Community Makes the Program

The Tivnu bayit: it’s your home base

Here, you’ll find the things that make a Shabbat dinner special. You’ll help your roommate feel appreciated. And you’ll reflect, with the help of your friends, on your skills and how to use them, your goals and how to achieve them. Because the first community you’ll build with us? It’s yours.

Tamir EB Headshot

My favorite memory from the bayit: Flossing parties: to motivate ourselves to floss my friends and I would squish into the bathroom and put on "Queen's Speech 4 by Lady Leshurr" and go crazy. Not a lot of flossing got done tbh. I'm not ashamed of it

— Tamir E.B.

Zero cavities
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Meet the Tivnuniks

Our participants come from around the country and across the Jewish spectrum

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A Jewish home for everyone

We celebrate diversity of all kinds — whoever you are, we’re glad you’re here

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Mentorship that makes a difference

Substantive support for all the things you dream of doing

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Best of the Bayit

Street music at Last Thursdays on Alberta Street 

Wicked serves at Pips and Bounce ping-pong club

Hiking the Wildwood trail through Forest Park

Slice after slice at the neighborhood pizza crawl

Underground glow-in-the-dark pirate-themed mini-golf (seriously) 

Bouldering at the giant rock-climbing gym

Saturday night trip to the haunted corn maze

Rosh haShanah in the woods

B'rachah (blessing) walk at Mt. Rainier

Building a sukkah with and ocean view at Camp Westwind 

Purim parade with the punk rock marching band

Home-made ravioli on Co-Worker Shabbat

Mom’s recipe for Persian chicken and jeweled rice  

Miso soup and stir-fry with Portland Hillel guests

10th Avenue Soup Night for the whole block

Hidden surprises like the Wishing Tree

Little Free Libraries and front-lawn poetry boxes

Bike to the combination coffee shop/bookstore

Keeping all your fingers while working the compound miter saw

Cooking a balanced meal for 20 friends (and cleaning up afterwards)

Gracefully discussing the dirty dishes with your housemates

Finding time for your laundry - and for yourself

Putting snow chains on the Tivnu van

Writing a short d’var Torah when it’s not even your B. Mitzvah

One-on-one check-ins with the RA

Taking one second of video, every day 

Current events hot-takes during Wednesday lunch

Working it all out while you work out at the community gym

Late-night debate with your roommate about your internship and that great “Parks and Rec” episode

Frequently Asked Questions

Most Saturdays, Sundays, and weeknights will be free. We will sometimes have recreational events like hiking, pickling, or enjoying some aspect of Portland’s eclectic culture on Sundays.

Tivnu will provide transportation to participate in all scheduled program activities, or provide for rides on Portland’s excellent public transport system. Portland is also a very bike-friendly and walkable city; public transit is a great way to explore it, too. We ask that participants leave cars at home.

Everyone should be comfortable and well-fed at all our communal meals, regardless of allergies, medical or ethical diet, etc. Individual food requests are typically part of our weekly shopping budget. Our bayit kitchens also maintain a standard of kashrut that keeps us grounded in Jewish traditions of ethical eating and historical connection, and allows us to welcome all kinds of Jews into our dining room.

We want you to be the kind of Jew you want to be, and we want you to have a great time with it. Living among a broadly diverse group of Jews is what Tivnu’s commitment to pluralism is all about, and it’s the best way to learn about the spectrum of Jewish experience. We make sure you’ll have lots of opportunities to explore those options, from deeply traditional to wildly innovative. That’s true on holidays (when we won’t schedule internships) and Shabbat, which we’ll celebrate together every week. Want to connect with interesting synagogues, educators, rabbis, artists, and more? We’re here for that too.