Welcome!
Temple Beth Tikvah, based in Bend, Oregon, is a Jewish Reform congregation serving Central Oregon and affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism.
We welcome interfaith families, Jews by choice and Jews of all religious backgrounds.
Come check us out!
Services are held at First United Methodist Church, 680 NW Bond Street, Bend
Contact us at 541-388-8826 or info@bethtikvahbend.org
P.O. Box 7472
Bend, OR 97708
Calendar
Click on the calendar for details about TBT services, education schedules and social events.
Religious School
Click here for information on our Sunday School & Hebrew School. Register now for 2013 - 2014
Social Action
Our Social Action Committee is busy with projects for the Bethlehem Inn and Back Door Café. read more
Greetings from Rabbi Hershenson
December begins and Chanukah is already halfway over! Wow! The mash up between Thanksgiving and Chanukah has filled Facebook news feeds, tweets and even TV commercials. I am personally reminded about what I believe is the true lesson of Chanukah.
First, a little history. The Maccabees fought the Hellenist empire, the Greek-Syrians. Antiochus determined that there would no longer be religious freedom and insisted Jewish rites be replaced with the religion of the Greek gods. Mattathias rebelled. His sons, the Maccabees, joined him. They won and rededicated the Temple.
The Talmud only refers to the miracle of the oil when the rabbis ask "What is Chanukah?" The accounts of the war between the Maccabees and the Greek-Syrian army is left to the books of Maccabees which are not even included in the Hebrew bible. How is it possible such an important victory would be left out? Why don't the rabbis discuss it at all?
President's Message
Dear TBT Members & Friends,
I hope you had a great Thanksgivikah (or is it Chanuksgiving). Actually, latkes and turkey seem to make a very tasty combination. While Thanksgiving is over, there are still a few days left for celebrating Chanukah. On Monday, December 2nd, we had wonderful TBT Family Chanukah gathering. A great THANK YOU to Suzanne Schlosberg and Kim Rafilson for organizing this amazing event; and to the many latke makers and other helpers that made it such a success.
We also hope you take advantage of the many other wonderful activities from TBT in December (see the Calendar section for the full list). Additionally, in December this year, the Reform movement (URJ) will be having its Biennial event in San Diego. Rabbi Hershenson, Kathy Schindel, and I will be attending. This Biennial event brings together thousands of members from Reform congregations across North America for several days of intense learning, sharing, schmoozing, connecting, worshipping, and simply enjoying the Jewish experience. This will be the first time attending this event for the three of us, and we look forward to gaining new insights and ideas that we can bring back and share with the congregation.