April, 2020 Calendar of Events Even in these strange times, we are still here, together! (just not holding hands)

Greetings! We are living in a new world of shelter-in-place. As Rabbi Stacy said recently, we are physically distancing, but not emotionally or spiritually distancing. We want to stay connected to YOU! Even though our in-person events are canceled, we are working on ways to stay connected. See the CRS website click here (click the Keep Connected during Covid-19 tab) to find all the ways to stay connected virtually. The Shabbat services are uplifting, the Morning Meditations are inspirational. There will even be a first night virtual Seder. There is so much programming, it feels like there is always some way to feel connected to our community. For it is this feeling of connectedness that strengthens us, gives us courage, hope and resiliency. This too shall pass. We will come out on the other side of this even stronger and certainly more grateful for all that we have. STAY SAFE, STAY HOME, STAY HEALTHY We will be together again in person soon! Until then, the Women of Rodef Sholom wish you and yours a Happy Passover.

Events canceled

WRS WOMEN'S SEDER is canceled for this year

Monthly Mah Jong has been disbanded due to lack of participation

WRS Annual May RETREAT has been canceled

Venetia Valley School Mother's Day Boutique is canceled this year

Events held via Zoom

BOOK CLUB will be meeting via Zoom April 15th 7 pm - The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan  Join Zoom Meeting: Click here https://zoom.us/j/642027420 Meeting ID: 642 027 420

To RSVP  CLICK HERE  or Call Alice Miller with questions: 415-381-6792

Call for Service Get involved and feel a part of it all

WRS is an all volunteer organization looking for women who want to be of service, and have fun doing so! The following positions need to be filled starting July (our fiscal year): Recording Secretary - take minutes at the monthly board meeting. Publicity - Newsletter Editor - update this Newsletter monthly. A great creative output opportunity. Done from home. Great way to stay connected. Publicity - Social Media Manager - perfect way to keep WRS postings updated. Can be easily done from your own home on your own time frame. Being of service is not only good for the Organization, it's good for us as well. What a great way to get to know some wonderful women. Contact Jen Levine if you're interested, or for more info.

Learning continues in June via Zoom (if in-person meetings are still not available)

Chai Mitzvah Classes - Save the Date Curriculum: 10 Commandments JUNE 4, 11, 18 Zoom ID number and link will be in the May Newsletter. Claire Mikowski, Jewish Educator extraordinaire, will be teaching this class. An opportunity to make connections while learning. RSVP here

Tikkun Olam

Main Food Bank Service Opportunity We are suspending WRS shifts at the Food Bank until further notice out of respect for the shelter in place. If individuals want to volunteer go to the SF Marin Food Bank website: sfmfoodbank.org and sign up under Marin warehouse.

In the Gift Shop

The Gift Shop volunteers wish you & your family the blessing of health! We join you to pray for the health & safety of our Rodef Sholom community as well as our global community. Happy Pesach (Passover)! Article in J Magazine: With Passover approaching, temple gift shops pick up where now-closed Judaica stores left off BY  LIZ HARRIS  | MARCH 26, 2020 With only two independent Judaica stores remaining in the Bay Area, synagogue and JCC gift shops are filling a growing need not only for tangible items, but for community, too. Yves’ Jewelry & Judaica in Berkeley  closed earlier this year , citing lackluster sales, leaving  Dayenu  (located at the JCC of San Francisco) and  Afikomen (Berkeley)  as the only two remaining independent stores selling ritual and other Jewish objects. Synagogue gift shops have been able to weather challenges — like the proliferation of big-box stores and the convenience of internet shopping — with the help of institutional support. The coronavirus pandemic has temporarily shuttered stores, but most sisterhood-run shops inside synagogues and JCCs — each staffed by volunteers and unburdened by expenses such as rent, utilities and insurance payments — have been around for years, and plan to reopen once shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted. Shop managers throughout the area view their purpose in the broadest sense. “It’s a service to the community. It creates community,” says Kim Drucker of  Women of Isaiah Judaica Gift Shop  in Lafayette. Located in the Temple Isaiah building but open to anyone, it’s a place where “[synagogue] members get to know each other; people come in to talk,” Drucker says. Ronna Voorsanger, buyer for the  Rodef Sholom Sisterhood gift shop , says people frequently tell her they “love” coming in. The shop is located on the bottom floor of the Osher Marin JCC, next door to Congregation Rodef Sholom. “We’re here for the entire community,” she said. Fanny Stein, who has been involved with the shop for 20 years, says she and Voorsanger have become more than just retailers. “People come in, they ask us questions about the holidays, how do you cook things?” she said. “And I love it when people come and ask us to read from one of the books in Hebrew.” The shop “is as big as a postage stamp,” jokes Stein, “but we manage.” Voorsanger, an 11-year volunteer, concedes that “displays are definitely a challenge, but we get it done.” The two women remodeled the approximately 190-square-foot shop about five years ago in order to maximize display space. Jewelry, mezuzahs and other small items fill a case; walls are lined with Kiddush cups, decorative plates and ritual objects. There are framed art prints, tallit, kippot and much more. [The shop] is as big as a postage stamp, but we manage. With Passover just around the corner, the space was replete with seder plates, haggadahs and holiday cookbooks. Unfortunately, with no warning before the JCC closure due to the coronavirus threat, “we had no opportunity to even go in and get anything out” for possible delivery, says Voorsanger. “Usually our big push is the week before Passover, so we are crossing our fingers not just for the shop but for everyone that it will reopen.” At the Temple Isaiah store, Drucker likewise had high hopes for Passover, but now is facing challenges due to the pandemic. “We’re in trouble this year,” she admits. Typically, “we have a healthy bank account with money for buying. The money we make goes to the Women of Isaiah Sisterhood,” which in turn supports temple youth programs. In a normal year, “we make about $8,000,” says Drucker, who devotes about 20 hours a week to her duties. There are about 25 volunteers in all. This year, though “it’s hard,” she said. Linda Baraz of the  B’nai Israel Jewish Center gift shop  in Petaluma co-managed its Judaica shop for 20 years. Six years later, she still does all the buying, cleaning, arranging and rearranging. The shop, located in the entryway of the small Jewish center, is open weekdays during preschool hours. Baraz has recruited her daughter, Leslee Lauritzen, director of the Gan Israel Preschool, to help out. “I’m determined to keep it going,” Baraz says. “We’ve always had a presence in the temple.” About 15 miles to the north, the  Shomrei Judaica Shop  at Congregation Shomrei Torah sells Judaica — during normal business hours, when office staff is available. In the South Bay, the  Congregation Shir Hadash gift shop  in Los Gatos carries carefully displayed items for adults and children. Proceeds enable the sisterhood to support programs that benefit the synagogue and religious school, such as a camp scholarship program. And at  Starr-Stevens Judaica shop  at Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame, proceeds from sales help the sisterhood fund youth programming, camp scholarships and community trips to Israel. Other synagogues also carry Judaica, some with shopping by appointment only. Like Dayenu and Afikomen, the Rodef Sholom shop — overseen by a management team and core of over 20 volunteers — usually is open six days a week. And despite the bite of online shopping, the store takes in $30,000 to $40,000 a year, representatives said, enabling the sisterhood to fund camperships, senior programming, b’nai mitzvah and confirmation gifts and other worthy causes. Stein attributes the shop’s success, in part, to “our unique positioning in the JCC.” “People come in to browse … Sometimes they just sit and chat with us.” Bottom line, though: “We’re very fortunate,” she says. “If we were a regular retail business, we’d never make it.”

Click here to Volunteer in the Gift Shop

Message from our President

My valued Women of Rodef Sholom community, Wow. What a difference a month makes. In this time of Coronavirus, what a difference a day, even an hour, makes. I hope that you and your families are all safe, physically and emotionally. If you need anything at all, even just to talk, please let me ( jen@levine.net) or Moji ( moji@rodefsholom.org) know. I have personally had a fascinating journey from (mostly) very happy empty-nester to having a very full household within just a few days, as all three of my college-age children are back and hunkered down at our home. After a bit of a rocky start, we have actually gotten into a nice rhythm. I am newly proud of their (mostly) positive attitudes, including my about-to-graduate college senior, who seemed to be actually pleased to have one more unexpected opportunity to hang out with her brother and sister (and maybe parents) before she entered the world on her own. While I and the devoted Women of Rodef Sholom (WRS) volunteers are disappointed that we won’t have our annual Women’s Passover Seder or Retreat this year, I am so impressed with the creativity in our community and dedication to stay connected: I have gratefully been invited to a virtual Seder on the first night of Passover, I have watched a gallant Cantor David deliver a beautiful Thursday evening concert, I have loved so actively (if virtually) participating in Friday night services with our amazing clergy and their families! I’m pretty sure my online persona of liking every social media post I read was made for this time in history! Rodef Sholom usually has a phone line for these events if you don’t have access to a computer. If you do have a computer and need help with the technology, email me ( jen@levine.net) or Moji ( moji@rodefsholom.org). While I’m not an expert, I happen to have four bored and tech savvy housemates available to help! We are trying to see the positive side of sheltering in place, and one of them is definitely family meals together. At one, we went around the table saying one thing we missed and one thing that was surprisingly good about cloistering. For sure, a couple of significant others were sadly missed, but mom’s matzah ball soup was on the list of surprisingly good things about being at home. Who knew?! We hope you enjoy this newsletter, which we have tried to make entertaining, hopeful and uplifting during these uncertain and challenging times. I am eternally grateful to our outgoing Publicity and Newsletter Chair, Judi Sheppard, for always striving for maximum creativity, beauty, and love in her WRS work and for her vision for this newsletter, in particular. Be well,

Jen Levine President, Women of Rodef Sholom

Some light entertainment

All this Covid-19 talk is annoying. Here are some better lab results!

We're supposed to stock up on necessities, right?

Quarantine one liners: - My body has absorbed so much soap and disinfectant lately that when I pee it cleans the toilet. - Many parents are just about to discover the teacher is not the problem.  - Sneezes went from bless you to f… u real quick. - First time in history we can save the human race by laying in front of the TV and doing nothing. Let's not screw it up. - Reminder:  9pm  is the time to remove your day pajamas and put your night pajamas on. - My cleaning lady just messaged to say she will be working from home and will send me instructions on what to do. - We're about two weeks away from seeing everyone's true hair color. - What's worse: two masked guys trying to rob you or your unmasked pizza delivery guy? - I've almost completed my 90 day trial of 2020. How do I cancel? - Day 3 without sports. Found a lady sitting on my couch. Apparently she's my wife. She seems nice.  - Anyone else feel like life is being written by a fourth grader? "And there was this virus and everyone was scared. And then the world ran out of toilet paper. Yeah, and then there was like no school for a month." - Anyone have a recipe to make toilet paper out of cauliflower? - If you need 144 rolls of toilet paper for a 14 day quarantine, you probably should have been seeing a doctor long before covid-19. - Looks like we'll also need to bail out our political and science fiction writers, and retrain them to be historians.  - Now that we have everyone washing their hands correctly: Next week-- turn signals

News from WRJ (Women of Reform Judaism)

WRJ FRIED LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE GOES VIRTUAL -- AND FREE! WRJ has re-imagined Fried Women's Conference 2020 to be virtual. This means that WRJ women from all around the world can participate together.   Join us  and your sisters  for a day of learning, rejuvenation, and Kabbalat Shabbat worship featuring  Chava Mirel   on Friday, May 1st,  all from the comfort of your own home,   for free ! Attendees will tune in on Friday, May 1st to hone their leadership skills and deepen connections with other women, receive tools for intergenerational programming, and learn more about WRJ’s advocacy work. Participants will leave feeling empowered and rejuvenated, and with the support of the WRJ community, be better prepared to guide their own women’s groups and serve as leaders in their communities  .  We are proud to open this virtual conference to any woman who would like to attend, free of charge. Workshops include : A Conversation about Reproductive Rights: In the House and Your Home - Explore how WRJ’s support for reproductive rights is grounded in Jewish texts and values, discuss how to have nuanced conversations with others about these topics, and get tools to take action on this issue Beyond Welcoming: Addressing Racism Within Our Communities - Hear from URJ Audacious Hospitality’s Jew V ’Nation fellow and staff about how to start building stronger communities through diversity, equity, and inclusion Fearless Fundraising: Philanthropy, Fun, and the Future - Learn how to produce a fun, memorable, money-making event From Desert to Oasis: Creating Programs that Flourish - Get practical examples of exciting, enticing, and diverse programming for women of different ages Leadership Development & Succession Planning - Learn how to cultivate leaders,delegate responsibilities, form a nominating committee, and create plans to move members into leadership roles Purposeful, Passionate Leadership: A Jewish Values-Based Approach - Explore the nexus between women, leadership, and Jewish values. Raising Our Voices: WRJ Advocacy Then and Now - Learn about WRJ’s history and current priorities and partnerships in the social justice and advocacy arena, and how you can get involved SMS - Social Media Success: Learn How to Market Your Sisterhood and Events using Social Media - Engage your members in the digital era with marketing best practices and tips for email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. Torah And Immigration Justice - Eddie Chavez Calderon, a DACA recipient, will approach the contemporary conversation about immigration through two unique modes: a text study on immigrants, and his own personal story about life as an immigrant.  First-time WRJ conference attendees  are encouraged to   register to attend   a special webinar on April 21st at 8 pm ET called "  WRJ 101: The What, Why, and Who of Women of Reform Judaism  "to learn more about Women of Reform Judaism, who we are, what we do, and the resources available to you as a member. It's the perfect opportunity to learn more about WRJ and prepare yourself to gain even more out of your experience on May 1, 2020 at WRJ's Virtual Fried Women's Conference. We can't wait to "see" you there!

WRS urges members to take advantage of this phenomenal opportunity being offered by WRJ

WRS Minhag (custom) "Heal Her Now" SCARFS An Or Ami Award-winning project from WRJ (Women of Reform Judaism)

El na, refah na lah (Please God, heal her now) From Numbers 12:13 - Then Moses cried to the LORD, "Heal her now, O God."

The Women of Rodef Sholom has a new minhag (custom) which was introduced and created at the WRS Retreat this year. Beautiful hand-made silk scarfs were produced, wrapped in Mishaberach prayers while holding the Torah, and adorned with healing prayers and love. When a woman in our Congregation has a very serious illness, she will be presented with a "Heal Her Now" Scarf as a gift from the Women of Rodef Sholom. Rabbi Stacy has the box of scarfs. Sharing this kind of loving kindness, refu’ah sh’leymah (complete healing), and Torah, is what Sisterhood is all about.

We solemnly pray that you never need one of these scarfs. However, if you do, please contact Rabbi Stacy or wrs@rodefsholom.org and you will be wrapped in healing love. El na, refah na lah (Please God, heal her now)!

Our website

‌

Email Sign-up