Tisch PDX

In August, TischPDX staff, alumni and members of our Cultural Shift advisory board were invited to attend Chavaya, a Jewish music festival and gathering outside of Seattle, WA. The gathering included around 300 attendees from around the Pacific Northwest and western states and featured workshops, classes and performances by younger rising Jewish musicians who have toured in Portland recently, Aly Halpert and Yoni Battat.

TischPDX was asked to attend to support a Black Jewish panel discussion which the organizers were eager to include. Executive Director Eleyna Fugman was asked to moderate the panel and Cultural Shift Program manager Sabina Spicer was on the panel. More than 50 people attended the presentation and the panelists were able to effectively communicate the strengths, difficulties, joys and insights that they experiences as Jews who are also targeted by anti black racism. TischPDX also tabled at the event and was able to share the results of our Jews of Color survey to individuals and community leaders from around the Pacific Northwest.

Thank you to for having us! It was super special and meaningful! We hope it happens again next year.

Shana Tova from TischPDX! Thank you for being a part of our community. 🍏🍯

🌟 We wish you a healthy and happy new year. 🌟 We hope you enjoy much apples and honey (and maybe even some honey cake).

Tomorrow night is Erev Rosh Hashanah and with it a new season of time begins. We begin again. As we step into this time of reflection, celebration, and awe, we are reminded of our alum Sara Figueroa's recent writing in our newsletter:

Elul has a way of finding you whether you are ready or not. The call of Elul to go inward is particularly hard to answer this year. I am in the midst of pivoting in my career, a season defined by doing, trying, and forward motion. Being still and reflective feels almost counterintuitive right now. And this is compounded by the complex and painful times we are living in. There is an urgent need to know what is happening beyond our immediate surroundings, as the imperative to stay connected calls more loudly than ever. In the face of so much heartbreak, I am reminded that without each other, we cannot have peace, we cannot have safety, we cannot find the love and acceptance we are all hungry for.

And yet, as Jews, we are lucky to have Elul — the lead-up to the High Holidays — as an invitation to pause. We are asked to reflect on our spiritual year and open ourselves to what is coming: joy, celebration, sweetness, and honey and for many of us a sense of belonging to our ancient tradition. This year, I am not entirely sure how to do that, but one message came through at the start of Elul while I was at the Chavaya Festival, immersed in Jewish music and joy. Organizer Aliko Weste explicitly named Chavaya as a place of belonging, and called on all of us to help each other experience that belonging — especially in a time when it feels so fraught. No space can be everything to everyone, but that sense of belonging was palpable at moments, and it was a gift and a testament to Aliko's intentions and the care he poured into the festival. During the Jews of Color panel, he spoke about how powerful Judaism is for him — and I was reminded that one way to belong is to practice from our ancient tradition.

With all the continued sorrow in the world, I am pausing to name what I can be immediately grateful for — even as the forward motion continues, even when the stillness feels especially hard to find.

- Sara Figueroa, alum (C1)

Don't Miss Trivia Night this Sunday!
4-7 pm

tinyurl.com/jewishtrivia2

Who's on your dream trivia team?

Your Smart friend? 🧠
Pop culture expert? 🎬
History nerd? 📚
Lucky guesser? 🍀

Get your tickets today! tinyurl.com/jewishtrivia26

This Sunday, July 26, 4pm, join us at Leikam Brewing Company for Jewish Trivia night!

Where obscure facts, pop culture, Jewish knowledge, and totally random questions all have a chance to earn your team bragging rights (and prizes!). tickets at: tinyurl.com/jewishtrivia26

✨ Prizes
🍻 Great drinks from Leikam Brewing
💙 An evening of community
🌈 A fundraiser supporting TischPDX's Cultural Shift & EJLI programs & our upcoming Hyphen collab

Whether you're a trivia champion or just really good at guessing, we'd love to see you there. Grab your teammates and get your tickets today! Tickets get you in to play trivia and entered into our raffle!
https://events.humanitix.com/tischpdx-trivia-and-fundraiser

🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 Reflections on Pride 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

During the month of June and July and as we celebrate Pride throughout the year, I have been reflecting on the vital role that organizations play in nurturing belonging, leadership, and community for LGBTQ+ Jews. There are relatively few Jewish nonprofits that foster and uplift q***r Jewish connection, yet organizations such as , , , , and others, demonstrate how transformative these spaces can be. By offering opportunities for learning, leadership development, relationship-building, and community creation, organizations like ours help steward the future of Jewish life by empowering q***r Jews to shape community in ways that feel authentic and aligned with their values. Through stipends, Torah learning, mentorship, and support for community-led gatherings and programs here in Portland, TischPDX is investing in q***r Jewish leaders, like me, who are creating spaces of connection, meaning, and joy—ensuring that more people can experience Jewish community without having to fit into any mold.

-Ilana, TischPDX Cohort 1 alum

Are you coming to Chavaya? We're so excited for this incredible earth based festival in WA in August. TischPDX is now a cosponsor and we'll be there, so we hope you'll join us. Tickets and more at chavayafestival.com

Get ready for:
RIVER • BEACH PARTY • TEA SPACE • GRIEF CEREMONY
PERFORMANCE • SACRED FIRE • SHABBAT • Havdalah WORKSHOPS MUSIC • OPEN MIC • ART • AND MORE!

Chavaya is an earth-based, Jewish, family-friendly festival rooted in community, spirituality, and the living landscape of the Pacific Northwest. We gather to celebrate connection to one another, to the land, and to the Divine - through music, ritual, art, joy, learning, and a deep celebration of Shabbat.

Chavaya, the Hebrew word for ‘experience’, is the heart of our gathering— the lived, transformative encounter that arises when we show up with openness, creativity, and care. It’s the meeting point of people, place, and spirit — where Jewish wisdom, the rhythms of nature, and the fullness of who we are converge into an experience that stirs a deep remembering within us and reorients us towards a more holy and sacred life.

Whether you’re already steeped in Jewish community, seeking to reconnect, or just curious - Chavaya invites you into a space of renewal and discovery: a place to ground in Jewish tradition, explore new expressions of spirituality, and co-create an experience that nourishes the soul and honors the world we share.

Let Chavaya be your invitation to an authentic, co-created celebration of Judaism rooted in nature, alive with ruach (spirit), and with enough room around the fire for all.

Do you love trivia? We do! Well you are in for a treat. Our Cultural Shift Program Manager, Sabina is cooking up some incredible questions for our trivia night later in July! Enjoy the sunshine and play trivia for an array of prizes!

Get ready for hilarious, tricky, and meshuga Jewish Trivia night full of bavajadas and more!! This fundraiser for TischPDX will help to fund the growing programming of Cultural Shift, Emerging Jewish Leadership Incubator, and the upcoming Hyphen collaboration.

Admission includes raffle entry, and the option for playing along with trivia (more prizes)!

Full menu and bar are available for purchase.

Street parking only

18+ only

Join us Sunday, July 26 at ! Grab your tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/tischpdx-trivia-and-fundraiser

Tisch PDX TischPDX works to bolster the leadership of young & marginalized Jews in Portland, Oregon.

As we celebrate Juneteenth, we want highlight an incredible free educational resource from Be'chol Lashon:

“As Jews, we know the value of marking the end of slavery with a yearly celebration. Juneteenth has much in common with Passover as a holiday of gratitude, joy, ritual, and remembrance.

We've created this unique Juneteenth educational resource to encourage all Jews to focus on the multicultural nature of our community and the variety of ways American Jews have experienced the American past and experience the American future.”

Check it out here: https://globaljews.org/learn-with-us/education/

As we celebrate Juneteenth, we reflect on history and celebrate Black stories, Black names, and Black voices. In “Honoring Our Ancestors and Ourselves,” Marcella White Campbell does all three as she takes us on her journey to learn the stories behind her family’s names, and the Black and Jewish history they carry. Read the full story here as a perfect celebration of the holiday! https://jewishdiversitystories.org/identity/honoring-our-ancestors-and-ourselves/