Greetings!
Spring events are happening and filling up! Check them out below:
Our Annual Women's Seder; Annual Women's Retreat
Come Join Us -- Have fun & do good things!
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WRS ANNUAL WOMEN'S SEDER
"The Generational Seder"
Sunday, April 14th at 4 pm
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The Highlight of our Year is here!
Bring your daughters, granddaughters, mother, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins and friends! It's such a joyous event and spiritually uplifting.
There is an "early bird" price that ends April 1st and we cannot take reservations after 4/7. So, act now!
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4/16 1-3 pm Rodef Sholom Social Hall
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Monthly open Mahj play is usually the first & third Tuesday of every month. Due to space concerns, we will play only the third Tuesday this month, 4/16.
Bring your sets, your cards and your Mahj friends. Let's have fun!
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4/17 7:15-8:15 JCC Library
(3rd Wed. of the month)
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Schedule:
April 17th
- The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas (Jewish Book Council 2018 winner for best fiction)
May 15th
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
June 19th
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
To RSVP
CLICK HERE
or Call Alice Miller with questions: 415-381-6792
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Also coming in April and May
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Chai Mitzvah Classes return
Chai Mitzvah
:
a series of text-based Jewish learning that will sharpen your mind and enrich your soul. Get to know others in deeper and more meaningful ways. This curriculum is meant to lead us to perform acts of loving kindness.
Claire Mikowski,
Jewish Educator extraordinaire,
is looking forward to leading the following sessions:
Thursday 4/25/19 7-9pm in the JCC Library
and Thursday 5/9/19 7-9pm Temple Inner Conference room
(come to one, come to both)
Bring a snack to share if you wish, and we will nosh and learn together! Cost of materials is $36
For more info about this program from WRJ (Women of Reform Judaism)
CLICK HERE
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WRS Annual Women's RETREAT
May 3-5 at Westerbeke Ranch
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Enjoy the
gourmet
meals with wonderful women.
Create new friendships and reconnect
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Participate in
fun workshops, get to know yourself on a deeper level
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Pray in a way you never have before:
Shabbat in the "Round House" is an incredible experience
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A beautiful place, a weekend (or day) for yourself, don't miss it!
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Everyone raves about it -- find out why! Unbelievable weekend of gourmet meals, Shabbat services, workshops, hiking, reading, soaking in the hot tub, creating new friendships and just relaxing in the beautiful setting of Westerbeke Ranch.
Participation is limited to WRS members only. This year we are limited to 24 full weekend participants, so first come, first served.
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Venetia Valley Mother's Day Boutique
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Be a part of this award-winning program as students from Venetia Valley select and wraps gifts to give their own mother at our "boutique."
This program won the WRJ Gold Or Ami award.
Hannah Panger and her committee will be setting up the boutique at 9 am. She needs volunteers.
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WANT TO GET INVOLVED
BUT DON'T KNOW HOW?
HERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES:
- Join the Retreat Committee: The Retreat is at gorgeous Westebeke Ranch in Glen Ellen. Committee meeting is on Thursday, 4/25 at 6:30 pm in the JCC Library. If you can't be there in person and want to phone in, that's good too! Email Susan Goldwasser sigcrg@aol.com
- Venetia Valley Mother's Day Boutique: Contact Hannah Panger to get involved. Click here
We would love you to join us in planning this event. It takes a village, and you are part of our village. We would like to get to know you better and have some fun along the way!
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Passover Shopping List:
Seder & Matzah Plates
Matzah Covers
Haggadahs
Passover Greeting Cards
Miriam’s & Elijah’s Cups
Candlesticks & Candles
Children's Toys
Charoset Bowls and MORE!
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Extended hours for Passover are:
April 14th - April 23rd
Mon - Thur - 10:00 - 6:00
Fri - 11:30 - 4:30
Closed Saturdays
Sun - 10:00 - 4:30
Please call ahead to make sure we are open: 415-314-9822
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If you're interested in volunteering to work in the Gift Shop, please contact Ingrid Tolson by clicking the link below.
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Women of Rodef Sholom 2018-2019 Membership
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You can now renew your Membership
ON-LINE. It's easy!
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A note from our President
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Dear Sisters,
The WRS Women’s Seder is fast approaching. We hope you can join us, and bring your daughters, granddaughters, mother, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, and friends! Our Seder is a wonderful opportunity to surround yourself with the love of our multi-generational community. I was fortunate enough to have an extremely close relationship with my mother, as well as both my grandmothers and my mother in law. Sadly, none of these treasured women are still alive, but I have a wide age range of women friends that I adore. I recently came across the article below from the Huffington Post. Please enjoy reading the excerpt below, and come spend time with your family and make some new friends on April 14!
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The Age-Defying Benefits of Having Older (And Younger) Friends
If you’re like most Americans, chances are you met some of your closest friends while you were in school, which means many of those friends are exactly — or very close to — your own age. As a result, we’ve come to view friendships with people much older or much younger than us as unusual. But there are many reasons to seek out these friendships. And, in fact, Good Housekeeping called a “generation gap” friendship one of the two most essential friendships in a woman’s life.
“Bridging the generation gap not only increases the friend pool, but it also expands and supports mental well-being,” Anna Kudak, co-author of What Happy Women Do, told the magazine. “Friendships with older and younger people help broaden your perspective, which in turn allows you to have compassion and empathy in your day-to-day life.”
For women and men alike, there’s no reason why these friendships can’t be as close as those with people of similar ages. Robert Kurzban, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania who studies factors that affect friendship quality, found that matching age was not a predictor of friendship quality or closeness.
“A lot of our relationships are formed in a formal education environment so we wind up with relative [age] homogeneity,” Kurzban told the Huffington Post. But, he adds, “The best predictor of friendship rank is where you think that person puts you in their friendship ‘queue.’ The hardest kind of person to become important to is the kind of person who has a lot of people who like them.”
Intergenerational friendships may require more effort and more understanding, but the rewards are profound. Here’s why you should cultivate your own:
Maybe some of that self-confidence will rub off
They can show you the way
Older friends have already done many of the things younger adults will struggle to do. They can help you negotiate at work, think clearly about a breakup or advocate for your child in school. Meanwhile, younger people tend to be more fluent in technology and aspects of youth-driven popular culture. “There are lots of advantages when you interact with someone of a different age,” said Nussbaum. “ If young people are listening, they get good advice, like life or career or financial advice. For an older person, they learn about what’s important to younger adults — they really learn about a different world.”
It’s a good opportunity to expand your horizons and find some friends who share your interests
If you get really into ceramics or jazz or Bible study, you may find that your best friendships — cultivated over the shared experience of college or a first job — aren’t going to cut it. As we pursue our interests over a lifetime, the people who share them become increasingly important. Interest-based groups, like clubs and teams, are good places to meet those who share your passions — and they may not be close in age at all. After all, Kurzban said, “Close friendships form when people are looking for close friends.”
It could actually help you live longer
Companionship in old age is a strong predictor of lifespan. Study after study shows that
having a group of friends
is linked to living a longer and healthier life. It’s also associated with
a happier life in old age
. And while friends of any age will help, younger friends may be of particular value because they are more likely to be active and in good health themselves — buoying the older companion.
You could lose some preconceived notions
If you have friends of different age groups, you are less likely to stereotype based on age and generation, according to Nussbaum. It’s easy to dismiss Millennials as self-interested and entitled if you aren’t the recipient of the kindness and friendship of someone under 30. Young people may think the lives of older people are monotonous and boring. Friendship can erase these stereotypes and false assumptions, and widen your perspective. As long as you can overcome the challenges posed by different communication styles and life stages, these friendships can be particularly valuable, he says.
You’ll get an important cultural lesson
Most 20-somethings today probably have never consulted the I Ching — the mystical Chinese text that was in vogue among young counterculture types in the 1960s and 1970s. And most Boomers lack an understanding of many current alternative practices fashionable among today’s young people. When it comes to music, movies, party games and pretty much any of the fun stuff that occupies our free time, a much older or younger friend will have good recommendations and references you can’t get from your own age group.
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With much love,
Lucy Schneidman
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Jewish tradition teaches us to value memory. Zikaron L’maaseh v’reishit-memory of the creation of the world…zeicher l’tziat mitzrayim-memory of the exodus from Egypt.
Every Friday night we raise the kiddush cup and remember those historic, epic events. We were freed from Egypt, and we were chosen from all the peoples to be a light to the nations. Through our collective memory we learn to value the freedom we have to be creative.
This Spring as we celebrate Passover, may we be blessed to share quality time with our families, reminiscing fond memories and creating new ones. Let’s raise up our parents and children, and heal them as well with our deep love.
Who knows one?
As we clean out our hametz…
may we find a fresh spirit to enjoy life
may our bodies be healed of all maladies
may we draw our loved ones closer to heart
may we find renewed enthusiasm for even the most mundane routine.
I leave you with this quote from King Solomon’s Song of Songs:
The rain is over and gone.
The blossoms have appeared in the land.
Arise, my darling;
My fair one, come away!
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Congregation Rodef Sholom
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In the bin this month: In the temple lobby
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April:
Gently used or new kids clothing and shoes for Image for Success
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STUDY WITH RABBI ELANA & SYLVIA BOORSTEIN
The Paradox of Freedom:
Counting the Omer as a Path to Awakening
Teachers: Sylvia Boorstein & Rabbi Elana Rosen-Brown
When: Tuesday mornings 9:30-11:30
April 9, 16, 23, 30 and May 7, 14, 21, 28
The Counting of the Omer is a period of seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot during which we symbolically learn for the first time what it means to be free with all of its requisite joys and struggles.
Using a variety of contemplative approaches, this course will help us look deeply into our own lives. The course will incorporate mindfulness meditation, prayer, chant, and text study as we explore the ways the sacred wisdom of the journey from the Exodus at Passover to the receiving of the Torah on Shavuot can help us awaken to our daily lives.
RSVP to the Temple (415) 479-3441
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