Shevat/Adar 5775

Call 206-567-9414 for event details or see our online calendar

February

• 1 JLC
• 7 Havdalah & Tu B’Shvat Seder
• 23 Super Supper

 March

• 1 JLC
• 15 JLC
• 20 Shabbat Pot Luck
• 27 Pardes Retreat
• 30 Super Supper

NEW WEBSITE

Welcome to OUR NEW WEBSITE. A huge thank you to Gabe Travis & his dad Paul for setting it up and hosting it for us.  Here’s Gabe explaining how it all works to the website committee.

We will explore/explain the new features in future posts but for now just check it out and please feel free to send suggestions, photos, or other content to me – Rachel.

Many thanks to Sam & Lisa Weiss for hosting our previous website for many years!

 

 

TU B’SHVAT SEDER – The New Years of the Trees

Sat. 2/7/15, 5:00 pm Dayaalu Center (159 Wyatt Way NE, Bainbridge) Potluck Dinner + Seder Item Sign-Up here http://doodle.com/73tw9vd4s6dtdwdi

All are welcomed to a Tu B’Shvat Seder, celebrating the New Year of theTrees.  We will once again meet in the beautiful Dayaalu Center to co-create a ritual for all the growing things in our lives with stories, songs, meditation, movement and love.

Please sign-up early and often on the easy-to use “Doodle” to bring a tasty “tree” item or three for the seder.  If it’s new to you, 1) write your name in the last line, 2) check off items you want to bring (being sure to scroll to the right to reveal all the items), and 3) press save.

Also, if you have some seeds, trees or plants to share from your garden, please bring them.  We’ll have a Tu B’Shvat give away for planters and gardeners.

Thanks! Your Tree of Life Team, Sue, Linda, Dick and Zann  360-297-4160

PARDES RETREAT

Several of us attended the Pardes Retreat last Spring at Camp Indianola, along with other people from Eitz Or and beyond.  Everyone found it to be a deeply enriching experience.  Arik Labowitz and Zann Jacobrown guided all of us in co-creating an unforgettable and moving Shabbat.  Below, please see Arik’s personal invitation to you to join this coming Spring Pardes Retreat, March 27 – 29, again at Camp Indianola.

I know everyone, including myself, likes to leave their options open until the last minute, but I’m writing to let you know that NOW is the time to register for this retreat.  If not enough participants are registered by February 20, we will be forced to cancel the retreat, and that would be a big loss for all of us.

So please, open the link below to the beautifully designed website for the Pardes Retreat, follow the links at the top, and sign up before February 20! If you have any questions, please email or call: Araya  or 206 218 3213, Zann  or 360 297 4160, Arik  or 510 229 2006

Many thanks and hope to see you at the Pardes Retreat March 27 – 29.

from Arik:

Dear Friends,

I want to invite you all to join us this year at the second annual Pardes Retreat which will take place on the beautiful and sacred grounds of Indianola Camp and Retreat Center on the weekend of March 27-29th. 

Together we will co-create a Shabbas in the Garden and inspire our creative spirits through Jewish story, music, dance, prayer and art. We will deepen our connection to Pesach and the return of spring, and we will connect with our warm, vibrant, open-hearted Jewish community.

Don’t miss it! You can register at this website or send in the registration form before February 20, 2015. https://nwretreat.wordpress.com/  Follow the links at the top of the page.

Much love, Arik

HAPPENING IN SEATTLE

Luncheon with Rabbi Oren Hayon: Pluralism and Progressivism Work at UW Hillel – February 17, 2015, 11:30 AM

Last May, ideologically diverse students united to fight the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution at the University of Washington. Rabbi Oren Hayon, Executive Director of Hillel UW, will discuss the students’ political process, the intensity of their work and the tensions that pluralism often creates. He will also share his belief that Hillel must be a “Big Tent,” welcoming and engaging Jewish students of many backgrounds, connecting them to Jewish values and helping them create a lifelong commitment to Judaism.

Temple De Hirsch Sinai, 1441 16th Avenue, Seattle For directions, call (206) 323-8486. Price for Luncheon is $12.00. Scholarships are available. RSVP Ellen Hendin or Wendy Warman by Tuesday, February 10, (206) 461-3240.

Is Religion the Problem or the Solution? – Wednesday, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 7:30 PM

Terror attacks in Paris, anti-Semitic marches, synagogue vandalism in the U.S. – the list goes on. Targeted attacks against Jews and non-Jews are not a new phenomenon, but they highlight threats to the democratic ideals of free societies. As in Paris, we live in a world where the values of religious pluralism may clash with extremist forces.

Rabbi David Rosen, the former Chief Rabbi of Ireland and currently the American Jewish Committee’s International Director of Interreligious Affairs, will speak locally on issues associated with religious pluralism in today’s world and the implications of the events in Paris.

Rabbi Rosen will speak at the Stroum Jewish Community Center. Tickets are $18 per person. RSVP required online at www.ajcseattle.org/rosen.

In addition to his work with AJC, Rabbi Rosen is Honorary Advisor on Interfaith Relations to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, serves on its Commission for Interreligious Dialogue, and represents the Chief Rabbinate on the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land.

Rabbi Rosen is an International President of Religions for Peace, Honorary President of the International Council of Christians and Jews, serves on the Executive of the World Council of Religious Leaders, and is a member of the Elijah Institute’s World Board of Religious Leaders. He has also served as a member of the Advisory Committee of the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis and of the World Economic Forum’s C-100, a council of 100 leaders formed to improve relations and cooperation between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.

In 2005, Rabbi Rosen was made a papal Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great for his contribution to promoting Catholic-Jewish reconciliation. In 2010, he was made a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to interfaith relations.