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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

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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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 Jews and Arabs 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

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.