About Us
Congregation Shir Tikvah strives to be a kehillah kedosha (holy community) where all are respected, valued and included. Clergy, staff and dedicated volunteers work together to provide a space for spiritual growth and study. As partners in Jewish life, we educate our children and offer programming around holidays, cultural interests and acts of social justice. We study hard, embrace our quirkiness, and try to throw the best parties allowed by coronavirus restrictions.
Our Vision Statement
WE ENVISION A SMALL CONGREGATION. . .
A sacred community whose practice of liberal Judaism grows from an understanding and love of the tradition on which it stands, centered in Torah.
A participatory community committed to a true partnership between our Rabbi and laity, a collaborative relationship built on reciprocity, shaped by the spirit of covenant.
An inclusive community where all are welcome to join in creating a Jewish congregational family - an enthusiastic, working, living community of faith.
A worship community where all may take part in celebration of Shabbat and holidays, drawing on fresh as well as traditional approaches to prayer, ritual, Torah, music and meditations, to nourish personal and communal spiritual life.
A learning community creating with our Rabbi abundant and varied opportunities for Jewish study which brings the practice of learning and reflection to all aspects of our existence.
An intergenerational community in which adults and children learn from each other through study, worship, and shared love of Judaism.
A caring community responsive to members in need; one actively committed to work for social justice, to join with others in healing a hurting world.
An innovative community in which all aspects of how we come together in community will be open for discussion and consideration.
Keyn yehi ratzon - may this be God’s will.
Physical Address:
2420 NE Sandy Boulevard, Portland, OR 97232
503-473-8227
Mailing address: 1631 NE Broadway #314, Portland, OR 97232
Office hours are 10 am - 3 pm, Monday - Thursday.
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Amelia Schroth, Operations Manager |
Clergy
Rabbi Ariel Stone has been Shir Tikvah’s spiritual leader since the congregation’s founding in 2002. A caring and vibrant leader, she is an exceptionally knowledgeable teacher of Torah and a recognized scholar of Jewish mysticism. She is the first female rabbi to be the head of a congregation in the state of Oregon.
Rabbi Stone is also currently the chair of Hesed Shel Emet (the Oregon Jewish Indigent Burial Society), Rabbinic mentor for TischPDX and Convener of Portland Interfaith Clergy Resistance. She serves as adjunct faculty with the Judaic Studies department at Portland State University.
For more on Rabbi Ariel, see this story by Oregon Jewish Life.
STAFF
Katie Schneider, Executive Director
.Katie provides for the day-to-day management of Shir Tikvah's fiscal, physical, security and administrative affairs. In her former life, she was a writer, a historian and a teacher, all skills which serve her well as she coordinates programming, education and congregant care. Contact her if you’d like information about membership, education, communications or planning our next party. She's proud to serve on the Board of Directors of Relay Resources.
Amelia Schroth, Operations Manager
Amelia answer your phone calls, emails and questions about everything from membership to finances and all of the small details in between. She’s the woman you contact to schedule a movie, a bar mitzvah or anything else in the building. Our plants always look fantastic because Amelia is also a landscape contractor – in the summer and on the weekends, look for her outside.
Rachael Walkinshaw, Education Director
Rachael organizes, coordinates, and manages the Nashira educational program. In the past, she taught at Nashira for more than 10 years and worked with kids in various school and home settings for 20 years. She has a bachelor's degree in art history and Judaic studies and she is also a printmaker. Last year she did a 6-month long internship at the OJMCHE where she was a guest curator and did historical research. Rachael has deep roots in Portland's Jewish community, and her great grandparents are all over the place in the museum archives.