CGLR Virtual
Spring Conference 2022
May 15, 2022, 10:00 am - 2:30 pm ET
Beyond the Rabbit Hole –
Into CGLR’s SUN-day!
Session I – In Blossom Again
11:00am – Noon ET; 10:00am – 11:00am CT
“Happiness held is the seed. Happiness shared is the flower” ~ John Harrington
Secrets to Success for Container Gardening
Jennifer Brennan, Chalet Nursery in Wilmette IL
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow” ~ Audrey Hepburn
Step into spring and join us to learn how easy it is to master container gardening. See how quickly you can add a stunning splash of color to your patio, deck, balcony, or at your front door. This workshop will provide all the secrets you need to create that perfect container garden – from selecting the right pot and using the right soil, to finding the right combination of plants for that all-day sunny place or that shady retreat.
Spices, Wine and Fruit on The Vine
Robin Rood, RD, LD, MEd, MA
“I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and
every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” Genesis 1-2
Come hear a meaningful talk using stories from the Bible and information on nutrition, and spirituality. In this session, we will talk about the Jewish calendar year, the significant foods we eat, as well as how prayer, food, and life intersect.
Gon Tikva – Growing a Vegetable Garden
Michele Melnick and Barbara Bruno, Beth Hillel B’nai Emunah, Wilmette, IL
“Planting seeds for tomorrow and for the future is a lesson in hope”
– Marianne Schinz
Are you looking for a project that invites participation from all the constituent groups in your synagogue, while at the same time helping those in need? Consider starting a community garden on your synagogue grounds. Food insecurity is a crisis affecting every corner of our country, so put our Jewish teachings—and a corps of volunteers—to work by building a garden that will provide fresh, nutritious food for those who so often do without.
By the end of this workshop, you will have a road map to guide you in establishing a garden at your synagogue. Why a garden? Who would it serve? How do we pitch the idea to the congregation board? Does it further our Jewish values? In what ways would it involve all members of our synagogue family, young and old? How does it get built? What costs are involved? What volunteer needs would it require, from publicity, building, planting, tending, harvesting, to delivering the produce? What glitches can we expect along with what satisfaction will be realized?
All these issues and more will be addressed in this presentation. When you build a community garden you will be promoting good health and assisting the many who face food insecurity daily, while also building community within your synagogue. It’s a gratifying project that will allow you and your fellow congregants to truly live our Jewish values.
Session II – Re-Lighting the Spirit Within
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm ET; 11:30 am – 12:30 pm CT
“Find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible. You can do this.” – Maya Angelou
Moving Through the Tree of Life
Sue Gurland
“If you restore balance in your own self, you will be contributing
immensely to the healing of the world.” Deepak Chopra
As we move out of COVID and back into the community, the energy of spring moves through us, as it does through the trees. Torah teaches that “humans are like trees of the field.” Deut.20:19). In this workshop, we’ll explore the connections between the Tree of Life and our bodies through discussion, gentle movement, and Jewish visualizations.
Summer Reading Recommendations for You!
Rachel Kamin
“A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.” – Charles Baudelaire
Calling all avid book readers. Looking for some great books for your summer reading? This workshop is perfect for you! As a member of the American Library Association’s Sophie Brody Book Award Committee, Rachel Kamin has read over 50 recent fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books that explore the Jewish experience. Come explore the best of these. She’ll recommend which ones we should have on our to-read list right now as well as the best new and forthcoming 2022 titles. Bring your thoughts and opinions about the books you’ve read recently for a lively audience discussion, too!
Nourishing the Spirit Within
Anya Viner
“The nourishment of body is food, while the nourishment of the soul
is feeding others.”
Challah is unique. It’s a bread but also it has a deep spiritual connection, for every Shabbat, it nourishes our body and soul. In this workshop, Anna Viner will show us how to bake creative challahs and make everyday a challah-day! With challah dough as the base, Anya will guide us step by step through the process of creating a rainbow challah, complete with clouds. Then just stand back and watch the smiles!
When you register for this workshop, you will receive a dough recipe to make ahead of time and bring to class. You also will receive a list of supplies to have at the ready. Everyone will have time to make a challah and bake it. And while it’s baking, Anya will answer questions and give more information on making the dough. Of course, you are welcome to just come and watch.
Meet our Presenters
Jennifer Brennan
Secrets to Success for Container Gardening
Jennifer Brennan is a horticulture information specialist and manager of the education center at Chalet Nursery in Wilmette, IL. Additionally, she appears on ABC’s Chicago Morning news as their Horticulture Co-respondent with Tracy Butler, weather anchor and serves as the Horticulture Information Specialist at the Chicago Botanic Garden. She is a frequent speaker at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show, the Perennial Plant Association, the Midwest Perennial Association, and the Chicago Botanic Garden. As a result of her media work, she was awarded the Garden Media Award from the Perennial Plant Association. She has served as Central Region Director of the Perennial Plant Association and was also President of their Board. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois in Ornamental Horticulture and Botany.
Robin Rood
Spices, Wine and Fruit on The Vine
Robin Rood, RDN, LD, MEd, MA is a registered Dietician Nutritionist and has worked in the field of nutrition for over 35 years. She is a registered dietician for Teledoc, seeing patients on the Tele-nutrition platform. In addition, over the last five years, she taught nutrition at the Culinary Arts and Science Institute, created a community weight loss program in Geauga County with UH Geauga Hospital and a Geauga YWCA and has written articles for Stone Soup Blog and Nutrition Magazine. Currently, Robin is a blogger for Nutrition and Spirituality, (
nutritionandspirituaity@blogspot.com) and co-hosts “Cleveland Schmooze” a local Cleveland podcast.
Michele Melnick and Barbara Bruno,
Beth Hillel B’nai Emunah (BHBE), Wilmette, IL
Gon Tikva – Growing a Vegetable Garden
The Garden of H.O.P.E. at BHBE was founded in the Spring of 2016, by a small group of congregants who were seeking a tangible way to help others.
Barbara Bruno and her family have been members of BHBE for over 30 years, and she has served the synagogue in several board positions and committees over the years. Social action projects are a special interest of hers. Now retired, her professional career has included private law practice, law school teaching and administrative posts, and teaching kindergarten in her suburban Chicago community.
Michele Melnick and her family arrived in the Chicagoland area 26 years ago and have been BHBE members since. She has worked as a nurse in many different capacities, is trained as a reflexologist and currently serves on their national board.
Sue Gurland
Moving Through the Tree of Life
Sue Gurland created Through the Tree of Life: Where T’ai Chi meets Kabbalah, as a way, within a Jewish context, to connect to spirituality through the body. She taught this contemplative Jewish movement at Women’s League for Conservative Judaism (WLCJ) conventions around the country and in Israel. Sue is Past President of Women’s League of B’nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton, FL and sits on the WL’s Torah Fund Cabinet.
Rachel Kamin
Summer Reading Recommendations
Rachel Kamin has been a synagogue librarian and Jewish educator for over 25 years and has worked at North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park, IL since 2008, currently as the Director of Lifelong Learning. Rachel received the 2021 Fanny Goldstein Merit Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries in recognition of her loyal and ongoing contributions to the profession of Jewish librarianship. A past member of the AJL Jewish Fiction Award Committee, she currently serves on the American Library Association’s Sophie Brody Book Award Committee.
Rachel leads book discussions for five Chicago area synagogues as well as for organizations and private groups. Since the spring of 2020, she has delivered over 60 Zoom presentations on Jewish literature for Hadassah, Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, American Jewish University, and the Association of Jewish Libraries, as well as for synagogues and Jewish groups across the country. Rachel holds a BA in history from Grinnell College and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Michigan.
Anya Viner
Nurturing the Spirit Within
Joseph’s Technicolor Dreamcoat, Matzo Ball Soup, Bernie’s Mittens, Challahkiah, and the list goes on… These are just a few of the UNCOMMON CHALLAHS that Tigertail Bakery’s Anya Viner creates. After baking more than 2,000 loaves of all kinds of challah over 16 years for her family and friends, word got out, and she was then baking for the North Shore. This led to teaching synagogue challah bakes, Zoom classes for numerous Jewish organizations, and private clients’ parties. But, more importantly, gave Anya a chance to put her artistic side to work.
She grew up in LA, moved to Chicago to play volleyball at Northwestern University, attended The Cooking and Hospitality School of Chicago, and Kellogg School of Management, and has now settled with her lovely family in the North Shore where she is always creating something new and delicious in the kitchen. To see more of her UNCOMMON CHALLAH, visit her Instagram page @tigertailbakery or her website,
www.tigertailbakery.com. She prides herself with all the smiles people have when they see and taste her work.
