Chai Lines

International Northeast Region
Women's League
for Conservative Judaism

   
Networking to Engage, Enrich and Empower
Conservative Jewish Women
 
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and like on on Facebook by clicking here 
 
February 1, 2019                                                              Volume 3, Issue 17   
FROM THE REGION PRESIDENT--JOAN LOWENSTEIN
 
A wise woman once said to me "Only do what only you can do." I tried to research this quote to see to whom to attribute it. I found that in one form or another it had been attributed to many, many different people. Personally I think we can go much farther back to give credit where credit is due.
 
In last week's parashah, Yitro, we find that Jethro, Priest of Midian, and Moses' father-in-law, sent word to Moses that he was coming to Moses in the wilderness along with Moses' wife and her two sons. Upon their arrival Moses recounted to Jethro all that God had done for the Israelites, and Jethro "rejoiced over all the kindness that the Lord had shown Israel when He delivered them from the Egyptians".
 
The parashah continues that the next day "Moses sat as magistrate among the people while the people stood about Moses from morning until evening." But when Moses' father-in-law saw how much he had to do for the people, he said to him "The thing you are doing is not right, you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well." Jethro tells Moses to "seek out from among all the people capable men who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and let them judge the people at all times."
 
It would seem that Jethro is telling Moses to only do what only he can do. As sisterhood presidents and leaders in other positions, you should heed this advice as well. We all need help from others in order to accomplish much. I hope for you many people to help you with all of your responsibilities.
 
Similarly, we can all help in other ways as well. Has your Sisterhood donated to Masorti? Women's League is looking for 100% participation from all Sisterhoods. You can donate just one dollar per member or make it an even $100. But please be sure to donate! For more information on this important fundraiser please see below.
 
Wishing you all a very meaningful and peaceful Shabbat.
  
L'Shalom,
Joan

HELP MASORTI WOMEN

What will a dollar buy you?
 
All we are asking of you is
Just One Dollar .
 
Women's League for Conservative Judaism has a long history of supporting (Conservative) Masorti Judaism in Israel and throughout the world. Women's League has an annual commitment and NOW is the time to meet that obligation. Each sisterhood is asked to make a contribution equal to Just One Dollar per Member. Fundraising can be as easy as passing around a pushke at you next Sisterhood event, asking each woman to donate Just One Dollar . Or you might hold a fundraiser unique to your Sisterhood.
 
All donations will fund the annual Masorti Women's Days of Study , as well as vital projects for the 60+ Masorti kehillot   (congregations). For example, one small group which met in people's homes is now a thriving kehillah with its own building due in part to a Women's League-funded scholar-in-residence Shabbat, which gave them an important yearly program.
 
Sisterhoods are urged to send donations to the WLCJ office and note "Annual Masorti Donation." WL is looking for 100% participation from all our affiliated sisterhoods.
 
Can you give less? Want to give more? Yes and Yes!
All donations are appreciated and can be sent to:
 
Women's League
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 820
New York, NY 10115
 
Now more than ever, Women's League brings together the Jewish history of the past and the rich future of the Conservative women's movement. Even Just One Dollar makes a difference. What will your Dollar buy you?

GOOD NEWS WANTED  
 
Toot your own horn.
 
Tell us what is going on in your Sisterhood.
Tell us what is successful in your Sisterhood.
 
Email Lois Silverman, Chai Line editor @  
ltsilverman@google.com  
and she'll share your news.

FROM WOMEN'S LEAGUE FOR

CONSERVATIVE
JUDAISM WLCJ fromWL
 
Networking to engage,
enrich and empower
Conservative Jewish Women
 
   
Shabbat Message
"Bucket List Travel Destination Fulfilled: A Visit to Neve Hanna in Kiryat Gat, Israel"
By Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, Executive Director
Women's League for Conservative Judaism
 
Many people have different places on their bucket list to visit when travelling to Israel, and mine has always been
Neve Hanna in Kiryat Gat, established in 1973 under the dynamic leadership of Hanni Ullman, a veteran Israeli educator and recipient of the prestigious President's Award for Volunteerism. Neve Hanna is named for Hanna Kaplan, a Holocaust survivor who bequeathed money to Hanni to create a family-style home for children in distress. During our recent trip to Israel for Coby Dov's Bar Mitzvah, I was privileged to mark one of those bucket list destinations off my list - and it will definitely be a repeated place to visit in the future! Since I was a teenager, I have always wanted to visit Neve Hanna, because my Rabbi, Rabbi Benjamin Z. Kreitman, one of the greatest influences in my life, always described it as a magical place that transformed people's lives and recognized each individual's needs and challenges. The pictures he showed me were of children with smiling faces, clearly loving their current home. I knew that this would be a perfect place to visit on our Coby Dov Bar Mitzvah mission! Rabbi Kreitman, the Founding President of American Friends of Neve Hanna, never stopped talking about the children who lived at Neve Hanna, who were removed from their homes due to physical and psychological violence, neglect, and sexual abuse, and now live in family-like units grouped according to age. On our recent visit, we were able to see one of the four family-like units, but the approximately 80 children who live there, between the ages of 6 to 18, were all in school. I can say, their rooms were incredibly neat! After school, an additional 45 children come to Neve Hanna for their day care programs and return home every night. One of these programs is a joint Jewish-Bedouin program. 
 
Rabbi Kreitman praised Neve Hanna for being a warm, loving home environment for the children, which offers support, assistance, guidance and care. During our recent visit, this warmth was definitely conveyed - from the minute we stepped off our tour bus, to the Facebook comments I receive from Rabbi Liron Levy, the rabbi at Neve Hanna, to the delicious cookies we received from their in-house bakery. The in-house bakery , Yeladudes Bakery , teaches children the values of work and imparts to them useful life skills, such as ethics and business management. The children at Neve Hanna learn the art of baking and marketing delicious specialty breads, cakes, and cookies, which are in demand in the dining rooms of Israeli corporations, sold in malls, and served on El Al flights. At Neve Hanna, this is just one way that children are able to grow up to become self-confident and independent adolescents and young adults. Neve Hanna provides group programs and therapies, with the goal of rehabilitating severely traumatized children, empowering them and promoting their educational and social development, while imparting to them the tools to build successful, independent, self-sufficient future lives. All of them receive individual counseling, including art, dance, and animal therapy. Many of the teenagers help run their family units and take responsibility for setting goals and budgets, even earning and saving money for activities like concerts, movies, and trips.
 
 
Neve Hanna is recognized under the Masorti Movement as a Kehilla: a loving home in the Jewish Community. Kehilla means community, and that is exactly what Neve Hanna is: a warm community that inspires growth. The children at Neve Hanna are taught Jewish values. They say their prayers before and after meals, join the Shabbat and holiday services, learn about Jewish heritage and tradition, and each one celebrates their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Rabbi Liron Levy, a graduate of the Schechter Institutes, is employed at Neve Hanna, and prepares the children for the Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration, an important event with many guests who join the children's celebration. While we were at Neve Hanna, one of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the petting zoo, where twelve of us in my group got to hold some of the animals - the brave amongst my group! But one activity that all twelve of us participated in, besides the delicious lunch Neve Hanna provided, was a lesson taught by Rabbi Liron Levy about what parts of the body are used to follow the words conveyed in the first paragraph of the Shema. Everyone participated in this lesson and enjoyed their learning. The greatest part of the lesson was having the current co-Presidents of American Friends of Neve Hanna, our own Women's League past International President Janet Tobin and her husband, Irwin Tobin, join us for the lesson, a special presentation Rabbi Levy made to Coby, our candy-throwing to Coby, and our delicious lunch. Rabbi Kreitman, of blessed memory, was right - Neve Hanna is a magical place. The animals exude love the minute you see them, and the people you meet become family immediately. The food and bakery pastries are delicious, and the values of God, Torah, Israel, are taught. Lives are transformed daily, and mitzvot are lived daily, just by the very fact that such an amazing place as Neve Hanna exists.
 
 
Neve Hanna is a place that the entire Conservative/Masorti Movement should take great pride in, and we, as part of WLCJ, should, as well, with Janet Tobin as the co-President of American Friends of Neve Hanna. Make sure you arrange a trip to Neve Hanna in Kirya Gat on your next trip to Israel!
 
 
 
 
Register for the World Wide Wrap February 3!
 
The World Wide Wrap, sponsored by FJMC and WLCJ, is this 
Sunday, February 3!
 
If you and/or your sisterhood would like to participate,
 
 
 

UPDATED! Women's League Reads
 
We are delighted to announce that the next WL Reads book and author is
Gateway to the Moon , by Mary Morris. Now in hardcover and e-reader editions, it will be out in paperback on March 12. An author interview will be held on
Monday, April 8, 2019, at 8:30 PM EST.
 
The historical novel has a dual narrative: First, the story follows a Jewish family of conversos during a century of flight from the Spanish Inquisition-from Spain, to Portugal, to Mexico, and, finally, to colonial New Mexico. The second storyline, set in the 1990s, tells of inter-related Hispanic characters in a poor New Mexico town, whose ancestors had settled there 400 years ago, and who still maintain "strange" customs that hint at Jewish ancestry. It involves a striving, gifted teenage boy, whose family harbors secrets, who views the stars from a crumbling cemetery hilltop with purported Hebrew "hieroglyphics" on its gravestones, the narrative of a kindly older general store manager, who yearns to discover his roots, and the story of a troubled, young Jewish family that tries to make a fresh start. Mary Morris skillfully weaves these threads together in a page-turning, layered story.
 
Membership in Women's League Reads is open only to members in good standing of Women's League-affiliated sisterhoods or to individual members who have paid dues directly to Women's League. You may subscribe to by contacting Lois Silverman, Internet Services Chair, at lsilverman@wlcj.org, with your e-mail address, sisterhood name/town/state, or individual member information, and thereby join the online group for book news and discussions.
 

Sign Up Now for Distance Workshops!
 
The next two Distance Workshops are   "Torah Fund: Investing in the Future" on Wednesday, January 30, at 8:30 p.m., Eastern time and " Programming and Membership: Close Relations for the Future  Participation" on Wednesday, February 22, at 8:30 p.m., Eastern time. Participation is limited to members of Women's League only. Learn more and register today!
 
 

We're Having Another SALE!
 
 
 

With Strength and Splendor: Jewish Women as Agents of Change
 by Lisa Kogen is now on sale through our website! $5 per single book, ONLY SOLD by the case - 12 books per carton and shipping is ON US!! These make great sisterhood, Bat Mitzvah, and graduation gifts! BUY HERE  
 
 

Register Now for Sharsheret Pink Day!
February 13, 2019
 
Sharsheret Pink Day is an opportunity for you and your sisterhood to raise awareness about breast and ovarian cancer genetics and  help save lives!
 
Here's how to get involved:
Wear pink on February 13, lead a breast cancer awareness or fundraising event at your school or organization, sign up and download the official toolkit, and distribute free Sharsheret resources and giveaways!
 
Register and read more ideas from Sharsheret here and follow Sharsheret on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram using the hashtag #sharsheretpinkday.
 

Register for 2019 Days of Study in February!
 
Sign up now to join the 2019 Masorti Women's Days of Study in Israel February 6, 12, and 19
. Scholarships are available - contact Diane Friedgut for more information. REGISTER HERE 
 

Join the Next Leadership Institute
Sunday-Monday, February 17-18, 2019
Tamarac, FL
 

Daytime Learning at JTS Returns!
 
This spring, join other adult learners for stimulating text study and discussion
with the outstanding scholars of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City
Advance registration is required.
 
Seven Wednesdays
February 27; March 6, 13, 20, 27; April 3, 10
 
Sacred Time: Hasidic Mystics on Shabbat and the Holidays
Dr. Eitan Fishbane, Associate Professor of Jewish Thought, JTS
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
 
In Search of an Ethical Judaism: Rabbinic Sources That Challenge Our Hearts and Minds
Dr. Marjorie Lehman, Associate Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, JTS
1:30 - 3:00 p.m.

$185 for one course
$360 for both courses
$335 discount for Women's League members before February 13
 

WWOT - Weekly Words of Torah:
Parashat Mishpatim
 
By Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, Executive Director, Women's League For Conservative Judaism
 
To inspire, guide, engage, enrich, and empower Conservative Jewish Women 
 
This week's Torah reading, Parashat Mishpatim, continues to teach the children of Israel how to behave in a society where they are not slaves. God provides laws to the Israelites through Moses on how to behave while living in freedom. If a group of people who were never able to think for themselves suddenly are a free people, there could possibly be uncontrollable chaos if rules are not in place. Additionally, those rules, if not followed, need to have consequences if not obeyed.
 
Therefore, Parashat Mishpatim provides additional commandments for the children of Israel to follow, along with consequences if they are not obeyed. For example, we are taught in Exodus, chapter 21, verse 17, "He who insults his father or his mother shall be put to death." What a difference society would be today if children saw such a consequence, Heaven forbid. However, we do need to teach that there are consequences for what we do, which can be a difficult lesson for some to learn. There are people who do something - perhaps verbally, physically, and also mentally, who do not realize that action will lead to consequences much worse than the action -  even if that consequence was not intended. Therefore, we must all think that what we are about to say or do will lead to the consequence that we truly want to have.
 
Furthermore, when an action has a positive consequence, we should also recognize and acknowledge this positive consequence - called hakarat hatov - thus acknowledging the good. The concept that "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" is an important lesson that could be learned from Parashat Mishpatim. May all of our days be filled with a greater balance of positive consequences than negative consequences.
 

Thank You for Your Contributions!
The following have donated recently to Women's League and its many initiatives. Women's League accepts donations all year - all contributions are welcome.
 
Masorti WL Days of Study
Charles Bernstein, Acworth, GA
Ohev Shalom of Bucks County Sisterhood, Richboro, PA
Ohave Sholom Sisterhood, Rockford, IL
 
  
   
FROM THE TORAH FUND VICE PRESIDENT
MARILYN COHEN

 
 
 
Marilyn Cohen,
International Northeast Region Torah Fund Vice-President  
 
NEED HELP? help
HELP IS AVAILABLE ON THE WLCJ WEBSITE.

Programs, membership ideas, education material, and more available at wlcj.org

 
INR OF WLCJ | ltsilverman@gmail.com  | Website Click here