Jewish Federation of Greater Portland

Emergency response grows to embrace fires

The smoke and ash enveloping Portland and much of the West Coast has confined many of us to our homes. We are the lucky ones. As of Sept. 11, 500,000 Oregonians were under some level of evacuation notice with more than 40,000 evacuated from their homes. In southern Oregon, at least 27…

Shofar: Share the sound of connection Sept. 20

“Throughout time, the shofar has been a way for Jews to connect with others near them.” The Oregon Board of Rabbis and the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland invite you to use our ancient traditions to connect anew with Shofar Across Oregon and Southwest Washington.

This New Year, answer the call of the shofar

I would wager that most of us associate the sounding of the shofar with High Holiday worship. An ancient people, we have used the shofar for other purposes. During crises, we sounded the shofar to express alarm and to call everyone together to share instructions of how to respond.

High Holidays in the Age of COVID

The Jewish New Year of 5781 will be greeted in dramatically different fashion than the way we welcomed the years before COVID. When Rosh Hashanah begins the eve of Sept. 18, COVID-19 will keep many who normally attend High Holiday services at home. Congregations are planning a variety of…

“How Will I Do This At Home?”

“This year is going to be different,” said Kesser Israel Rabbi Kenneth Brodkin in the introduction to a Zoom conversation he and his wife, Aviel, led about celebrating the holidays during a pandemic. Rabbi Brodkin offered some practical tips for celebrating at home.