December 2007
Kislev/Tevet 5768
SHIR HAYAM EVENTS
See member’s calendar or call 206-855-7924 for event details.
H A P P Y C H A N U K A H !
Our Chanukah party this year is going to be a Latke Cook-off. Come share your best latkes. The party will be held at Winslow Co-Housing on Saturday, December 8th at 7 pm. Everyone will be able to help with a great “green” art project – decorating plates and cups for the Chavurah to use for years to come. Think of all the paper plates we will save! See member’s calendar for details.
We will also have dreidel games, singing and lots of fun for everyone. Please bring your menorahs so we can all light the candles together.
ADULT BOOK GROUP
We are starting to discuss Jewish With Feeling: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Practice: by Zalman Schachter,Joel Segel. Please feel free to come even if you haven’t read the book, we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
Meetings: Dec 2 & Dec 16 See member’s calendar for details.
MOVIE NIGHT
_Early warning! We’ve got a movie night lined up for January. _
Saturday, January 12th – The Syrian Bride
The Syrian Bride is an Israeli movie about a Druse woman who must leave her family and cross the border to Syria to marry. However, once she crosses she will not be permitted to cross back.
See member’s calendar for details.
Here is a link to an NPR story about the film. The Syrian Bride
TIKKUN OLAM CORNER
Our participation in Helpline’s Project Wishbone was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who donated food and to Robin Simons for agreeing to take all the food over to Helpline. We filled the back of her station wagon!
Adoption
Clare, a friend of my sister in Boston, is in the process of adopting a daughter from Kazakhstan. While she was visiting the orphanage there, she met a young boy who is also up for adoption. His name is Joseph and he is about six years old. He is half-Jewish, and because of this, she was told that he would never be adopted in Kazakhstan. I saw his picture, and he was a handsome little fellow; Clare spent three weeks at the orphanage and in observing him, she said he seemed to be a very nice child. If you or anyone you know is considering adoption and would like to find out more information about Joseph, I would be glad to help get more information from Clare – Sharon
From the Shalom Center:
On the first night of Hanukkah, my true love said to me – “Let’s buy wind-power for E-lec-tri-city”!
On the fourth night of Hanukkah, my rabbi said to me – “Car-pool tonight! Give the Breath of Life
A chance to catch new breath
When we gather to chant of our delight!”
On the eighth night of Hanukkah, My granddaughter said to me:
“Sit down and write! Our Senators should know that I need to grow
And that means we should cut the CO2!”
The Eight Days of Hanukkah:
Eight Actions to Heal the Earth through the Green Menorah Covenant
Please share this message with your friends and post the “eight-day actions” on your refrigerator door.
On Hanukkah, we are taught not only to light the menorah night by night, but to publicize the miracle, to turn our individual actions outward for the rest of the world to see and to be inspired by. So we invite you to join, this Hanukkah, in The Shalom Center ‘s Green Menorah Covenant for taking action – personal, communal, and political – to heal the earth from the global climate crisis.
After lighting your menorah each evening, dedicate yourself to making the changes in your life that will allow our limited sources of energy to last for as long as they’re needed, and with minimal impact on our climate.
No single action will solve the global climate crisis, just as no one of us alone can make enough of a difference. Yet, if we act on as many of the areas below as possible, and act together, a seemingly small group of people can overcome a seemingly intractable crisis. We can, as in days of old, turn this time of darkness into one of light.
Day 1: Personal/Household: Call your electric-power utility to switch to wind-powered electricity. (For each home, 100% wind-power reduces CO2 emissions the same as not driving 20,000 miles in one year.)
Day 2: Urge a community building to switch to wind-powered electricity.
Day 3. Your network of friends, IM buddies, and members of civic or professional groups you belong to: Connect with people like newspaper editors, real-estate developers, architects, bankers, etc. to urge them to strengthen the green factor in all their decisions, speeches, and actions.
Day 4 (which this year is Shabbat). Automobile: If possible, choose today or one other day a week to not use your car at all. Other days, lessen driving. Shop on-line. Cluster errands. Carpool. Don’t idle engine beyond 20 seconds.
Day 5: Workplace or College: Urge the top officials to arrange an energy audit. Check with utility company about getting one free or at low-cost.
Day 6: Town/City: Urge town/city officials to require greening of buildings through ordinances and executive orders. Creating change is often easier on the local level!
Day 7: State: Urge state representatives to reduce subsidies for highways, increase them for mass transit.
Day 8: National: Urge your Senators to strengthen and pass the Lieberman-Warner “America’s Climate Security Act.” For easy addressing and a model letter to send them, go to http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/602/t/4181/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=21544
Make our planet’s Hanukkah a happy one!
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SEATTLE AREA
Joel Magalnick, editor of the Jewish Transcript Newspaper, has sent the following list of volunteer opportunities in the Jewish community as a way to give a bit of yourself this Hanukkah. Our family’s experience working at various shelters’ kitchens (such as the Union Gospel Mission) on Christmas Day is that they enlist volunteers early – so if you are thinking about doing this, be sure to contact them well in advance – Sharon.
Please contact organizations directly for further information about any of these available volunteer opportunities. Some may be more appropriate than others for families with small children.
Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State
Dates: When mutually convenient
Contact: Lyn Blyden, 206-932-3481 or president@jgsws.org
Transcribe vital records from JTNews/Jewish Transcript at the Seattle Public Library
Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center
Contact: Marie Berry 206-441-5747 or admin@wsherc.org
Dates: Monday_Friday, 9 a.m._5 p.m. and other times for special events. WSHERC seeks volunteers to help with their educational programs, general office support, driving speakers to their venues, grant writing, and library support.
National Council of Jewish Women – Seattle Section
Contact: Rachel Love, 425-558-1894 ext. 2 or shalombayit@ncjwseattle.org
Date: Sun., Dec. 16 from 11:30 a.m._3 p.m.
Help to organize the warehouse for Shalom Bayit: Furnishing Peaceful Homes, the only furniture bank exclusively for survivors of domestic violence in Washington. Tasks will include: moving larger furniture item for those who are able, folding sheets, organizing housewares and other items. Great volunteer opportunity for kids 10 and older and for families.
Hadassah
Contact: Sheila Abrahams, Executive Director, 425-467-9099
Dates: When mutually convenient
Do you like to work with older adults? Hadassah members at the Summit at First Hill in Seattle would like to have regular meetings and programs. Hadassah has lots of program resources and needs volunteers to make this happen one day or evening per month. Please call the Hadassah office for more information.
Jewish Family Service
Contact: Jane Deer-Hileman, 206-861-3155 or volunteer@jfsseattle.org
Dates: Call for availability or see specific dates below
Deliver Hanukkah baskets: Please register to join JFS on Sun., Dec. 2 from noon_2 p.m. to deliver festive Hanukkah baskets to seniors, low-income families and adults with disabilities.
. Child care: Child care volunteers needed for Sun., Dec. 2 to help at a Hanukkah party from 3-6 pm. Contact JFS about other child care volunteer opportunities as well.
. Food bank shifts and delivery: JFS needs help throughout the work week. See the food bank shift schedule at www.jfsseattle.org/volfb.html or contact them to see if there is a shift that works for you.
. Monthly home delivery: One person needed to make a monthly home delivery to four households in Bellevue. Driving required.
. ESL class tutors: Needed in the Bellevue Multi-Ethnic Service Center office during the week, Mon._Fri., 9 a.m._5 p.m. They are also seeking volunteers willing to tutor and help new immigrant families in the Kent area.
. Friendly Visitors: For senior clients in Everett, Edmonds, Seward Park and other Seattle areas.
. Big Pal: Male sought to match with boys living in Redmond.
The Friendship Circle
Contact: Esther Bogomilsky, 206-274-6082 or estherbogo@msn.com
Dates: Ongoing, weekly or monthly
Teens and adults are sought to volunteer with children of special needs and bring friendship, smiles and peace of mind to their parents.
. Sunday Circle is an interactive program geared for children with special needs one Sunday a month with activities, music, movement and many exciting workshops led by professionals and teen volunteers.
. Friends@Home is a program where teen or college-age volunteers are trained by a team of professionals. The teens pay a weekly visit to the home of the child with special needs where he/she offers friendship, recreational interaction, arts & crafts, homework support, and life skill enhancement.
Happening in Seattle
NEXTBOOK SERIES
Ruth Behar
December 06 2007, 07:00 PM
Henry Art Gallery
15th Ave. NE and NE 41st St., University of Washington
After Castro’s rise to power in 1959, five-year-old Ruth Behar and her family left Cuba, along with most of the island’s other Jews. But even as a child Behar felt the pull of her native country and wondered what happened to the Jews who had remained. In her latest book, An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba, the noted anthropologist, writer, and documentary film-maker recounts her multiple journeys back to Cuba and the Jewish communities she discovers there. Behar’s poetic and compassionate prose, together with Cuban photographer Humberto Mayol’s shadowy and riveting photographs, create an unforgettable portrait of a community that many have seen, though few have understood. Behar’s other books include Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza’s Story and The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart. She has also published essays, poetry, and short fiction; her documentary Adio Kerida/Goodbye Dear Love: A Cuban Sephardic Journey, has been shown all over the world. Behar is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan and the recipient of fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
In celebration of the third night of Hanukkah and the end of Nextbook’s fall season, please join us in the Henry Art Gallery’s Baci Café following Ruth Behar’s talk for a reception featuring live Cuban and Jewish music from Marina Belenky & the New Age Flamenco Trio, plus a sneak preview of our winter and spring programs.
Listen to a recent podcast interview with Ruth Behar on Nextbook.org: http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=735
ARE YOU ABLE TO TRACE YOUR FAMILY TREE BACK SIX GENERATIONS?
On May 4, 2008 The Washingtn State Jewish Historical Society is celebrating Jewish families who can name at least six generations who have lived in Washington State for any length of time. If your family qualifies, please contact Leatrice Guttmann, GUTM@AOL.COM, 206-525-5092 or Lilly DeJaen, 206-722-4727 by December 15, 2007.
DRASH POETRY
Seeking unpublished poetry (3 poems max) and/or essays and prose (under 5,000 words) on Jewish and Northwest themes from established and emerging writers for Volume Two / Spring 2008 issue of Drash. Include separate page with contact information and short bio. Reading period is September 1 through December 15, 2007.
Submissions via snailmail ONLY to:
Wendy Marcus, Music Director
Temple Beth Am,
2632 NE 80th St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-525-0915
wendy@templebetham.org
LATKEPALOOZA!
Sponsor: Young Leadership Division of the JFGS
When: 12/24/2007 at 9:00pm
It’s time for the Young Leadership Division’s Annual Holiday Bash! Latkepalooza is the annual party sponsored by the Young Leadership Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, held on December 24th, from 9-2am.
Latkepalooza brings the Pacific Northwest’s young Jewish community together for a night of fun, food, drinks and dancing. All Jewish adults in their 20’s and 30’s from Portland to Vancouver will be invited.
This year’s Latkepalooza will also feature Karaoke and a quieter room where friends can talk.
Upgrade to a VIP Pass! VIP Ticket includes a special PreFunk comedy show with hilarious local, Jewish comedians, liqueur tasting and delicious noshes.
The line-up includes: Brad Brake, Toby Holzman, Simon Kaufman, Ron Reid
Purchase your ticket now.
Location:
Club Heaven
172 S Washington St
Seattle, Washington 98104 Cost:
Advance $20.00
At the door $25.00
VIP Pass $50.00
VIPBenGurion Society $35.00
Event Contact: Rachel Hynes (206) 774-2216 or yld@jewishinseattle.org
Newcomer Contact: Cameron Levin (206) 774- 2249
From the IFC:
*Alternative Gift Project Catalog: An Alternative Gift Catalog is now available for holiday shoppers who prefer gifts that help make a better life and environment for families around the world. Gift donations can be purchased with cards to let people know you’ve made a mindful and meaningful donation in their name. Sponsored by the Social Action Committee of Cedars Unitarian Universalist Church. For a free copy, call 206-780-0373. Catalogs and order forms may also be downloaded from www.cedarsuuchurch.org
*Human Rights in Guatemala: Come listen to Jorge Chojolan, founder of Miguel Angel Asturias Academy in Guatemala share his story of overcoming poverty, anti-indigenous discrimination and government exile for human rights work on Thursday, December 6th at 7 pm at Eagle Harbor Congregational Church. Ryan Richards, who was on Bainbridge as an intern at Yes! Magazine in 2004 is now a volunteer at the school and is accompanying Jorge to help share his story. They will tell about MAA Academy’s mission to create leaders for tomorrow who can fight poverty, build the economy and create a just system of education. The school is recognized in the country for scoring in the top 10% of schools even though it enrolls the poorest children and lacks the financial resources of schools for the rich.
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