6:00 p.m. Shabbat Dinner. Menu: Panache Garden Salad, Chicken Piccata, Couscous Pilaf, Sautéed Spring Veggies. Vegetarian Entree: Delicata Squash with Chickpeas and Lentils. Cost: $25 for adults, $15 for children. Register below.

7:00 p.m. Synaplex Shabbat Alive Services, our jazz and pop service with a band, led by Rabbi Rachlis and Cantor Braier, during which Rep. Katie Porter will speak on “Threats To Democracy Today and In The Future.” All those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this month will be honored. Our Shabbat Alive musicians are sponsored by Gilbert Gluck and Catherine Bradley.

Congresswoman Katie Porter represents the 47th Congressional District in Orange County, CA. In Washington, Congresswoman Porter has remained committed to putting families first and speaking truth to power. As a member of the House Oversight Committee, she’s asked tough questions of bank CEOs and administration officials to hold them accountable to the American people. She’s a proud member of the House Natural Resources Committee, where she works tirelessly to protect our beaches and public lands, call out Big Oil taking advantage of taxpayers, and keep families safe from wildfires and other natural disasters. A member of the bicameral Joint Economic Committee, she is a leading voice on keeping our economy strong, stable, and globally competitive by cracking down on corporate greed, boosting competition, and investing in smart, family-friendly policies.

Eager to invite families into the conversations happening in the halls of Congress, Rep. Porter has developed a reputation for her use of visual aids during Congressional hearings. She brought out a whiteboard while grilling the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, over how an entry-level employee at his bank couldn’t make ends meet. She also used her signature whiteboard to break down potential cost barriers to COVID-19 tests, which helped her secure a commitment from the Trump Administration to make testing free for every American.

Porter’s congressional questioning has helped push Congress towards real, concrete solutions. She received widespread praise after using her whiteboard to debunk propaganda spread by Big Pharma on why the industry charges so much for drugs. Porter’s legislation to crack down on Big Pharma’s unfair price hikes was then signed into law, and it is in effect as of January 1, 2023. She has also authored new laws to boost accountability in government, raise fees on polluters, improve mental health coverage, make health care more affordable, and honor an Orange County hero.

As a single working mom, Rep. Porter knows firsthand about the challenges that families face. She’s introduced bipartisan legislation that would more than double the amount families can set aside pre-tax to help pay for preschool, summer day camp, before or after school programs, and child or adult daycare. She’s continued to press for restoring more of the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, which has hit California’s middle-class families especially hard.

Rep. Porter believes our democracy and government should reflect the people of America and serve their needs, not special interests or corporate donors. As a progressive, she’s a leader in the fight to protect taxpayers and crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse. In Congress, she’s a key voice for ending political corruption, increasing government transparency, and holding leaders of both parties accountable. She’s matched her commitment to transparency with concrete action by hosting regular town halls and publicly posting a list of meetings she takes.

Before coming to Congress, Rep. Porter spent nearly two decades taking on the special interests that dominate American politics and drown out the voices of working families—and winning. A lifelong consumer advocate, she taught bankruptcy law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. As California’s independent watchdog against the banks, she oversaw big banks that had cheated Orange County homeowners to get them to follow through on their promise to help families get back on their feet. As a consumer finance expert, Congresswoman Porter also helped Congress pass the original Credit CARD Act in 2009, which enacted federal protections from abusive credit card fees.

Our Oneg Shabbat will be sponsored by the Raskin Family in honor of Eli Raskin becoming a Bar Mitzvah.

Register for dinner and/or services below. 

Click here to watch via live stream from your home, or access the video at a later time.