Havurah Shalom

Rabbi Benjamin and Joel Beinin will offer three sessions on “Understanding October 7, 2023” – the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s response. 

The class will offer space for people to express their personal feelings about the events. We will have the opportunity to read and respond to testimonies from Israelis and Palestinians about their experience of the events. How can we handle our shock and fear as Jews for ourselves and our families and friends in Israel while making space for similar feelings of Palestinians as Israel has devastated the Gaza Strip? 

We will explore the historical context of the events of October 7. How did Hamas come to be the ruling power in the Gaza Strip? What was the relationship between Hamas and Israel during the 16 years of the Israeli-Egyptian siege on Gaza?

How should we as a Jewish community respond to these events going forward? Can we uphold the equal value of all human life while acknowledging Israel’s structural oppression of the Palestinian people? 

Integrated into our examination of this moment, we will engage with a variety of Jewish texts: on grief and loss, on holding multiple truths, and on questions of fundamentalism and fixed views.

Building Entry
For security reasons, the building always remains locked. It is the responsibility of member participants to bring the door code and use it to come inside. Since the code cannot be transmitted by email, please contact one of our staff if you don't have it yet: Rachel Pollak (503-248-4662, ext. 2) or Tara Anderson (ext. 4).

If you are not a member of Havurah, we hope you will join us for this class, but we cannot share the code with you. Call or text the phone number attached to the door when you arrive, and a participant will come let you in.

We also want to encourage you to arrive on time, particularly those who do not have a code. This will minimize disruptions for students and teachers.

Volunteer opportunity! On the first day of class, the instructor will ask for someone to share their phone number on the door sign and monitor their phone alerts so that others can be let into the building to attend class. If you can help in this way, please tell the instructor. Thank you!