High Holiday briefs

Bring smiles to Cedar Sinai Park seniors with shofars & cards

Cedar Sinai Park has two opportunities for volunteers to bring smiles to the senior living campus in Southwest Portland. CSP Spiritual Life Coordinator Cathy Zheutlin suggests shofar blowing and holiday cards to lift spirits during these times of isolation from family and friends.
Throughout Elul, she encourages people of all ages to bring their shofar and sound the ram’s horn to herald the coming of the new year. (Contact her for times.)
She also invites you, your kids and grandkids to show our elders love and support by creating Happy New Year cards for the seniors and adults with disabilities who live at Cedar Sinai Park. After five months of separation from family and friends, receiving a simple handmade card makes a huge impact – it warms the heart and dispels feelings of loneliness and isolation.
You can make a difference by sending love to our elders. Create a handmade card or letter with best wishes for continued health and cheer. Address the card “From our family to you and yours!” Drop off or deliver your card(s). Mailing address is 6125 SW Boundary Street, Portland, OR 97221. If you decide to drop off your cards, take them to the main entrance at Rose Schnitzer Manor (6140 SW Boundary) and call the reception desk (503-535-4000) to ask them to come outside and get the cards. 
For questions about participating in either mitzvah, contact Cathy at 503-535-4038 or cathy.zheutlin@cedarsinaipark.org

Chabad brings shofar-blowing ceremonies to parks

As Rosh Hashanah approaches on the eve of Sept. 18, most people who ordinarily attend High Holiday services will be unable to attend synagogue in person this year due to COVID-19.
Blowing the shofar, as the Jewish people have done for millenia, is a central mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah, so Chabad has arranged Shofar in the Park ceremonies in several local parks. 
To help people mark the holiday safely, yet in person with the community, Chabad Centers throughout Portland are offering safe, family-friendly, Shofar in the Park ceremonies on Sunday, Sept. 20. At each location, the 20-minute ceremony will be held multiple times throughout the day, to ensure smaller groups and proper social distancing. Facemasks will be available as well.
The thought of Rosh Hashanah passing without hearing the simple wail of the shofar is hard to imagine for many, including Chaya Orenstein, co-director of Tigard Chabad Jewish Center. “I’ve heard the shofar on Rosh Hashanah every year since I was a baby,” she says. “Even before I was old enough to really understand much, I knew that sound signified the beginning of the new year.” 
The blast of the horn has been likened to a spiritual wake-up call, a declaration of freedom and a signal of renewal. 
“We are looking forward to an uplifting event, when community members can come together to be inspired as we enter the New Year with hope and faith,” says Rabbi Chaim Wilhelm, director of Chabad of Northeast Portland. “This year, when we are beset by public and personal challenges, we are glad to enable people to experience a safe and meaningful Rosh Hashanah in person.”
Chabad of NE Portland will host events at both Grant and Laurelhurst Parks. To preregister, select time and park at 
JewishNortheast.com/shofarinthepark.
 The events are free. For a list of parks where other Chabad Centers will host shofar-blowing ceremonies, contact Rabbi Chaim Wilhelm: 503-309-4490, Rabbi@JewishNortheast.com.

Shofar Across Oregon/SW Washington Sept. 20

The Oregon Board of Rabbis will host Shofar Across Oregon and SW Washington on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.
The sound of the shofar has been used by Jews to spread news of a holiday or important messages, whether they are of trouble or triumph. This year the sound of the Shofar is a cry for hope. 
The OBR together with the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland invites you to blow your shofar outside your home together with Jews across our region. Go outside the second day of Rosh Hashanah at 4 pm, Sunday, Sept. 20. Blow your shofar or simply listen. 

Oregon Board of Rabbis hosts evening of Selichot study and prayers

The Oregon Board of Rabbis will host a community-wide virtual Selichot program the evening of Sept. 12. Join this evening of learning, reflection and prayer as we prepare to welcome the year 5781.  
“Selichot, literally Forgiveness, are the penitential prayers and poems that are added to the daily morning prayers,” says OBR President Rabbi Eve Posen. “The custom is based on a legend portraying King David as troubled over how the Israelites will be able to truly atone for their transgressions. God responds by advising him that the people should confess their sins by saying poems and prayers of penitence. Sephardim offer selichot prayers the entire month of Elul.  Ashkenazim hold the practice of beginning at the end of Shabbat on the last Shabbat of the year as that was the first moment of creation."
Register online to receive a Zoom link (link to be emailed by noon, Sept. 11) to participate in these sessions: 
6:45-7:30 pm, Rabbi Elizabeth Dunsker, “Good vs. Evil” 
7:30-8:15 pm, Rabbi Ariel Stone, “Why Black Lives Matter to Jews: Atoning for White Supremacy”
8:15-9 pm, Rabbi Joshua Rose, “Forgiving God: Thirteen Attributes and the Heart of Teshuvah”
9-9:45 pm, Rabbi Abby Cohen, “T’shuvah and Self-Compassion” 
9:45-10:30 pm, Rabbi Barry Cohen, “In Order to Heal: Line up our Mind, Heart and Hand”
10:30-11:15 pm, Selichot Prayers: Rabbi Dunsker & Rabbi Bressler
11:15 pm-midnight, Rabbi Philip Bressler, TBA.
For more information, call JoAnn at 971-248-5465.
Register here 

Bee-Licious Honey certified for sweet new year

Bee-Licious Honey LLC in Portland received kosher certification of its pure raw Oregon local honey products by Oregon Kosher in August.
The company has reached out to local synagogues and has ramped up to fill orders in time for Rosh Hashanah.
Jeff Garner and Jennifer Lytle started bee-keeping in 2011. They launched their honey business May 1, 2016. 
You can contact Jeff and Jennifer at sales@beelicioushoney.com or call 503-867-4596 to arrange a time to visit Bee-Licious or order online at beelicioushoney.com

 

0Comments

Add Comment