December 2013

Rabbi Alan Berg

Cantorial Soloist

Ann Brown

Shabbat Services Fridays at 7:00 p.m.

at Beit Haverim

1111 Country Club Dr. Lake Oswego, OR

97034

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 311

Lake Oswego OR

97034

Beit Haverim Office

530 Fourth Street

Lake Oswego OR

97034

Rabbi’s Hours: by

appointment

Phone: 503-344-4839

Fax:: 503-344-4870

Email :

office@beithav.org

Website

www.beithav.org

Beit Haverim is an open, inviting, and spiritually alive Jewish communi-

ty, located just outside of Portland, Oregon in Lake Oswego. We welcome

everyone to our Reform congregation of Jews by birth, Jews by choice

Coming Events at Beit Haverim

5 Men’s Group 6:00PM At Nicoli’s Grill 6 Shabbat Service led by Rabbi Berg 7:00PM BH 7 Tot Shabbat led by Rabbi Berg-challah! 9:30AM BH Torah Study led by Rabbi Berg 10:00AM BH 8 Latke Making Party 2:00PM BH Religious School 2:30PM BH Hebrew Classes 4:30PM BH 10 Ladies Night 6:30PM At Szechuan Kitchen 11 Confirmation Class 6:00PM BH 13 Shabbat Service led by Ann Brown 7:00PM BH and Gabe Hunter-Bernstein 15 Religious School 2:30PM BH Board of Trustees Meeting 2:30PM BH Hebrew Classes 4:30PM BH 18 Confirmation Class 6:00PM BH 20 Shabbat Service led by Rabbi Berg 7:00PM BH and Ann Brown 21 Torah Study led by Rabbi Berg 10:00AM BH

Adult B’nai Mitzvah Program to Begin January 9 7 PM

Dear Friends, Beit Haverim will begin a new program on January 9

th

for temple members who are seeking, as adults, to become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. This program can be a wonderful journey into Jewish history, hol-idays, sacred texts and community. Above all it is an experience that can fill your soul with Jewish liveliness, and perhaps help you to explore per-sonal religious questions. Participation in the program means about an 18 month commitment to participate, and will include monthly study with the rabbi, some unique ac-tivities, and independent study over the summer. The class will be in English, but our text studies will assume that you can be able to read Hebrew when you begin the program.

As your bat or bar mitzvah service approaches, your work in He-brew, to prepare you for conducting the service and reading the Torah, and expanding your Jewish knowledge, will become more active. Students may decide to practice Hebrew with other class members or with a tutor. Beginning next fall, our students will be participating in or conducting, a Shabbat morning service once a month, led by the me. If you are thinking about the program, but have questions before our first meeting on January 9

th, please send me an e-mail. There will be

some elements of our programs that are familiar to an adult b’nai mitzvah experience, and a few that will be unique to our temple. I’ll present a full vision of the program at the 1

st session in January.

All the best to our temple community for a healthy and safe December and new year. Warmly, Rabbi Berg

December, 2013 Page 2

FROM Rabbi Alan Berg

Letter From Our President, Alan Cohen

December, 2013 page 3

I would like to thank everyone who made it out for our recent Congregational Meeting, where we got to let you know what your Board of Trustees has been doing, and where we are going. I especially would like to thank Karin Stolz and Gabri-elle Williams, who were elected by the congregation to the board, and to thank John Moss who will be leaving the board, for his service to the congregation.

With the almost unique combination of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah this year, one thing that will not be happening is a Hanukkah Dinner. Since the only Fri-day night service is right after Thanksgiving (when we do not have a service as so many of our families travel this time of year) it simply will have to wait until next year. However, that's not to say there won't be any Hanukkah celebrating going on at Beit Haverim. On Sunday, December 8th (yes, I know this is techni-cally after Hanukkah) the religious school will be having a latke party. Please consider joining us then. Even when we don't have events like Bagel Chats set up during religious school hours, they are great ways to have informal gather-ings. There are always people there to hang out with. This month, several of us will be getting together to see It's a Wonderful Life, at the Portland Center for Performing Arts. This is a 9 time PAMTA Award Winner, including Best Score and Best Song. For those that don't already know, Rabbi Berg is involved in that production as a lyricist. I had a chance to see it last week, it's a lot of fun! If you didn't get your tickets to go with us, I highly recom-mend you attend. Finally, I wanted to thank everyone involved with all the planning for the Thanksgiving Service / Joining Hands in Gratitude service we conducted with our good friends at LOUCC. Rabbi Berg and Cantor Brown participated, and it really was inspiring and lovely. Finishing the evening with Pie and Ice Cream sure didn't hurt! I am hopeful this will evolve into an annual event. For those traveling this month to spend time with family and friends, safe trav-els! Until next month, Alan Cohen

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Tikkun Olam “Repairing The World”

A note from our committee chair, Stacy Epsteen In November our congregation supported some worthy organizations. We collected mixed nuts as part of a Thanksgiving basket to be distributed through JFCS. Then we had an interfaith thanksgiving service "Joining Hands in Gratitude". During this service congregants from Beit Haverim and LOUCC brought MANY socks to be given to guests of Operation Nightwatch which is a non-sectarian night ministry for street peo-ple. There are no Tikkun Olam activities scheduled for December. However, we will be ready for some new events/activities in 2014. Please share your ideas for anything you would like to see in the new year. Stacy Epsteen

Beit Haverim and LOUCC Thanksgiving Service Joining Hands in Gratitude What a fun and inspiring event. Members of both Beit Haverim and LOUCC planned a great evening. We shared poetry and prayers and sang songs. Ann Brown, our cantor led the music and it was wonderful. Gary Davis, director of Operation Night Watch was the speaker and we collected 3 large baskets of socks. Listening to him and the work his organization accomplishes was very moving. We finished with pie and ice cream social. There were many smiles and some wonderful sharing by all who attended. It is definitely something we want to do again next year. Click here to view the Facebook Photo Album.

Beit Haverim Re-cap

December, 2013 Page 5

Beit Haverim Re-cap

Thanksgivukkah Jewish Family and

Child Services (JFCS)

The pre-b'nais spent the morning at Congrega-tion Neveh Shalom in Portland, participating with the Jewish community in a variety of projects to bring smiles to the needy and the young! Our students saw the incredible organization of dozens of volunteers working to assemble the ample makings of Thanksgiving meals for more than 1,000 needy Portlanders. Working side by side with teens from NCSY, a Jewish youth group, they packaged candles, dreidels, gelt and candle-lighting blessings for the more than 150 Thanksgivukkah food box recipients. The students then joined with Neveh Shalom students in a Chanukah sing-a-long. The majori-ty of their time was spent working with other 6th graders, guiding younger students through art

and baking stations. Our lucky boys helped make soofganiyot, and tasted one or two of their own. Our girls wo-manned the Menurkey (turkey menorah) stations, setting up and helping the littler ones in an incredibly responsible and positive manner. Our stu-dents well represented Beit Haverim - they are a group of mensches! - Sami "Thank you to everyone who were so generous with donating mixed nuts to help make a family in need have a festive Thanksgiving. We collected 153 which is 3 over what we needed." - Constance

Beit Haverim Families & B'Nai Mitzvah

students Participate in Jewish Family &

Child Services Thanksgiving Food Box

Packing. More Photos

Beit Haverim Men’s group

Thursday, December 5th, 6:00PM

“The Ninth Night of Chanukkah”

Nicoli’s Grill & Sports Bar (formerly Game Time/Players) 17880 SW McEwan Rd Lake Oswego, OR 97035

Tot Shabbat—Challah Theme! Led by Rabbi Alan Berg

Saturday, December 7, 9:30AM Beit Haverim, 1111 Country Club Dr. Lake Oswego, OR 97034

Welcoming all children and their families.

A fun-filled, casual service of songs and stories! This month our theme will be challah with songs and crafts! Enjoy Shabbat with your child and get to know other young families at Beit Haverim.

Shopping Earns Money For Beit Haverim

Beit Haverim Events

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The Beit Haverim guys enjoying a November night out.

Chanukah is here! Do you still have shopping to do? Amazon Shopping Earns $'s For Beit Haverim

Just use this link here when you make your purchases through Amazon and

Beit Haverim earns a percent of your spending. Be sure to share the link with family and friends - it really adds up!

Calling All Latke Mavens! Sunday, December 8, 2013, 2:00PM Beit Haverim, 1111 Country Club Dr. Lake Oswego, OR 97034 The Beit Haverim Religious School will be having a Latke Making Party. We need Latke Mavens (and those who would love to learn to make these tasty treats!) All you will need to bring is an electric frying pan (if you have one), a spatula or pan-cake turner, and, of course, an apron. Everything else will be provided! Please RSVP to Sue Greenspan ,503.691.0370 A fun way to help out the Religious School and learn a new Jewish Tradition!

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Ladies’ Night Tuesday, December 10, 6:30PM Szechuan Kitchen 15450 Boones Ferry Rd. Lake Oswego, OR 97035 503.699.5056 Near the intersection of Boones Ferry Road and Kruse Way We've eaten all the Thanksgiving Leftovers! The Chanukah Menorahs are put away. Visit with friends while being waited on. Come relax and enjoy a delicious Chinese Dinner at Szechuan Kitchen. Sit and kibbitz. Order what looks good to you. Separate checks.

Beit Haverim ladies enjoying a night out in October

Beit Haverim Events Cont’D

Beit Haverim Events, Cont’d

December, 2013 Page 8

Beit Haverim Blood Drive Friday, January 10, 2014 1:30PM—7:00PM Beit Haverim, 1111 Country Club Dr. Lake Oswego, OR 97034

Come for the cookies...stay to save a life. The need for blood is constant -- every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood. But blood cannot be manufactured – it can only come from generous donors. On Friday, January 10th, please donate an hour of your time at the Beit Haverim blood drive to save a life. To schedule a time to donate blood, click here and enter the Sponsor Code: Beit Haverim. Sign up early to get the time that works best for you. For those who plan to attend services that evening and would like to do-nate just prior, allow yourself one hour for the entire donation process. If you've never donated before and are unsure if you are eligible, click here for details on eligibility, or call 1-866-236-3276.

Prayers For Healing

Please say a Mi Sheberach, prayer for healing for Murray Kay, father of Beit Haverim member, Robin Kay.

Community News and Notables Help us share community news and notables in a new section in the monthly newslet-ter. Each month we'll include community members' simchas and acknowledgments of life event struggles and condolences. Let us know if you received an award/honor, earned a promotion, welcomed a new ad-dition to your family, celebrated a special anniversary or occasion, are mourning a spe-cial person or healing from an illness or surgery. Email Gabrielle Williams (photos welcome) or call the office at 503-344-4839. We hope to hear from you!

Spring Fundraising Committee

Are you interested in getting more involved in the synagogue? We are looking for a Chair for the Spring Fundraiser. Please contact Alan Cohen if you are interested.

December, 2013 Page 9

Volunteer Opportunity Opportunity knocks!

Looking for someone to help with a project that is both Social Justice and an Interfaith effort. We are co-sponsoring with LOUCC a photo exhibit on February 9, 2014, called “Coming Out As A Person of Faith”. This exhibit is sponsored by Oregon United For Marriage. We need representatives of Beit Haverim to work with LOUCC to help plan this event. Most of the planning will take place in the next couple of months, with a couple of meetings. This is a great way to be more involved with our temple while supporting a worthwhile cause. Please call or email me Stacy Epsteen.

More News

Beit Haverim Geniza A geniza (a place where Jews store sa-cred objects/documents when they fall out of use) is established for the Beit Haverim community. This geniza is maintained in a congregant’s home, since Beit Haverim does not have its own property and since the BH office is closing. (When sufficient quantity of material warrants, the contents of the geniza in the congregant’s home will be removed and placed in the ground in a location yet to be determined.) Items submitted for containment in the geniza are, per the Talmudic reference to this requirement and per traditional Jewish practice, permanently remain there and are not again used, examined or retrieved for any purpose. The BH Board Ritual Commit-tee is responsible for overseeing the geniza function. Material requiring storage in the geniza meets all of the following criteria: 1. Served a sacred purpose and/or there is sanctity ascribed to it. Therefore, a He-brew newspaper would not require placement in the geniza. 2. Written in Hebrew and/or has God’s Hebrew name (Tetragrammaton) in it, if it is a document. 3. Written by a Jew, if it is a document. 4. It is no longer usable, namely that it is falling apart and/or is irreparably damaged. Therefore, material that is out of date but still useable (such as a prior edition of a prayer book) could still be in circulation. Examples of materials requiring storage in the geniza are damaged Torah scrolls, damaged tallit or tefillin, damaged prayer books, bibles or other sacred texts, dam-aged haggadot. Where material that is no longer useable and has sanctity ascribed to it but does not seem to meet all of the above criteria, but where a congregant would like it consid-ered in any case, the Ritual Committee is designated to review the matter and advise the Board as to whether to accept the material for placement in the geniza. Congregants who have materials they would like considered for geniza placement may contact Sue Greenspan, Chair of the Ritual Committee. Thank You to Barbara Brady for bringing this sacred project to fruition.

December, 2013 Page 10

More News

Beit Haverim is a co-sponsor of Eighth Annual Weekend in Quest

February 28, March 1-2 2013 Astoria, OR

A Shabbaton of study and fun at the beautiful Oregon Coast Dr. Ellen Eisenberg Professor at Willamette University Department of History Topic: Go West, Young Mensch! Presented by The Institute for Judaic Studies For more information, or contact Mimi Epstein , 503-203-2671

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"It's A Wonderful Life"

A musical adaptation of Frank Capra's film by Janet Mouser

Music and Lyrics by Michael Allen Harrison,

Alan Berg and Julianne Johnson-Weiss

Rabbi Berg joined together with Michael Allen Harrison and Julianne Johnson-Weiss to create an award winning score for

“It’s A Wonderful Life”

An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like

if he never existed.

Portland Center for the Performing Arts Brunish Theater 1111 SW Broadway Portland, Oregon Performances continue through December 22, 2013 Tickets and Information: Portland Tribune/Lake Oswego Review The Oregonian 9 Time PAMTA Award Winner Including Best Score and Best Song

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More News

Bar Mitzvah Suit Closet Reduce – Reuse – Recycle!

Beit Haverim is launching a Suit Closet Bring in your rapidly growing boy to borrow a suit for any synagogue occasion. We only ask that you dry-clean any borrowed item before

returning it. This clothes closet benefits those in need AND lets us recycle through re-use. We are currently in need of donations of clothes in “like-new” condition, including belts and shoes as well. Girls clothes are welcome for donation too!

If you have something to contribute, or if you would like to check out our collection for your own son’s use, please call Rita Sherman at 971-295-6884 or email .

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Beit Haverim At Your Fingertips!

Did you know that Beit Haverim offers a secure Member’s Only Section of the Web Site? You’ll find useful information there such as our membership directory.

Visit Membership to learn how to obtain access to the Member’s Only.

While we’re talking about on-line tools, don’t forget to Like the Beit Haver-im Facebook Page! It’s a great way to be reminded of upcoming events and

see some great pics of your community! Beit Haverim On Facebook

Pet Loss Support

Our member, Sharon Rose, is offering pet loss support for other members of Beit Haverim. Sharon is certified to do this.

If you need some help, you can just call or email Sharon and she will be happy to talk with you as you go through your grief process. Email Sharon or call her at (503) 352-5045

More News

Jewish Overnight Camp

Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, in partnership with the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC), has made a commit-ment to provide over $300,000 in incentive grants for chil-dren who wish to attend ANY approved Jewish overnight camp over the next four years. FJC is the national organization dedicated to nonprofit Jew-ish overnight camping and access to vibrant Jewish experiences for campers. In 2006, FJC initiated a pilot program called the Campership Incentive Program – now called One Happy Camper – due to the generosity of an anonymous donor. The pro-gram was created with the singular mission of increasing the number of children bene-fiting from the transformative experience of Jewish summer camp. Aimed at attracting new campers, the program provides financial incentives – typically $1,000 – to first-time campers to motivate parents to choose Jewish summer camp over other summer options. FJC provides matching grants to our Federation to finance the One Happy Camper program. The formula begins as a one-to-one match in the first two years of the pro-gram and recedes thereafter. Our Federation will operate and fund the program inde-pendently starting the fourth year. The program in Portland will begin on December 1, 2013. This year, the Jewish Fed-eration will provide 60-75 incentive grants for first-time campers from the Greater Port-land area. These grants will be $1,000 for children attending camp for 19+ days or $700 for children attending camp for 12-18 days. It is very simple to do – enroll in an overnight Jewish camp and visit One Happy Camper to fill out the online application. The Jewish Federation will take care of the rest. Any questions, please contact Bob Hornstein at 503-245-6219. It is important to note that the national One Happy Camper program does not provide incentive grants to children who attend Jewish day schools. The Jewish Federation’s Board of Directors recognizes that day school families also benefit from the overnight Jewish camp experience so an additional $10,000 in incentive grants are available to day school students attending Jewish overnight camp for the first time. The Jewish Federation is expanding first-time camp opportunities to as many children as possible. We are following the lead of B’nai B’rith Camp which has generously pro-vided incentive grants for many years. To learn more about your camp options, attend the Jewish Camp Fair at the MJCC on Sunday, January 12, 2014, or in the interim click here to explore camp options coast to coast. We believe that more children experiencing Jewish overnight camp will build a more positive Jewish future!

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More News

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More News

In the Beit Haverim Community

Anniversaries

Linda Fuchs 12/5/2013

Jo-Ann & John Moss 12/9/2013

Fariba & Mark Mutschler 12/18/2013

Carmit & Mark McMullen 12/20/2013

Judy & Bob Silverforb 12/30/2013

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Yahrzeits Adolf Newman 12/1/2013 Grandfather of Constance Dorreman Norman Greenspan 12/2/2013 Father of Dan Greenspan Harry Newman 12/4/2013 Father of Mark Newman Ruth Boro 12/5/2013 Mother of Leslie Bratschi Jesse Levine 12/6/2013 Father of Gail Feinstein Paul Wiegler 12/6/2013 Father of Barry Wiegler Sarah Berkowitz 12/7/2013 Mother of Hannah Berkowitz Sarah Abrams 12/8/2013 Mother of Barbara Gold, Grandmother of Janet Sahni Norman Cohen 12/10/2013 Father of Carol Cohen Leonard Yospe 12/10/2013 Husband of Florence Yospe Wayne Hamilton 12/13/2013 Remembered by Barry & Deanna Wieg-ler Leela Donley 12/14/2013 Mother-in-law of Constance Dorreman Birty Trullinger 12/16/2013 Business Partner of Patt Bilow Irene Olson 12/17/2013 Mother of Brian Olson Marlen Rabiroff 12/17/2013 Father of Robin Rabiroff Sandra Kalik 12/19/2013 Mother of Allan Kalik David Trosty 12/24/2013 Son of Francia and Ronald Trosty Marvin D. Bordy 12/25/2013 Father of Stephanie Lipman-Dagoberg David Clarke 12/25/2013 Brother of Janice Clarke-Reiter Delmer Waldo Sanders 12/26/2013 Grandfather of Steve Sanders Frances Berman 12/27/2013 Mother of Alan Berman Shirlee Berman 12/27/2013 Wife of Alan Berman Ruth Macovsky 12/30/2013

Birthdays

Deanna Wiegler 12/1/2013

Mark Lewinsohn 12/4/2013

Michael Mutschler 12/6/2013

Lester Deasis 12/7/2013

Gabriel Langhaus Moss 12/7/2013

Daniel Greenspan 12/8/2013

John Moss 12/9/2013

Kyle Alan Landskroner 12/13/2013

David Perlstein 12/13/2013

Barbara Brady 12/18/2013

Brian Schwartz 12/18/2013

Edyn Pilkington 12/20/2013

Steve Sherman 12/20/2013

Patricia Lichtenstein 12/21/2013

Mary Maxwell 12/24/2013

Mitchell Blatt 12/27/2013

Sidra Leah Cohen-Mallon 12/29/2013

Cathy Newman 12/29/2013

Linda Fuchs 12/30/2013

Logan Spear 12/31/2013