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Welcome!

As members of a WLCJ affiliated sisterhood or as a WLCJ Individual Member, you also belong to the International Northeast Region (INR) of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism and we are happy to be able to send you our bi-weekly region newsletter we call “Chai Lines”! Please read and enjoy!

Dear Friends,

Tonight, Friday September 29, 2023, is the beginning of the festival of Sukkot which culminates with Shmini Atzeret and is followed by Simchat Torah.

Sukkot, or the Festival of Tabernacles, is mentioned several times in the Torah. In Parsha Re’ei it is written, “The Feast of Tabernacles you shall keep seven days and you shall rejoice in your feast...and you shall be extremely joyful.” (Deut./Devarim 16:13-15)

In Parsha Emor it is written, “You shall dwell in booths (tabernacles) seven days…that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus/Vayikra 23:42)

Note: The holiday lasts seven days in the Land of Israel and eight in the diaspora. The first day (and second day in the diaspora) is a Shabbat-like holiday when work is forbidden. This is followed by intermediate days called Chol Hamoed when certain work is permitted. In Israel (and in the Reform Movement) the 8th day, called Shmini Atzeret, includes Simchat Torah. However, in the diaspora Simchat Torah is commemorated the next day as a separate holiday.

During the 40 years that the Children of Israel wandered in the desert, they lived in sukkot (booths/huts/tabernacles) and therefore, we build our own sukkah as a commemoration of that time. There was a Talmudic debate between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Eliezer over what the sukkah represents. Rabbi Eliezer asserts that the sukkah is representative of the Ananei Kavod, the “clouds of glory” which protected the Israelites during the 40 years in the desert. Under Rabbi Eliezer’s interpretation, the sukkah is in fact a reminder that God will always provide. That so long as we have faith in God, we are secure. In his vision, the 40 years in the dessert were not ones of wandering and homelessness, but ones in which the Israelites were fully protected.

Rabbi Akiva, on the other hand, asserts that the sukkah represents the actual huts that the Israelites built in the dessert. For Rabbi Akiva, the sukkah then represents the ultimate sense of insecurity and fragility. Compared to the bricks and mortar of Egypt, the 40 years in the desert were ones of great insecurity. The sukkah, therefore, reminds us of a time in our history in which we were not as protected as we are now. We can actually think of and perhaps discuss both these concepts when we will sit in our sukkot.

In addition, we are also commanded to hold together and wave the Arba Minim or ‘Four Kinds’, in all directions. Again, in Parsha Emor it says, “and you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of the citron tree – the Etrog, unopened frond of the date palm, myrtle branches and willow branches that grow near a brook.” (Leviticus/Vayikra 23:40).

On each day of the festival (except Shabbat), we take the Four Kinds, recite a blessing over them, bring them together in our hands and wave them in all six directions: right, left, forward, up, down, and backward. Our sages in the midrash tell us that the Four Kinds represent the various types and personalities that comprise the community of Israel, whose intrinsic unity we emphasize on Sukkot.

There are many mystical meanings about waving these 4 species together which include: The Almighty controls the entire world, the wind, the forces of nature, everything everywhere, and all Jews are bound together as one people - whether pious or sinners.

Another explanation is that the four species represent 4 types of people:

• Etrog/citron: Has a pleasant aroma and taste. This symbolizes those knowledgeable in Torah who perform good deeds.
• Lulav/date palm branch: Has a pleasant tasting fruit but no aroma. And represents those who are learned but perform no good deeds.
• Hadas/myrtle:  Has a pleasant fragrance but has no fruit representing those who perform good deeds but are not learned in Torah.
• Aravah/willow: Has neither fruit nor fragrance and represents those who are unlearned and do not perform good deeds.

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine, and a renowned Torah scholar, believes that the four species represent the diversity of the Jewish people and that the major theme of Sukkot is about community and coming together. His belief is that the entire people of Israel will sit in a single Sukkah together. This relates directly to the symbolism of the Arba Minim, the Four Kinds that highlight the diversity of the Jewish people.

These important concepts have a correlation to our work in Women’s League:

• We bring the community of Conservative women together no matter what each of our backgrounds or educational levels are.
• Our affiliate/sisterhoods devise programs to teach Jewish concepts to their members as well as non-members who might be eager to learn.
• We foster a sense of community by utilizing our volunteers to work together to create exciting and educational programs.
• We foster awareness of others in greater need than ourselves.
• We teach and encourage environmental strategies to help in sustaining our planet.
• We support our community of young people who strive to become the religious leaders of our Conservative Movement through our donations to Torah Fund.

In other words, Sukkot is all about community and the Jewish people coming together. As we reconnect with nature around us, let us think about how we can make the world a better place for ourselves and our community.

Shabbat Shalom

And

Chag Sukkot Sameach!



Marilyn Cohen

Region President

INRPresident21@wlcj.org

Region Program

I am pleased to announce that the first region program for this year, on Monday November 13th at 7:30 pm, will feature a very special person. If you ever visit Makom B’Yachad (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at noon) you will see and hear our guest speaker, Jerilynn Payne. Jerilynn is a Jew by Choice, who has embraced her new found religion with such joy, spirituality and commitment. Our program titled “Journey into Judaism” will give us an opportunity to learn more about Jerilynn and at the same time be inspired by her words. Please save the date and look for more information coming soon.

Region Conference

I am also excited to announce that our region is having an in-person Spring

Conference on Sunday May 5 and Monday May 6, 2024. Conference will be held in Toronto at Beth Tikvah Synagogue and will be hosted by Beth Tikvah Women. Our Conference Chairs are Adele Weinstein and Rivy Blass and they are looking for representatives from each of our INR affiliate sisterhoods to participate on the Conference Committee.

All Sisterhood Presidents-please contact me with the names and contact information of your representatives for this year’s Conference Committee.

It has been so long since we were all together at a Region Conference where we can daven in uplifting services, meet new people, re-connect with old friends, learn new skills, hear excellent speakers, be inspired by clergy, and come away with great ideas for our own sisterhoods. Please add this to your Calendars and start planning to attend.

Region Spotlight

Mazal Tov to Sisterhood President Gail Finkelstein and her Temple Beth El Sisterhood members in Rochester, New York, for their amazing newsletter highlighting all of their Fall programs. Click here to see all they have to offer and maybe glean some ideas you can use in your own sisterhood.

NOTE TO ALL SISTERHOOD AFFILIATES: Please share your flyers and program pictures including a short description and we will try to include these in our future editions of our Chai Lines newsletters. Simply email me your information and I will forward it to our newsletter editor, Joan Lowenstein.

Todah Rabah,

Shabbat Shalom

Chag Sukkot Sameach!

Marilyn

inrpresident21@wlcj.org  

Announcing

Our 2023-2024



Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Ba’Zeh

Campaign

All the people of Israel are responsible for one another

Apples and honey. Almonds and raisins. Those were the traditional foreshpices I remember as a child to start any New Year’s meal at my grandparents’ home. The new year should be sweet. The new year should be fruitful. We begin each new year with hope and optimism for the coming days. Starting my third year in this position of INR’s Torah Fund VP, my wish is that our campaign be successful so we can help the many students at the five institutions of higher learning we support. This time of year is a time when we look ahead. Please do look ahead to the future Conservative/Masorti clergy, scholars, and educators. Your gift to Torah Fund, be it large or small, will make a difference. Your gift matters.

Just how do you make that gift? Pay by check/cheque to your local Torah Fund Chair. In the US, your check should be made payable to “Torah Fund” and in Canada, your cheque should be made payable to the “Jewish Theological Society”.

There is another difference between our two countries. In the US, your check, to Torah Fund, once submitted and deposited, will generate an appropriate tax receipt. If your sisterhood/affiliate collects and submits a composite check, then your sisterhood/affiliate is responsible for providing that tax document. In Canada, composite checks are still welcome and tax receipts will be issued. One advantage of online giving is that in both countries, online giving will result in an immediate emailed tax receipt.

The online giving option in the US is: Donate to Torah Fund (jtsa.edu)

To send an ecard, visit: Torah Fund eCards – Send an eCard to a loved one. (jtsa.edu)

In Canada, you must begin by sending a Torah Fund eCard for $5.00 and then you may make an additional donation. Canadian eCards – Torah Fund eCards (jtsa.edu)

Paper cards are available from your local Torah Fund Chair.

Looking farther into the future, consider joining the Torah Fund Legacy Society with an after-life gift. You can learn more here: Torah Fund Legacy Society - Jewish Theological Seminary (jtsa.edu)

There is another opportunity for generosity: the ongoing Spaces campaign. It has a goal of $200,000 and continues until that goal is reached. Creating New Spaces, will equally fund two important projects: A “Women’s League Study Space” in the new undergraduate residence hall at The Jewish Theological Seminary, and a special course of training for rabbinical students at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, entitled “Women’s League Institute on Gender Bias and Harassment.” To donate to Spaces, simply select ‘Spaces’ in the drop-down menu from your country’s online access site.

Please note that the Torah Fund Office staff is taking some well-deserved time off around the holidays. If you have ordered pins or paper cards in recent days, they won’t be shipped until after October 1st. Your patience is appreciated.

However you give, whatever amount you give, your gift is appreciated and is put to good use. Thank you. Merci. Todah Rabah.

Comments? Questions? Contact me!

L’Shana tova,

Linda Boxer, INR Torah Fund VP

INRTorahFund@gmail.com

Please register for this event here.

Where the Lilacs Bloom Once Again

By Roni Rosenthal

Where the Lilacs Bloom Once Again is a powerful retelling of the true story of the Postelnic, Stolero, Choiboteru and Isopovichi families of Bucharest, Romania. Roni Rosenthal remains true to her promise to her father to tell the family's story. She does so in broad strokes of historical fact and finite details of their personal lives. Most of the book follows the plight of her great Aunt Friddie.

This is a tragic yet hopeful story of the closely knit Jewish family that endures through WWI, WWII, and thereafter.

The family's plight survives misery and the oppression of the Romanian government, Nazi degradation, and Soviet inhumanity. It is all recorded through the light of Ms. Rosenthal's prolific pen.

At the beginning of this book, Ms. Rosenthal provides a diagramed family tree. It will mean little to the reader before reading the book. However, you will want to refer to it as you read, so you can associate the literature with the actual people. I highly recommend this book. 

Ruth Borsky

INR Region Books Chair

ruth139@aol.com

Sukkot



By Julia Loeb, International President

"To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time for every purpose, under heaven."

These words are likely familiar, not from their original source in the book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), but from the timeless song by The Byrds. I know I'm humming the tune right now, and you might be too. It's that time of year again, the season of Sukkot, which the Torah calls Z'man Simchateinu, the season of our joy.

Sukkot brings a flood of memories. In college, I ate in my first sukkah at Hillel in Chicago, where we sat in parkas because it was so cold. After I moved to Maryland, we bought a sukkah kit for our home right before my oldest was born and struggled to put it up. Now, years later, we have it down to a science and it goes up quickly. Each year we bring up the poles and canvas from the basement along with our box of decorations. As we take them out, it is like seeing old friends again: the biblical quotes and prayers on the canvas walls, the strings of plastic "cranberries,” fall gourds from the craft store and string lights that look like grapes that I found at Costco one year. They all create a cozy structure where we will spend time over the next week with family and friends, eating, laughing, shaking our lulav, and looking up at the stars through the bamboo roof.

But building and eating in a sukkah is only part of the biblical command. We are also commanded three times in the Torah to "be happy" on Sukkot. The mitzvah to be happy is continuous throughout the holiday.



Can you really force yourself to be happy, especially when life is full of challenges and uncertainties? This time of year, you can be happy that the kids are back in school, that the weather is cooling down, or that the long days of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah services are over (for at least another year). Looking at the bigger picture, though, the sages tell us that real happiness comes from wanting what you have rather than having what you want. During Sukkot, we are tasked with transcending the obstacles that show up in our everyday lives and appreciating our friends and family and the roof over our heads.

True happiness comes from giving to others and feeling valued. The more we contribute and show compassion to others and help build a caring society, the more happiness we bring to our lives and the world. Our tradition emphasizes that doing leads to feeling, not the other way around. By performing mitzvot and taking action, we can cultivate joy.

This year, during the holiday, consider volunteering to help someone close to you, someone outside your circle, or maybe even a stranger. And, as we build and eat in our temporary dwellings during Sukkot, it is also a good time to learn about those in our community that cannot afford housing. While we will use our sukkah for seven days, some in our communities live in makeshift dwellings year-round.

Understanding their challenges can deepen our appreciation of our own situations. Our Sichot Beyn Achayot, Conversations between Sisters programs this Fall will provide a chance to learn about these issues of helping the stranger, homelessness and volunteerism here and in Israel and will provide some suggestions for things that we can do to support those in need.

In the end, true happiness isn't just about acquiring more; it's about appreciating what we already have, connecting with others, and pursuing a life of service. After the intense introspection and personal soul searching of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Sukkot provides a time for togetherness and an opportunity to cultivate the skill of happiness, a journey that leads us to lasting contentment and fulfillment. If there is indeed “a time to every purpose, under heaven,” then let this season be one of authentic joy.

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom.

Julia Loeb

WLCJ International President

jloeb@wlcj.org

Week At A Glance

This week at Women's League:

• Weds, Sept 27 & Fri. Sept 29, 2023 - Join Makom B'Yachad on Zoom
• Friday, Sept 29, 2023 - Join Minyan Ahavah on Zoom
• Saturday, Sept 30, 2023 - Read up on WWOT: Sukkot
• Mathilde's Master Course Commitment registration is Open
• Torah Fund Stands with Israel registration is Open

Minyan Ahavah

Friday, Sept. 29, 2023 at 5:00 PM ET

Minyan Ahavah reaches out to people with memory loss and their caregivers. The next virtual Kabbalat Shabbat (welcoming the Sabbath) service is on Friday, September 29, at 5 p.m. Cantor Josh and Rabbi Judith Hauptman will lead the service. You can log in at 5 p.m., or even better, at 4:45 pm, for a schmooze. A really nice way to begin the Sabbath is with a bit of chat with others. So join us early! Zoom link is below.

Link: https://wlcj2.org/u/?V1c6432m&b=2023-09-2600:40:47&e=501088

Meeting ID: 212 673 2096

Passcode: 2126732096

Want to bring a friend or relative? Please do! Just forward them the link.

Here’s a way for you to participate in the service: please hold up something in your home that you love and tell us why you like it. Can be anything at all that you are able to hold up and show.

During the Mi Sheberach prayer for healing, you will be able to type in the names of the people for whom you are wishing a speedy recovery. I will read them aloud.

We look forward to greeting you on Friday, September 29, at 5 pm, or a few minutes earlier.

Any questions? Email Rabbi Hauptman at juhauptman@jtsa.edu

Fall 2023 - WLCJ Classes: Learn Hebrew and Read from the Prayerbook

New WLCJ Classes starting this Fall to Learn Hebrew and Read from the Prayerbook

Are you interested in:

• Learning or reviewing the Hebrew alphabet and communal prayers?

• Expanding your Jewish literacy skills, confidence, and sense of connection with Judaism?

In the Beginner Hebrew Course, students will learn how to recognize the letters of the aleph bet, read basic words in the Siddur, and follow along in the service. Each student will be provided a virtual copy of Shalom Aleichem, by Noah Golinkin, for use in the class.

In the Advanced Beginner Hebrew Course, students will continue to refine their reading skills by learning blessings for Friday evening, several kaddishes, and many Shabbat morning prayers, all while emphasizing reading fluency.

To be in the Intermediate Hebrew Course, students should be proficient at reading (sounding out few words) and will improve their fluency through the following prayers: ashrei, the musaf Amidah, aleinu, the v’ahavtah and following paragraphs, and many other prayers for holidays.

Please make sure to select the correct day/time/level when you register. You may only register for one class. 

Rachel Ferber

rferber@wlcj.org

Bat Mitzvah Class 2023-2026:

Information Session

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023

7:30 PM ET

Women's League is pleased to offer an Adult Bat Mitzvah Course for our members. 

Are you interested in:

• Expanding your Jewish literacy skills, confidence, and sense of connection with Judaism?

• Deepening your knowledge and commitment to Torah, Tefillah (Prayer) and Kehillah (Community)?

• Becoming more familiar with Shabbat and holiday observance?

• Participating in an Adult Bat Mitzvah experience with your Women’s League sisters?

We urge you to join us if you want to celebrate an Adult Bat Mitzvah for the first time, if you want to revisit or reinvent the one you had, or if you want to enrich and expand your Jewish literacy. This three year program will culminate with your Bat Mitzvah at the WLCJ Convention in 2026 either in person or virtual.

Classes will meet one Thursday evening a month. Come hear about all of this at our first meeting on Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. EDT, by Zoom, in order to find out if this program is right for you. You must register for this first Thursday night meeting.

While participation in this program is a benefit of your membership, there is a $36 fee for the three years.

Toby Holtzman

tholtzman@wlcj.org

Anne Schimberg

afkschimberg@gmail.com

Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) /

Masorti Olami / Mercaz Olami Grant-Sponsored Program:

Sichot Beyn Achayot - Conversations Between Sisters

3-Part Series

Session 1: Sunday,

October 22, 2023

20:00 Israel Time | 1:00 PM ET | 12:00 PM CT | 11:00 AM MT | 10:00 AM PT

Session 2: Sunday, November 19, 2023

19:00 Israel Time | 12:00 PM ET | 11:00 AM CT | 10:00 AM MT | 9:00 AM PT

Session 3: Sunday, December 17, 2023

19:00 Israel Time | 12:00 PM ET | 11:00 AM CT | 10:00 AM MT | 9:00 AM PT

שׂיחוֹת בֵּין אָחַיוֹת, Sichot beyn Achayot means “conversations between sisters.” This program is designed to foster a deeper mutual understanding between the members of WLCJ in North America, the Masorti women from Israel and Masorti Olami, and our communities around the world. It is designed to address the question, “How are we the same, and how are we different?” The theme of this year’s program is כּל יִשְׂרָאֵל עָרֵבִים זֶה בַּזֶה, Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Ba’Zeh, All of Israel is Responsible for One Another [BT Shevuot 39a]

The three sessions will address this question by each concentrating on one specific issue that is both relevant and timely to us all and will include presentations from speakers from both sides of the Atlantic. Each workshop will also be followed by a Q&A session in which all attendees will be encouraged to participate.

Session One: Helping the Stranger: Mitzvot, Motivations and Methods

Sunday, October 22, 2023

20:00 Israel Time | 1:00 PM ET | 12:00 PM CT | 11:00 AM MT | 10:00 AM PT

Other two sessions coming up:

Session Two: Addressing Homelessness and Food Insecurity - Mitzvot, Motivations and Methods

Sunday, November 19, 2023

19:00 Israel Time | 12:00 PM ET | 11:00 AM CT | 10:00 AM MT | 9:00 AM PT

Session Three: Volunteerism: Mitzvot, Motivations and Methods - Sunday, December 17, 2023

19:00 Israel Time | 12:00 PM ET | 11:00 AM CT | 10:00 AM MT | 9:00 AM PT

Rabbi Margie Cella

mcella@wlcj.org

First Class on

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023

7:30 PM ET

“Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” – Golda Meir

Please join us as we continue our educational journey with Mathilde’s Master Class. 

Highlights of the Class:

This is a three-year program. Each year will be divided into three different modules on the same topic.

Year One

Women’s voices raised in texts from the Tanakh, Talmud, and Modern Midrash

Year Two

Women’s voices raised in history from the Middle Ages, Early 20th Century, and Modern Times.

Year Three

Women’s voices raised in rituals around tefillah, life cycle events, and around calendar/homebound rituals.

Sessions will meet on a Tuesday night each month over Zoom at 7:30PM ET / 6:30PM CT / 4:30 PM PT

October 24, 2023

November 14, 2023

December 12, 2023

January 9, 2024

February 13, 2024

March 26, 2024

April 9, 2024

May 14, 2024

June 25, 2024

The Zoom link for all session dates will be included in the confirmation you will receive after registering. 

A reading knowledge of Hebrew will be helpful and is encouraged.

Classes will be recorded, but class attendance preferred.

Registration is accepted annually at the beginning of each year.

There will be an annual fee of $36.

Ellen Kaner Bresnick or

Fran Hildebrandt at

fhildebrandt@wlcj.org

Did you miss the information session last week? Click on the button below to view the recording.

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023

8:00 PM ET

We are excited to announce our next WL Reads selection, “Where The Lilacs Bloom Once Again, Friddie’s Story” by Roni Rosenthal.

The author chronicles her family’s struggles for survival as relayed through the story of her great grandmother and great aunt. Told in novel fashion, this is a tragic-heroic tale of strength based on the true stories of a Jewish Romanian family.

Ms. Rosenthal is the director of Judaic Studies and a Hebrew Literature Professor at the University of Maryland. She will be our guest speaker November 2, 2023 at 8:00 PM.

WL Reads programs coming up:

The Choice by Maggie Anton - Sunday, February 11, 2024 at 1:00 PM ET

Exile Music by Jennifer Steile - Date and Time TBA

Karen Block

WL Reads Chair

kblock@wlcj.org

Makom B'Yachad

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9 AM PT; 10 AM MT, 11 AM CT; 12 PM ET

A virtual service for our WLCJ Sisters to recite Mishaberach, the Prayer for Healing, recite the Psalm of the Day, study and recite Kaddish together.

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://zoom.us/j/630830287

Meeting ID: 630 830 287

Password: 875936

Important Dates:

Tuesday, October 3 - No Makom B'Yachad service, just informal schmoozing

Friday, October 6 - Yizkor

A virtual background is available for Makom B'Yachad! DOWNLOAD HERE

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

Prayer for Comfort - composed by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields

VIEW PRAYER

Sukkot - September 30, 2023

For the past 80-plus years, the Torah Fund Campaign of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, the dedicated philanthropy of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, has been supporting scholarships and programs in the worldwide Conservative/Masorti institutes of higher Jewish learning, The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles, Schechter Institutes of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano in Buenos Aires, and Zacharias Frankel College in Potsdam.

The 2023-2024 / 5784 Torah Fund General Campaign is Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Ba’Zeh, All the people of Israel are responsible for one another.

Arevut, responsibility, will be visible on our new, silver heart-shaped charm which can be worn as a pendant or pin.

The WWOT, the Weekly Words of Torah, each week through the end of June 2024, will delve into the idea of arevut, responsibility. 

On the Holiday of Sukkot, we live in our temporary dwelling places, called sukkot, reminiscent of the huts the Children of Israel dwelled in while wandering in the desert. We are all blessed to be able to live in warm homes, with firm roofs, and usually we never get wet. The week of Sukkot, when we eat, and some also sleep, in these temporary huts, we become aware of our many blessings - especially when it starts to rain, and the rain comes through our sechach, roof, and a huge gust of wind comes and blows over our sukkot. Sukkot reminds us that it is our responsibility, as we enjoy our food in our temporary sukkot, that we can return to our permanent homes, whenever we want; but there are many out there who do not have permanent homes, and always live in temporary shelters, not knowing when and where they will receive their next meal. Let us make it a priority this Sukkot, to make it our responsibility to find a shelter in our community and donate what is needed, and make a donation to help someone whose home is temporary, for more than one week. 

Are you missing those days back in July like we are?

We continue to look at the pictures!! We continue to feel those hugs!!

Sunday was informative... Leadership and Opening Plenum

Jill Tomar

jill.tomar@gmail.com

Monday was celebratory... B'not Mitzvah -- Torah Fund -- Seminaries -- Installation

Tuesday was a Party... Sisters Around the World -- Jewels in the Crown -- WOW

Wednesday was a bittersweet farewell beginning with tefillot and ending with Julia's first WL Board of Directors meeting.

Go to the WLCJ Convention 2023 website to see the posted videos: https://www.wizevents.com/wlcj2023

You can see it all again -- the Pictures -- the Programs -- the Presenters -- the Journal.

See you all again in 2026!!

Toby Maser

tmaser@wlcj.org

WL Sustainability

Keep your eyes on WL Week as we will be posting and sharing your Sisterhood Affiliate/Region sustainability programs.

We invite you to share your programs with us.

Email Corinne or Heddy today

Corinne Hammerschlag

corinneh@rogers.com

Heddy Belman

hbelman@wlcj.org

Women's League Cares

Give a gift today so we can help them be here for tomorrow….

The Maui Hawaii wildlife fire is one of the deadliest wildfires in modern United States history with a death toll of, as of August 18, 110 people and climbing. Teams, some with cadaver dogs, are focused on locating over 1,000 missing people as they methodically search...

Jerilynn Payne

WLCares@wlcj.org

WLCJ 5784 Calendar Diaries

Pocket Size = $11.00

Planner Size = $26.00



You may now order bulk quantities online. 

COMMUNITY LEARNING

Schechter's Ongoing Hybrid and Zoom Courses in Jewish Literature,

Philosophy, Art and History

EVENTS &

LEARNING

Fall Learning, Book

Talks, and More

ONLINE JEWISH LEARNING

Last Chance for Next Week's Free Events!

Midwives, Exorcists, and Shamanesses: Female Ritual Leaders of the Shtetl

In stereotypical portrayals of Jewish life in the Eastern European shtetl, religion and spirituality are understood as being men’s domain, while women looked after the home and business so their husbands and sons could dedicate themselves to Torah... learn more.

Digital Torah Fund eCards 

for every occasion!

All prices include regular shipping (with tracking, 2-4 weeks). Express shipping costs an extra $20 per item.

Please click on the image to learn more

WLCJ Convention 2023 Resources, please click on the image:

To learn more about these opportunities,

December 1-5, 2023

Momentum is building for our Conservative/Masorti Convening in December! We have hundreds of attendees already signed up - and want you to be part of this incredible gathering of the brightest minds in our Movement.

Monday, December 4, 2023

8:45 AM to 9:45 AM

Barbie, You're Kenough: How to Bring Inspiration to Your (Surf) Board

Learn how to identify your members’ passions and build on their existing skills to help them find their voices on your board. Leaders need to be heard and valued as individuals so they are more personally involved and motivated. Examine ways that your Board members can enhance their knowledge and contribute to the broader Conservative/Masorti movement.

Our WLCJ International President and Executive Director will speak at this event.

MERCAZ USA at the Extraordinary Zionist Congress

MERCAZ USA and our international partners made a significant difference and were a LOUD voice for your values at the Extraordinary Zionist Congress held in Jerusalem at the end of April.

1. The forces fighting for a pluralistic democratic Israel are on the offensive and we won this Congress

2. The delaying tactics of those who opposed us failed this time

3. We stood up for MERCAZ USA’s values and our voice was heard loud and clear..

INR of Women's League for Conservative Judaism