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 just over 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, queer, straight, trans, interfaith, atheist, devout believer, anti-Zionist, pro-Zionist, counter-Zionist, and not sure of anything at all. We welcome all who want to grapple with the beauty, contradictions, and enduring mystery of our sacred texts and traditions to better understand our spirituality, our world and the path we share.
Shir Tikvah means "song of hope". We gather strength from each other and our tradition: strength to hope and act for a better world, city, and community.
Until the Willamette River parts for Portland’s Jewish community to cross the divide,
the liberal, independent Shir Tikvah remains the east side’s only full-time shul.
Rabbi Ariel Stone’s casual congregation is serious about social justice and
Torah Study, complete with fresh bagels and heated banter.
- Portland Monthly
IT'S TIME TO REGISTER YOUR CHILDREN, GRADES K-7
for the Nashira Education Project!
"Nashira" is Hebrew for "let us sing". Jewish learning, traditionally, was chanted; that which is sung is often more easily remembered. Song is also often an expression of joy, and we believe that children's learning should be joyful.
Current Nashira Project families:
Log in to your account to view your Nashira Project page
Time to Prepare for High Holy Days 5786
Get all the information you need on our High Holy Days web page
Checkout this exciting podcast featuring Rabbi Ariel
Exit Interviews, Part Three with Rabbi Ariel Stone
The Jewish Review Podcast by Rockne Roll
In this final installment of a series of conversations with departing Portland clergy, host Rockne Roll visits Rabbi Ariel Stone of Congregation Shir Tikvah. They discuss the journey of founding the synagogue and the delight Rabbi Stone still finds in Torah study.
Sometimes prayer is expressed in action
When he marched in Selma with Dr Martin Luther King Jr on a Shabbat, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said "it was as if my legs were praying." Sometimes prayer helps us muse upon our prior acts; sometimes it spurs us to act.
Judaism teaches that we all are to give as we are able: Urgent Aid to Gaza
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עד החטוף האחרון - Until the last hostage
We rejoice in the release of some, we grieve the death of so many others, we mourn the ongoing violence, and we will continue to pray for all who suffer to come home in peace and safety.
Our traditional prayer for hostages and all captives
אַחֵינוּ ואחיותינו הַנְּתוּנִים בַּצָּרָה וּבַשִּׁבְיָה הָעוֹמְדִים בֵּין בַּיָּם וּבֵין בַּיַּבָּשָׁה
הַמָּקוֹם יְרַחֵם עֲלֵיהֶם וְיוֹצִיאֵם מִצָּרָה לִרְוָחָה וּמֵאֲפֵלָה לְאוֹרָה וּמִשִּׁעְבּוּד לִגְאֻלָּההָשָׁתָא
בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן
Our siblings
Who are given over to suffering and captivity
Whether at sea or on land
HaMakom
Be compassion upon them
And bring them out from darkness to light
From bondage to redemption
Now, quickly and soon in our day
And let us say
Amen
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A Jewish Prayer for Palestine
As Jews, we pray for their well-being in accordance with our Torah’s command: “you shall not stand by as your neighbor bleeds”.
May we live to see the day when Israelis and Palestinians will live in the land we call holy, together, and in peace.Our freedom is bound up with the freedom of all others. May we work toward a day of tikkun that frees Palestinians from the darkness of oppression.
אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר - Elohim said Let There Be Light, and there was light.
May we create light that brings hope to the descendants of Hagar, and so to our ancestral home, and may we live to see peace over all Israel. Amen.
Adapted by Rabbi Ariel Stone from a prayer created by Matah Adler, on ritualwell.org.
Sources:
*VaYikra (Leviticus) 19.16
*B'reishit (Genesis) 1.3
Rabbi Emerita's Erev Shabbat Message
We exist to create space for the central mitzvot of תורה (Torah), עבודה (Prayer and Ritual), and גמילות חסדים (Doing Kindness).
We of Shir Tikvah are not a "niche congregation" nor are we definable in "either-or" binary terms: we are not straight or queer, not pro or anti Israel, not pro or anti Palestine or in any other simplistic way. We recognize nuance and the need for learning and listening in all things, as Rabbi Akiba taught "this too is Torah and I need to learn it." (BT Berakhot 62a) We welcome all who wish to center Torah learning and empathy in their Jewish spiritual practice; we celebrate the full diversity and mystery of HaShem's creation.
For up-to-date listings of all of our gatherings for prayer, ritual, learning and activities, please check our calendar.
Guests: You are welcome to request zoom links, or sign up to join our weekly newsletter, by contacting our office.
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We follow the Jewish ethic of caring for the most vulnerable of our community; therefore continue to require vaccination and boosting. We will also provide high quality masks for those who require them in order to participate in our community gatherings.
If you are feeling ill, please stay home and away from others.
Health authorities have recommended the following source for ongoing information about the pandemic.
Weekly Zoom Events
Members: visit the Zoom Links page in the member log-in section of the site for the Weekday Zoom Minyan (Mondays and Wednesdays at noon) and the Erev Shabbat candle lighting (Fridays at sunset in the winter; check the calendar for the exact time).
Guests: contact the office for zoom links!