Listen and you can still hear their voices calling to us to remember our roots. These women whispering are not unfamiliar to us: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth, Esther... They’re women whose names in the Bible are forever painted with brilliant strokes of independence, courage, and strength. They’re part of the very fiber of who we are as Jewish Women and inhabit the depths of our souls.

 

These Biblical sisters nourished the roots of our heritage and passed it to us to sustain, generation to generation. We gifted our daughters with these names and softly prayed that they, too, would hear and follow the voices that summoned us to remember – to commit -- to act.

 

Going forward – although we’re no longer warriors, daughters who could influence kings, or priestesses revered by hundreds of followers, we each found that we could make a difference without a sword, crown, or tambourine. Simply using the work of our hands and the strong spirit in our hearts, we preserved Jewish traditions in our homes and for our community.

 

It was the power of one helping to shape the destiny of many. We never really realized the impact of baking hamantaschen, delivering Mishloach Manot, lighting candles on Shabbat, or helping at our Synagogue’s fund raiser, but we were preserving traditions. And the reality was like that of a single drop that fell into the vast ocean, created a ripple, and eventually formed a wave. The effects of what we did, as insignificant as it may have seemed, spread beyond ourselves.

 

Pick up the virtual remote again and fast forward…we find that in the care of the generations of women that followed, there was a continuous new growth in the Jewish roots we nourished. Each generation listened to the voices of our Biblical Matriarchs and Sisters and reclaimed this message as their own. 

 

In 1918, Mathilde Schechter formalized this commitment of service into Women’s League’s mission. She enabled individual women to join together, bonded by the sacred threads of purpose -- to serve and perpetuate Conservative Judaism.

 

Fast Forward one more time…to March 18, 1922 – 100 years ago today!

Witness Judith Kaplan, daughter of Rabbi Modechai Kaplan, as she became the first American girl to have a Bat Mitzvah ceremony in the United States. An extraordinary event that marked an extraordinary new direction for women -- the door was opened to an opportunity to celebrate our Jewish identity! Judith Kaplan probably never realized the impact her Bat Mitzvah would have. Today, a Bat Mitzvah ceremony in varying forms is now a presence in all movements within Judaism; opportunities for women to participate in Jewish traditions now may include: leading services, reading Torah, and /or wearing tefillin and a tallit. So, we celebrate Judith’s Bat Mitzvah today with gratitude and admiration.

 

Our work continues. Listen and you can still hear their voices of our Sisters in the Bible calling to us to remember our roots.  CGLR provides the opportunities to fulfill our mission. When you share your spirit, your strength, and your energy with your affiliate Sisterhood – when our CGLR/WL’s mission of service can come through us to those in our community – then, we truly can make our lives a blessing. It’s a good thing!

 

www.schechter.edu/donate or via

Masorti Olami: Support Our Work (masortiolami.org)

Spotlight on: Leadership in a Time of Change

There are so many dimensions to leadership. Hopefully, these short blurbs here in The WAVE are thought-starters for you and your leadership team to talk about over a virtual cup of coffee – especially now when we are all coping with how to re-activate our members to participate in person.

Leadership, now more than ever, is about coping with change. First, as leaders of your Affiliate Sisterhoods, you had to adjust to COVID restrictions and now it’s about trying to return to what was normal, or trying to create a new normal, for programs, meetings, and events. Added to this is the on-going challenge of identifying leaders who can join your team going forward.

Leadership in time of change requires: looking at what has to be done; setting a direction with a vision and a plan; aligning your team by communicating the direction that you’re setting; creating a network of women and relationships that can respond to what is required to meet change; and then having them actually do the job.

How do you find leaders to help you? According to John P Kotter, Professor of Leadership at Harvard, one way to find leaders is to look for members with leadership potential and give them opportunities to develop their potential. So, this means, having women serve on teams or committees, enabling them to handle different responsibilities; having them work with good managers who understand process, order, and the how of getting things done. And then it’s nurturing and encouraging each potential leader.

Finally, central to all of this is your responsibility to motivate and inspire – keeping your members moving in the right direction, despite whatever obstacles you have. Key to this is your underscoring the WHY of what you are doing -- provide a sense of our roots, our role today as stewards of our Jewish legacy, and how everything your affiliate Sisterhood does supports their values and needs.

A challenge? For sure – but I know that you’re up to meeting and exceeding expectations! And I’m always here to help in any way I can.

Hi. My name is Renee Kaplan.

Currently, I am your Central Great Lakes Region board Programs/Books Chair. I have also held the positions of Area Director (twice) as well as Member-at-Large for the region.

I grew up watching my mother fully involved in sisterhood at our synagogue in Skokie, Illinois. Her active participation and the joy she got from it, as well as the lifelong relationships she made, were the impetus to my own involvement as soon as I joined a synagogue.

Following in my mother’s footsteps, I was Co-President of the Sisterhood of Congregation B’nai Tikvah, Deerfield, Ilinois. Currently, I am a member of Congregation Beth Judea Sisterhood in Long Grove, Illinois, and recently coordinated our second Virtual Mah Jongg Tournament.

I live in Deerfield, Illinois with my husband David of 35 years and we have two grown sons. I work part-time for the Chicago Board of Jewish Education and, in my spare time, I love playing mah jongg, reading, cooking, traveling and seeing friends.

Sisterhood and Women’s League have been a wonderful way for me to connect to other Jewish women, learn new skills, share my knowledge, and grow in ways I didn’t know were possible.

L'Dor V'Dor and Shalom,

Central Great Lakes Region Program/ Books Chair

Naomi Ragen has recently released her latest novel, An Observant Wife. In this follow up to An Unorthodox Match, Ragen continues sharing the journey of Leah and Yaacov as they are plunged into the complex reality of their new lives together as Yaakov leaves his beloved yeshiva to work in the city, and Leah confronts the often agonizing restrictions imposed by religious laws governing even the most intimate moments of their married lives. Adding to their difficulties is the hostility of some in the community who continue to view Leah as a dangerous interloper, questioning her sincerity and adherence to religious laws and spreading outrageous rumors. 

Happy Reading!

Dear CGLR Sisters, Does anyone remember working on one of these panels for a WLCJ Convention in the 1980's? I am looking to identify panels made by Branches of CLGR- Central, Michigan, Ohio-Kentucky & Western Pennsylvania. Please email me if you know, Laurie B. Davis at Lbd715@gmail.com. Thank you in advance for your help.

Whether you’re celebrating the joy of a simcha or remembering a loved one who passed away, please consider donating to our CGLR Leadership Fund today.

We are asking you to search through your files, albums and boxes of materials and gather them together. Please label the pictures with a date, what event, who the people are, and where are they. Please label other items with their story (if not told in the item). Then send it on to Rabbi Ellen Wolintz-Fields at 627 Bowne Road, Ocean Township, NJ 07712. For questions, contact Cory Schneider.

This week’s parashah continues the description of the various types of sacrifices. Here we learn about the burnt, meal, sin, guilt, and peace offerings: what was sacrificed, the reasons for each, and who got to eat the sacrifice. Only Aaron and his male descendants were permitted to eat the priestly portion, only peace offerings were eaten by the person who brought them. Neither the blood nor the fat was to be consumed by anyone.

The haftarah is a prophecy from approximately 597 BCE; the people had become lawless, even observing pagan worship and child sacrifice, both abominations to Hashem. Jeremiah chastises them for bringing sacrifices while practicing immorality and foretells their horrific doom (which will come at the hands of the Babylonians, who will destroy Solomon’s Temple). To end on a positive note, two verses are added from chapter 9 that exhort the people not to trust in their wisdom, strength, or riches, but rather only God; and to emulate God with acts of kindness and justice. Hashemprefers these to insincere sacrifices.

The parashah lays out the details of the sacrifices and the value Hashem places on their meticulous observance; the blood on the ear of the priests emphasizes the complete obedience that is desired. The haftarah shows a nation so far removed from what God desires that we are told twice (verses 24, 26) that they did “not listen or give ear.” As a result, Jeremiah said, their sacrifices were worthless.

The combined message of these two texts is that we must have a proper healthy balance in our lives between observance of mitzvot on the one hand, and ethical, moral behavior on the other. If we can maintain that balance, then that is the way in which we can draw close to the Divine.

Join Zoom Meeting: 

https://zoom.us/j/630830287    

Meeting ID: 630 830 287           

Password: 875936                      

When Purim passes, we throw ourselves into cleaning, shopping, and cooking. Let’s take some time to plan for the main event, exploring together ways in which we can enhance our seders.

This program is lead by Rabbi Margie Cella, WLCJ Educator.

Participation in this program is a benefit of your membership.

Sunday, March 20th, 7:30PM ET Congregation Beth-El Zedeck Torah Fund Donor Appreciation Program

Thursday, March 24th, 8:30PM ET Pre-Passover Program

Sunday, March 27th, 3:00PM ET FACEBOOK Social Media Workshop

Sunday, March 27th, 5:30PM ET Beth EL Pittsburgh Sisterhood Seder

Tuesday, March 29th, 7:30PM ET Sustainability Kick Off Event

Wednesday, April 6th, 7:30PM CT Ezra Habonim Niles Township Jewish Congregation Women's Seder

Sunday, April 10th, 11:30AM ET The Park Synagogue & Congregation B'nai Jeshurun Combined Torah Fund Luncheon