Chai Lines
International Northeast Region
Women's League
for Conservative Judaism

Networking to Engage, Enrich and Empower
Conservative Jewish Women 
   May 17, 2018                                                             Volume 3, Issue       
FROM YOUR SISTERS AT  
THE INTERNATIONAL NORTHEAST REGION
 
 
SPRING CONFERENCE 2018 save
 
INR SPRING CONFERENCE
"PORTRAIT OF SISTERHOOD"
Pictures from Conference 2018 have been posted to our website. Click here to view the pictures. 

THE NEW OFFICERS OF INR President
  
President: 
Joan Lowenstein , Syracuse  
 
Vice-Presidents:        
       Sisterhood Support:  Toby Maser, Herkimer 
       Torah Fund:  Marilyn Cohen, Beth Tikvah, Toronto 
       Program/Education: Esther Racoosin, Ithaca 
       Membership:  Leona Eligberg, Beth David-B'nai Israel Beth Am, N. York 
 
Treasurer/Financial Secretary:  
       Canadian:  TBA        
US: Cheryl Maser Halwig, Herkimer    
   
Administration Secretary:  
Marla Allentoff, Rochester      
Marion Tully, Beth David-B'nai Israel Beth Am, N. York  
 
Communication Secretary: Lois Silverman, DeWitt   
 
Parliamentarian: Carole Burke, Shaare Zedek, Montreal   
 
 "Hazak hazak venit hazek"  

FROM THE EDITOR, LOIS SILVERMANeducation  

For those of us who are lactose intolerant, the joys of Shavuot are diminished when dairy products are featured on holiday tables. Cheese blintzes, cheese cake, cream and strawberries, bananas and sour cream, and other lactose-loaded treats tempt us despite the problems they might cause.
 
Many Ashkenazi Jews are lactose intolerant. So why has this tradition of serving dairy products become so wide-spread?
 
Elon Gilad in the June 11, 2016, edition of Haaretz offered some explanations including the suggestion that Jewish mothers in Eastern Europe might have been trying to save money by serving dairy instead of meat at the celebrations of the start of their sons' religious education which traditionally occurred on Shavuot. 
   
Below is a brief summary of that article.
To view the complete article, click here.
 
 
LOIS 
 
The earliest source to mention dairy as a Shavuot tradition is Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau's Sefer HaMinhagim ("Book of Customs"), a compendium of Jewish law written in the late 14th century. He does not explain the custom.
 
The first rabbi who tries to explain the custom was Rabbi Moses Isserles ("The Rema") in his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch - Orach Chaim (1564). Rabbi Isserles indicates in a abstruse explanation that the consumption of dairy commemorates the "Shtei HaLechem" ("Two Bread") sacrifice given at the Temple on Shavuot.
 
Later Rabbi Meir Horowitz in his 1878 Omrey Noam explained that on Shavuot we celebrate the giving of the Torah. The Torah is likened to milk in the "Songs of Solomon:" "Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon" (4:11). Thus on Shavuot we should eat dairy products although he does not explain why we don't eat honey.
 
The most cited explanation for eating dairy on Shavuot is probably that given by Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan ("Chofetz Chaim") in his six volume commentary on the Rema's Orach Chaim - the Mishnah Berurah published between 1884 and 1907. He suggests that the tradition stems from Mount Sinai. He explains: when the Israelites received the Torah from Moses on Shavuot, they were instantly subject to all laws in the Torah including those regulating ritual slaughter. Since there was no time to prepare kosher meat before the feast, the Israelites ate a dairy meal.
 
A GUEST EDITORIAL


Shabbat Message:
"A Second Day of Birth for Our Son Coby Dov"
By Rabbi Ellen R. Wolintz-Fields
WLCJ Executive Director
 
I was raised in a home of superstitions - red was the color of choice to wear, never black, and we did not walk under ladders, or across the path of a black cat. We never gave an exact due date for our pregnancy, only an approximate month, and we would never have anything ready in the house before a baby was born. When my second child born was a boy, I was not ready to change boys' diapers, and was for sure not prepared for the news that my newborn had a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, four abnormalities of the heart. Coby Dov would have to avoid coming in contact with germs - not so easy when his two year old  sister was in daycare, and we had to make sure he did not turn blue. I put life into perspective. The heart defect was curable with an operation, which would be performed when he showed failure to thrive. Coby was adorable, and he was an easy baby. He had little energy, and cried little and slept often. He was sweet as honey, and, like his Hebrew name, Dov Chayim, he was a little cuddly bear, who seemed to enjoy each day of life, as seen with his smiles, and little laughs.
 
When it was apparent he was failing to thrive, the surgery to repair Coby's Tetralogy of Fallot needed to be scheduled. The only date the pediatric cardiac surgeon had available was the day of Shavuot. I could not imagine, as a rabbi, my son having surgery, on one of the holiest days of the year, when we commemorate the giving of the Torah, the greatest gift given to us, and I would be in a hospital, with one of the greatest gifts I had been given. And no matter how precious my gift of Coby was, I felt so conflicted - to have him operated on, on a holy day?! I knew Pekuach Nefesh Docheh Shabbat, that saving a life is more important than anything, and so Shabbat, and Holiday observances could be transgressed. Our surgeon was the best, the only person who could operate on Coby. Therefore, Coby's open heart surgery to repair his Tetralogy was scheduled for Shavuot 5766. And then we got a call. Dr. M had a cancellation for the following week, May 18, and Coby could have his surgery.  On the chai (18th) day of May, our baby Dov Chayim, began his chayim, his life, anew, and the surgery did not have to take place on Shavuot. May 18 is always a special day on the calendar for me - and it is ironic to me that, this year, it is so close to the holiday of Shavuot.

May 17, 2006, at the age of 4 months and 6 days old, the day before Coby's surgery, he did not even weigh 10 pounds. He was as cute as could be. You could see every rib in his chest, as his little body worked so hard to pump blood. My father, wearing his dual hats as doting grandfather, and worrying physician by profession, observed as they performed Coby's pre-testing, that Coby's heart was so enlarged, it was truly a miracle Dr. M was able to get us in earlier for the surgery, because it would have been an emergency surgery if we had waited until Shavuot.

May 18 is our son Coby's second day of birth - the day he truly came alive, as his Tetralogy was repaired. Although the hole in his heart was patched with Gore-Tex, it is really filled with gold. Coby embodies, the words of Torah each day, and truly lives them - "It is a Tree of Life to all who hold fast to it; and all who uphold the words of Torah are happy." He is sweet, kind, and sees the best in everyone. Coby sees God each day in all he does, and in everyone he encounters. Coby Dov usually has a smile on his face, and is a mensch, and I could not ask for more.  He is a loving and respectful son, grandson, brother, nephew, cousin, and friend.

As a Jewish community, as we celebrate Shavuot, we renew our dedication to the study of Torah. This year, as May 18, and the holiday of Shavuot fall in such proximity, and my son Coby Dov marks the 12th anniversary of his second day, I thank God for the gift of Coby's life. I thank God for the gift of Torah that is renewed each time I speak to my dear son, and he shares his insights with me. I offer a prayer to all of us, especially my dear son Coby Dov, with his lev tahor, his pure heart of gold, patched with Gore-Tex, that all of us enjoy every day in good health, happiness, and joy, renewing each day with our own personal connection and relationship to God, Torah, and Israel.

FROM THE TORAH FUND VICE PRESIDENT
MARILYN COHEN

Dear Chaveirot,

Click here for the details about an INR/Ontario Area Torah Fund Program to be held at Beth Tikvah Synagogue on Wednesday, May 23.

PLEASE FORWARD THE INFORMATION TO ALL YOUR MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS OF TORAH FUND and PUBLICIZE IT TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITIES.

It promises to be a very stimulating and exciting program.
 
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
All the best,
 
Marilyn

Check out the New Torah Fund Guide and all the other materials to run a great campaign!
   
FROM WOMEN'S LEAGUE FOR

CONSERVATIVE
JUDAISM WLCJ fromWL
 
Networking to engage, 
enrich and empower
Conservative Jewish women 
 
Announcing #WLReads' Summer 2018 Book and Author!
 
Waking Lions, by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
(translated by Sondra Silverston)
 
Live Interview with the Author - Sunday, July 8, 2018, Noon EST
First published in Hebrew, and translated into English and other languages, 
Waking Lions is a complex and suspenseful story about an overconfident Israeli neurosurgeon whose life spins out of control in a vortex of guilt, fear, deception, longing, and humbling encounters after he literally and figuratively crashes against the hidden Eritrean refugee community in the Negev.
The author, a native Israeli and a psychologist, is masterful at portraying the inner life of the protagonist. The novel, at its heart, is about reconciling self-preservation with being an ethical person. The Eritrean woman who becomes the master of the doctor's fate also surprises us with her secrets. The desperate plight of the refugees and layers of class and racial divisions in Israeli society are another subtext.
Ms. Gundar-Goshen won the prestigious Sapir Prize for her earlier first novel, and the Jewish Quarterly Wingate Literary Prize for Waking LionsWaking Lions is available in hardcover, paperback (339 pages), digital format, and in some libraries. Join the conversation here!
 

Distance Workshops
The next Women's League Distance Workshop is  
"WLCJ - An International Organization"  on 
Wednesday, May 16, at 8:30 p.m.
 Eastern time.  
 
Find out why Women's League is more than just your local sisterhood. Reserve your spot here .
 
The following free Distance Workshop, "Top 10 Questions about Torah Fund" has been postponed. A new date and time will be confirmed soon. Register for the workshop here.
 

Thank You for Your Support!
 
The following region has 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
Garden State Region
 

Personal Conversations
 
Personal Conversations
 provide a forum to address everyday issues through discussions about obstacles and opportunities, using conference calls and/or easy to access webinars.
 
Barb Levin, MD, MPH: ACES* and the Healing Resource of Resilience
Wednesday, May 23, 2018, at 8:30 p.m. EST
 
*Adverse Childhood Events Study
In this first personal conversation, the background for understanding childhood trauma will be discussed, but, more importantly, we will address the positive effects of working with individuals to increase personal growth and thrive as adults. Adopting a different approach to children and adults at risk presents an exciting opportunity to improve human interactions by asking different questions. Focusing on the positive and changing the conversation from "What is wrong with this person?" to "What happened to this individual?" allows for a conversation that enhances the growth and development of individuals. Participants will also learn more about the upcoming Personal Conversations in 2018, and will have the chance to ask Levin about upcoming topics and talks. Register here.
 
Barb Levin is a family physician with public health experience, who has practiced in East Tennessee for more than thirty years. Read her official bio here.
 
 
 
 
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