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Vashon Havurah
Community Hanukkah Party
6 - 9 pm
Sat. Dec. 8, 2018
Cohousing Common House
10421 SW Bank Rd.
An Annual Tradition! Julie Shannon and family will provide a mountain of latkes!
Bring a potluck dish to share.
Bring your menorah, dreidel, and hanukkah songs.
Friends and family welcome.
Note: Parking is limited. Please park along Bank Road.
The driveway is dark; bring a flashlight. Thanks!
President’s Corner At last, I have truly transitioned in as the new President with our first official board meeting of the year. I want to give a huge thank you for the hours and hours of work the former, and now exhausted, board put in to keep our small community afloat and alive. We are excited to start this new chapter out with ideas, energy, and vision. Please contribute yours! If you have any dreams or visions of what our Vashon Jewish community can be, please send them our way. We want to be so much more than just a synagogue; we have Jews on this island from every background and with varying ideas and identities about what it means to be a Jew in America. We have folks that were raised religiously, other's with a cultural, secular, or socialist bent, some who chose Judaism from other backgrounds, and some with very little Jewish identity at all who may just be dipping in to explore their heritage.
We want to be a community for all of us, be it a place to celebrate holidays together, have Jewish book groups, Jewish music and cultural events, Jewish learning, activism by doing Tikkun Olam (World Repair) together, and of course, the binding factor for many, a chance to eat and shmooze together! We're just beginning a large brainstorm to see all the ways we can make this Jewish community resonate for each of us, and to bring more people in for a really vibrant and alive home for our very Vashon flavor of Jewishness.
I'm so excited to be stepping into this job, guided by Louise, Meredith, and other former leaders, and dreaming big.
Jacob encounters his estranged twin brother Esau, and they appear to be heading for a battle. During the night Jacob wrestles with... a man? an angel? his conscience? ...and is given the name Israel, perhaps indicating that he prevailed in the struggle. However, the experience leads Jacob to a sense of humility, and the potential conflict with Esau is transformed into a tearful embrace.
This hopeful episode is followed by immense heartache. Jacob's daughter Dinah is raped, and her brothers massacre the men of Shechem in revenge. Jacob's beloved Rachel dies in childbirth. Jacob's parents Isaac and Rebecca are also "gathered to their kin".
At least six times in the parashah, altars are built, pillars are set up, and places are named to honor and remember a significant person or event -- a practice of thanks-giving?
Everyone is welcome to join these searching discussions -
no preparation required!
Of all the things that are beyond my power, I value nothing more highly than to be allowed the honor of entering into bonds of friendship with people who sincerely love truth. Baruch Spinoza, The Letters
OPPORTUNITIES
The Havurah board is looking for a couple of volunteers for the fundraising committee. This could be your time to implement fun and thoughtful programs, or exercise your grant-writing skills, or engage other creative ideas to support the community. Email: vashonhavurah@gmail.com. Thanks!
LOOKING AHEAD...
Save the date! Details will be posted a week or two in advance.
Sunday Dec 2: 1st night of Hanukkah! Saturday Dec. 8: Hanukkah Party at Cohousing
Wednesday Dec. 19: Havurah-Sponsored Christmas Dinner
Friday Jan 11: 2nd Shabbat Potluck with May and John Gerstle
Feb. 2019: Irish Music & Dance Click for more info
SUGGESTION BOX The Havurah will send one email every Wednesday with events, announcements, and food for thought. Let us know what would make this weekly message most useful and meaningful. Emailvashonhavurah@gmail.comOR Click here to open an easy Contact page.
NEWSLETTER SUBMISSION DEADLINE Please submit news items by end of day Monday for publication Wednesday. We’re trying to limit excess messages in your Inbox, and manage the all-volunteer communications workload. Email your items tovashonhavurah@gmail.com. Thanks!
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