Portland's Eastside Synagogue
Congregation Shir Tikvah is a mid-sized independent congregation. Our founders envisioned a participatory, learning community and we work hard to fulfill that promise. At less than 20 years old, we're the "start up" in Portland's Jewish Community. .
Our neighborhoods are diverse and so are our supporters. They come from across the Jewish spectrum: Jew-by-birth, Jew-by-choice, gay, straight, interfaith, atheist, devout believer. We welcome all who want to grapple with the beauty and contradictions of our sacred texts to better understand our faith, our world and our place in it.
Shir Tikvah means "song of hope". We gather strength from each other and our tradition.
UP TO THE MINUTE
Guests: Looking for Zoom links to services or events?
Contact Amelia Schroth, our office manager.
Our High Holy Days services will look substantially different this year.
Although we cannot gather together in a large group, we will be praying together, learning together and creating some new traditions.
Over the month of Elul and during the Days of Awe, we'll offer live and pre-recorded content, as well as at-home resources for our members. Stay tuned as planning kicks into high gear!
“Justice, Justice shall you pursue, that you may live” (Deut 16.20) is a central ethic of the Jewish people.
We decry the murder of George Floyd. Like far too many other African-Americans, his life was callously cut short. He has been denied the inalienable rights of every resident of the United States of America to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are a people who historically have often been victims at the hands of uniformed representatives of the state; we know well how state power can be abused. Racism in America affects each individual, but it is perpetuated by the system as a whole, and it is that whole that must change.
In the face of injustice at the hands of agencies and individuals sworn to protect, not persecute, we cannot be silent and we will stand up and be counted. We demand that all governing bodies of our country respond to the violence of unequal protection before the law immediately with a renewed effort. They must listen to the anguished voices of Black, Brown and Native American communities and respond with compassion and with the application of equal justice under law to their fear, their agony, and their most justified anger. It is well past time for deep, systemic change.
לְ֭מַעַן בֵּית־ה’ אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ אֲבַקְשָׁ֖ה ט֣וֹב לָֽךְ׃ לְ֭מַעַן אַחַ֣י וְרֵעָ֑י אֲדַבְּרָה־נָּ֖א שָׁל֣וֹם בָּֽךְ׃
“For the sake of my kin and friends, I pray for your well-being;
for the sake of the house of our God, I seek your good.” (Psalm 127)
We call upon all those who profess to love peace to join with us in the declaration that peace must include safety, bodily integrity, and human decency for us all. Peace must include justice for the most vulnerable among us, or it is not peace. Wishing for and wanting peace is no longer enough. We must actively work for both peace and justice now, today, and every day after to achieve meaningful progress towards those goals. This is not the first time the cry has arisen to work for true justice, and we know it will not be the last. We cannot be satisfied with small, incremental reforms.
We call upon all those elected representatives of our communities, all those entrusted with the good and welfare of all our country’s inhabitants, to redouble their efforts to ensure that “justice will burst forth like a mighty flood stream, and righteousness like a flash flood” (Amos 5.24) sweeping away all evil in its path.
We stand ready and determined to support that struggle every day, until the day when all shall ascend the mountain of enlightenment and see that we are all One.
Minneapolis mural by Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, Niko Alexander, and Pablo Hernandez
If you are struggling with the economic effects of the Coronavirus, there are Jewish community resources available to you. Please follow this link to find out more. COVID related Community Resources.
Members - please log into your member account to find the Zoom links to events.
If you need a dues adjustment, please fill out our short form.
If you'd like to advertise a class or your business venture in the Week's Worth, contact Katie.
Friends and Guests - we welcome you to join our virtual events, study and prayer.
Send an email to get Zoom links and to be added to our guest lists.
If you need a text from shul - Torah, Talmud or a prayerbook - please be in touch. We'll help get you what you need.