Hello Angela,

The first night of Chanukah is only a few days away. Where do we find light during this dark time? The small flickering of light from our menorah candles begins the Festival of Lights, so let us reaffirm our ideals of Judaism and celebrate the holiday.

WRS wishes you a Happy Chanukah!

Our Holiday Dinner Drive benefits the SF Marin Food Bank.

To make your contribution:

sfmfoodbank.org/dinnerdrive

Select Women of Rodef Sholom from the list.

Complete your contribution.

Current WRS members and guests

Join us in the glow of the menorah for the

WRS Sparkling and Sweet Chanukah Social.

Sunday, December 10

4:30pm

Let's gather in-person or virtually to celebrate

the Festival of Lights with friendship, food, and fun.

Register using your emailed invitation or

email to membershipwrs@gmail.com

Start 2024 with a reading and discussion with 

WRS sister Joanne Greene

about her new book

 By Accident: A Memoir of Letting Go

Sunday, January 7

2:00pm 

In her book, Joanne reflects on how normal and traumatic setbacks in her life led to discovering that control is a seductive illusion and how letting go of the need for it can reveal great strength and lead us to even firmer ground.

REGISTER FOR THE IN-PERSON EVENT

REGISTER FOR THE VIRTUAL EVENT

Discussion will be followed by a book signing. 

The book is available at the WRS Gift Shop.



Hey Current WRS members!

Look for an invitation to our

famous Koffee Kibbitz. 

Wednesday, January 17

10:30am

virtually or at a cafe near you. Sip with you soon.

The book selection for December:

Kantika

by Elizabeth Graver

This year's One Bay One Book selection

REGISTER FOR THE MEETING

The SF Jewish Community Library has prepared a number of reader resources including reviews, author interviews, and discussion questions.

HERE FOR ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Please email to wrs@rodefsholom.org if you would like to receive WRS Book Club updates each month.

Join your neighbors and others for

monthly walks in Marin.

Join the fun and relaxed WRS walking group for our next walk in Mill Valley. We walk for about an hour on flat paths throughout Marin. WRS monthly walks are a great way to connect with other women and nature.

Dates and locations

Sunday, December 3 - 10:00am in Terra Linda

Sunday, January 7 - 10:00am in Larkspur

(Creekside Park)

Sunday, February 7 - 10:00am in Tiburon

(Blackie's Pasture)

Register by emailing to WRSwalkinggroup@gmail.com with your name, email address, telephone number, and city or zip code. We will send you details before the walk. We can't wait to walk with you!

Sales staff needed in

the WRS Gift Shop

Have you ever considered yourself behind the counter meeting folks coming into the JCC and helping someone find that special gift?

We need you now! Flexible shifts and a 20% discount on your purchases.

Thinking about it? Email WRS Gift Shop to find out more.



WRS Board Meeting

Tuesday, December 5

7:30pm - 8:30pm on Zoom

Our Board of Directors meetings are the first Tuesday of 

the month and are open to all members. 

Send your name and email to wrs@rodefsholom.org if you would like to attend this or future meetings.

WRS continues to recruit members to volunteer with several standing committees within our organization. If you are interested in sharing your talents with Membership, Programming, or Social Justice and Fundraising endeavors, please email your contact details to wrs@rodefsholom.org. 

WRS TIKKUN OLAM

Tikkun Olam is a core value of Women of Rodef Sholom (WRS) and charitable giving is budgeted for each fiscal year. The WRS Tikkun Olam expenditure approved by the WRS Board of Directors for November 2023 was $1,000.00.

Two organizations were granted charitable gifts of $500.00 by the Women of Rodef Sholom: 

*Hadassah Hospital 

*Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund's 2023 Israel Emergency Fund

Ways to further your engagement with WRS



Bring your unique skills to one of the standing committees in the new year by sending your contact information to wrs@rodefsholom.org:

• Membership through recruiting new members and planning events for our beloved existing members
• Planning fun and meaningful sisterhood activities through our Programming endeavors
• Performing important tikkun olam (repairing the world) through WRS Social Justice work
• Volunteering in our beautiful retail Judaica Gift Shop in the JCC, recruiting shop volunteers, or bookkeeping for our treasured shop
• Raising critical tzedakah (charitable funds) relied upon by our sisterhood-, congregational-, and wider communities.

WRS Membership Team Meeting

Monday, December 4

7:00pm on Zoom



RSVP with your name and email to

membershipwrs@gmail.com

The Zoom link for the meeting will be emailed to you.

If you attend a meeting, you will be added to the distribution list for future meetings.

We are looking for new team members

to help plan and host fun activities such as the Koffee and Kocktail Kibbitzes and the Hannukah Social.

Join us! Without you we are one women short.

Thank you WRS Membership Team: Suzanne Alpert, Lara Gremmels, Angela Giacomini, Heidi Heffelfinger, Roz Kahn, Jen Levine, Shelley London, Fanny Stein

There is still time to renew your WRS membership or join us for the first time. WRS membership for the current year began July 1, 2023 and ends June 30, 2024.

If you have renewed your membership, thank you!  

We are so happy to have you with us in WRS.

Here are three easy ways to renew your membership.

1. Renew your WRS membership when you pay directly to WRS online. Pay WRS
2. Mail your renewal to WRS. Here's the membership form to print out and send with your payment. Membership form and address.
3. Renew your WRS when paying Congregation Rodef Sholom annual membership. Link to CRS Website.

Contact membershipwrs@gmail.com for questions about your WRS membership.

WRS Programming and Social Justice

Team Meeting

Tuesday, December 19

5:30pm - 7:00pm on Zoom

Join us as we look forward to event planning for 2024.

We have author, book, and fun ideas. We need your support to successfully create these events. 

RSVP with your name and email to wrssisterhood@gmail.com.

The Zoom link for the meeting will be emailed to you.

Please let us know if you would like to be added

to the distribution list for future meetings.

Thank you WRS Programming and Social Justice Team:

Gail Berkowitz, Judy Boomberg, Amy Friedricks, Angela Giacomini, Laura Giacomini, Jan Goldberg, Susan Goldwasser, Toni Golbus, Toni Grimes, BettyAnn Kram, Barbara Kraus, Sheri Langer, Jen Levine, Barbara Merino, Gerri Miller, Alissa Ralston, Harriet Schnitzer.



Rosalyn Kahn

Co-Vice President of Membership

What led you to get involved with Women of Rodef Shalom? 

Moving with my family from Vegas to San Anselmo in January of 2020 made me very isolated due to the pandemic. I am a highly social person, and it made me very sad to be cut off from the world and not know anybody here in the area. Time passed and just this year I needed to feel a sense of connection. I wanted to meet other Jews, as I felt everyone was so spread out here in Marin. I took the leap and heard about the pool party that was being put on by WRS this summer. People were so warm and welcoming, and I was introduced to a fellow Ohioan that made me feel like I was back in Cleveland again. She told me that because of WRS she felt connected and not isolated. She was right, because after the pool party, I kept up with everyone. Jen Levine, the other Co-VP, made me feel welcomed during high holidays and invited my husband and I to sit next to her during services. This made me ever so excited to know I had a new friend to see during the high holidays. Knowing my husband and I did not have to sit by ourselves was a big deal. The small gesture of offering to sit beside me was so comforting and made me feel a connection to the community.

What is your favorite memory from a Women of Rodef Sholom event? The pool party: being introduced to somebody new and that person lived in Ohio at the same time I was in prep school in Ohio right down the street from her home. Also enjoyed being in the pool and talking to women in a casual, fun way. We all talked about our kids and realized I wasn’t all alone. It was inspiring and hopeful to me. So people were very relatable. 

In one word, what does Women of Rodef Sholom mean to you? 

Connection. 

What is something people would be surprised to learn about you? 

I grew up on a cattle farm in Ohio, was in 4-H and took my sheep and calf to the fair and won 2nd prize for my cabbage rolls. I think it should have been 1st place, but they just aren’t used to Jewish food. 

What is something that you do for fun? 

I love to go consignment shopping. I have many interests and passions, such as painting on canvas, cooking and baking since I was a very young child.  I love to take walks with friends and get together with friends to see movies and go out to eat; among many other interesting events I ’d be up for. 

What genre of music energizes you?

I love movie soundtracks, opera arias, new age, classical, some jazz and blues depending on my mood. Music fuels my creative side and helps me produce my paintings. 

Who is your favorite Jewish woman and why? 

My mom was my favorite Jewish woman. She taught me how to cook and bake. I got her flair for entertaining and the love of appreciating beautiful things as she took me antiquing when I was a child and loved to make her house beautiful and her table beautiful for guests when they come over. I love those things as well. Thank you my beloved mom, may you rest in peace. 

Naomi Sachs

Former Co-VP of Membership and Member-at-Large

Thanks and sincere gratitude to Naomi Sachs for her service to the Women of Rodef Sholom's Board of Directors as Co-VP of Membership and Member-at-Large. During her tenure, Naomi brought a great deal of expert knowledge to her role on the WRS Board and helped to envision the membership calendar of events for the year. Although Naomi has ended her tenure, we are pleased that she will remain a vital member of our sisterhood and community. We wish Naomi good fortune in all her future endeavors.



The Women of Rodef Sholom is a proud member of the Women of Reform Judaism and WRJ Pacific District (WRJ PD). Sign up for the WRJ PD's weekly "Chai Line."

WRJ “Advocacy Matters” Newsletter. Sign up here

Next WRJ Says STOP Webinar:

Educating and Empowering People about Sexual Assault

Monday, December 4, 2023, - 5:00pm PT

This is a virtual event.

Join Women of Reform Judiasm for the latest offering from the WRJ says STOP Initative. In this webinar, you will have the opportunity to learn from Dr. Alissa R. Ackerman & Dr. Guila Benchimol, developers of the URJ's "Building a Very Narrow Bridge' Restorative Justice Project".

REGISTER HERE

Union for Reform Judiasm (URJ)

URJ's 150th Gathering

December 15 - 17, 2003, Washington, DC.

Gather with URJ for a joyful weekend to celebrate our community, our values, our purpose and you. This monumental occasion gives us the opportunity to reconnect with one another, rejoice in the sacred community we build together, and recommit to our shared values and the next 150 years of our remarkable movement. Among the hightlights of the weekend will be soul stirring Kabbalat Shabbat, uplifting music from our past and present, and opportunities to learn from and network with other leaders.

REGISTER HERE

Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism 



For more than six decades, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (the RAC) has worked to educate, inspire, and mobilize the Reform Jewish Movement to advocate for social justice. More Information here. 

Marin Organizing Committee

No meeting in December.

Read about Rodef Sholom's social justice

activities and other events

 Congregation Rodef Sholom's website

WRS Shabbat Service Celebrating the

110th Anniversary of the Women of Reform Judasim

This year’s annual Women of Rodef Sholom’s Shabbat Service celebrating the 110th Anniversary of the Women of Reform Judaism (WRS) took place on November 17. Many thanks to Amy Friedricks, Barbara Merino, Toni Golbus, Karen Benjamin, and Margaret Trezevant for putting together such an outstanding service. The WRS Programming and Social Justice Team would also like to express gratitude to Rabbi Stacy Friedman, Emily Friedricks, Angela Giacomini, Moji Javid, Sophie Goldstein, Spencer Sargent, Sharon Labell, Heidi Paul, and Robert Gurney for their contriibutions and partnership at this year’s WRS service. Thank you all so much for your engaged and fruitful contributions. It was a wonderfully insightful and moving service.

WATCH THE WRS SHABBAT SERVICE