Tivnu Blog

Apr 6 2016

Tivnu Trip to Seattle

On Monday March 14, the entire Tivnu group took a trip to Seattle. We started planning weeks in advance, deciding as a group where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. It’s awesome that we get to take trips and see parts of the Pacific Northwest I might not have visited otherwise....

Mar 24 2016

Tivnusletter 4: 5 Great Stories From Tivnu 2 — And The Chance To Be Part Of Tivnu 3!

The participants in the Tivnu Gap Year have been enjoying the beautiful Portland springtime, a great trip to Seattle, and the Jewish version of March Madness – the months of Adar including Purim....

Mar 23 2016

Short Talks on My Favorite Portland Destinations

The scent of freshly printed pages and crinkled old papers wafts into my nose as I step inside. I stare at walls of spines and rainbow rectangles on racks as I brush wet bangs from my eyes and unzip my soaked jacket....

Mar 10 2016

A Shabbat at University of Oregon

On February 26, we took a trip to Eugene, Oregon to get to know some college students over Shabbat. Despite a long drive in rainy weather, everyone was in good spirits and happy to go to Eugene to get to know some college students. ...

Mar 2 2016

What I Think Tivnu is All About

I have had the great privilege of representing Tivnu as a current participant at a bunch of cool events. Most recently, I got to go to a huge BBYO International Convention (basically, just a couple thousand Jewish high schoolers in one place) out in Baltimore! ...

Feb 10 2016

Tivnusletter: On the Road with Tivnu

Tivnu Gap Year $2,000 savings for applications received by February 15, 2016. Apply online now!...

Jan 14 2016

Engaging in Social Jew-stice

A few weeks ago, I spoke at my mom’s shul about my experiences as an AVODAH corps member and as an employee of Tivnu. I spoke some about my own Jewish journey: about my childhood in the Jewish community of the Greater Chicago Area, about my early interest in social change, including my role as my high school youth group’s Social Action Vice President....

Jan 8 2016

Reflections on the First Half of Tivnu

I am learning many new things at Tivnu. I am learning a lot about wealth and poverty in the U.S. through all of our educational sessions. For example, I got to tour Dignity Village, a community for people experiencing homeless....

Nov 26 2015

Sukkot at Opal Creek

After building a beautiful sukkah in our backyard using lumber lent to us by the ReBuilding Center and helping both Havurah Shalom (Portland’s Reconstructionist Synagogue) and Chabad build their sukkot, we dumped our stuff in the trunk and piled into the van....

Nov 22 2015

Tivnusletter: Right at home in Portland

Portland offers so much creativity – both in the compelling arts and intellectual events we can enjoy, and in the creative solutions to the environmental, housing, transportation, and poverty challenges we learn about in our work....