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L'Shanah Tovah
Happy New Year!
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Wishing you and your loved ones peace, happiness, safety and good health this Rosh Hashanah. May the New Year be filled with kindness, compassion, and much love! |
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G'mar chatima tovah, which literally means "a good final sealing," but as a greeting between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur means "May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for Good."
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Greetings!
Check out the WRS Virtual Events below and see the CRS website to find all of the congregational programs available. We care about YOU!
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Women of Rodef Sholom's 2020 Opening Event! |
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Tenement Museum Private Virtual Tour
Sun, Oct. 18 at 3:30pm
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Join the Women of Rodef Sholom and museum educators for a very special 60 minute interactive "visit" to the recreated apartment of the Rogarshevsky Family in New York City! |
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The Jewish American Rogarshevsky family lived in 97 Orchard Street in 1911, and their story explores how they balanced work, tradition, and culture in the Lower East Side. Through a private Zoom session, you'll see video, images, and primary sources to build the world of the Rogarshevsky family. There will be opportunities to interact and ask questions through chat, with an end of tour Q&A. |
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Book Club Group
Book of the Month:
Wednesday, September 16 at 7:30pm
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Next meeting: Wednesday, October 21 at 7:30pm
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“Whoever blesses the moon in its time welcomes the presence of the Schechina (female Devine presence).” |
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Rosh Chodesh Group
No September meeting: next meeting is
Tuesday, October 20 at 2pm
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Rosh Chodesh marks the beginning of each month by the appearance of the new moon. The talmud records this as a special holiday for women.
The Women of Rodef Sholom invite you to join our Rosh Chodesh group. In an intimate setting, share women's perspectives on Torah, politics, ritual, music, prayer, and much more.
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WRS Programming Team Meeting
Wednesday, September 2 at 4:30pm
Help us develop and plan virtual programming for autumn. RSVP with your name and email to wrssisterhood@gmail.com, and the Zoom link for the meeting will be emailed to you. Providing your email address will also ensure you are notified about future meetings by the WRS Programming team.
Even though we are not physically together, we can still stay socially connected!
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WRS Membership Team Meeting
Tuesday, September 8 at 7:00pm
Help us reach other women in our community and develop and plan virtual membership events for the next year.

RSVP with your name and email to wrs@rodefsholom.org, and the Zoom link for the meeting will be emailed to you. Providing your email address will also ensure you are notified about future meetings by the WRS Membership team.
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Message from our President |
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Dear Women,
L’shana Tova ("for a good new year")! Honestly, I think I’m more than ready for a fresh start; how about you? Another month since I last wrote. There’s still a pandemic, a devastated economy, and the continued racial injustices they so clearly exposed. We have added grueling heat and thunderstorms that sparked some of the largest California wildfires ever. We have also seen the unjust contradiction in Kenosha, Wisconsin through another horrifying shooting by police officer Rusten Sheskey into the back of Jacob Blake, an unarmed African American father, in front of his family, and a white minor carrying an assault rifle trying to surrender to the same law enforcement agency after killing two people being waved through and across state lines. I am ready for a change or ten, even in my own attitude. I am looking forward to Tashlich ("cast off"), when we ceremoniously cast away our transgressions to the water. I have not been at my personal best quarantined with four other adults, a dog, and three cats (one more cat than we started quarantine with :o).
However, I cannot but remain hopeful as the Jewish new year of Rosh Hashanah dawns. We are talking about these issues in our communities, which hasn’t always been so, and they are bringing us together in new ways. Did you see the New York Times full page letter from over 600 diverse Jewish organizations in support of Black lives on the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech in Washington, D.C.? (see Unequivocally: Black Lives Matter). We saw the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment giving white women the right to vote (women of color wouldn’t officially be given the right to vote for 30-45 years after 1920). 2020 marks another opportunity to make our voices heard in Federal, state and local elections. I’ll be voting by mail to uphold our Reform Jewish values of human dignity and inclusion, through civil rights, economic justice, sustainability, healthcare, and welcoming the stranger (see WRS Views, URJ Resolutions, and RAC Advocacy Issues).
With so much at stake in these unprecedented circumstances, I hope you are registered to vote, and maybe even helping others register as well. Please investigate how you will logistically vote this year, as it’s different from the past, as well as carefully consider your ballot choices. Let your voice be heard, perhaps now as never before.
I am also so grateful for the Rodef Sholom community and, especially, for all of you, my Women of Rodef Sholom friends. I am positive that I wouldn't be functioning half as well without your support, friendship, and understanding. I enjoyed some easy summer WRS activities, such as our recent virtual pajama party. If you weren’t able to attend, I recommend the short film “Gefilte Fish” about three generations of women and their relationship to that controversial Pesach (Passover) dish. We are taking a brief programming hiatus in September, but we are still diligently working on future events, like our Women’s Shabbat and new member events. I also absolutely cannot wait until the WRS official opening event in October – a virtual tour of the Tenement Museum in New York, a must see, even if you have been there in person. Join us to create programming for YOU!
I am looking forward to the changes Rosh Hashanah signifies, as well as the introspection Yom Kippur demands. Please say "hi" to me at one of these events. Without you, we are one woman short.

Thoughtfully,
Jen Levine, President
Women of Rodef Sholom
(she/her/hers)
P.S., I’m adding my pronouns to my signature to normalize the sharing of pronouns. If you identify as a woman, join the Women of Rodef Sholom, whatever your pronouns!
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Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ)
2020 Pacific District Convention!
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The 2020 Pacific District Convention is online the weekend
of October 24-25!
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Click here to register for this virtual convention. The deadline is October 19, so act early!.
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At the convention, meet with women in large and small sessions to learn, share ideas, study together, celebrate Judaism, and network. Together we will study the Torah portion Noach, learn how to lead a workshop, manage conflict, discuss hot topics in Social Justice, and share best practices for leading Sisterhoods in a virtual world. Connect with old friends and meet new ones!
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Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC)'s 2020 Civic Engagement Campaign |
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is
Congregation Rodef Sholom's
Every Voice, Every Vote Campaign
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The Reform Jewish Movement's 2020 Civic Engagement Campaign encourages all U.S. citizens to exercise their right to vote and to remove obstacles that shut some out of the voting booth.
Join an upcoming meeting to celebrate our Every Voice, Every Vote campaign success, and to start making calls with Reclaim our Vote, in partnership with the RAC on Friday, September 4 at 1:30 pm.
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Marin Organizing Community (MOC) |
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CONGREGATION RODEF SHOLOM AND THE MARIN ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
MOC is an organization of institutions, mostly religious and non-profit groups, formed to create relational power that can build and strengthen each member organization, as well as shape Marin County’s public policy for the common good. The MOC is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), the nation’s oldest and largest leadership development and organizing network.
MOC organizes by building trusting relationships between people of diverse backgrounds and by training leaders to organize within their institutions and create public relationships with local policymakers.
MOC is currently advocating around renter protections, affordable housing, improving quality of life for older adults, and increasing mental health care in Marin schools.
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Join upcoming MOC meetings:
- Wednesday, September 9 at 7:00pm - MOC Leader's meeting
- Thursday, October 1 at 7:00pm - Delegates Assembly and Action
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Tips For Communicating in the World of Hearing Loss |
Sara Oser shared expert tips to make communication a two way practice for people who have hearing loss and those who hear well. THANK YOU, Sara! Feedback from participants: "I found Sara's presentation valuable and useful; it will help me in my communication." "Thank you to Sara for her very informative presentation." "Sara's presentation was insightful and very informative. She shared some gems that will help me communicate better with my loved ones. We are so lucky to have such talented women in WRS who are willing to share their knowledge. Well, done."
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The PJ Party was so much fun! We had a great evening together watching and discussing the short film "Gefilte Fish," a story of three generations of women and their relationships to that famous Pesach (Passover) dish. Watch film here
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Feedback from attendees: "Fun to be together; let's do more." "Thanks for the WRS event. I welcome the opportunity to see one another and chat." "Besides enjoying the movie again and reminiscing about gefilte fish, I loved that everybody got into the spirit of a PJ party by wearing their pj's." "I thought it was really fun, short and sweet. I especially enjoyed the discussion; I like getting to know our fellow 'sisters' better this way." "The film was cute: it gave everybody something to talk about and our differences in age actually made things more interesting for all. Thanks for your efforts in programming." |
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WRS Virtual Women's Retreat |
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If you missed the WRS Virtual Retreat LIVE, you can watch the Shabbat service for the first time, or again! |
Comments from attendees: "The Shabbat service was a highlight for me," "Loved the music," "It was a beautiful day, spent with dear and new friends," "The retreat was amazing," "loved how engaged all of the participants were," "excellent program," and "so impressed with the level of organization and the flow of the entire day." |
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On the lighter side . . . |
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