, prayer, and silence at our monthly ecumenical service, 7pm, Thursday, March 7, at Trinity Episcopal Church (St. Helens Hall), 231 NW Idaho, Bend.  The theme for this service is 'Healing amongst Faith Traditions.' 

You are welcome to participate in or listen to our rehearsal starting at 6:15.

For more information call 541-815-5574, email taizebend@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071919285548

We will recite Kaddish at our service this month for:

• Sheri Trachman
• Gloria Marie Koch
• Marilyn Magid
• Mark Kraski
• Claire Osborne
• Gustav Berger
• Woodrow Miller
• David Senescu
• Leo Grudin
• Phillip Taylor
• Nathan Shlim
• Nathan Strauss
• Max Walhof
• Lillie Mae Winecoff
• Alsey Tolleson
• Stanley Enker
• Kahan Samuel Sol
• Leon H. Litman
• Obie Malorius
• Chester Bonder
• Jeri Phillips
• Paul Phillips
• Sharon DeMarco
• Beatrice Richman
• Carol Rosen

Temple Beth Tikvah gratefully acknowledges the following contributions from:

• Lester & Diane Dober for their donation to the music fund in memory of Stanley Dober, Ida Livstone and Goldie Dober
• Jeanne Freeman and Burton Litman in memory of Philip Freeman
• Merilee Silverstein in memory of David Rifkin and Albert Silverstein
• Burton Litman and Jeanne Freeman in memory of Bertha Litman
• Mark & Kathy Schindel in memory of Nathan Bernstein
• Bradley Wayne Brice for their general donation
• Jana Zvibleman in memory of Bruce Marben
• Randi & Zac Zlatkus in memory of Irving & Sheri Trachman

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
• Rabbi Hershenson Anniversary Fund
• Gary Reynolds Memorial Fund
• Youth Education Fund
• Music Fund   
• Special Projects Fund
• TBT's Goodwill Fund
• Social Action/Tzedakah Fund
• The Corrie Grudin Memorial Fund