Introducing TBT's Fall Friday Shabbat Lineup
10/09/2025 11:07:03 AM
Below you will find a summary of our Friday service lineup, with exciting new additions and familiar favorites!
1st Fridays
Tot Shabbat
- 5:30pm: Pizza Dinner (registration required)
- 6:00pm: Songs and a story, geared towards children 0-5 years old
Kabbalat...Read more...
Embracing This Moment of Transition
10/09/2025 10:35:15 AM
Sukkot is my favorite Jewish holiday. During the summer we relish in the warmer weather, enjoying time outside with family and friends. Sukkot shows up right when the air turns crisp, the sun sets earlier, and the world is telling us it’s time to move inside. Instead of rushing into our warm homes, Sukkot asks us to stay outside just a little longer, to invite guests into our sukkah, and to be with each other in this moment of...Read more...
Recap: WRJ Sisterhood Retreat
10/08/2025 02:55:22 PM
From September 12–14, TBT Sisterhood joined women from seven other Pacific Northwest sisterhoods, along with leadership from WRJ and WRJ Pacific District, for the annual Pacific Northwest Sisterhood Retreat at URJ Camp Kalsman. This beloved gathering welcomed about 50 members from across the region—from Vancouver, BC, to Portland, OR—who came together for a weekend of connection, inspiration, and joy. Participants could attend the full...Read more...
Holding Ourselves Accountable, Together
09/18/2025 09:58:20 AM
Believe it or not, I’m an introvert.
I enjoy other people (don’t worry, I love you all and my family) but I also value my alone time to recharge. Most of the way I process my life and the world is internal, and I often get stuck in my head. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but one of the problems with being an introvert, at least for me, is that it rarely occurs to me to ask others for help. It’s not...Read more...
Small Steps, Big Impact: TBT Green Team Update
08/06/2025 12:28:13 PM
Did You Know…
Our world faces a growing litter crisis, and the numbers are staggering:
Cigarette butts are the most littered item. 5 trillion cigarette butts are littered around the world, and 9.7 billion cigarette butts are littered along US roadways and waterways annually. Plastic can take hundreds of years to decompose and release harmful toxins into the soil. About 70% of litter...Read more...The Blessing of Resiliency
07/10/2025 02:17:00 PM
I first served on the faculty at URJ Camp Kalsman in Summer 2021, when Milo and Alice were just two years old. That year, and every year since, they’ve been in “Katan” at camp, which is essentially day care for the little kids of faculty who are too young to be in cabins. That first year, they quickly became familiar with the different spaces of camp, toddling around from place to place. Milo always wanted to be on the...Read more...
TBT's Mitzvah Garden: An Interview with Arnie Goldstein
05/07/2025 12:02:58 PM
The Mitzvah Garden flourishes under the leadership of Arnie Goldstein, who's been a member of TBT for 36 years. Arnie kindly took some time out of his busy planting, watering, and harvesting season to answer some questions about the inspiration for the garden, its history, and what it means to him and to TBT.
How was the Mitzvah Garden born?
After a long career which included weekly travel, I...Read more...
Repro Shabbat Featured Reflection
02/05/2025 09:24:19 PM
So often, political conversations lose sight of what abortion really is: healthcare. Abortion, or the termination of a pregnancy, is the treatment for an ectopic pregnancy. It is the same treatment for a miscarriage that the body won’t release. Without abortion as an option, the pregnant person will die. The discussion of abortion should be in the context of healthcare.
A few years ago, my oldest daughter, Lucy,...Read more...
Finding Connection: Rediscovering Community in a Time of Loss
12/18/2024 01:27:58 PM
As Hanukkah approaches, we reflect on the power of light to bring warmth and connection, even during the darkest times. In this spirit, we’re sharing this heartfelt reflection from long-time TBT member Jeff Pearl to illuminate the enduring bonds of our community. We hope it inspires you to reflect on the light and meaning TBT brings to your life.
First off, I appreciate...Read more...
Words to Guide Your Post-Election Processing
11/06/2024 02:54:05 PM
A selection of prayers to guide you, where ever this may find you.
A Prayer For Righteous Anger, excerpted from Ordinary Blessings by Meta Herrick Carlson p.64
Can you give it good purpose
beyond your own need to be right?
Then rage for the sake of
what can still be, with an impulse to
move toward the ones
you would reject in favor of
the...Read more...
From the Social Action Committee: 2024-2025 Legislative Issues to Consider
10/31/2024 12:02:09 PM
Hopelink (a non-profit agency providing programs to promote healthy individuals and families as a way to exit poverty, and a frequent partner with TBT) supports voting NO on the following initiatives. These ballot initiatives seek to dismantle key revenue sources for Washington state which fund critical programs in early childhood education, healthcare, and transportation.
Initiative # 2109 – This measure would...Read more...
Week 4: To Whom Do You Turn? Elul 5784/2024
09/25/2024 10:24:32 AM
Each week during the month of Elul, we will offer a short text and a prompt or two for you to use for personal reflection. We will connect around these prompts during Shabbat services throughout Elul, and invite you to share your reflections in person or online by filling out this form.
“I was raised to care about social justice and to believe that problems existed, that change was possible, and that we all had to do our part to...Read more...
Week 3: To Whom Do You Turn? Elul 5784/2024
09/19/2024 11:02:43 AM
At the very end of his life (and “career,” if you can call leading the Israelites through the desert for forty years a career?) Moses announces his pending death, just as the Israelites are to complete their journey across the Jordan river and into the Land God Has Given Them. As he passes leadership on to Joshua, he says to Joshua: “Hazak v’ematz - be strong and courageous!” (Deuteronomy 31:7) This short blessing of sorts...Read more...
Week 2: To Whom Do You Turn? Elul 5784/2024
09/11/2024 11:18:05 AM
Each week during the month of Elul, we will offer a short text and a prompt or two for you to use for personal reflection. We will connect around these prompts during Shabbat services throughout Elul, and invite you to share your reflections in person or online.
In the Jerusalem Talmud (Sotah 3:4, 19a) we read: “Who is a pious fool? A person who sees a ripe fig and says ‘I will give it to the first person I...Read more...
Week 1: To Whom Do You Turn? Elul 5784/2024
09/04/2024 03:26:21 PM
The Hebrew month of Elul, which began Tuesday evening and takes us through to Rosh Hashanah, offers us the opportunity to reflect and process this past year as we prepare to enter the Hebrew year 5785. This year, we invite you to join us on a journey of turning.
“Just as water brings us face to face, so too does the heart bring us person to person.” This quote from Proverbs 27:19 suggests that when we turn...Read more...
