February means Valentine's Day, and Valentine's Day means cards, flowers, candy...oh yes, and LOVE! 

One of my favorite movie moments ever comes from Fiddler on the Roof.  Tevye's wife is exhausted by Tevye's difficult time in making decisions over who his daughters should marry and she asks him, "Do you love me?"  The look on Tevye's face is priceless.  He has no idea what she's talking about.  Who questions love?

Of course marriage and love are different endeavors.  We hope and expect them to overlap.  But Tevye's wife asks if beneath all the labors of love, providing, cleaning, cooking, raising children, is there something left that we might call actual love.

I can't help but notice that our ritual call to love God, like marriage, seems to come with a list of "honey-do's."  V'ahavta et YHWH elohecha...Love YHWH, your God...by keeping commandments, observing the Sabbath, maintaining dietary restrictions, passing the instructions forward to the next generation.

We, Jews, are commanded to love God by doing for God.  I wonder, like Tevye's wife wonders, if beneath the labors of love there is something left that we might call actual love.

But, what is love?  Is love a feeling?  Is love a choice?  Is love a vow of loyalty and commitment?

One of my teachers, Rabbi and Professor Arthur Green suggests that our love for God develops as we develop.   Initially we experience the divine as we are taught in the surface meaning of our stories and legal traditions.  God is like a king.  Our love is an exchange of loyalty and obedience for protection and blessing. 

Eventually we seek deeper meaning in this relationship.  We want it to make sense to our awakening rational minds.  We enter into a partnership like that of a wise master and disciple.  Our love manifests in curiosity and wonder.  We build constructs of meaning and purpose.  What we once took literally becomes symbolic for experiences that we share. 

The mystics among us, those inclined to revel in the more intuitive realms than the empirical, finally enter into a relationship with God that is like that of lovers.  There is a mutuality in this relationship, a blur between the lines of the physical and metaphysical.  One experiences union with the divine.  Usually these moments are fleeting.  The mystics engage in meditation practices in order to increase the frequency and intensity of such moments.

Members & Friends ~

Is this really winter?  It sure hasn't felt like it lately.  Of course, our unusually warm temperatures can disappear quickly.  While the skiers are quite disappointed with the lack of snow, it is still great to get outdoors and enjoy whatever weather we are having.

Meanwhile, we are in a lull as far as Jewish holidays are concerned.  There were no significant Jewish holidays in January, and only Tu B's

Shevat (New Year for Trees) in February and Purim in March, before we hit the jackpot with Passover in early April (stay tuned for information on our Community Seder on April 3rd).  Still we have plenty of our regular TBT activities to keep us busy.

In January, Leslie and Joe hosted the Adult Education session on "Joy".  The weekly Torah Study at Evie's house (Noon to 1 p.m.) is gathering more and more interested participants.  Besides the opportunity to follow the Torah narrative on a week-by-week basis, Evie always has some wonderful and healthy food to nosh on.  Of course the Rabbi still has her monthly Munch and Torah session, which tends to focus on a more specific topic within that particular week's Torah portion.

Our Kabbalat Shabbat in January was a special treat of Israeli Dancing instruction from Sara Charney Cohen.  It was a most delightful and energetic evening for both young and old(er).  We especially want to thank Joy Victor for allowing us to use her Dance Studio for this event.  Lawrence and Lorraine Schechter were kind enough to invite the congregation and friends to share in a house blessing and affixing of their mezuzah at their new home.  Our January events culminated with a wonderful Shabbat Shira (Sabbath of Song) service with beautiful music (Lauren Olander on flute, Julie Geveshausen on piano and harp, Nate Kitt on drum) and voices (Debbie Pattison and guest vocalist Eileen Heaton) to lead us in prayer and celebration.  We are so grateful to Lauren for putting together such a lovely event.

Looking ahead to February, besides our regular monthly services and events, we will be celebrating Tu B'shevat with a hike up Pilot Butte, a special Tu B'Shevat Seder, and a Havdallah social.  You should have received a Punchbowl e-vite, but if not, please contact Evie for details.

As we continue to grow and mature as a congregation and organization, we are always excited to expand our opportunities and offerings.  With our growth and financial stability in the last several years, we have reached the point where we could consider offering some modest payments for TBT work done by some of our key people.  For the past several years we have paid our Sunday School and Hebrew School teachers a small stipend for the time and efforts they provide to make our Religious Education program so special.  Now, the TBT Board has expanded our paid positions to include Music Coordinator, Religious School Director, and B'nai Mitzvah tutor.  Admittedly, we cannot fully compensate these valuable resources for all the time and efforts they give that make these programs so significant for our community.  However, it is an important start that recognizes and in some small way shows in a tangible form how much they are valued and appreciated.

We look forward to the time, with continued growth and maturity, when we will be able to offer more and more ways to tangibly reward and recognize the important work done by key individuals.  Yet, it is also important to understand, that we will never be able to fully reward ALL the many valuable efforts that people put forth - that is just the nature of non-profits.  Ultimately, we succeed (or fail) based on enough people caring strongly enough about TBT to volunteer and give of themselves so that all of us can benefit.  That is part of our Jewish tradition and what makes TBT so amazing.  So for all of you who have done so much, while you may not have the tangible rewards we would like to be able to give you; you have something maybe even more valuable - our love and appreciation for all you do.

January's activities were wonderful for the theme of Celebration and Joy. Our monthly Kaballat Shabbat was held at Joy Victor's dance studio for a great night of Israeli dancing led by Sara Charney Cohen. The celebration continued on Friday, January 23rd, with Shabbat Shira, the Sabbath of song. It was a joyous evening of remarkable music.

On Saturday, February 7th, we will be having a unique event celebrating Tu B'Shevat. For those who want to participate in the nature walk up Pilot Butte, we will be meeting at 3:45 p.m. at the Faith Christian Center. Those who choose to come later will meet at the Faith Christian Center at 5:00 p.m. for food, a Tu B'Shevat service, and Havdallah celebrating our natural resources. Please respond to the Punchbowl Invitation if you have not done so already.

Adult Education will be held on Tuesday, February 10th at the Hershenson home. Special friends of Rabbi Johanna and Mark Hershenson, Fiver Locker and Stuart Turner are visiting from Birmingham, England.  Fiver will share her recent book, Looking for Africa. Through photography and humor, Fiver will share how an ambitious adventure - driving from South Africa to Germany - challenges preconceptions about Africa, poverty, development, and human nature.

Our theme for February is Love, and we will celebrate love at our Kaballat Shabbat service and dinner at the home of Lynne and Ed Connelly on Friday, Feb. 13th at 6:00 p.m. This will be a vegetarian potluck and Lynne will be providing a special dessert. A Punchbowl Invitation will be going out shortly.

Munch and Torah will be held on Saturday, February 21st, and our Erev Shabbat service will be held on Friday, February 27th. We hope you will enjoy the festive events planned for this month.

The Social Action committee will be meeting soon to plan for the projects that we'll be participating in this coming year. If you have a project that you're working on and would like participation from Beth Tikvah members, please email Burt Litman at blitman@bendbroadband.com.

Back Door Café

The need for social action to help feed those in need was emphasized in January when we served 125 meals at the Back Door Café.  

Many thanks to our kitchen crew: Jeff Adler, Jeanne Freeman, Phyllis & Jerry Greenbach, Joe Jezukewicz, Burt Litman, Bonnie Ruby, Kathy Schindel and Ralph Uri. It was a non-stop morning and according to Ann Hand of FUMC, it's been that way for the last few weeks.

If you're available and would like to participate in the mitzvah of cooking and serving future breakfasts, please email Burt Litman at blitman@bendbroadband.com.

Wednesday, February 11th, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

With the theme of "raising diverse voices of faith to strengthen Oregon communities," Interfaith Advocacy Day will bring together several hundred people of many religious traditions from throughout Oregon for a day of prayer, dialogue and advocacy with state legislators. For more information and to register, www.emoregon.org.

TBT's Community Passover Seder

FRIDAY, April 3rd

Get ready for a festive, family-friendly Seder! Rabbi Hershenson will again lead our annual Passover Community Seder on Friday, April 3rd at St. Charles Hospital's event room. Our Seder is open to members, their guests, and to the public. Doors open at 5:15 p.m., and the Seder begins promptly at 6:00 p.m., followed by dinner. Don't miss out! Invitations and online reservations will be available to you starting February 16th. Reservations close on Friday, March 27th.

This year we'll be enjoying a buffet dinner with your choice of Grilled Chicken with Artichoke Hearts, Grilled Salmon with Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette or Vegetarian Stew of Tempeh. And, yes, matzo ball soup will be served!

You are welcome to bring wine to enjoy with your dinner for a $6 corkage fee or you can purchase from a selection of fine wines for $20 - $24 per bottle. Ceremonial wine will be provided.

For more information and to make your reservations, please go to the TBT website starting on February 16th. **Reservations are required by Friday, March 27th.**

The Butcher, the Baker, the Haroset Maker

The best part of any meal is dessert!! This is especially true when the desserts come from the kitchens of our fabulous bakers. For the most delicious of Passover desserts, we are again asking our members and friends to please bake for us. Please call or email Naomi Chudowsky at 541-318-0481 or email at naomic@bendbroadband.com to let her know what you can bring. We need pick-up goodies, like bars and cookies.

Randi Zlatkus is coordinating the haroset makers.

Please let her know if you'd like to make a batch. 541-504-4048 or randizla@yahoo.com.