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.
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.
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.
STAFF
Katie Schneider, Administrative 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.
Amelia Schroth, Office 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.
Shir Tikvah News
We are pleased to announce that Steering is officially changing its name to the Board of Directors (hereafter to be called “The Board”.)
As we approach our 18th year as a kehilah kedosha, we reflect on the amazing growth we have undergone. For one thing, we no longer meet in people’s living rooms (because how on earth would we fit?)
In all seriousness, we have opted for this modification because it reflects the positive changes our congregation has experienced over the years. As Shir Tikvah continues to grow and mature, more duties have been taken on by professional staff and this has shifted the role that the Board has played. The name change also clarifies the role of the leadership group in setting policy, identifying short- and long-term goals, and holding fiduciary and legal authority for the congregation.
This change came as part of a series of suggestions in a report that Susan Goldstein generously did pro bono for Shir Tikvah, which was produced after extensive interviews with multiple congregation members. There are other suggestions that the Board will be implementing over the next couple of years, much of which involves formalizing many of the Board's operations so that they can be passed on more seamlessly. The goal is to take the Board out of day-to-day operations, which Rabbi, Katie and Amelia do a great job of managing, to focus on fiduciary responsibility for the synagogue as well as providing overall strategic direction and oversight.
We are always happy to hear from you. Judy Siviglia is our ombudsmensch. If you have questions, concerns, or compliments, please contact her at judys@shirtikvahpdx.org.
In closing, we leave you with these thoughts from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, in discussion of Jewish community structures. “The ultimate governing authority in every congregation is the membership...The board and committees are responsible for actualizing the goals of the community along with the staff, including its education, worship, religious, social and cultural activities.”
We appreciate the opportunity to continue to work on your behalf to make Congregation Shir Tikvah the very special kehilah kedosha that it is.
Chazak ve'ematz,
Aron Borok and Leora Troper
Co-Chairs
Shir Tikvah Board of Directors