This Week at TBI Eugene

View this email in your browser

Aug 27-Sept 2, 2020 / 7-13 Elul 5780

This Week

(Most events are online. See Spotlight section below for details.)

Thursday, Aug 27

Noon Torah Study w/Rabbi Solomon
7:30pm Elul Teachings: Same Same But Different

Friday, Aug 28

7:30 pm Shabbat in the Parking Lot

Saturday, Aug 29

9:00 am Shabbat Morning Torah Study
10:00 am Shabbat Alive! w/Cantor Evlyn Gould and Emily Fox
5:00pm Shabbat Afternoon in the Park w/Rabbi Ruhi Sophia (University Park)

Wednesday, Sept 2

Noon Lunch & Learn w/Rabbi Solomon
5:00 pm HHD Packet Pickup for TBI Members
5:30 pm Wednesday Minyan

Rabbi’s Message

This week’s parashah, Ki Teitze, includes one of my favorite mitzvot in Torah, from Deuteronomy 23, verses 13-15: “. . . there shall be an area for you outside the camp, where you may relieve yourself. With your gear you shall have a spike, and when you have squatted you shall dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement. Since Hashem your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you, let your camp be holy; let [God] not find anything unseemly among you and turn away from you.”

For those of us planning to get away for some backpacking this weekend, this is just practical leave-no-trace advice. But I love that our core, most sacred text includes instructions on how to bury our poop.

I particularly love that we encounter this early in the month of Elul, as we prepare for the High Holidays. Poop, if buried improperly, becomes a source of infection. If buried properly it becomes compost. The importance of this is not just metaphorical, but the metaphor is good, too—how and what we dump has the potential to be a source of contagion, or a holy act. The work of Teshuvah is not just about setting holy intention. It is about the most mundane of the mundane: making sure we bury our excrement properly.

Spotlight On...

Torah Study w/Rabbi Ruhi Sophia

Thursdays, Noon

Join Rabbi Ruhi Sophia this week as she leads an engaging and interesting discussion of the weekly Torah portion.

» Click here for Torah Study

Same Same But Different: (Re)Engaging with the Greatest Hits of the High Holidays, via YouTube

Thursdays, 7:30pm, through Sept 10th

Rabbi Ruhi Sophia and Rabbi Solomon will trade off doing a weekly Elul teaching. They'll provide fresh twists and new insights into some of the most familiar and iconic parts of our High Holiday services. Rabbi Ruhi Sophia teaches this week.

» Go to TBI's YouTube channel (and find "Elul Teachings")

Erev Shabbat in the TBI Parking Lot (also livestreamed on YouTube)

Friday, August 28, 7:30pm
Space is limited! Sign up below if you're planning to attend.

Come to the TBI parking lot for services and bring a face covering, picnic blanket or lawn chairs (to set up in marked, physically distant spaces), as we safeguard our health, celebrate Shabbat, and begin to re-engage in-person community! And bring personal snacks for the oneg. Please park on the street or in the school parking lot and walk over. Limited parking in the TBI lot will be available for those who need it. The service will also be on YouTube.

Many households have already signed up. There will be limited space for those who do not sign up in advance. The building will not be open, and there will be no restrooms available.

» Sign up for Shabbat in the Parking Lot

» Click for Erev Shabbat Services on YouTube

Get to Know Rabbi Solomon

There are numerous opportunities!

You and your family are invited to get to know our new Rabbi Educator. We've scheduled several in-person and online activities, so select one that fits your schedule and comfort level.

» Opportunities to meet her

We Want to See You!

Send us a photo!

Thank you to Lynne Schwartz for sending us this lovely photo! You can click on it to enlarge. (We're collecting photos of community members—in your garden, on a walk, watching TV, whatever. We'll share them here in the e-news and at TBI virtual events.)

» Email photos

Shabbat Morning Torah Study

Saturday, August 29, 9:00am

Join this virtual and lively exploration of the weekly Torah portion. All knowledge levels are welcome.

» Click here for Shabbat Morning Torah Study

Shabbat Alive! w/Cantor Evlyn Gould and Emily Fox

Saturday, August 29, 10:00am

» Click here for Shabbat Alive (Not Zooming? Call 669-900-9128, Meeting ID: 494 244 2569, Password: 79140)

Shabbat Afternoon in the Park

Saturday, August 29, 5:00-6:00pm, University Park, between 23rd & 24th

Join Rabbi Ruhi Sophia and other TBI-niks for a physically distanced visit outside. Bring lawn chairs or blanket, a personal snack, and a face covering for adults.

Talmud Torah Registration Is Open!

Register by September 1

Talmud Torah registration for the 2020/2021 ~ 5781 school year is now open! Please register by September 1st at the latest so that our teachers can thoughtfully prepare supplies for fruitful at-home learning. Note that all classes will be via Zoom for the Fall trimester, and we will update you throughout the year if we are able to move to another model.

» Learn more and register

Lunch & Learn w/Rabbi Solomon

Wednesdays at Noon, through September 9

Drop-ins welcome! Set aside an hour to learn and socialize, and get to know Rabbi Solomon, our new Rabbi Educator, as she prepares for the High Holidays. If you want to look at text beforehand (from Rabbi Alan Lew, This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared), click the PDF link below. However, no preparation is necessary!

» Download PDF for Sept 2 meeting (pp 212_223)
» Click here for Zoom Lunch & Learn
(If you're not using Zoom, you can call in to 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 871 2316 9703, Password: 715328.)

Wednesday Minyan

Wednesdays, 5:30pm

» Click here for Wednesday Minyan

• • • F Y I • • •

Concerned About Voter Suppression?

Join others at TBI who are contacting disenfranchised voters of color with info on how/where to register and vote in this election. Packets with postcards and explicit mailing instructions are available through the Tikkun Olam Committee and Climate Affinity Group. To obtain a packet, email Marlene Drescher.

TBI Library Committee Needs Volunteers!

We're creating a digital catalog! The finished product will look like this. We need people to input the titles, a slow, but fun task. Not strenuous. You need a laptop or tablet to connect to the TBI wireless and you must work alone at the library or with only members of your household for health reasons. Interested? Have questions? Call or text Jacob Griffin at 510-289-5182 or email jyg08@att.net.

The Israel Program Task Force Recommends. . .

Ambassador Ross writes that for now the normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE contributes to peace-building by stopping Israel from annexing territory in the West Bank and preserving the possibility of a two-state solution in the future while signaling the Palestinians that they will be left behind if they refuse to engage with Israel.

» Read the article

OJCYF Open to all Teens
With a new online program this year, we are recruiting Jewish teens from all over Oregon and SW Washington and expanding our reach. Please send any teen in grades 9-12 to our website for more details, or families can reach out directly to youth@ojcf.org.

• • • Save the Date • • •

Sept 2 High Holiday Packet Pickup for TBI members
Sept 3 Thursday in the TBI Courtyard, hosted by Diane Schechter
Sept 4 Shabbat in the Park (Alton Baker)
Sept 6 High Holiday Packet Pickup for TBI members
Sept 6 Sunday in the TBI Courtyard, hosted by Caitlin Roberts
Sept 6 NJOP Hebrew Review w/Rabbi Solomon
Sept 10 HHD Packet Pickup for TBI members

Yahrzeits

The following yahrzeits will be observed this Shabbat.

Norbert Freinkel
Mary Ann Gourgey
Curt Guthrie
Peter Hart
Aharun Livne
Peggy Stellmon
Eliezer ben Avraham v’Miriam
Michael Glaser
Ben Wolfe
Hyman Pressman
Helen Romm
Louis Bromberg
Dorothy Morgulis
Shawheen Shomloo
Morris Mitchell

Digital Copies of our Prayer Books

Community members who do not have a printed copy of Kol Haneshamah can view and/or download a PDF file of the Daily Prayerbook or Shabbat Vehagim, and follow along with livestreamed services from home. Here is the link for Prayers for a House of Mourning. Please note: If you have trouble downloading from here, please go to our home page, scroll down a bit, and download.

• • • Todah! • • •

Please support & thank these advertisers!

Lox, Stocks, & Bagels loxstocksbagels.com
Simcha Serenade tbroeker@efn.org
The Garber Group Windermere Real Estate
Linda Garber lgarber@windermere.com
Justin Gonzales justingonzales@windermere.com
B'nai B'rith Camp! bbcamp.org
Musgrove Mortuaries & Cemeteries musgroves.com
Capper's Frames & Prints cappersframes.com

Will re-open when we are able.
If you need candles and cannot locate them in a grocery store (Kiva, Cappela, MOC, Albertsons), contact Nina in the office.

We welcome comments, questions, or suggestions.
Please email Lesley Griffel.

Consider a Legacy gift to TBI.

For more information visit the Life & Legacy page on the TBI website.

Have Something to Share?

Submissions to This Week at TBI Eugene received by noon Tuesday will be considered for inclusion in Wednesday’s e-news. Email jody@tbieugene.org.