Dear Central Great Lakes,

How’s your sense of direction?  For me, traveling by car is always an adventure, sometimes involving going round and round with the hope that when I stop, I’ll be at my destination! I do envy those who can navigate with an innate sense of north, south, east, and west. Or those who have a database of street names at the ready.  I need something simpler like, “Turn left at the light;” or “Go just beyond Mother’s Yummy Bakery, and you’ll see a sign for…. “

I have a special prayer of thanks for the genius behind the wonder-filled GPS called WAZE. Yes, life is about the journey but not necessarily about the stress of adventure.

Certainly, in the zoom-speed of life, with all its twists and turns, a bit of guidance is welcomed as well. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z”l, recognized that this guidance is a genius of Judaism, for it takes eternal truths and translates them into lived experiences through our High Holy Days, festivals and, of course, Shabbat.  

From this perspective, Jewish life is like the circumference of a circle whose center is G-d. In a year, we study Torah, take what is and always has been true, rotate it 360 degrees with tremendous love and intellectual elegance, and when we complete the cycle, with its designated traditions, we discover these truths anew. 

When we truly drill down to the rhythm of these days, we discover a sort of Jewish GPS: G-d-guided Protective Sojourn –a magical navigation tool. It’s at the ready to help us not only find our way in the panorama of endless change we call life, but also the cycle of our year provides interludes that help refresh our body and spirit.  

As we count down to Simchat Torah, we’ve almost completed the circle.  Fresh from the Ten Days of Awe with its opportunities to reflect on our lives, audit our souls, seek forgiveness, and re-commit for the new year, we’re now in the midst of the seven-day celebration of Sukkot.  Each day, we take our lives into a fragile sukkah. Its very structure is a constant reminder of life’s delicate, uncertain nature.  That’s okay - we’re supposed to be a little uncomfortable. Paradoxically, we’re also prompted to be happy: “…You shall rejoice in the festival…and you shall be akh sameah, “only (or exclusively) joyous.” (Deuteronomy 16:13-15).  

Two different directions! What happened to that GPS? Perhaps we need to check the festival’s name again, to make sure we’re going in the right direction? 

Well, another name for Sukkot is Zman Simhateinu, “the time of our rejoicing”. Within this world of uncertainly, our Jewish GPS prompts us to leverage life for all it has to offer; to be ever-aware and to be grateful for each moment – especially when life gives us no promises. Life’s operative word is uncertainty! Sukkot provides us with an oasis that enables us to strengthen our faith and our courage to live with this uncertainty as we time travel to whatever lies ahead. So, perhaps, we’re on the right path!

Within the cycle of our Jewish days, Sukkot is our seminar in happiness. In terms of that joyful melody that we’re prompted to sing in our hearts along this journey, well, it’s not the capricious, banal, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Thank goodness. Rather, it’s a robust melody that praises every blessing we have and recognizes the rich blessings that the simplest things of our life gift us with.

Yes, life is fragile. But during Sukkot, we’re reminded that we have a choice in how we react to life’s reality – how we will live our lives in the next year, the year after that, and the year after that.  It’s up to each of us.  As Conservative Jewish women, the opportunities to live a full life, to be all that we can be as Conservative Jewish Women are within our reach.

Please take a few moments to read through this newsletter. You can find programs and events that enable you to study, to share activities with our affiliates in Israel and the Women of the Wall, to engage in social action/social justice initiatives that impact our communities locally and globally, to share ideas through a variety of programs, to grow as leaders, to make a difference, and enjoy the friendship that is born of shared values -- opportunities to BE and to DO and SING OUT along the way, together! 

May the new year bless us with the courage and strength to seize the day and to make our lives a blessing!

Shabbat Shalom, 

Pam

Pam Schlosberg

CGLR President

847.433.7546 (h); 847.691.8991 (c)

Special Note: 

The Ukraine War Continues - The Suffering Continues-- Masorti Olami Support Continues --

Our CGLR Advocacy and Support Continues!

We can extend our sense of renewed hope and send our light forward by a donation via The Schechter Institutes, Inc. www.schechter.edu/donate or

via Masorti Olami: Support Our Work (masortiolami.org)

American Jewish University Speaker Series

Monday, November 14, 2022 • 20 Cheshvan 5783

7:30 PM - 8:30 PM ET on-line

Beth Shalom is honored to present the American Jewish University Speaker Series event featuring Rabbi Sherre Hirsch. The hour long talk, "Navigating the Thresholds of our Lives" deals with the themes discussed in her book, "Thresholds: How to Thrive Through Life's Transitions to Live Fearlessly and Regret-free".

This is a Zoom presentation beginning at 7:30 pm ET, Monday, November 14. We offer two options: An in-person viewing at Beth Shalom or online at home. Please register below. The Zoom link will be sent out the week prior to the event. Please contact the shul with any questions. We thank the Hermelin Davidson Center for Congregational Excellence for their support of this program.

Jewels in the Crown is an opportunity for your Sisterhood to be honored for exceptional programming and participation.

See below for information and application.

Application and supporting materials must be submitted to Women’s League by

March 2, 2023.

For more information email: jewel@wlcj.org

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Chag Sameach! I hope everyone is enjoying Succot.

Our Chazak v’Ematz campaign is going strong. Here in Central Great Lakes Region we are kicking off our Torah Fund campaign with our virtual event on October 23^rd at 8:00 PM ET/7:00 PM CT (see flier above). It is all about 80 years of Torah Fund Globally. We will have an opportunity to hear about four of the five seminaries Torah Fund supports around the world. We will then have a d’var Torah and performance from Neal Taibel, a 4^th year cantorial student at JTS. It is a free event, but a Torah Fund donation is encouraged. Your donation will go towards your affiliate’s Torah Fund goal for this year.

Please RSVP to me by Wednesday October 19^th at rebeccatorahfund@gmail.com. I look forward to seeing many of you on line at our Torah Fund event.

Enjoy the rest of Succot.

Shalom,

Rebecca Goldwasser

CGLR Vice President of Torah Fund

rebeccatorahfund@gmail.com

New Digital Torah Fund eCards Available NOW:

Send a greeting with ecards and support Torah Fund! Make your gift more meaningful by using our ecards for every occasion!

On September 11, Sisterhood member Rivka Zell (who’s currently completing her Associate’s Degree in Applied Science in Fashion Design) spoke to us about Sustainability in Fashion, focusing on “fast fashion” and some devastating statistics about the tremendous pollution caused by the fashion industry as well as fun ways that we can update our wardrobes by “shopping” our own closets.

In preparation for the New Year, NSS Beth El Sisterhood's Membership VP, Lori Stark, conducted three sessions, which she called “A Taste of Honey.” She started each with a niggun to set the mood.  Next, we took turns reading quotes on Rosh Hashanah from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z"l. Lori then shared fascinating facts about honey throughout history, both in general and in relation to Jewish tradition, after which we broke up into small groups, where we discussed our thoughts on the quotes we’d just read and shared personal Rosh Hashanah memories. Finally, Lori led us through a guided tasting of a variety of honeys and meads (the oldest fermented beverage on earth, made from honey). By offering a variety of locations, days of the week and times of day for the same program, we were able to reach more than 60 women, many new to Sisterhood.

Mi Sheberach for

Marlene Ostrow

CGLR Member Support

Susan Steinberg,

Southern Region President

Ruth Harris

InterContinental Region President

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Dean of Ziegler School of Rabbiinic Studies &

Vice President of American Jewish University

We wish them Refuah Shlemah - A complete and speedy recovery

October 15, 2022

Parashat V’zot HaBrachah

Submitted by Rabbi Margie Cella, WLCJ Educator, mcella@wlcj.org

This is the final parashah of the Torah. It is never read on Shabbat, only on Simchat Torah. It is a mirror image of Parashat Vayechi, the last Parashah at the end of the book of Bereshit. There, on his deathbed, Jacob blessed each of his sons, describing their distinguishing characteristics. Now, as the nation was poised to enter the promised land, each of those sons had grown into a full-fledged tribe. Moses blessed them once again, prophesizing about their future.  

Finally, Moses ascended Mt. Nebo, from which God showed him the land, and the areas which each tribe would settle and inherit. This, God told Moses, was the land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; now their descendants stood on the brink of claiming it as their own, thanks to the leadership of Moses during the last forty years. 

The last eight verses of the Torah very poignantly describe the death of Moses, על-פי יה-וה, literally, “at the mouth of God.” Like Aaron before him, Moses’ death is described as a divine kiss. It was God as well that buried Moses on the mountain; to this day, we imitate God when we participate in the mitzvah of burying the dead at a funeral, shoveling the dirt onto the coffin. 

The Torah ends by telling us that there has never again risen a prophet of the stature of Moses in Israel. 

With this, we have reached the end of the Torah. Next week, we will begin again with Parashat Bereshit and the story of creation; I am handing off these weekly commentaries for Sefer Bereshit, the book of Genesis, to our Executive Director, Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields.

May the study of Torah continue to bring us new blessings and insights in the coming year. 

Chazki, chizki, v’nitchazek!

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday

12 PM ET; 11 AM CT; 9 AM PT; 10 AM MT

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Special Program during Makom B'Yachad:

Friday, October 14 - Yizkor Service

NO Makom B'Yachad on

Tuesday, October 18 

Want to sing, teach, help with technology, and more during Daily Psalm Study, and Kaddish? Sign U

Sunday, October 23 @ 7:00 PM CDT / 8:00 PT EDT (Zoom) - CGLR Torah Fund Event-Celebrating 80 Years of Torah Fund's Global Growth

Monday, October 24 @ 7:00 PM CDT / 8:00 PM EDT (Zoom) CGLR Membership Matters Workshop for Membership Vice Presidents /Chairs

Wednesday, November 2 @ 11:30AM CDT/ 12:30 PM EDT(Lunch) EHNTJC Book & Author Event with Ron H. Balson, author of An Affair of Spies

Wednesday, November 16 @ 7:00 PM CDT / 8:00 PM EDT (Zoom) - CGLR Opening New Year Event- Just for Laughs



Thursday, November 17 @ 6:00 PM CT / 7:00PM ET - WL Reads interviews Randy Sue Meyers, author of the book, Fashion Orphans.

Sunday, January 8, 2023 @ 12:00N CT / 1:00 PM ET- WL Reads interviews Lori Banov Kaufman, author of the book, Rebel Daughter.

Thursday, April 27, 2023 @ 6:00 PM CT / 7:00 PM ET- WL Reads interviews Alyson Richmond and Shaunna Edwards, co-authors of the book, The Thread Collectors.