November 2007

Heshvan/Kislev 5768

SHIR HAYAM EVENTS

Shir Hayam Community Havdalah

Let us gather as a community to celebrate Havdalah and join together as we welcome our newest students in our Jewish Learning Center.

This event is for the whole Chavurah to enjoy and share with each other – potluck dessert to follow

NOVEMBER 3rd at 7:00pm
See member’s calendar for location

JLC Field Trip for the Whole Community

Salmon Stream Field Trip: Sun. morning, Nov 18: Please mark your calendars now for a trip to an amazing wilderness forest replete with salmon running at their peak. We go in search of Sacred Space and Jon guarantees we’ll find it! Details to follow.

Hannukah Party and Latke Cookoff
Get those recipes ready. Save the date – December 8th. Details TBA

TIKKUN OLAM CORNER

Helpline’s Project Wishbone
Our community generosity is sorely needed and appreciated. Are there really hungry people on Bainbridge Island? Each month, the Helpline House food bank distributes about 20,000 pounds of food to over 250 households who do not have the funds to put adequate food on their family’s table. The majority of those who come to the food bank are employed, but low wage jobs are not enough to pay all the bills in our area where the cost of living is very high. About 10% of these people are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

About 150 families are able to benefit from the community backing of Project Wishbone, which launches in November. Look for pamphlets and signage in your local stores soon. Project Wishbone is Helpline House’s traditional volunteer driven effort to match boxes of Thanksgiving dinner items from one family to another family who otherwise would not be able to afford this special meal. There are many ways to help and contribute:

• Assemble a Thanksgiving Food box for a family in need and deliver it to Helpline House on Saturday November 17, 10am to 3pm. Many families include special holiday napkins, candles, personalized cards from one family to another, special desserts, sparkling cider, candles, and other personal touches. Specialized gift baskets are welcomed too, such as those for vegetarians or sized for larger families. It can be a wonderful family ‘giving’ experience to create a Thanksgiving dinner box for another family in need. Helpline volunteers try to match your box to an appropriate family.
• Purchase Thanksgiving food items of your choice, and bring them to the Helpline food bank during our open hours, Monday thru Friday, 9:30-4:30, and Saturday November 17, 10am to 3pm.
• Project Wishbone shopping list: frozen turkey (10-12 lbs), stuffing mix, potatoes and onions, fresh vegetables (celery, carrots, greens), fresh or canned yams, fresh fruit (apples, satsumas, oranges), canned vegetables (corn, green beans), canned fruit, cranberry sauce or jelly, frozen rolls/biscuits, butter or margarine, frozen pumpkin or apple pie, whipped cream or Cool Whip, foil roasting pan.
• Help defray the cost of a food box; we will do the shopping for you! Flyers about Project Wishbone will be available soon in many island locations as well as at Helpline House, which have a coupon that a donor can fill out and return with their donation. 25$ fills a box for a single person and guest, and $40 fills a box for a family of four. Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Happening in Seattle

NEXTBOOK SERIES
Meir Shalev
NOVEMBER 07 2007, 07:00 PM
HENRY ART GALLERY

“I went to find a house that would encircle me, that would be somewhat of a shelter,” says Yair Mendelson, the protagonist of Meir Shalev’s new novel, A Pigeon and A Boy. As Yair begins constructing his new house, falling in love with the woman contractor in the process, he unravels the wistful romance between two pigeon handlers fifty years before and the story of the home they never built together. One of Israel’s leading writers, Shalev is the author of six novels, including The Blue Mountain and The Loves of Judith, as well as several children’s books and works of non-fiction. A former television and radio host, Shalev writes a weekly column for the newspaper Yediot Ahronot.
(www.nextbook.org)

Peter Cole in Conversation with Emily Warn
Cosponsored by Seattle Art Museum as part of SAM: After Hours
NOVEMBER 15 2007, 07:00 PM
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM, PLETSCHEEF AUDITORIUM

FREE EVENT
In his monumental new book, The Dream of a Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain 950-1492, poet and translator Peter Cole opens a window onto one of the great periods in world literature. This collect-ion of 400 poems shows how Jewish poets mixed their own traditions with those of their Arabic-speaking neighbors to create something entirely new: a body of literature that is spiritual and sensual, contemplative and worldly, humorous and tragic. Peter Cole is the author of two collections of poetry, Rift and Hymns & Qualms. Winner of the PEN-America Translation Award, he has translated poems from both Hebrew and Arabic. He lives in Jerusalem, where he co-edits Ibis Editions. After his reading, Cole will be joined in conversation with poet Emily Warn, author of The Leaf Path, The Novice Insomniac, and the forthcoming Shadow Architect.
Live period music from 5:30-6:30PM by Baroque NW Ensemble__To reserve your free tickets to this event, call the SAM box office at 206.654.3121.

Klezfest sponsored by Temple Beth Am on Sunday, Nov. 18 Noon – 5 pm at the University Prep Gym 2632 NE 80th Street. Entertainment includes Marina Belenky with the New Age Flamenco Trio, the Klez Katz & Shawn’s Kugel.

The Shaping of Sephardic Culture Colloquium Series Professor Olga Borovaya, Stanford University Dynamics of Ladino Literature in the Ottoman Empire, 16th – 20th Centuries Thursday, November 29, 1:30-3:30pm in 202 Communications building, UW Campus

Abraham’s Family: Perspectives of Muslim and Jewish Peacebuilders for Healing the Israeli-Palestinian Divide Wednesday, Nov. 14, 7:00 pm, at Temple Beth Am
Eliyahu McLean and Ghassan Manasra, visiting interfaith peace activists from Jerusalem, will give a talk about their unique peacebuilding work Wednesday, November 14, at Temple Beth Am. Their practice and message is that we can reclaim religion as a source of peace, finding tools for peacemaking within Judaism and Islam. This event is sponsored by Temple Beth Am, Congregation Eitz Or, and Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, Greater Seattle Chapter. Cosponsors include Bet Alef, Interfaith Community Church, Arab American Community Coalition, Lev Shalom, and Jewish Voice for Peace.

Eliyahu McLean is the director of Jerusalem Peacemakers, an interfaith network of religious leaders and grassroots peacebuilders in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Their website is www.jerusalempeacemakers.org. Eliyahu is a leader in such bridge-building projects as:

• The Abrahamic Reunion, a group of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Druze religious leaders working together to re-claim religion as a source for peace;
• The annual ‘On the Way to Sulha’ event, the most recent gathering on August 14-16 brought together over 3000 people;
• Monthly inter-religious Israeli-Palestinian peace gatherings in East and West Jerusalem.
• In addition, Eliyahu was ordained by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of Jewish Renewal, as the first Rodef Shalom—pursuer of peace.

Ghassan Manasra is the director of Anwar il-Salaam (Lights of Peace), a Muslim peace center in Nazareth promoting tolerance and interfaith dialogue. Ghassan is an ordained sheikh and is the son of Sheikh Abdel Salaam Manasra, the head of the Qadiri Sufi order in the Holy Land. Projects of Anwar il Salaam currently include:
• Training Jewish, Christian and Muslim high school teachers and principals with tools for teaching tolerance;
• Publishing a newspaper in Arabic to spread the message of a moderate, tolerant Islam among Muslims in the Holy Land;
• Translation of the Quran into Hebrew, with modern and classical Islamic commentary;
• Teaching Islam and Arabic to Jews in the Galilee, and organizing courses in Judaism for Muslims.
Eliyahu and Ghassan will speak in the context of all the difficulty in the Holy Land and the real opportunity that now exists to make peace. Mark your calendar for this one-of-a-kind evening with peacemakers who use the teachings of their Jewish and Muslim traditions to cross traditional lines and find, together, a wellspring of peace.

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

NW JEWISH SINGLES

NW Jewish Singles is an organization of singles age 40+. Monthly social events include holiday potlucks (2nd day of Rosh Hashana, Hannukah, etc.), social dances, bicycle rides, bowling, wine tasting, and games nights. Events are never on Shabbat.

There is no charge to join. Some events are free; most have a charge to cover costs. To receive our email newsletter, please contact Helene at helene6531@comcast.net You will receive the newsletter, plus invite invitations to each event. The NW Jewish Singles membership list is not shared with any other group.

NW Jewish Singles grew out of Lox of Friends, if you were familiar with that group. NW Jewish Singles is run by volunteers, and is always looking for help! If you’re interested in helping work on an event, please let Helene know at the address above.

From the IFC: 11/17/07 (Saturday): Just Know Forum: 17th Annual Fall Forum of the Just Know Coalition featuring Madeline Levine, author of The Price of Privilege at 8:30AM at Woodward Middle School.

11/20/07 (Tuesday):
Be The Change You Wish to See in the World Interfaith Council’s Thanksgiving Service: The Interfaith Council’s Thanksgiving service will be held on Tuesday evening, November 20th at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

11/24/07 (Saturday 10-4) & 11/25/07 (Sunday 1-4):
Global Holiday Fair Trade Fair at Bainbridge Commons

12/1/07 (Saturday):
CARE GIVERS ALERT: Save all day Saturday, Dec. 1 if you provide care and spiritual support to members of your faith community or perhaps to a member of your own family. That’s the day Cedars UU Church, Eagle Harbor Congregational
Church, Bethany Lutheran Church, and the Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers of Bainbridge Island will present a day-long workshop entitled The Art and Practice of Being a Healing Presence. $50 covers the workshop including lunch and a book
by the workshop leader Rev. Susan C. Cutshall. A special price of $125 is offered for 3 members of the same Pastoral Care Team. More information will be forthcoming in November. Contact Donna Moore (206) 842-2170 or Rev. Emily Tanis-Likkel (206) 842-4657. Reserve your space now by calling Eagle Harbor Congregational Church (206) 842-4657.

Caring For Loved Ones
Are you caring for a loved one who is ill? Plans are evolving for a daytime, Caregiver Support Group on Bainbridge Island. The Group is meeting on Tuesdays at St. Barnabas Church (Room with a View) from 2:00-3:30. Share info, ideas and emotional support. If you are interested, contact Karen at 842-4441 or ivc@bainbridge.net

Nov 1, 09:16 PM