Tikkun Leil Shabbat

Next TLS: Fri 2/3 at 2201 P St NW

2011-04-24T18:55:00.075-04:00

Friday, February 3rd
row seating, a capella
6:45pm services, 8:15ish pm potluck dinner

Church of the Pilgrims building
2201 P St NW

Directions: Gothic building on west side of 22nd Street between P & Q Streets, NW. Enter around to the left side of the main entrance down the stairway marked "Fellowship Hall." (Enter from South side of the building.)
http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org/directions.html

Please bring a vegetarian ENTREE or SALAD to share

TLS is going on retreat!
Friday, February 17th-Sunday February 19th
National Havurah Committee Chesapeake Retreat
Register and learn more at www.havurah.org/chesapeake
Pearlstone Retreat Center in Reisterstown, Maryland

Tikkun Leil Shabbat will join minyanim and
havurot from across the Mid-Atlantic for the National Havurah
Committee Chesapeake Retreat. Participants in grassroots Jewish
communities from all over the Mid-Atlantic will be gathering for a
fun-filled weekend of joyful singing, soulful services, and learning
sessions on a variety of Jewish topics taught by retreat participants.

In parashat Mishpatim, Moses receives law concerning fines, lending, and restitution. On Shabbat Shekalim, the haftarah defines a system of census and taxation, including that the rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than a half-shekel. In the midst of a presidential primary, with Wall Street recently occupied, and in the weeks before Passover, how do we perceive these laws? Does equal taxation promote or hinder equality? Do regulations and taxes represent an infringement on, or an enabler of, human freedom?

Individuals, families, and havurot of all ages will gather for a fun-filled weekend of joyful singing, soulful services, and inspired learning.

Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center / Reisterstown, Maryland

Contact chesapeake-retreat@havurah.org with your questions or ideas

Friday, February 24th - circle seating, w/instruments
6:45 pm services, 8:15ish pm potluck dinner
Church of the Pilgrims building, 2201 P St NW

March 7th--TLS Purim Celebration!
Details TBD

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A program of Jews United for Justice

Footnotes for the Perplexed

2009-09-08T13:05:00.014-04:00

Who comes to Tikkun Leil Shabbat?
We are Jews from birth, Jews by choice, people committed to both traditional and non-traditional Jewish practice, non-Jews, and people exploring Judaism; LGBT and straight; people of color, Sefardi, Mizrachi and Ashkenazi; Virginians, Marylanders, DC residents, and people from other places; Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, Renewal, secular, and Jewish without labels; people with no formal Jewish education, Jewish educators, and people with all other types of Jewish backgrounds. We tend to be heavily 30's and 20's, with attendance by folks of all ages.

What does "Tikkun Leil Shabbat" mean?
First, some vocabulary:
l'taken (v) = to repair or heal
tikkun olam (n) = the holy work of repairing the world
Tikkun Leil Shavuot (n) = The name of our havurah is a play on this term, which refers to the annual all-night Torah study session which spiritually "heals" the world on the holiday Shavuot.

Shabbat (n) = Jewish day of rest from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, when we stop running around trying to accomplish things and make some time to breathe and bless, eat and love.

Tikkun Leil Shabbat is a welcoming, restful, songful community where we glimpse redemption at dusk on a Friday evening, eat things with tofu and noodles in them, learn from each others' thoughts and experiences, and educate ourselves about the good work people are already doing to make our city a gentler and fairer place for everyone who lives here.

What style of services are these?
All of the services are fully egalitarian, full Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv with much singing. Micro variations to the words of the prayers are up to the person leading services. Sometimes we sit in a circle and the service is accompanied by acoustic guitar and percussion. Sometimes we sit facing East and the service is unaccompanied. The style of service is announced in advance.

Are the services interpreted in ASL (American Sign Language)?
Sometimes. Please email tikkunleilshabbat[at]yahoo[dot]com if you would like the service and speaker on a particular date to be interpreted professionally in ASL, or orally interpreted by a trained volunteer. We are grateful to the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning's Community Interpreter Fund for helping with the cost of ASL interpretation.

Is TLS wheelchair accessible? Is there handicapped parking?
Unfortunately, neither of the sites where we currently meet are wheelchair accessible. We would like to change this, and hope someday to be able to meet in a wheelchair-accessible location. If you have any suggestions, please email them to tikkunleilshabbat (at) yahoo (dot) com.
When TLS meets at the Church of the Pilgrims building (2201 P St NW), there is designated handicapped parking. When we meet at UNM, if you email us in advance, a space in the alley behind the building can be reserved informally.

What siddur (prayerbook) do you use?
Tikkun Leil Shabbat participants bring a wide range of prayerbooks, including Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, and nondenominational siddurim, and some participants prefer to pray without a printed text. We provide copies of Siddur Chaveirim Kol Yisraeil ("the purple siddur"), which contain the text of the evening service in Hebrew, in English, and transliterated phonetically in English letters.

Can I come just for services and then leave? Can I show up just for dinner?
Yes, and yes. We generally start dinner approximately 1.5 hours after the posted start time.

What should I wear to Tikkun Leil Shabbat?
Anything you want. You'll see people wearing suits, jeans, and flowing funky garments, with sandals and with dress shoes, with covered and uncovered heads.

What kind of food should I bring?
Please bring a vegetarian entrée or salad to share. Your dish should fit into one of two categories:
1. Option One: Bring a vegetarian contribution (no fish please; dairy and eggs are fine). There's a table where you can place that contribution.
2. Option Two: Prepare your potluck contribution in a hekhsher-only kitchen, or purchase a hekhshered potluck item. There's a designated table where you can place that contribution. (If you don't totally understand Option Two, don't stress; just go with Option One, above.)

I keep kosher in a particular way. Will I be able to eat dinner at TLS?
There is always one table of vegetarian food, and another table of vegetarian food that is hekhshered or prepared in a hekhsher-only kitchen. This makes it possible for as many of us as possible to eat and to contribute food. (Learn more about the "two-table" potluck phenomenon here, or read about our famous system for getting the dishes washed here.)
After services, a handful of participants fill kiddush cups with a wine or grape beverage of their choice, and Tikkun Leil Shabbat participants all say kiddush together. After a break to allow for ritual handwashing, we say a communal motzi over hekhshered challah.

I'm not Jewish. Can I come?
Yes!

I am Jewish, but I'm probably not "Jewish enough" to come to something like this. Can I come?
Yes, you are, and yes, please come!

I'm not in my twenties or thirties. Can I come?
Yes!

I'm not a member of the inner circle of Jewish cool people in DC. They all know each other already. Can I come?
Yes! These gatherings gain strength from each person who joins us. (If an inner circle of Jewish coolness exists, we're not in it, either.)

Has Tikkun Leil Shabbat taken any steps to "green" these gatherings?
We've taken a variety of steps to reduce the environmental impact of our gatherings:

Our meeting locations are metro accessible (Red line Dupont Circle) and for many attendees, also walkable and bikeable.
By gathering for vegetarian meals, we significantly reduce the environmental impact of our Shabbat dinners together. (Eating lower on the food chain, even once a week, is a very powerful way to reduce the energy use and carbon emissions associated with our food consumption -- and it's yummy!).
We've taken steps to minimize waste from disposables on both potluck tables. On the vegetarian table, you'll find a colorful collection of cloth napkins we procured on Craigslist and donations from participants -- a volunteer launders them after each TLS. We use reusable tableware: Preserve brand plates and cups made of 100% recycled plastic, previously-loved forks, serving utensils, and other donations from participants. We wash and re-use plastic cutlery for use on the vegetarian table. The hekhsher table also sports its own set of lime-green reusables which get washed separately.
We recycle glass, plastic and aluminum containers after TLS meals, diverting some garbage from the waste stream and conserving resources
We have heard divrei tikkun speakers on a variety of environmental issues, including the protection of the Anacostia watershed, community gardening, and local and national climate activism. In October of 2009, several TLS participants donated to make it possible for TLS to become an organizational partner in the Jewish Climate Change Campaign.
That said, our exuberant potluck gatherings of more than a hundred folks continue to generate a lot more garbage than we'd like. We encourage TLS participants to bring food in reusable containers that you'll take home to minimize the trash we generate. And TLS participants can further reduce TLS' environmental "footprint" by choosing local and organic foods for your potluck offering whenever you can, and by walking or biking to TLS.

"Greening" our community's practices is an ongoing process, and your suggestions for further improvements are welcome: tikkunleilshabbat at yahoo dot com.

Who organizes Tikkun Leil Shabbat?
Tikkun Leil Shabbat is a lay-led havurah entirely organized by volunteers.
Participants in the TLS community bring potluck dishes to share, lead services, suggest and give divrei tikkun, wash dishes, and find all sorts of lovely and creative ways to enrich our community.
The Tachlist is a crew of particularly reliable TLS volunteers who are periodically called upon to help set up, clean up, and otherwise keep Tikkun Leil Shabbat running smoothly. (Tachlis = "nitty gritty" in Yiddish.) To join the list, email tikkunleilshabbat at yahoo dot com.)
The Tomchei Tikkun are the coordinating team of Tikkun Leil Shabbat. (Tomchim ="supporters" in Hebrew.) The Tomchei Tikkun take an ongoing and active role in both the logistics of each TLS gathering and the opportunities for decision-making and community maintenance that arise between TLS gatherings. Tomchei Tikkun serve on davenning, meal coordination, divrei tikkun, communications and other committees along with other TLS volunteers. Every six months or so, the team's members choose to rotate off or remain on the Tomchei Tikkun, and any openings are filled through an application process. Currently, the Tomchei Tikkun are Laura Bellows, Amy Egan, Jessica Gordon, Stefan Gottschalk, Rachel Hutt, Ilya Khazanov, Lori Leibowitz, Daniel Michelson-Horowitz, Amanda Koppelman Milstein, Joelle Novey, Adina Rosenbaum, Shoshanah Schein, and Emmy Stup.

Can I help? I'd like to get involved.
Yes! If you're interested in helping set up, clean up, lead services, give a d'var tikkun, or help in some other way, email: tikkunleilshabbat at yahoo dot com.
You're also welcome to make a financial contribution, which will enable Tikkun Leil Shabbat to secure a space to meet going forward. Tikkun Leil Shabbat is a project of Jews United for Justice (JUFJ), an organization which engages the Washington-area Jewish community in local campaigns for social justice, and donations to Tikkun Leil Shabbat are acknowledged as tax-deductible through JUFJ. Donate online or send a check payable to "Jews United for Justice" (memo line: "restricted gift for Tikkun Leil Shabbat") and mail to 1413 K St. NW, 5th Fl., WDC 20005.

What is Jews United for Justice?
Tikkun Leil Shabbat is a program of Jews United for Justice. JUFJ is a warm, grassroots organization that engages the Jewish community in local activism for social and economic justice. To learn more about JUFJ's current activities and campaigns, join the JUFJ email list: info at jufj dot org.

Where can I go on the "off" weeks?

2009-09-07T12:36:00.000-04:00

Tikkun Leil Shabbat generally meets on Friday night once every three weeks. But Shabbat, and opportunities to find meaning in Jewish community, come around far more frequently.

If you'd like to gather with some friends for davenning(prayer) and dinner on a Friday night that Tikkun Leil Shabbat isn't meeting, you can borrow our "Shabbat to go" supplies: a challah cover, kiddush cup, candles, and a set of purple siddurim. (The books include not only the text of the Friday evening service but also the table blessings, the Birkat haMazon/grace after meals, and the lyrics of zmirot/Shabbat songs for after-dinner singing.) Borrowing the books etc. will require coordinating a pick-up time at the RAC (where the books live between TLS's), so email at least three days in advance if you anticipate wanting to make use of TLS resources at your own Shabbat gathering: tikkunleilshabbat at yahoo dot com.

Looking for a Jewish community to participate in when TLS isn't meeting? Email tikkunleilshabbat at yahoo dot com with a description of what sort of community or gathering you're looking for, and we'll be happy to refer you to minyanim, havurot or congregations in the area.

TLPress

2009-09-06T00:03:00.020-04:00

Sojourners, November 2011
".Standing Up for the Earth: Largest U.S. Climate Action Says No to Pipeline. "
(Tikkun Leil Shabbat appears in caption of photo in print edition.)

Asian Journal, September 2011
"Diverse Faith Communities Nationwide Launch Dream Sabbath Campaign"

Washington Examiner, by Liz Essley, August 2011
"Jacob Feinspan"

PresenTense Magazine, by Rachel Krauser, April 2011
"Woman to Watch"

Jewish Telegraphic Agency, by Sue Fishkoff, March 2011
"Turning Purim on Its Head with Social Action instead of Drunkenness"

Patheos.com, by Anna Batler, February 2011
Tikkun Leil Shabbat: Be the change you wish to see in your potluck community

Kosher Nation, by Sue Fishkoff, 2010
in Chapter 6, "Beyond Manischewitz: Kosher Wine Aims High," pages 119-121

Empowered Judaism, by Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, February 2010
"Our Sponges Are Praying: How a Dish System Reflects Pluralism, Environmentalism, Egalitarianism, and Community at Tikkun Leil Shabbat in Washington DC" by Joelle Novey

Hadassah Magazine, August/September 2009
"Individualism and Community" by Rahel Musleah

New York Times, 8/22/2009

Among Young Sikhs, Expressions of Faith Mixing Two Worlds" by Samuel G. Freedman

Washington Post, 4/29/09
"Synthesis Outside the Synagogue: Young Washington Jews Form Lay-Led Worship Communities" by Jacqueline L. Salmon

New York Times, 11/28/2007

"Challenging Tradition, Young Jews Worship on Their Terms" by Neela Banerjee

The Jewish Daily Forward, 5/4/2007

"D.C.-Based Minyan Mixes Shabbat With Activism" by Julia Appel

The Washington Jewish Week, 6/1/2006

"Soul mates: D.C. Chavurot Find Love, 'Marriage'" by Paula Amann

TIME Magazine, 2/27/2006

"A More Intimate Sabbath: Home Synagogues" by Jeremy Caplan