CHAI LINES
The Newsletter of the International Northeast Region
September 3, 2021 - 26 Elul 5781
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From the International Northeast Region of Women's League for Conservative Judaism
From the Region President


Dear INR Members;
 
I found a Rosh Hashanah poem that encapsulates many of the feelings I’ve been having during these very challenging times in which we are living. I hope it speaks to you as well:

2021 / 5782: Anew
Here’s the thing: the year begins anew 
even in the worst of times. The leaves
will turn and fall and then they’ll grow again.
And sometimes we’re afraid, and we can’t know
what choice to make to keep anyone safe. 
Uncertainty’s a bear. All we can do
is seek out sweetness everywhere we may
and work to fix what brokenness we find.
The good news is we’re not in this alone. 
We’ll help each other hope when light seems dim
and lift the sparks that darker days reveal.
We’ll love each other fiercely: in the end 
there is no greater work that we can do.
We who survive will help each other heal.
poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, 2021
 
 
May we all work B’Yachad/Together to lift each other up, to fix what’s broken, to love and help each other reach our full potentials. 
 
May this New Year be filled with health, happiness and sweet moments for you and your loved ones.
Shanah Tovah U’Metukah!
Marilyn Cohen, INR President
Marilyn
From our Region
From the Region Torah Fund Vice President
Torah Fund - 2021-2022 - B’Yachad – Together - Again
 
Torah Fund – B’Yachad – Together, Again
 
May the new year bring us all blessings of peace and health, and then happiness will follow. We continue our B’Yachad campaign for 2021-22. Let’s enjoy our Holidays and pick up the campaign renewed and invigorated from being together in person, on livestream, or in our thoughts. 
 
Did you forget to send Shannah Tova cards to those who are near and dear and time is running out? No worries! 
 
Good news for our Canadian donors: We are in the final stages of the development of the new Canadian TF ecards page, which will also be a vehicle for Canadian online contributions. We hope to share the new platform soon. Canadian Torah Fund donors will be able to use the ecards site to make contributions in Canadian currency (with a minimum purchase of one ecard) and they will receive a tax receipt conforming to Canada Revenue Agency requirements.

From my home to yours, my very best wishes for 5782.
Linda Boxer
INR Torah Fund VP
From Women's League



Shabbat Message
By Debbi Kaner Goldich, International President
Facebook Memory

This past week a memory picture popped up on my Facebook page. Many of you saw it and commented on the picture. I was standing with Carol Simon, Diane Friedgut, Janet Kirschner, Sandy Blumenthal, Barbara Ezring and Marilyn Cohen outside the main shopping area in Jerusalem. We were all attending the World Zionist Congress conference and on one of the rare free moments I brought my hevre to help me pick out a new Tallit. Although I owned two small tallitot, I wanted a big one to wrap myself in. I had waited for this moment for a long time and was so excited to share this moment with my WLCJ sisters.
I picked out the colors of pink and purple, of which I am partial. I picked out the lace Atarah and what I wanted it to say. When the Tallit arrived in the mail after six weeks, the colors were totally wrong. They were maroon and a reddish pink with a silver thread. I emailed and they emailed back immediately telling me to deliver it to someone locally who was coming to Israel and they would create a new one for me in the right colors. I thought all was good until the second one arrived and again the colors were not the pink and purple I chose but instead, a variation of those colors. I emailed again and after many emails and phone calls, I decided to keep the second tallit. They worked hard to make me happy and offered me all kinds of considerations. I thanked them and decided that I loved the new tallit and would keep it.
 
Somewhere inside me, the perfectionist that I am, remembered learning that as Jews we should always remember to strive for greatness but we should also understand that nothing is perfect. Aren’t we commanded to walk in God’s way and observe all 613 commandments? How can we possibly do that perfectly? Don’t we break a glass a wedding ceremony to remember the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Others say it is to demonstrate that marriage holds sorrow as well as joy. We know no marriage is perfect. Don’t we perform Tikkun Olam to perfect an imperfect world?

Perfectionists might think that there are light years between the stages of “perfect” and “good enough”. They may also say that anything less than perfect means we have failed. Although I claim to be a perfectionist, I have learned that in some instances perfection is not my friend and I need to rethink my parameters. Good enough means it is custom to my needs and works for me. My tallit was not just good enough, it was perfect for me! 
 
Each of us must do the best we can with whatever is offered to us. We must accept imperfection and abide by the Jewish principle of forgiveness and must forgive ourselves when we are not perfect. We must also abide by the Jewish principle of acceptance for those things we cannot control. Not only did I learn to accept what I could not control but I also learned to love the imperfections of my Tallit. It is unique to me. I wear it proudly each Shabbat and know that no one in the Jewish world has the same one! 

As we enter this New Year of 5782, we enter another year of uncertainties. We enter another year of days, weeks and months filled with trying to make our lives perfectly normal during a world Pandemic, when in fact it will just have to be good enough. Like our ancestors in generations past, we will take strength from the Torah and recognize and appreciate our uniqueness and our imperfections.
 
Wishing you, your families and your Women’s League Sisters a Sweet and Healthy New Year,
Debbi
 
Debbi Kaner Goldich
WLCJ International President
Gary Rosenthal's Hiddur Mitzvah Project
Thursday, October 7th @ 7:30 PM ET
INR of Women's League for Conservative Judaism