Portland’s Moishe House wows regional director

By Deborah Moon

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“I’m completely impressed,” said Moishe House Western Regional Director Summer Shapiro after spending four days at Portland’s 1½-month-old gathering spot for young Jewish adults.

“I’ve been there watching houses get on their feet,” said Shapiro, who has visited all seven of the young adult communities in her region. “This house is not starting from zero. It’s amazing to watch. They’ve had four events this week. It’s incredible to watch.”

Moishe House opened in Portland Jan. 1, the 14th such house in the United States. Moishe Houses provide subsidized housing for residents and a programming budget based on the number of young-adult events planned each month. Portland’s Moishe House residents, Jodi Berris, 29, Matt Peterson, 23, and Jeremy Rogers, 26, signed up for seven plus events each month.

During Shapiro’s visit, the house hosted a Super Bowl party that drew more than 30 people; drew a dozen young adults to watch election results on Super Tuesday; drew another dozen for Hebrew with HeBrew; and wrapped up the second Dodgeball and Drinks League with 68 participants.

“I like that we’ve had a variety of events—sports, political, religious,” said Berris. “Different people connect differently. …Our goal is to have fun and have people have a positive Jewish experience.”

“It’s nice to have Summer here so soon to witness what we are doing,” she added. “I think it’s important Moishe Foundation is aware of what we are doing here.”

Created by the Forest Foundation, Moishe House also receives funding from the Center for Leadership Initiatives and the Schusterman Foundation.

From its inception with two houses two years ago, Shapiro said the concept has really blown up.

“We’re getting a lot of attention from other foundations wanting to fund houses too,” she said. “It’s a great idea to have young Jewish people live in a house together and have other young Jews come and create community. It’s snowballed.”

While each Moishe House has its own spin, Shapiro said they have one commonality: “I get the sense that there is this comfort and acceptance people feel at these homes.”

Portland Moishe House resident Peterson agreed that all young Jews can feel comfortable at the house. He said the diversity of visitors in Portland is even larger than at most of the houses because Portland has the only glatt kosher and shomer Shabbat site “in the Moishe House world.”

“We are a place for all Jews in our age range (21-39) to have a good time in a very chill environment,” he said.

In addition to Shapiro’s visit, the three Portlanders also had the opportunity to meet Moishe House residents from across the country at a national retreat at the end of January. Portland’s house won the “Hit the Ground Running Award.”

“We had a leg up because of the groundwork Jodi layed,” said Rogers. “The infrastructure Jodi had built allowed us to hit the ground running.”

Rogers said that at the retreat, the trio gained a lot of good ideas on how to keep the momentum going.

Berris said having that shared experience so early in the home’s existence also provided an excellent opportunity for the three to bond.

“It was really a very special experience for the three of us to share together,” she said. “We really bonded as a group. The retreat was good for us to see what other groups were doing.”

Moishe House is located at 6217 SW 33rd Place. For more information, contact Berris at jodiberris@aol.com or 248-760-0743. Event information will be listed in the Jewish Review calendar and online at portlandjewishevents.com and theforestfoundation.net.