JANUARY EVENTS

   Jan.  3    9:15 a.m. - Women's Hike

   Jan.  7    7:00 p.m. - Adult Education at the Schindels'

   Jan.  9    7:00 p.m. - Taizé Service at Shalom Bayit

   Jan. 10   6:00 p.m. - Family Shabbat Celebration

   Jan. 12 10:00 a.m. - Sunday School

                 7:00 p.m. - TBT Board Meeting

   Jan. 13   7:00 p.m. - A Taste of Judaism, Series 1.1

   Jan. 16        ---  Tu B'Shevat ---

   Jan. 18   9:00 a.m. - Munch & Torah

               10:30 a.m. - Shabbat Torah Service

   Jan. 20 10:30 a.m. - TBT Men's Ski Day 

                 7:00 p.m. - A Taste of Judaism, Series 1.2

   Jan. 23   5:30 p.m. - Men's Night - Happy Hour at Crux

                                   Fermentation Project

   Jan. 24   7:00 p.m. - Kabbalat Shabbat Service

   Jan. 26 10:00 a.m. - Sunday School

   Jan. 27   7:00 p.m. - A Taste of Judaism, Series 1.3

   Jan. 30   5:30 p.m. - Serving Dinner at Bethlehem Inn 

ON THE HORIZON

   February 24 - A Taste of Judaism Series 2 begins

   April 14 - TBT Community Passover Seder

JANUARY School Activities:

Sunday School: (10:00 a.m. Shalom Bayit):  1/12, 1/26

Hebrew School:  (4:30 p.m. Shalom Bayit - all classes):

     1/7, 1/14, 1/21, 1/28

For more details about any TBT events, see our complete schedule of Services, School activites and Events online:

http://www.bethtikvahbend.org/calendar.

Just like Rosh Hashanah, January First invites us to imagine ourselves living life better in the New Year.  Resolutions abound:  This year I will eat better.  I will exercise more.  I will commit more time to the relationships that matter to me most.

As 2013 waned, I joined Temple Beth Tikvah's president, Mark Schindel, and the chair of our community religious school, Kathy Schindel, in attending the URJ Biennial convention in San Diego.  It was a fertile ground for inspiration about synagogue life in the New Year. 

The buzz-word of the convention was the title of an old friend's latest book, RELATIONAL JUDAISM.  Ron Wolfson, the author, has worked in the field of Jewish education for thirty plus years.  In the eighties and nineties he pioneered a "family" approach to Jewish learning and most recently he has been exploring out-of-the-box approaches to Jewish living in communities all over the world.

Wolfson's message is simply this...in synagogue life we've worked so hard to make great programs, we've forgotten to focus on getting to know the people and helping them to know each other.  Good programming is important...but good programming should facilitate deepening relationships among members of our congregation.

Synagogues were once the only place to find a rabbi for a life cycle event, or a community to say Kaddish, or a Jewish education for our children.  But the internet has completely changed that reality.  Families can rent a rabbi for a Bar Mitzvah in their own backyard.  There are on-line learning programs that children can engage with to discover what it means to be a Jew.

So what does the synagogue offer that can't be found elsewhere?  I think this is the question for us to ponder in 2014. What about Temple Beth Tikvah is unique to Temple Beth Tikvah and can't be obtained elsewhere?

I believe the face-to-face community we've built over the past five years makes us special.  The challenge for us is to catch up with the latest best practices in Jewish community building and to create a few more of our own.   Temple Beth Tikvah is like a child just before the Bar/Bat Mitzvah year.  We are a solid Jewish entity.  We care. And now we are reaching the age of personal responsibility.  We get to decide now who and what it is we are to become. 

First, a very Happy New Year's wish to everyone.  December started with our fun Chanukah celebration on the 2nd and ended with a snowshoeing adventure with the Rabbi on the 28th followed by a Chili and Havdallah social. In between, we had another fabulous Adult Education, weekly Women's hikes, our monthly Men's Gathering, an inspiring Munch and Torah Study, Sunday & Hebrew School, a Family Shabbat Celebration & potluck dinner, our annual "Dec 25th" dinner that had a great turnout at Taj Palace (Vindaloo with the Jews), and a beautiful Erev Shabbat Service. And we practiced Tikkun Olam - healing the world - and Gemilut Chasadim - acts of loving kindness - when a group served Breakfast for those in need on Christmas morning for the Back Door Café sponsored by the Church which also included distributing donated jackets, gloves, and other winter items for those in need. When you step back and look at all those events, that is quite a lot to pack into a month for a small congregation! We need to be proud and grateful to all the organizers, hosts, and participants that help make these events so special for all of us.

One other significant event in December was the URJ's Biennial Conference in San Diego. Rabbi Hershenson, Kathy Schindel and I were privileged to attend on behalf of TBT. This URJ Conference brings together approximately 5,000 attendees from congregations throughout North America. With the many conference sessions we attended and contacts from other congregations, we brought back a wealth of information, materials, and ideas that we will be sharing with the Board and TBT congregation that will help us improve and grow. 

At the Biennial, we were also able to be part of extraordinary services on Erev Shabbat and Shabbat Morning.  There is an amazing feeling and energy when 5,000 people worship together led by inspirational musical artists and religious leaders. This unique experience reinforced for me a feeling of how lucky we are at TBT to be able to have our own inspiring services with exceptional music. For those interested in getting a taste of what went on at this URJ Biennial, there are a number of videos available though links on the URJ Biennial website (http://urjbiennial.zerista.com).

While there is a lot of information to sift through and important discussions that will take place on how best to utilize these ideas to help TBT become even better, let me just share an important theme from the URJ Biennial Conference that you will likely be hearing more and more in the coming months - Relational Judaism, or as Rabbi Rick Jacobs, URJ President, said in his Keynote Address - "Audacious Hospitality".  

The challenge for congregations to truly succeed in the 21st century is to go beyond "warm and welcoming." We need to strive to build strong relationships and connections with prospects, members, and others in the community, through our Jewish values, celebrations, traditions, and culture.  Although we may not have known it as "Relational Judaism", we are fortunate that TBT is actually in the forefront of this new model. We still have room for improvements, but clearly we have been able to create strong connections and friendships through our mission and conduct. As we move forward, we will build on our strong foundation to help us reach even greater heights and achievements.

Mark Schindel

TBT's Community Passover Seder

Monday, April 14th, 2014

St. Charles Hospital Event Center in Bend.

Watch for more information coming soon!

We started December off with a great Hanukkah party!  We appreciate and want to thank all the people involved with making the wonderful potato latkes and other great food, as well as leading the fun activities for the kids.  The Chanukah theme was continued with December adult education with Rabbi Hershenson.  Most of us thought we knew everything about the holiday of Chanukah, yet found that we learned a lot that evening that we had never read about before.

We had a great family Shabbat celebration and potluck dinner with an Italian theme in December.  We also had a very interesting Torah study and Torah service the following day.  Other enjoyable December events were the Shabbat service on Friday, December 27th and snowshoeing with the Rabbi, Havdallah and chili on Saturday, December 28.

We want to encourage all of you to sign up for the first series of classes in the Taste of Judaism Series that begins on Monday, January 13th.  The topic for the first session is Rhythms of Jewish Living. The three classes will be taught at 7:00 p.m. at St. Charles conference room on Monday, January 13th, 20th and 27th.

We hope you will also attend our regular series of services and classes including adult education on Tuesday, January 7th, at the Schindel's home, family Shabbat celebration on Friday, January 10th, Munch and Torah on Saturday, January 18th and a Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday, January 24th.  We look forward to seeing you in January at our many events.

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 sarrava@gmail.com by the 24th of each month.  As always, you will continue to receive "e-minders" before important events take place.

Shalom,

Sara Charney Cohen

Temple Beth Tikvah is a growing Jewish congregation based in Bend, Oregon.  We are affilliated with the Union for Reform Judaism and are excited to be the first Reform synagogue in Central Oregon.

We are committed to providing a Jewish education for our children as well as stimulating educational activities for adults.  We value social action and strive to provide a Jewish cultural, social and religious experience in Central Oregon.

Temple Beth Tikvah is a warm and enthusiastic community that includes families, singles and "empty nesters."  We are a mix of long-time Bend residents and newcomers from around the country who moved here to enjoy Central Oregon's beauty, active lifestyle and quality of life.

Please contact us at 541-388-8826 or 

info@bethtikvahbend.org for more information.