Dear Central Great Lakes,

Where is the sun when you need it? Even when we move our clocks back to provide a few earlier hours of daylight, our mornings are not exactly inviting us to hop out of bed

with gusto into that dark, bleak morning!

Have you ever wished that there was a simple, Merlin-like formula to begin each day?

Perhaps a simple routine, “Three Easy Steps to a Get-Up-and-Go-Day!”

Well, between us, I think I found the secret sauce.

One, when you open your eyes, say a quiet prayer of thanks for the gift of the day ahead. This is a reality check. A re-discovery of that precious gift of life. Two, put your feet on the floor. You’ve got that one. A body in motion stays in motion. Three, quietly hum: “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do;” hum it several times. It’s your warm-up. You’ll find yourself softly smiling and then you’ll discover that humming strengthens your voice to sing the song of your life. Yes, that song; your distinct melody for the day that’s dawning! It’s that song in your heart waiting to sing and begin the day!

Where is the sun when we need it? Simple. It’s in the song our lives sing. It’s really not

a secret sauce. It’s deep within us. And the directive to sing is in front of us.

If you read the left side of the weekly siddur, “to sing: is a recurring theme, a key narrative of Judaism throughout the morning prayers. Over and over, we’re told: “Sing unto G-d a new song”(Psalm 96) and “Sing to the Lord, you faithful” (Psalm 30); or we read, “We extol You in song” (Barukh Sheh-Amar).” We’re not told to have a chat, a quiet respectful greeting, a debate, or a dialogue. We’re told to sing and sing joyously. To awaken that unique song deep within our soul.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z”l, recognized how song is central to our entire Jewish experience. “We do not pray, we daven, … we sing the words we direct to heaven. We do not read the Torah, we chant it, each word with its own cantillation.” Our lives, in a real sense, are the melody of a grand Jewish symphony.

The most beautiful songs are those with a complex harmony of many voices singing

different notes. Through Central Great Lakes Region and Women’s League, we have

the opportunities to blend the song of our lives into a complex harmony of service to our Jewish Community, of opportunities to study, to pray, and to sometimes just enjoy being a part of our unique community - like our Just for Laughs program, November 16. (Don’t forget to reserve your seat in our virtual theater. Contact Robin Beth Lash at:

musiclash1@gmail.com.)

Now, as we begin our 5783 journey, what better way to face the challenges and

opportunities of each day than to start with a song of joy and gratitude? The melody

that’s hummed in the darkness of morning becomes the chorus that’s repeated in the

light of our day, inspiring us to be fully present.

Admittedly, all of this humming and singing may be a bit of a tall order on a dark

morning. Some mornings require a bit more moral courage than others. But maybe, the

darkness makes our song more poignantly hopeful. It sparks an awareness, and helps,

as Alden Solvy beautifully writes, to live awake and aware, vital and energetic, without

doubt and fear.

May the song of our lives brighten each day and be 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

     Visit our CGLR Website -

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Chazak v’Ematz, be strong and courageous. We as a region have been strong and courageous as we have begun our Torah Fund Campaign this year with an amazing event this past Sunday. For those who were unable to make it here is a link to watch it at your leisure: https://youtu.be/YuU6LTV3V90. 

Earlier that day in Potsdam, Germany, three rabbis were ordained at the newest Masorti Seminary, Zacharias Frankel College. Our donations to Torah Fund help people to study to be rabbis, cantors, and educators all over the world. As we all move forward in raising funds at our local affiliates for Torah Fund, let us remember that we are all strong and can accomplish anything we set our minds to.

Here are just a few reminders as we are all doing our Torah Fund Campaigns:

1.   Making online donations is the easiest way to pay and keeps the best records.

2.   If you are sending checks to the Torah Fund office, please send them via priority 

      mail so they can be tracked.

3.   All checks should be made payable to Torah Fund.

4.   The Torah Fund office is a small office so please be patient with them.

5.   Each affiliate will get monthly reports starting in November from either me or

      Andrea Heiger. Please cross-check your reports to make sure they are accurate.

6.   Reach out to Andrea or me if you have any questions or concerns regarding Torah

      Fund.

Be Strong!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rebecca Goldwasser

CGLR Vice President of Torah Fund

rebeccatorahfund@gmail.com

Torah Fund supports programs and scholarships for the five Conservatives/Masorti global institutes

of higher education.

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!

Mazel Tov to

the honorees in the Zacharias Frankel College Ordination Ceremony

in Potsdam, Germany. The world gained three new rabbis:

Rabbi Ann Gaëlle Attias

Rabbi Andrés Bruckner

Rabbi Irene Muzas Calpe

We are all very proud of our

International WLCJ President Debbi Kaner Goldich,

who delivered greetings at the Ordination Ceremony.

Linda Wolf,

Park Synagogue Affiliate President, Cleveland, Ohio,

on the birth of grandson, Ethan.

*************************

Mi Sheberach for

Susan Steinberg,

Southern Region President

Ruth Harris

InterContinental Region President

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Dean of Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies &

Vice President of American Jewish University

Rhonda Cohn

Past President of Central Great Lakes Region

We wish them Refuah Shlemah - A complete and speedy recovery

****************************

Baruch Dayan HaEmet

Matlee Yadin,

Past President of the Former Seaboard Branch

May her memory be for a Blessing.

We all come to Judaism from our own backgrounds and perspectives. During my term as BQLI Region President, I wrote a weekly letter for our Shabbat Greetings newsletter. To begin this process each week, I’d read the Torah parashah, along with many commentaries, while giving thoughtful consideration as to how its major themes related to my life or our ever-changing world. After three trips around the sun, I’d learned more Torah than I had in all my years of 3-day-a-week Hebrew School, and, as a bonus, I shared a great deal of personal information with my Women’s League Sisters, which built a very special connection! Additionally, I discovered a level of personal introspection I didn’t know I possessed.

On Monday evening, November 7, at 7:00PM, Women’s League is honored to share a special program with our community, featuring internationally renowned Israeli artist, Avner Moriah. Raised a secular Jew in the Abu Tor neighborhood of Jerusalem, Moriah served in the Yom Kippur War, sharing in a recent Jerusalem Post article that he felt, “The (Israeli) political leadership just threw us into battle and sacrificed our youth forever.” It was many years later, after Moriah had earned his Master’s of Fine Arts degree at Yale University, when he set off to New York where he channeled his feelings about the war into his artwork. His time in New York proved to be life changing as he began to engage in the city’s vibrant Jewish community and befriended synagogue patrons like Gershon Kekst, z"l, then chairman of the board of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Kekst commissioned Moriah to create panels on “The Gathering at Mount Sinai” for JTS, which he completed in 1999. This commission proved to be the impetus of the artist’s foray into illuminating Jewish texts and themes. Moriah spent many hours studying how biblical texts are interwoven into traditional Jewish rituals. As Moriah studied the texts he would visualize them in pictures. Though still decisively secular, Moriah is   enthusiastically connected to his Jewish heritage and Israel.

Take a moment to reflect on what (or who) has inspired your journey through Judaism. Do you want to learn for the sake of knowledge? To feel more connected to other like-minded women? To cultivate a career path? Whatever the genesis of your journey might be, the pursuit of knowledge and the development of intellect is mightily motivating.

Register HERE to meet Avner Moriah, and to learn more about what motivates him as an artist.

To read the Jerusalem Post article about Avner Moriah, click HERE.

To familiarize yourself with his work, you can go to: Avner Moriah's Website. All WLCJ members will enjoy a generous discount (CODE: WL2022) on all art on this website!

Grace Schessler

WLCJ Vice President and Program Chair

gschessler@wlcj.org

Parashat Noach - October 29, 2022

by Rabbi Ellen Wolinitz-Fields

ewolintz-fields@wlcj.org

Parashat Noach ends with the story of the Tower of Babel. The people, who originally all spoke the same language, decide to try to build a tower so high that they can reach the heavens. Eventually the people began to speak all different languages, and had difficulty communicating, and so were not able to build their tower. Do you ever feel like you are speaking English, but you are speaking a different language from the people around you – and just seem to constantly be miscommunicating? Sometimes it is because of the lingo or dialect, or sometimes it is because of a generational difference. It seems like an abbreviations dictionary is needed to decipher text messages sometimes. We are in good company. God confounded the speech of the builders of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:9) and scattered the people across the earth. Therefore, the next time you find yourself feeling like you are in an Amelia Bedelia book (remember the children’s series by Peggy Parish?), Chazak v’Ematz – Be Strong and Courageous!

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday

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

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

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/630830287

Meeting ID: 630 830 287

Password: 875936

Special Program during Makom B'Yachad:

Wednesday, November 9 - Join Cory Schneider as she will be presenting about her weaving program to make Tallitot.

Sign

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

Sunday, November 13 @ 4:00 pm CDT/ 5:00 PM EDT Anshe Emet "Kosher Wine, Klezmer, and Kiddush Cups" Fundraiser

Monday, November 14 @ 6:30 pm CDT/ 7:30 PM EDT (Online) Congregation Beth Shalom, Michigan, presents the American Jewish University Speaker Series, featuring Rabbi Sherre Hirsch discussing her book, "Thresholds: How to Thrive Through Life's Transitions to Live Fearlessly and Regret-free."

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.