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The Invitation for I am Jewish From… Anthology Kimberly Burnham is launching an initiative which starts as an anthology, entitled, I am Jewish From … and would love to have you be a part of it. The book to be published in 2027 as an eBook, Print Book and Audiobook explores Why and How individual members of the Shir Tikvah community are Jewish or Non-Jewish members of this community. This is your invitation to be a part of the project. There is no cost or payment for participants. Reach out to Kim at [email protected] or 860-221-8510 if you would like to participate. You are asked to write a story based on the George Ella Lyon’s poem, “Where I’m From.” http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html There are many sites with “Where I’m From” style poems. Lyon’s poem starts with “I am from clothespins, from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride. I am from the dirt under the back porch. (Black, glistening, it tasted like beets.) I am from the forsythia bush, the Dutch elm, whose long-gone limbs I remember as if they were my own … Inspired by the widely used “I Am From” poetry format developed by educator George Ella Lyon, more than one hundred members of the Shir Tikvah community will be invited to create personal narratives, poems, essays, artwork, photographs, and reflections exploring their identities along with their Jewish roots and connections, as well as connections to other communities. Participants will respond to prompts such as:
The resulting collection will become a portrait of Jewish life in Portland in the twenty-first century. Kimberly Burnham, A Jewish Traveler I am Jewish from five generations of Mormons from falling in love just before September 11, 2001 spent in Tel Aviv afraid for my family at home From music on Friday nights and prayers on Saturday mornings holding her hand, feeling alive and welcome “Wherever you go, I will go” until we broke up but the Judaism stuck Then I had an Israeli girlfriend I worry about her these days who I travelled with in Israel and Egypt seeing the land through her eyes And then from a trip to Muslim Turkey with my Sephardic girlfriend learning about Jewish, Muslim, and Christian history I am Jewish from a Cross USA bicycle ride with Hazon talking about the environment, food justice, and Jewish values, singing with so many different communities along the way thinking “I am a part of this community, I should make it official.” I am Jewish from the mikvah at 57 married to a rabbi at 61 her four children and my four siblings holding up the corners of the huppah my parents and family opening their arms to a Jewish lesbian At 68, I am the rebbitzan at Shir Tikvah in Portland Oregon surrounded by music and prayer love and acceptance friends and family navigating the world as a Jew as a poet, an ex-Mormon, an environmentalist, a healer, and writer and all the parts I bring forward in my life I am Jewish trying to do Tikkun Olam repair the world in all the ways I find community and intersect with the world  Executive Summary for I am Jewish From … and I am Jewish at the Intersection The “I am Jewish From …” Project is a three-year public humanities initiative that seeks to replace stereotypes with stories. At its core this project is an anthology to be published in 2027, financed by Kimberly Burnham. The expanded program will seek grant money. There is no cost or payment for participation in the anthology. Imagine, if the most effective way to reduce antisemitism was not another lecture about the Holocaust or another debate about the Middle East, but something much simpler: meeting a Jewish neighbor through a story. Today, many Americans know very few Jewish people personally. Instead, they encounter Jews through headlines, social media, political arguments, or centuries-old stereotypes. Jewish people are too often portrayed as a single group with a single history, a single politics, and a single identity. In reality, Jewish communities are among the most diverse communities in the world. Based at Shir Tikvah, an independent, progressive congregation in Portland, Oregon, this project will document more than one hundred personal stories from members and friends of the congregation. Through poetry, essays, interviews, photography, literature, public programs, and digital storytelling, participants will explore the many ways Jewish life intersects with the larger world. Readers will meet Jews who are scientists, teachers, artists, environmentalists, physicians, mathematicians, immigrants, converts, LGBTQ leaders, interfaith families, musicians, social justice advocates, and lifelong Oregonians. They will also meet non-Jewish family members whose lives have become intertwined with the Jewish community. Together these stories reveal a living Judaism that is joyful, questioning, creative, compassionate, and deeply engaged with repairing the world. The project extends beyond the anthology itself. It includes discussion guides for book clubs and libraries, reviews of literature that explores Jewish relationships with other cultures and faiths, a public speaker series titled *I Am Jewish From...*, professionally produced video stories, and a freely accessible digital archive. In the last year, the project will create a replication toolkit so that congregations and cultural organizations across North America can document and share their own community stories. The initiative draws upon Shir Tikvah's long-standing commitments to lifelong learning, social justice, LGBTQ inclusion, environmental responsibility, spiritual exploration, and meaningful community participation. These values make Shir Tikvah an ideal incubator for a model that can be adapted by synagogues, churches, mosques, cultural centers, libraries, and community organizations nationwide. Grant funding will support professional editing, writing workshops, oral-history interviews, photography, graphic design, website development, accessibility services, book production, discussion guides, community outreach, speaker honoraria, videography, digital archiving, evaluation, and the creation of educational resources that remain freely available to the public. By the conclusion of the project, I am Jewish From … will have created a permanent archive of contemporary Jewish life in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, distributed thousands of books and educational resources, established community reading programs, recorded more than one hundred personal stories, developed an online public archive, and created a national model for using literature and storytelling to build relationships across religious, cultural, and political differences. At a time when polarization is increasing and meaningful conversations are becoming more difficult; this project offers another path. Stories that encourage curiosity and conversation instead of confrontation. Stories that remind us that every community is more complicated, more beautiful, and more human than its stereotypes. One story. One conversation. One community at a time. I am Jewish From … and the larger program Jews at the Intersection is a three-year storytelling, public humanities, literature, and community engagement initiative documenting the diversity of Jewish life within Shir Tikvah and using those stories to build understanding across communities.
The project combines: • Community storytelling • Book reviews and discussion guides • Public humanities programming • Video storytelling • Community dialogue • Leadership development • National replication The project seeks to reduce stereotypes, increase understanding, and create meaningful relationships between Jewish and non-Jewish communities through stories rather than political debate.
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Simhat Torah at Shir Tikvah, Portland, Oregon
Rabbi Elizabeth W. GoldsteinRabbi Elizabeth Goldstein is a Gonzaga Professor in the Religious Studies Department and a Jewish Chaplain to the Jewish Student Group. She is a talented musician and singer song writer in Spokane, Washington. Please contact her at Gonzaga if you would like to for Scholar in Residence or Musician in Residence programs. 
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