We are dedicating our social action initiative for our Spring Conference 2022 to Ukraine. 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)

www.schechter.edu/donate or via

Masorti Olami: Support Our Work (masortiolami.org)

Some thoughts –

 It’s all about focusing on your members and establishing relationships. That means

really caring about those we are privileged to lead. How is this expressed?

 Value your members and the time they give in support of their affiliate/sisterhood. Take every opportunity to thank members for volunteering, or supporting a program, or for

joining your affiliate/sisterhood.

 Take time to reach out and to listen. Everyone has a story – an important story. Take

time to hear it. This can build a culture of caring – a real community.

 It’s the little things you do that over time can dramatically impact your

affiliate/sisterhood’s success. It can re-focus the “I” of membership to “we’, “together”

and “us.”

This feeling of belonging, of shared values and a deep sense of empathy is invaluable. It can be the incentive that encourages members to reach beyond themselves to help

others, to be of service, and to be a blessing. And that is a very good thing!

Shalom!

My name is Marjorie Maxwell and I am your CGLR Financial Secretary. I am a board member of WLCJ and am currently serving on the Finance Committee as the Budget Chair for the 2023 WLCJ International Convention. Can't wait to see you there!

I am a member of Congregation Beth Shalom (CBS) in Northbrook, Illinois and serve on CBS's Board of Trustees. I also am the bookkeeper for the Sisterhood Judaica Shop and was instrumental in creating the online store for the shop during COVID. Feel free to check it out. https://cbs-sisterhood-judaica-shop.square.site/

I grew up in Cincinnati, OH (although I lived in Louisville, KY for 5 years as a teenager) and graduated from the University of Cincinnati with an accounting degree.

I currently live in Northbrook, IL (a suburb of Chicago) with my husband, Bret. I have three wonderful grown children, a daughter and two sons. I also have a great son-in-law and two beautiful granddaughters.

In addition to my volunteering, I love reading and my book club, challenging jigsaw puzzles, Rummikub and, of course, spending time with my children and granddaughters.

Shabbat Shalom,

Central Great Lakes Region Financial Secretary

marjorie.s.maxwell@gmail.com

 A Review of Torah Fund

Our B’Yachad Torah Fund Campaign is winding down. The 2021-2022 Campaign will close June 30, 2022. We as a region have raised $60,000 so far for the B’Yachad campaign. Please continue to fund raise over the next couple of months. However, if you are sending checks in to the Torah Fund office please do this by June 15^th so they get to the office before June 30^th. Any checks received after June 30^th will go towards the next year’s campaign.         

This year as CGLR VP of Torah Fund has been a wonderful journey. I got to attend a lot of Torah Fund events around our region via zoom. However, I was able to do my first in person Torah Fund Event on Sunday, April 10^th in Cleveland, Ohio. It was Park Synagogue and B’Nai Jeshurun’s joint Torah Fund event. It was wonderful to meet new friends and visit with old friends. It was a lovely event with the entertainment being Rose Gabriel portraying Jackie Kennedy Onassis and telling Jackie’s story. I want to thank all the affiliates who invited me to attend their events. I hope next year that I will be able to be in person at more Torah Fund events.

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.

Sephardim: Ezekiel 22:1-16 - April 30, 2022

After the death of his two sons, Aaron is warned that he may go into the holy of holies only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, when he is to wash and don his priestly garments, then offer a bull to atone for himself and his family. Two goats are to be brought; one is to be sacrificed as atonement for the people. Aaron is commanded to enter the tent alone and sprinkle blood from the sacrifice on the altar; he is to lay his hands the head of the live goat, confessing the people’s sins, and send it out into the wilderness. God commands that this is to take place on the tenth day of the seventh month, when we are to afflict our souls and do no work.Moses instructs that all sacrifices are to be brought to the Tent of Meeting to be offered by the priests. Eating blood, as well as animals that die on their own, is prohibited.

The parashah concludes with a list of forbidden sexual unions.

The haftarah was written sometime before 586 BCE. Ezekiel warns the nation that it will be punished and sent into exile for the many sins that have been committed by the people and their leaders; twenty-four sins are listed, including bringing improper sacrifices; mistreatment of the most vulnerable members of society; mistreatment of parents; profaning Shabbat; charging excessive interest; committing fraudulent behavior; engaging in the forbidden sexual relations delineated in the parashah. Moses warned us not to consume blood; Ezekiel condemns us for shedding it.

Moses warned that if the nation was sinful, the land would spit them out for defiling it; in Ezekiel’s time, that is precisely what happened. In exile, they will be refined like dross that is turned into silver before being restored to the land.

Ezekiel makes us accountable: failure to observe the covenant with God has consequences.

We, too, must allow God to refine our souls, not just on Yom Kippur, but every day of the year.

Join Zoom Meeting: 

https://zoom.us/j/630830287    

Meeting ID: 630 830 287           

Password: 875936                      

June 15 -