Chai Lines
International Northeast Region
Women's League
for Conservative Judaism
Networking to Engage, Enrich and Empower
Conservative Jewish Women
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November 22, 2017 Volume 2, Issue 64
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IN THIS ISSUE
Click on name of article to go to that article.
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SAVE THE DATE FOR SPRING CONFERENCE 2018
WHAT: INR SPRING CONFERENCE
WHEN: April 29 and 30, 2018
WHERE: Temple Beth El, Rochester New York
WHO: All Sisterhood Members from Inr
WHY: Time to Meet and Learn from Each Other
THIS NOTICE COMES TO YOU FROM YOUR LOYAL CO-CHAIRS:
Marcia Nabut and Ruth Shapiro
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FROM THE WLCJ PRESIDENT
A Long Yet Mighty Message...To Our Smallest Sisterhoods
In honor of Agudath B'nai Israel, Lorain, Ohio
I was asked to speak On Kol Nidre by my new synagogue. We are a merged congregation. "MY" congregation closed three years ago because we were no longer viable. My new shul has approximately 125 members. This week, I visited a small but mighty congregation in Northern Ohio. I wanted to share parts of my message with them, as well as all our other smaller congregations out there.
I was born in October 1949. A few days later, my grandfather went to his shul in Brooklyn and had his Rabbi "name me." Sixteen years later, that Rabbi led the funeral service for my grandfather.
Truly, for all life events, our chosen faith-based institution is where our faithful go to celebrate their lives, from birth to death, from cradle to grave.
Except for your family, there is no place else that sustains relationships and shared personal history, that span a lifetime, like a synagogue does.
For all of us, we get it! We are here!
There are multiple gateways from which our members enter. Synagogues should acknowledge that and offer multiple options. I can assume a huge majority of our members, first came into the synagogue because of the Hebrew or Nursery school, or to participate in an adult ed. course, to join the playgroups, join a book club, or make a friend.
We must diversify the opportunities...honor each person....not judging each person's choice and then expose them to all the other possibilities available.
It is the same with those who come to shul three days a year and those who come here 300 days a year. We welcome both!
No one can deny that the Jewish population of our town has diminished. Can I tell you when we will no longer be a viable congregation? NO
Will we be here twenty years from now? Probably not.
But...We are here today!
We will be here tomorrow!
My philosophy is, for as long as this community remains, we should go on and serve our members the best way we can.
Whether you remain (as you joined years ago) for spiritual reasons, for your social connections, for educational purposes or your commitment to perpetuate Judaism, we can and should do no less. Yes, our "heyday" might very well be in the rear view mirror, but we have the opportunity to continue this community.
There is something special that binds us together. Through the decades, most of us have worked, had organizational involvements, hobbies, neighborhood friends, and supported charitable causes. We've spread our wings and lived our lives, yet the synagogue and sisterhood still remains our home base. Here we are!
This space is holy, this synagogue is holy, but more so, this is a holy congregation that does all we can to ensure that there is a Conservative Jewish presence in our community. So, until the last man or woman closes the lights, let us pray that our time together remains meaningful and purposeful, shared in faith and friendship.
Margie Miller
President
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FROM THE REGION EDUCATION VP, LOIS SILVERMAN
We in the International Northeast Region are blessed. We live in countries which allow us to worship as we desire; we can believe or not believe as our conscience detects. We live in countries where there is abundance of food for body and mind. We live in countries where we can celebrate our heritage and those of others.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving in the USA, let us all remember the things for which we are thankful.
So I post this prayer by Rabbi Naomi Levy.
A Prayer for the Thanksgiving Feast
By Rabbi Naomi Levy
For the laughter of the children,
For my own life breath,
For the abundance of food on this table,
For the ones who prepared this sumptuous feast,
For the roof over our heads,
The clothes on our backs,
For our health,
And our wealth of blessings,
For this opportunity to celebrate with family and friends,
For the freedom to pray these words
Without fear,
In any language,
In any faith,
In this great country,
Whose landscape is as vast and beautiful as her inhabitants.
Thank You, God, for giving us all these. Amen.
Shabbat Shalom
LOIS
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FROM THE REGION BOOK CHAIR
RUTH BORSKY
Modern Girls by Jennifer S. Brown
Hooray!!! Women's League has selected Modern Girls by Jennifer S. Brown as the current addition to its Orpah Reading List. This book is a completely engaging and emotion-grabbing novel set on the Lower East Side of New York City in 1935.
In alternate chapters, the book considers the inner and outmost thoughts and activities of Rose Krasinsky and her daughter Dottie as they come to terms with the fact that they are both pregnant at the same time; Rose is 42 with 5 children, and Dottie is 19 and unmarried. Rose has to consider the economic and social effects of this pregnancy on her husband, sons, and daughter. Dottie must weigh the social stigma and effects of her new office promotion. The fact is that she is a "nice Jewish girl" who has been dating Abe, for several years, but does not have that ring on her left hand. She looks at the shame she would bring to her upstanding Jewish family and their East Side Shabbos observant community if this pregnancy were made public.
This book also considers the political, economic, and social status of this first generation immigrant family climbing out of world of the sweat shop. It brings to the fore all the fears and problems of Jews realizing that they still have relatives in Europe as Hitler and the Nazis rise to power.
Social factors of the first and second generations in the Goldena Medina have many and varied twists and turns in this novel that make it a fast page turner.
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FROM WOMEN'S LEAGUE FOR CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM
Networking to engage,
enrich and empower
Conservative Jewish women
As the holiday of Thanksgiving approaches, we at Women's League want to extend to all of our members -- even those not living in the United States -- our prayers that you use this time to appreciate the bounty that you enjoy. This is the time of year we come together and celebrate our many, many blessings.
It is up to each of us to recognize how fortunate we are and to share with others, in the true spirit of Tzedakah.
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What's for Dessert?
By Sue Taffet
WLCJ Vice President
How many times have you heard that? We have all grown up asking the question...but sometimes dessert is more than we expect. In my home, growing up, we never really had a formal dessert as part of our meal unless there was "company" or it was a holiday, and then it was the traditional honey cake at Rosh Hashanah, pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, or fruity blintzes for Shavuot, or something red, white, and blue for the 4th of July. But there are other kinds of dessert...that little something extra, something sweet and special that comes in life. Sometimes it is at the end of a meal, sometimes at the end of the day, or week, or month, or even year.
I have a close (but far in distance) college friend who was finally diagnosed at a relatively early age after many years of pain and suffering with Parkinson's disease. She does not live nearby, but we would visit whenever the opportunity arose. I had always been the letter writer, she would call once in a while. But, more recently, no news. I began to worry and then got frustrated and even angry because I would reach out and she did not respond. Then I realized that she is my dessert...that little something sweet and special. I hear from her now and then when she is well and she lets me know she is doing fine, that she feels guilty for not writing or calling. I know that she loves me and thinks about me as often I do of her, but she has other things "on her plate." I know that we have taken our lives in different directions, but she knows I am here, and I know she will respond when I need to hear from her.
At this time of year when we are supposed to be thankful for our freedoms here in this country, and that which we have, we need to remember to be thankful for those little, extra sweet desserts that come into our lives. Sometimes they are our spouse or our children, a close friend, or even an organization like Women's League that gives us love and support. And, sometimes, it is just that sweet little gooey chocolate treat. Be thankful for them all, and be good to yourself - have dessert! Wishing you all a meaningful Thanksgiving. From my heart.
#GivingTuesday is November 28!
This holiday season, consider donating
to Women's League for #GivingTuesday. We hope that your support allows us to continue such innovative programs as Masorti Days of Study,
sponsored by both Women's League and the Schechter Institute i
n Jerusalem.
And, if you have participated in Days of Study, or any program through Women's League or Sisterhood, you can enter Giving Tuesday's
#MyGivingStory
contest. Did Women's League change your life? Share your story and win up to $10,000 for the non-profit of your choice. There are tons of opportunities to win, and you'll be helping a worthy cause! Learn more about how to submit to My Giving Story
here
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If you plan on giving to Women's League during the holidays, donate here and don't forget to share on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #GivingTuesday! You can also download banners or print and fill out our official Giving Tuesday Sign here to let us know on social media why you support Women's League. We thank you immensely for your continued commitment to the Women's League mission!
 Distance Workshops
The next
free Women's League Distance Workshop,
"Zoom Call with WLCJ President Margie Miller" is scheduled for
Monday, November 27, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. This workshop is open
only
to sisterhoods with under 50 members and limited to the first 20 Sisterhoods to register. Call-in information will be sent to participants the week of the workshop. Register
here.
Registration is now open for the next Distance Workshop on Thursday, December 7, at 8:30 p.m., also with President Margie Miller. Sisterhoods with under 100 members are invited to participate, and space is limited to the first 20 to register. Reserve your spot here.
Modern Jewish Family: 2017-2018
Study Materials Now Available!
For several years, Women's League has engaged in conversation about
Mishpachah, the Modern Jewish Family. The goal of the first year,
Mishpachah I, was to identify the diverse character of our Jewish families and to encourage our communities to be pluralistic, welcoming, inclusive and openhearted. Our second year,
Misphachah II
expanded this concept and concentrated on the diverse structures a
nd identities of our families.
During this third year, Modern Jewish Family will focus on defining our families and communication within our families. The materials may be used as Divrei Hokhmah or as a D'var Torah before a meeting or as the topic for a full meeting or discussion study group. Find them on the Women's League website here.
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FROM ACROSS THE REGION
TORAH FUND PROGRAMS TO KVELL AND SHARE
The Best Torah Fund Programs in Our Region
This space is being reserved for Torah Fund programs that have worked for YOUR sisterhood. Please send Lois Silverman at
[email protected] a summary of what you have done to support Torah Fund. It just might inspire other sisterhoods to do similar events.
Temple Beth El, Rochester, NY Torah Fund Benefactors' Event
On Sunday, October 15th 2017 Temple Beth El Sisterhood held a Torah Fund Benefactors' luncheon at the home of Tracy Glazer. Twenty-seven of our fifty-two benefactors attended. Our lunch menu was simple: a make your own salad bar which a committee of three was able to prepare (wash, cut, put into serving dishes, etc.) the morning of the event, and kugels and brownies which were prepared in advance in our synagogue's kosher kitchen. A make your own ice cream sundae (with various toppings) with the brownies served as dessert.
Mrs. Glazer was our guest speaker. She shared a brief overview of her path to becoming director of Rochester Community Hillel Day School. She also explained how the curriculum and classrooms in the school have been brought into the twenty-first century while always remaining true to traditional Jewish values.
Temple Beth El Sisterhood is extremely proud to know that we have the largest group of Torah Fund benefactors nationally, and we've raised the most money in our region (International Northeast - which includes Albany to Buffalo NY and eastern Canada-) to support Torah Fund's many projects. We also were one of only three Sisterhoods that donated to the Women's League Seeds Program. This was a two year effort to raise additional funds above and beyond our yearly Torah Fund Benefactor campaign.
We try to stimulate congregational support by sending informational mailings to all the women in our congregation rather than simply a select few who may have shown support or interest in previous years. As a result we have found that we manage to increase our Benefactor membership by two or three each year. Last year we found congregants who were not benefactors, motivated by our mailing about the Seeds campaign, who contributed to the Seeds initiative which aimed to refurbish the JTS Women's League Seminary Synagogue and support Ziegler Rabbinical Students' year in Israel.
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FROM THE TORAH FUND VICE PRESIDENT
MARILYN COHEN
YOUR TORAH FUND DOLLARS AT WORK
Check out the following amazing statistics about the impact of just one of our Conservative seminaries to the Jewish community in North America?
Imagine how vast the impact is to our Jewish community when you include all five of our seminaries - Jewish Theological Seminary (New York) Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies (Los Angeles), Schechter Institute (Jerusalem), Seminario Rabinico (Buenos Aires) and Zacharias Frankel College (Pottsdam, Germany).
THE IMPACT OF the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) ALUMNI:
✡53,000+ children develop Jewish neshamas at day schools led by 379 teachers and administrators who were educated. at JTS
✡477,000 Jews are inspired, learn and pray in synagogues that are led by JTS rabbis and cantors.
✡103,000+ students on college campuses can experience Jewish life at Hillels that are led by JTS alumni.
✡30,000+ campers discover the joys of Jewish living and learning from JTS trained educators.
✡43% of rabbis ordained since 2005 are women.
✡600+ educators who were trained at JTS captivate the next generation with a love of the Jewish people in their work in congregational schools, day schools and early childhood centers.
✡100+ professionals have graduated from JTS who are animating social service and social justice organizations that are trailblazing new ideas.
Todah Rabah to all our Women's League members who donated to TORAH FUND which supports the students at our seminaries.
Marilyn Cohen, INR Torah Fund VP
h) 416 223 2955
c) 416 518 1860
Check out the New Torah Fund Guide and all the other materials to run a great campaign!
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NEED HELP?
HELP IS AVAILABLE ON THE WLCJ WEBSITE.
Programs, membership ideas, education material, and more available at wlcj.org
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