Beit Midrash launch focuses on uniting community in study

By Deborah Moon Seldner

article created on:

Returning from several months of study in Israel, Rabbi Kim Rosen launched Beit Midrash Eitz Chaim with a festive Aug. 6 opening ceremony featuring "Food for the body and food for the soul."
Nearly 100 people enjoyed hors d'oeuvres catered by Century Catering and a service led by Rosen, with music provided by Beth Hamon, on the poolside patio of Dr. Derek and Lydia Lipman overlooking the Willamette River. The following day, Beit Midrash summer classes began meeting in a variety of venues.
Sporting an incomplete Magen David on a necklace, Rosen explained the significance of the Beit Midrash logo—three partial Stars of David followed by one complete Magen David.
"Communities are often made up of fragmented pieces," said Rosen during the service she wrote. "Pieces which are incomplete and unfinished; pieces which are struggling to fit together; pieces searching for wholeness and holiness.
"Individually, we all stand alone. Individually, our Jewish lives are incomplete. Individually, our Magen David, our Star of David, may never shine completely."

Rosen told the group of supporters that she decided to start the beit midrash while studying at the Shalom Hartman Institute and other liberal yeshivot in Jerusalem. When her husband Barry asked her what her dream was for her rabbinic future, she said, "I want to be in a place where every person from every synagogue can come together and study together."
Beit midrash is a classic house of study and eitz chaim means tree of life, referring to the Torah. Rosen said she founded Beit Midrash Eitz Chaim "to promote Jewish learning as a supplement to congregational participation."
Rabbi Emanuel Rose, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel, joins Rosen in teaching classes for the Beit Midrash.
Summer classes continue through mid-September. Rosen plans to spend October and November studying in Israel and then return to Portland for winter classes beginning in December.
"When Beit Midrash Eitz Chaim is not in session, we (Rosens) will be spending most of our time in Jerusalem," said Rabbi Rosen.??"Our time there is?spent with me studying and preparing courses—at the Hartman Institute, Hebrew Union College, Pardes and mainly?in havurot with several members of the?Israeli religious?community willing to study in an egalitarian environment.? Our goal is to work as ambassadors—giving those around us (both in the US and Israel) a deeper understanding of our Jewish heritage, while?developing stronger connections between?Jews living in the U.S. and Jews living in?Eretz Yisrael.
"Barry will continue to do his part in establishing a connection between the U.S. and our beloved state of Israel by consulting for the Israeli government."?
Rosen said her connections in Israel will enable her to bring guest lecturers from Israel to share their insights and scholarship with the Portland Jewish community.
For more information about the Beit Midrash, call 503-641-4273 or visit the Web site at www.eitzchaimpdx.org.