This is utterly ridiculous and scary and just plain EFFED UP.

Dozens and dozens of Jewish community centers and schools across the country have received bomb threats in the past weeks and days. Jewish synagogues and cemeteries have been vandalized and defaced and damaged. Our national leaders have done next to nothing about it. The President's lukewarm statement of a couple days ago said nothing, did nothing, and means nothing.

I am not a member of my local J -- it's clear across town from where I live and frankly beyond my budget -- but I am glad it's there.
It is essential for ALL communities to have places to gather and celebrate and learn!

I am not sure what I can personally do about this situation. I have limited means and even less clout in the big wide world.
But I feel compelled to say something anyway.
Because this crap is way beyond out of hand.
Friends have warned me to tread lightly and be careful and stay safe. But that sort of safety does not appeal to me in this crazy time in our country's history.

When one community is threatened, we are ALL threatened, even if some among us choose not to see it that way. Right now it's a JCC. Tomorrow it could be -- WILL be -- a church or mosque or daycare center.
I and too many others I know personally are deeply threatened by the new wave of anti-Semitism rising in this country.
And even if you aren't Jewish, you are threatened as well.
Because this is America, dammit, and we're supposed to be better than that.

What are we supposed to do?
For starters, find a way to use your gifts to do good in the world.
Not for the sake of doing good, but to counter the acts of those who would do harm.
Be vigilant. Be courageous. And above all, be kind to each other.
Love, Beth

In this season of spring cleaning, I am moving along large stacks of stuff I don't need anymore.
One of those is a large stack of photocopies of my handwritten manuscripts of songs from my first two albums, plus songs from my next album (still in progress).

I need to make room in my teaching studio at home.
And I need to raise funds for studio time.

So I have assembled twenty random bundles of ten songs each. I am selling these off to make room in my studio, to make the transition to pdf files complete, and to raise some funds for studio time so I can start laying down tracks for my next album.

You don't get to choose what's in the bundle. But each bundle will contain an assortment of original songs in legible, handwritten lead-sheet form. Some will be useful in services, some may be great for kids or families and some are more of the singer-songwriter variety. But all will be mine.
Each bundle will cost $10 including USPS postage in the USA. (Canadian and overseas orders may incur extra postage costs; contact me for details.)

This is a one-time offer and will not be repeated. I have twenty bundles.

The first THREE orders will also get a CD of either "City of Love" or "Ten Miles".

All proceeds will be used to pay for studio time at The Map Room Studios in Portland.

If you're interested, please use the contact form
(http://www.beth-hamon-music.com/contact)
to order your packet.

Thanks for supporting Jewish Music Made By Hand.

Just got home last night from a wonderful weekend at Temple Sinai in Houston, TX.

It was great to meet one of my Torah study cohort in person and spend a creative, fun weekend with her and her family! Chava Gal-Or, thank you so much for being my doorway into your sweet community!

And it was amazing to meet and share music with Joe Buchanan, a Houston native and a rapidly-rising new voice in contemporary Jewish music. Joe's Americana-infused songs are heartfelt, authentic and beautiful.
We had a fabulous time rehearsing, jamming and performing together over the weekend and I am so blessed to share a stage with this crazy-talented, genuinely humble soul.

Next up: My final trip of this winter will be this weekend at Song Leader Boot Camp in St. Louis, where I will have the pleasure of reuniting with Joe and with dozens of friends from Shabbat Shira.
We'll spend the conference learning and teaching together, and sharing lots of music and ruach along the way. I can't wait to dive back into this beautiful sense of community with such talented, fearless souls.
I hope to have plenty of new material to bring home to Portland, which will include a spring songleading workshop for young adults who are staffing Jewish summer camps.
I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate to be able to do this holy work, and to find kinship with others who are doing the same thing.
Wherever you find yourself this Shabbat, I hope it's a time of blessing, beauty and community.