Special Days to Remember This Past Week |
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On the anniversary of #Kristallnacht, #myWLCJ remembers the victims of this hateful pogrom & the unfathomable tragedy of the Holocaust that followed.
Today & every day we must fight the vicious phenomena of antisemitism in all of its forms, so that #NeverAgain means never again.
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As Veteran's day approaches, #myWLCJ salutes all military veterans,
not just on November 11th but every day!
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Shalom!
Don’t Forget to Grab Your Cape!
Perfect storms. An interesting phrase that’s used more frequently in this topsy turvy, hectic time of new normalcy. Perfect storms happen unannounced. They just happen quickly.
They can be a series of small events that build in the course of a morning: you oversleep on the day of a major ZOOM meeting, you scramble to get some coffee and the coffee maker stops working, the dog needs to be walked, the plumber calls that he’s on his way to fix your sink, you grab some juice and then accidentally spill it all over the floor, you misplaced your agenda, can’t find the zoom link and then… your Comcast goes down. You get the picture.
There also can be more fierce storms, you suffer the loss of a loved one while you’re coping with a personal illness and maneuvering a relentless list of daily responsibilities.
As one writer noted, perfect storms don’t make us more special – just simply more fully initiated into the family of the way things are. The unexpected is the reality. It’s everyday life that’s our greatest challenge. It’s how we handle the unexpected that makes all the difference.
In this week’s parsha, Vayetzei, we find our matriarch, Leah. Her life is one heart-breaking, perfect storm. She is the one less loved. The Torah opens our senses to hear her pain in the names she gives her children. She names her first son, Rueben, saying, “It is because the L-rd has seen my misery, surely my husband will love me now.” She names her second child, Shimon, “Because the L-rd heard that I am not loved.” The third son she names Levi, saying, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me for I have borne him three sons.”
It doesn’t go as she wished.
She bears a fourth son and says “This time I will give thanks to the L-rd and calls her son, Judah, meaning, “I will praise.” Somehow, she stopped expressing the sorrow for what she doesn’t have and finds the courage to accept that her life is not going as she had hoped. She embraced the beauty of what she has. She is the mother of four children, from whom we know will give rise to an entire nation -- the people of G-d’s covenant.
Her gratitude doesn’t magically make everything right in her life. Her sorrow and disappointment are real and deep. A Talmudic sage, R. Simeon b Yohai, says that Leah was the first person in the history of the world who ever expressed gratitude to
G-d. What makes Leah unique, he points out, is that she was grateful under extraordinary circumstances. It’s one thing to be grateful when everything is wonderful but quite another when life is complicated, when our most cherished dreams are unfulfilled, and our pain burns deep inside of us.
Judah(I will praise) became the nation of the Jewish people,Yehuda. So, gratitude is the very core of being a Jew. As Rabbi Held noted, a Jew is one who sees the possibility for gratitude even amidst heartbreak. That’s why we’re given the name that expresses Leah’s courage and her achievement.
David Whyte, a poet and noted speaker provides a simple tool to help bring the heart of gratefulness into our lives. He calls his method, “Stop. Look. Go.”
First, is to simply stop our over-distracted lives for a few seconds. Purposefully interrupt it with a realization of the moment as a gift – even during a perfect storm. The second step is to briefly open our senses to the blessings of the world around us. The gift within the gift is to uncover the spiritual message of G-d's presence, the opportunities we’re given to learn and to grow stronger, and with this insight, to be grateful. The third is to take this awareness of gratefulness and be proactive and take our gratefulness into the world; Vayetzei “to go forth” and help to make a difference – even if small.
As Thanksgiving and Hanukkah approach, I want to express my gratitude to all the members of our dynamic CGLR. I’m so grateful for your spirited commitment to lead and make a difference; for your willingness, despite whatever the challenges, to put on your super capes and do what needs to be done!
May we be given the strength and the courage to continue to go forward and to make our lives a blessing.
Shabbat Shalom,
Pam
Pamela Schlosberg
Central Great Lakes Region President
Women's League for Conservative Judaism
847.433.7546 (h); 847.691.8991 (c)
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Because...
As members of our Sisterhoods/ Affiliates, we all are called upon to be leaders within our sphere of influence. We all have a role to play in strengthening Jewish life today and for the generations that follow. No small task!
So, we’re launching, Leadership Focus! We’ll explore insights and tips to help us cultivate our leadership skills. We don’t have all the answers about leadership, but we can ask questions, lean into the challenges, and have conversations about ideas that are actionable!
Model the Way – Some thoughts…
· Leadership is not about who you are or about titles. It’s about how you behave and what you do that makes a difference.
· There are recognized leadership actions that can help make extraordinary things happen; for example, extraordinary leaders know that to gain commitment and achieve the highest standards, they must be the models of the behavior they expect from others.
· To model the way, we have to be clear on what CGLR and being an Affiliate
are all about -- our standards, values, and guiding principles.
We work to strengthen and unite all CGLR Affiliates/Sisterhoods
and individual members. We support initiatives to help our
members understand and perpetuate Conservative /Masorti
Judaism in the home, synagogue, and community, and reinforce
bonds with Israel.
We’re keepers of the flames of mitzvot, family, study, Israel,
Torah, and community.
· Our actions need to show our commitment to what we say. Taking a class, attending services, keeping kosher, supporting a social action initiative are examples we all can relate to.
· Leadership is more than a monologue – it’s a dialogue. If we find ways to reaffirm our shared values with our members, we provide answers to why Affiliates are important and relevant as well as why caring and being a member is time well spent.
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Leaving a Legacy with Torah Fund
Judaism teaches us to help those in need. We teach our children from a young age to give Tzedakah. They hopefully see their family members support many charities that are important to each family member throughout life. Why not remind them that you want to continue to support these charities even after we pass. One can become a member of the Torah Fund Legacy Society by designating a gift to Torah Fund in your will or by stating Torah as a beneficiary in a life insurance plan or IRA. To become a part of the Torah Fund Legacy Society there is no minimal gift requirement and there are no additional gifts to Torah Fund currently just a promise of a gift after you pass. Your future gift will just help ensure the future of Torah Fund’s ability to provide scholarships to all our future rabbis, cantors and educators. For more information, please visit the following website:
For those who make a commitment to the Torah Fund Legacy Society, they will receive a charm that can be worn from your current Torah Fund Pin.
B’Yachad-Together,
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Shalom,
Rebecca Goldwasser
CGLR Vice President of Torah Fund
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Happenings Around the Region |
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Shabbat Message~November 13, 2021 | 5782 |
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By Cynthia Lerner, Member of the Board of Directors WLCJ, Immediate Past President of Beth Hillel B'nai Emunah Sisterhood in CGLR, and CGLR Membership Services Chair.
Choosing Names of Our Loved Ones
This week’s Parasha is Vayetzei. We learn that Leah, feeling desolated in her loveless marriage, chooses names for her sons that are a reflection of her desperation. From Reuben, which can mean, “Now my husband will love me,” to Simeon, “This is because the Lord heard that I was unloved…,” and beyond. Her sadness is overwhelming.
The process of choosing a name for a child can be challenging; hopefully the sadness and desperation felt by Leah are unknown to ourselves and our children.
Among the Ashkenazi Jews, the names we choose are usually those of a relative we have loved and carry with us in our hearts. Names…
Three years ago, I was truly blessed when my son, Sam, called to let me know that I would be a grandmother—to a son. He was going to be named after my husband who passed away 15 years ago. Sam’s siblings let him know that this newest member of our family could certainly have the middle name of “Paul,” however, they could not call their baby nephew by their father’s name. It was just too emotional a connection.
While Sam and his siblings were negotiating the baby’s name, I was negotiating with myself, what should I be called? My only grandmother had been “Mimom;” she was cold and distant, a great cook and a fabulous knitter, but definitely not emotionally involved in her grandchildren’s lives. Some friends are called Mom-mom, or Nana or Grammy, names chosen because of the love and closeness they felt for their own grandmothers. None of these felt quite right.
In my family, and the families of my children’s in-laws, I am the keeper of the Jewish spirit. I host the Jewish holiday dinners, I provide the tickets to our synagogue for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the Purim Spiel. I wanted a name that would reflect this history—I wanted to be Bubbe.
Nine months after Benjamin Paul Garfinkel was born, my granddaughter Charlotte Zylberfink was born. Charlie was given Paul’s Hebrew name, feminized to Chaya. I am sure that not all names carry the weight of family history; however, I was both moved and delighted that my children chose to name their first born after their father.
As Bubbe, I read Sammy Spider’s First Mitzvah and all the PJ Library books that arrive in my home and their’s; I play Bam Bam Bootz Capela bouncing Ben and Charlie on my knees, singing these silly Yiddish words that they try to mimic. On Friday nights, during a pandemic that kept us apart, we lit Shabbos candles together over facetime and zoom, because that is what a modern Bubbe does.
As we recall the rivalry between Leah and Rachel, and the importance of the names we choose for ourselves and our loved ones, I hope we always feel blessed when we learn our families are growing and that our grandchildren, no matter what their names, truly bring us joy.
Shabbat Shalom,
Cynthia Lerner
Member of the Board of Directors WLCJ, Immediate Past President of Beth Hillel B'nai Emunah Sisterhood in CGLR, and CGLR Membership Services Chair
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Parashat Vayetzei - Haftarah - Hosea 12:13 - 14:10 (Ashkenazic)
Hosea 11:7 - 12:12 (Sephardic) – November 13, 2021
Parashat Vayetzei begins by stating in Genesis 27, that Jacob had to flee his home because his brother Esau wanted to kill him for having stolen his blessing. Jacob asks God to provide for his needs, be with him, guard him (שמר) and help him come back in peace (Genesis 28:15, 20 and also 31:29). God was a support and guide to Jacob during hard times (Genesis 28:15). In the Torah reading, Jacob served seven years for Rachel (Genesis 29:20), and was given Leah instead. He then served seven more years for Rachel. Leah, Rachel and their handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah, were the mothers of all Jacob's children, the ancestors to the entire people, the children of Israel, b’nai yisrael. In Genesis 31:30, household gods appear in the story without outright condemnation. Laban, Rachel and Leah’s father, owns Idols. Rachel steals those idols to take with her when she leaves her father's house to move to Canaan. Her theft seems to be condemned by Jacob and Laban, but the ownership of those household Idols itself, does not seem to be condemned. In the Torah reading Laban objects to Jacob having left secretively and protests that if only Jacob had told him his plans, “I would have sent you off b’simchah.” B’simchah is usually translated as “with joy,” or “with willingness, alacrity, enthusiasm and generosity.”
The Ashkenazic Haftarah that goes b’yachad, together with Parashat Vayetzei is from Hosea 12:13 - 14:10. The haftarah begins by stating that Jacob served for one wife, and for another wife, he guarded. The haftarah continues to state that one prophet God brought Israel out of Egypt, and another prophet guarded them. Prophets and wife seem to be described in parallel fashion: how Jacob took wives, but not what the wives did for him is compared to what prophets did for God, but not how God acquired them. Wives gave birth to the people, Moses the prophet helped “deliver” the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt and the other prophe “mothered” them until they developed into a nation. Jacob immediately loved Rachel and was willing to serve her father to earn the right to marry her. Jacob acquired Rachel by acting as a servant. In contrast, the prophets were called by God to serve God. Moses is often referred to as “the Servants of God.” Hosea 12:13 refers to Jacob’s need to flee from his home and sojourn in Aram, where he earned his wives by guarding (שמר) the sheep. Hosea 12:14 continues by saying that God assigned prophets to guard (שמר) Israel when they came up from Egypt and when they lived in Israel. Hosea encourages the Israelites to consider God their only source of help (Hosea 12:14 and 13:4-9). Idols are condemned by Hosea (13:1-2).
In the haftarah (14:5), we learned that if the prophet could convince Israel to stop sinning and repent God, would love Israel generously (נדבה). The haftarah (14:5) says that God will love Israel generously.The haftarah’s term (נדבה) generously and the Torah reading’s term b’simchah have very similar meaning. The word disgrace (חרפה) appears in the Torah reading and in the haftarah. In the Torah reading, Rachel has been childless and suffered shame for many years because of it. In Genesis 30:22-23 she finally has a child and says “God has taken away my disgrace.” In the haftarah, since Ephraim has brought disgrace upon God through Ephraim’s sins, God will pay Ephraim back for the disgrace. The word שובה shuva meaning “return,” appears in both the haftarah and the Torah reading (Hosea 14:2 and Genesis 28:15 and 21, 29:3, 31:3 and 13). r also forms the basis for the Hebrew word “repentance.” To repent, then is to return. This implies that those who have sinned were once in the right place, but have strayed.
The Sephardic Haftarah that is often read b’yachad together with Parashat Vayetzei is from Hosea 11:7 - 12:12. Furthermore, this haftarah is read by some Ashkenazim for next week’s Torah Reading, Parashat Vayishlach. Before Jacob leaves the Land, God promises in Genesis 28;15, to bring him back to the Land, which God does in Genesis 31:3. According to Hosea, God will call the exiled Israelites from exile to return to their Land (Hosea 11:10-11). Hosea 12:3 states that Jacob was punished according to his deeds. Beth El is mentioned in Parshat Vayetzei (Genesis 28:19 and 31:13) as well as in the haftarah, Hosea 12:5. In Parashat Vayetzei, Jacob kisses Rachel and cires (Genesis 29:11). In the haftarah, it is stated that Jacob fought with an angel and wept (Hosea 12:3-5).
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Heath & Wellness Message to
Women's League Members
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Flu Season
We are approaching the onset of the flu season. This year it comes as we are continuing to deal with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2020-21 flu season turned out to be mild, likely partly because of stay-at-home orders, social distancing, handwashing, and masking.
Hopefully, our Women’s League members across North America and Israel are vaccinated against the Covid virus. Recommendations in the United States, Canada, and Israel are for seasonal flu vaccination for individuals over the age of 6 months. The flu vaccine can help keep you and your family members from getting the flu or if you do, the disease may be milder than if you had not been vaccinated. This year, it remains important to reduce the strain on our healthcare workers on the frontlines of the Covid-19 fight. The more people who stay healthy this flu season, the less stress on the medical workers. You can, in fact, receive both the flu vaccine and the Covid vaccine at the same time.
submitted by
Mindy Steinholz, MD
WLCJ Health & Wellness Chair
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Women's League is proud to provide this handbook containing educational programs provided by the education committee after a successful workshop over the summer.
In this booklet, you'll find information about each Women's League sub-committees, the chair-person’s contact information, and the dates of future programs. In addition, there also will be information about other sisterhood/affiliate's education program and their contact
information.
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Sichot beyn Achayot:
An Open Dialogue Between Diaspora and Israeli SISTERS -
Sunday, November 14th @ 1 PM ET
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שׂיחוֹת בֵּין אְַחַיוֹת, Sichot beyn Achayot means “conversations between sisters”. This program is designed to foster a deeper mutual understanding between the members of WLCJ in North America and the Masorti Olami women of Israel. It is designed to address the question, “How are we the same, and how are we different?"
Each of the 3 sessions will address this question by concentrating on one specific issue that is both relevant and timely to us all, and will include presentations from speakers from each side of the Atlantic. The October and November workshops will each be followed by a Q&A session in which all attendees will be encouraged to participate. The third workshop in December will conclude with breakout rooms in which participants will have an opportunity to join the conversation
Click on speakers’ pictures to read their bios
SAVE THE DATE
Workshop 3: Conversations Between Conservative and Masorti Sisters
Sunday, December 12 @ 1PM ET
Questions? Contact Rabbi Margie Cella, WLCJ Educational Programming Coordinator
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Gary Rosenthal's Hiddur Mitzvah Project |
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Gary Rosenthal has offered to set up a link for WLCJ members to purchase his art from his stock. He will then give 25% of the sales back to Women's League.
The password to use is WLCJ2021.
Special Discount Code: WLCJ25%
Questions? Contact Grace Schessler
WLCJ Programming Chair
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Psalms, Pirkei Avot,
and Kaddish
Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays
12PM Noon Eastern Time;
11AM Central Time
Meeting ID: 630 830 287
Password: 875936
Dial by your location:
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York);
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose);
+1 647 558 0588 Canada;
+972 55 330 1762 Israel; +972 3 978 6688
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Mazel Tov to
Debbie & Hamilton Lempert
on the marriage of
their son Zak to Elliott Drazin.
Debbie is WLCJ Makom B"Yachad Chair.
M
MMazel Tov to
Sandy Starkman on her installation as
Vice President of MERCAZ USA, Nov 7.
Sandy is a member of
North Suburban Synagogue Beth El,
Highland Park, Illinois,
and an active member of its Affiliate,
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Central Great Lakes Region Board |
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Executive Committee:
President
Pam Schlosberg
Communications
Laurie B. Davis
Education
Fern Schwartz
Membership
Gilda Schwartz
Program
Robin Beth Lash
Secretary
Sandy Carleton
Torah Fund
Rebecca Goldwasser
Treasurer
Wanda Pitzele
Financial Secretary
Marjorie Maxwell
Parliamentarian/ IPP
Fran Hildebrandt
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Board of Directors:
Communication/
Social Media
Paula Ferguson
Communication/Website
Rachel Ferber
Education/ Israel
Open
Membership Service
Cynthia Lerner
Member Support
Marlene Ostrow
Presidents Council
Laurie B. Davis
Program/Books
Renee Kaplan
Creative Judaic Arts
Lynda Abraham-Braff
Spring Conference
TBD
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Nominating
Fran Hildebrandt
WLCJ Board Representing CGLR
Rebecca Goldwasser
Fran Hildebrandt
Robin Beth Lash
Cynthia Lerner
Wanda Pitzele
Pam Schlosberg
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Webmaster
Central Great Lakes Region
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