Chai Lines
International Northeast Region
Women's League
for Conservative Judaism
Networking to Engage, Enrich and Empower
Conservative Jewish Women 
   July 19, 2018                                                             Volume 3, Issue 4    
IN THE REGION FAMILY

Baruch Dayan HaEmet to
Corinne Hammerschlag on the passing of her father David Magid
Corinne Hammerschlag on the passing of her mother Frouma Magid

A GUEST EDITORIAL

Mourner's Kaddish
By Sue Taffet, WLCJ VP and Past Region President
 
I was sitting on a train from Krakow to Warsaw, as I wrote in 2014, about traveling on a synagogue trip to Eastern Europe. I had already spent several days touring Jewish sites in Prague, Budapest, and Krakow. I attended Shabbat service at the Dohany Synagogue in Prague and had an inspiring dinner at the JCC of Krakow, where a group of young adults are learning about their Jewish roots and Poland's history during the Holocaust.  Auschwitz and Birkenau were, naturally, very difficult, but a necessary part of the trip. We walked in the footsteps of so many, one in particular who that year had turned 91- my Hebrew school teacher and then childhood family Rabbi who had survived Auschwitz and Birkenau, and who had become a surrogate grandfather for my two daughters. He was an incredibly special man, a teacher and friend to my family. It was mostly for him that I made the journey. His belief was that, the more people bear witness and visit the concentration camps, the more there is proof that the Nazis did not succeed. But I went also for my husband, who recently had learned of many family members who were murdered in the Holocaust.
 
A new exhibit from Yad Vashem had opened at Auschwitz with a book of names. It was a huge book that took up an entire, large room, with pages and pages of names and dates of death. My husband was able to see the names of 86 family members. It was quite overwhelming, to say the least. It is a trip I recommend to all, whether you have lost family or not (and, to my knowledge, I have not). As our young guide told us, each person in the book has a name, and a face, and a family, and we are all obliged to honor their memories. It is for this reason I made the decision that, when I returned home to Rockville, I would then say the Mourner's Kaddish to honor those who had been murdered in the Holocaust, and who had no one to say it for them. My two daughters had each started saying the Kaddish while in high school. One says it to honor the memories of children who had been murdered and had no one to say it for them. The other, after a "March of the Living" trip, made a decision to honor the memories of those murdered during the Holocaust as she walked along the same path they had marched.  (And yes, they asked permission from my husband and me to say the Kaddish while we are still alive. It was instantly granted and I greatly respected their decisions).
 
Recently, I was asked by a fellow congregant why I said the Mourner's Kaddish each week...did I have that many relatives to say it for? I explained about the trip and why I said it - and she was very moved. After thinking about it while, she decided that I had encouraged her to take on the same responsibility. She now stands for the Mourner's Kaddish along with me. She has come to me several times to thank me for inspiring her to take on the commitment, knowing that it is a very meaningful and  special prayer for me, and that it helps me to connect with not just the past, but also with the future. I still can visualize that book of thousands and thousands of names there at Auschwitz...and I will do my best to honor their memories and the lives they lived that were taken away.
 
MEET OUR REGION OFFICERS AND BOARD
TOBY MASER--Vice-President of Sisterhood Support

My name is Toby Maser, and I am the ongoing vice-president of Sisterhood Support for our region. I have been a sisterhood member for the past forty-four years and an involved member of our region for more than thirty years. More recently, I have had the honor of being a past vice-president of WLCJ, holding the portfolios of Per Capita, Region Budgets and currently the co-chair of Distance Workshops. But most important to me, I am a consultant for WLCJ, visiting many sisterhoods and regions to assist in building their organizations with the mission of Women's League as their basis-- Networking to Engage, Enrich and Empower Conservative Jewish Women.
 
I am the woman to contact with your sisterhood needs. My background gives me many tools, thoughts, and ideas that I would love to share with you. Every question is important, and I am here to help. I can be reached by text, e-mail, and phone.  
 
In the next three years, INR President Joan Lowenstein and I plan to try and visit each sisterhood in our region. If you would like me to visit sooner, please reach out to me, and I will do my best to be there for you. WLCJ now has the ability to set up ZOOM conferences, a conference where we can see each other using our computer or tablet. Pajamas and cups of coffee are optional.  
 
Your concerns are unique, but in many cases not as unique as you may think. With a membership as large and varied as WLCJ is, we can work together and find various ways to Engage, Enrich and Empower the Conservative Jewish Women in your Sisterhood.
 
Toby Maser
315-868-5560  
 
FROM THE EDITOR, LOIS SILVERMANeducation  
 
We all know the "Serenity Prayer" by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, 
Courage to change the things I can, 
And wisdom to know the difference.
 
But how can we take to heart or accept these comforting words when we
are overwhelmed with helplessness in the face of troubling world events we know we cannot solve, but no one is trying to solve? How can we accept these words in the face of world problems which confuse us as well as our leaders? How can we accept these words in the face of the degradation of society's civility, humanity, and commonsense? Today we yell at our television sets words that are often rated X as we wonder why those who can make a different don't or why we cannot believe what we see or hear from our leaders. All our frustrated yelling seems to do is blow emotionally charged air around us. 
 
I found the following on the internet. It speaks to the helplessness and emotions many of us are feeling today and then gives us hope.  
 
Shabbat Shalom 
LOIS 
 
Breathe, said the wind.
How can I breathe at a time like this,
when the air is full of smoke
of burning tires, burning lives?
Just breathe, the wind insisted.
Easy for you to say, if the weight of injustice
is not wrapped around your throat,
cutting off all air.
I need you to breathe.
I need you to breathe.
Don't tell me to be calm
when there are so many reasons
to be angry, so much cause for despair!
I didn't say to be calm, said the wind,
I said to breathe.
We're going to need a lot of air
to make this hurricane together.
-Lynn Ungar
 
SAVE THE DATE FOR INR CONFERENCE 2019 save

INR SPRING CONFERENCE 
June 2 & 3
at Beth David, Toronto 
FROM WOMEN'S LEAGUE FOR

CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM WLCJ fromWL
 
Networking to engage,
enrich and empower
Conservative Jewish Women
 
WWOT - Weekly Words of Torah: Parashat Devarim
To inspire, guide, engage, enrich, and empower Conservative Jewish Women
By Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, Executive Director, Women's League For Conservative Judaism  
 
This Shabbat, we begin a new book of the Torah, the fifth and final book, Sefer Devarim, the book of Deuteronomy, with the Torah reading by the same name, Parashat Devarim. The book of Deuteronomy is also known as Mishnei Torah, or the Repetition of the Torah, because it contains duplicate contents found in other parts of the Torah, although 70 of the 100 laws found in Deuteronomy are not found in the earlier books of the Torah. Why the repetition? The Torah never repeats itself without teaching something new. Furthermore, we all hear and learn differently, and so, perhaps, when the Torah repeats itself, we comprehend the information differently. In addition, each person is different, so, each time we come to hear the words, we come with a new and unique mindset and understanding.
 
What can this teach us about leadership? When someone wants to do something, and one says - we have always done it that way - one can say - yes, but we have changed, so the way will look different, because we are different. Or, we are different, so let's try it differently. But, of course, change is hard, and we do not always like to change. However, repetition can give us new insights. So, even if something has been done before, try it again.  Perhaps a new perspective, a new day, a new way of saying it, will bring a new light to the surface. After all, that is why we can watch reruns on television and cable, and why stories are retold in different ways in the Torah - to see situations in new ways. Let us be cognizant of how we each may change because of our own personal situations, and so may see the same event, situation, differently than we previously did, and also unique from our fellow sisterhood member. Shabbat Shalom!
 
WWOT, Weekly Words of Torah will be a brief paragraph prepared weekly by our new Executive Director, Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, presented in our "This Week @ Women's League." WWOT will provide meaningful thoughts related to the Weekly Torah Portion, an event on the Calendar, a Prayer, or something of Jewish interest, to inspire, guide, engage, enrich, and empower Conservative Jewish Women. If you have any particular interest in future topics, or want to send Rabbi Wolintz-Fields an email, you can contact her at [email protected]. Read previous Weekly Words of Torah here.
 
Announcing the Shelly Goldin Memorial Leadership Institute Scholarship Fund
 
Women's League has created the Shelly Goldin Memorial Leadership Institute Scholarship Fund, which will be used to carry on her work in supporting female Jewish volunteer leaders.
 
Shelly served the Women's League's Seaboard Region as a president, a consultant and personnel committee chair and served as international vice president. Most recently, she served as the lead trainer for the group's leadership institutes. She developed the second phase of the training initiative known as the Organization Management Institute. Learn more and donate to the scholarship fund here.   
 
Next Leadership Institute
Women's League for Conservative Judaism - committed to developing skilled and dedicated leaders - invites you to attend an inspiring Leadership Institute that will expand your skills as a leader and enhance your knowledge as a Jewish woman while strengthening your connection to Women's League, your sisterhood, your community, and Klal Yisrael. The Leadership Institute's unique format allows participants to build a personal program to expand Jewish knowledge and leadership skills.
 
The next Leadership Institute will be  July 29-30, 2018 in Portland, OR. Register  here, and learn more about the following Leadership Institute in October in Natick, MA  here.
 
This Year's Torah Fund Pin!
 
 
Atid means "future" in Hebrew. As Women's League for Conservative Judaism enters its second century, Torah Fund begins its 77th year, and the State of Israel enters its 71st year. We look forward with joy to our future together with you, our sisterhood members and supporters of Torah Fund.
 
When the classical rabbinic texts speak of the future using the word atid, it usually appears in the phrase "le'atid lavo," which means "in the future to come." By this, they mean either the day when the Messiah will come, or olam haba, the afterlife. Israelis, referring to this life, are known to say with optimism, "Yesh atid," which means "there is a future!"

How do you envision your future? Your personal future, the future of your family, the future of your community, of the United States, Canada, and Israel? When you dream of a bright future, is it in the next world or this one? The seminaries of the Conservative/Masorti movement, which we support through Torah Fund, are doing the great work that helps us navigate our future together, as one people. Our sisterhoods provide the social and educational networks - the extended family - that help us go forward into our future, as Jewish women, with confidence.

The 5779 Torah Fund pin envelopes the Hebrew word for "future" (atid) with a stylized Magen David. It represents our wish for a distinctly Jewish future, for ourselves as individuals, for our families, and our communities.
 
Order this year's Torah Fund pin here!
 
Days of Study
The 2018 Masorti Women's Days of Study this past June was a resounding success! The first video from the session in Israel is now up on Youtube. Prof. Alice Shalvi teaches three classes on Women Rabbis in Society - and pays tribute to both Janet Tobin and Women's League. Click the picture below to watch!
 
 
Thank You for Your Support!
The following have contributed to Women's League and its many initiatives. We encourage you to join this growing list. ALL contributions are welcome.
 
Masorti WL Days of Study in Israel
Mid-Atlantic Region
Bet Shira Congregation Sisterhood, Miami, FL
 
 
FROM THE TORAH FUND VICE PRESIDENT
MARILYN COHEN

Dear Chaveirot,

Introducing the Torah Fund Pin for 2018-2018

Marilyn

 
Check out the New Torah Fund Guide and all the other materials to run a great campaign!
NEED HELP? help
HELP IS AVAILABLE ON THE WLCJ WEBSITE.

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