schedule
Choose from ◆ Panels ◆ Art Workshops ◆ Lectures ◆ Experiential Sessions
OPENING REMARKS | 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Why a Shuk, Why Now, Why Portland
Session 1 | 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
◆ Stories from South Portland: The Rise and Displacement
of a Jewish Community with Judy Margles ◆
◆ Jonas Mekas and the Diary Film with Michael Turner ◆
◆ Sacred Flow: A Jewish Yoga Experience with Shana Rose ◆
Session 2 | 11:40 am - 12:40 pm
◆ Jewish Women Remembering: A Conversation on Memoir with Jewish Women authors with Alicia Jo Rabins, Eve Bernfeld and Leanne Grabel ◆
◆ Oregonian Jews in the Fight against Fascism with Professor Steven Wasserstrom ◆
◆ Write What We’ve Forgotten: A Writing Workshop with Rachel Attias ◆
◆ Experiential Introduction to Jewish Mystical Practice with Zevi Slavin ◆
lunch | 12:45 pm - 1:40 pm
Session 3 | 1:45 pm - 3:00 pm
◆ The Current State of Transgender Judaism with Rabbi Emily Kapor-Mater ◆
◆ Make Your Container: A Jewish Studio Project Workshop on “Being Jewish &” with Leila Weiss ◆
◆ Making your Grandparents’ Kichel with Richard Freimark ◆
Session 4 | 3:10 pm - 4:25 pm
◆ Bridging the Divide: A Jewish Response to America’s Political Polarization with Rabbi Dovid Gleizer ◆
◆ Tachrichim: Traditional Jewish Burial Garments Demystified with Sandy Axel ◆
◆ Olive & Ember: A Sephardi Food & Wine Tasting with Patrick Varon ◆
Shuk Afterhours | Drinks & DJ | 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Session Descriptions
Session 1 | 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Stories from South Portland: The Rise and Displacement
of a Jewish Community with Judy Margles
Portland’s kaleidoscopic Jewish community began in the mid-19th century with immigrants from Central Europe, followed by a larger wave from Eastern Europe and Russia. This illustrated talk explores the history of “Old South Portland,” where Jewish immigrants built a lively, close-knit neighborhood. It traces the community’s growth and displacement during urban renewal, reflecting on memory, loss, and the meaning of belonging.
Jonas Mekas and the Diary Film with Michael Turner
This workshop introduces us to Jonas Mekas, the Lithuanian survivor of a Nazi labor camp who helped create the deeply personal, intimate style of filmmaking known as the diary film. A major influence on my own practice, Mekas’s films offer a model for processing everyday life. Participants will spend the first half engaging with his work and approach, then shift into creating a short, collaborative video sketch inspired by his methods– spontaneous camerawork, poetic voice-over, and the poignancy of fleeting moments.
Sacred Flow: A Jewish Yoga Experience with Shana Rose
This soulful yoga class weaves together mindful movement, breath, and the sacred rhythms of Jewish prayer. Guided by harmonium chanting and traditional blessings, the practice creates space to connect more deeply with your body, spirit, and lineage. Through intentional flow and moments of stillness, you’ll be invited to embody devotion, presence, and inner listening. No prior experience with yoga or Hebrew is needed—just come as you are and be held in community.
Session 2 | 11:40 am - 12:40 pm
Jewish Women Remembering: A Conversation on Memoir with Jewish Women authors with Alicia Jo Rabins, Eve Bernfeld and Leanne Grabel
Join Portland-based Jewish writers and memoirists, Leanne Grabel, Alicia Jo Rabins and Eve Bernfeld, in conversation about their works, its role in the Jewish and personal narrative, how living in a female body informs the content and context of each writers’ work and the importance of telling one’s story. Authors will read from their works and join in a conversation moderated by Art/Lab Director and Co-Founder, Shoshana Gugenheim Kedem.
Oregonian Jews in the Fight against Fascism with Professor Steven Wasserstrom
Jewish Oregonian elected representatives, Jewish judges, community leaders, religious leaders, academics, have engaged in political struggles against local, national and international fascism. This lecture will look at three periods of significant conflict, the 1940s, the 1990s, and today.
Write What We’ve Forgotten: A Writing Workshop with Rachel Attias
In this writing workshop, participants will reclaim ancestral memories that have been forgotten to time, or that they never knew in the first place. We will read and discuss texts on memory, and what it means for us to forget names, people, languages, and places, as both individuals and a collective. We will then use generative writing prompts to practice articulating what we have forgotten, and to write into those gaps in memory.
Experiential Introduction to Jewish Mystical Practice with Zevi Slavin
We’ll explore Jewish mystical practices through gentle guided meditation and simple contemplative exercises, using them as gateways into an embodied understanding of core mystical concepts. The session weaves together context, direct experience, and space for reflection. It’s designed to be open, spacious, and adaptable — inviting both playfulness and depth. And it’s suitable for all level of prior knowledge and current practice. You are welcome as you are.
Session 3 | 1:45 pm - 3:00 pm
The Real Housewives of Chabad: A Panel on Jewish Feminine Leadership
Chabad women live at the edge of what most would consider possible, as they balance large families with active communal leadership. They uphold strong personal standards while remaining deeply welcoming to all, and their homes often serve as vibrant community centers. In this panel interview, they will share the joys and the “oys” that drive them to hold nothing back in their mission of Jewish peoplehood. The conversation will ask: What kinds of leadership become possible outside formal titles? And what might the broader Jewish world learn from the public, relational, and spiritual leadership of Chabad women?
Sure to inspire, uplift, and intrigue.
The Current State of Transgender Judaism with Rabbi Emily Kapor-Mater
We will explore the contemporary landscape of transgender inclusion and issues within Judaism across its various movements and communities. We’ll examine how different Jewish denominations are currently approaching questions of gender identity and halakha (Jewish law). And we will also learn about the vibrant work happening within trans Jewish communities themselves, discovering the diverse ways Jewish communities are engaging with these crucial questions of identity and belonging, and how we are taking up the tasks of moving beyond inclusion to celebration.
Make Your Container: A Jewish Studio Project Workshop on “Being Jewish &” with Leila Wice
Open up and look inside… yourself. What does your ampersand contain? And how does that contain you? In conjunction with the “Jew &” exhibit at the Salem Art Association, we will explore words and images in community, and then take time to create and reflect independently. Basic materials and tools will be provided, but feel free to bring potentially meaningful doodads (small images and objects) to use or share.
Making your Grandparents’ Kichel with Richard Freimark
Making Kichel from my dad’s and grandfather’s recipe for Germany in the late 1800’s. I plan to demonstrate how to make kichel, a delightful and hard-to-find Jewish treat. Kichel is perfect for a demonstration: it’s simple, requires no proving time, and can be prepared quickly. I will bring all necessary ingredients and my mixer for the event. Alternatively, I could demonstrate the art of making the best challah (just ask Caroline Weinstein) or classic bagels, but please note that the additional rising and baking times for those breads would exceed the schedule of your planned event. The participants should expect to be called up to help during the demonstration and will receive finished samples.
Session 4 | 3:10 pm - 4:25 pm
Contemporary Jewish Fatherhood: A Father’s Day Panel
Coming Soon
Bridging the Divide: A Jewish Response to America’s Political Polarization with Rabbi Dovid Gleizer
This class explores the extreme polarization in America through a Jewish perspective, examining the risks of allowing political differences to divide our communities and relationships. Drawing on core Jewish values that emphasize unity, warn against baseless hatred, and encourage constructive disagreement, we will consider whether division is ever productive or ultimately dangerous. Together, we’ll explore how embracing diversity and finding common ground can strengthen, rather than fracture, our shared sense of purpose.
Tachrichim: Traditional Jewish Burial Garments Demystified with Sandy Axel
Learn about the various components of a traditional set of tachrichim (burial garments) and the meaning and basis of their significance. You will have an opportunity to create your own set of patterns, receive instruction sheets on how to sew them on your own, and hand-stitch a head covering.
Olive & Ember: A Sephardi Food & Wine Tasting with Patrick Varon and Michael Perman
This is not a cooking class—it’s a guided tasting. In this one-hour session, guests will explore the foundational flavors of Sephardi cuisine through four vibrant dishes built on olive oil, acidity, herbs, and spice. Each dish is paired with a thoughtfully selected wine, demonstrating how food and wine interact and transform one another in real time. Led by Sephardi chef Patrick Varon (Olive & Ember), alongside Michael Perman Certified Sommelier, CMS/WSET (C’EST WHAT? Wine and Sensory), this experience is designed to sharpen the palate and offer a new way of understanding flavor. Guests will enjoy four tasting dishes, curated wine pairings, and freshly prepared breads for dipping.