Greetings!
We hope you'll join us this month and again in June for very timely and compelling visits to two museums on our journey to greater understanding of contemporary issues. Each tour examines themes such as the dynamics of discrimination, personal responsibility, democracy, and diversity.
We look forward to sharing
these enlightening events and our time together.
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WRS Presents the
Museum of Tolerance Tour
Monday, April 12
5:00pm via Zoom
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“How wonderful it is that no one has to wait but can start right now to
gradually change the world.” Anne Frank
Join us for a virtual tour of a one of a kind museum, the Museum of Tolerance (MOT). This museum is dedicated to challenging visitors to understand the Holocaust in both historic and contemporary contexts and confront all forms of prejudice and discrimination in our world today.
THIS VIRTUAL TOUR IS FREE TO ALL MEMBERS.
Your discretionary donation is most appreciated to support WRS programs and meaningful social action.
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WRS Presents
Equal Justice Initiative (EJI)
Personal Legacy Tour
Sunday, June 14
4:00pm via Zoom
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Join us for a tour of
The Legacy Museum:
From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration.
The Legacy Museum employs unique technology to dramatize the enslavement of African Americans. It explores the history of racial inequality and its relationship to a range of contemporary issues from mass incarceration to police violence.
THIS VIRTUAL TOUR IS FREE TO ALL MEMBERS.
Your discretionary donation is most appreciated to support WRS programs and meaningful social action.
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Shop at the WRS Judaica Gift Shop |
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Seder plates, candles and candlesticks, cards, havdalah sets, tallits, mezuzahs, jewelry, accessories, and more are available in the
We have all your needs for Shabbat, all the Jewish holidays, and your simchas.
Ingrid will help you find just the right thing, and your purchase will help fund the programs of the Women of Rodef Sholom.
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Rosh Chodesh
A Special Holiday For Women
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The Rosh Chodesh Group
Tuesday, April 13
2:00pm
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“Whoever blesses the moon in its time welcomes the presence of the Schechina (female Devine presence).”
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Rosh Chodesh marks the beginning of each month by the appearance of the new moon. The talmud records this as a special holiday for women.
Be part of our Rosh Chodesh group which meets each month to share women's perspectives on Torah, politics, ritual, music, prayer, and much more in an intimate setting.
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WRS Book Club
Wednesday, April 28
7:30pm
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This month the WRS Book Club will discuss
The Farm by Joanna Ramos.
Our Book Club meets the fourth Wednesday
of each month. All are welcome.
On May 26, we will be discussing Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
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WRS Board Meeting
Tuesday, April 6
7:00 - 8:30pm
Our meetings, the first Tuesday of the month, are open to all members and to the public.
Send your name and email to wrs@rodefsholom.org if you would like to attend this month's WRS Board meeting or future Board meetings.
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WRS Programming Team Meeting
Tuesday, April 20
5:00 - 6:30pm
Help us develop and plan virtual programming for the coming months. RSVP with your name and email to wrssisterhood@gmail.com, and 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 meet the third Tuesday of each month.
Join us! We are stronger together.
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THANK YOU WRS PROGRAMMING TEAM:
Amy Friedricks, Angela Giacomini, Laura J. Giacomini, Antoinette Golbus, Susan Goldwasser, Antoinette Grimes, BettyAnn Kram, Barbara Kraus, Sheri Langer, Jen Levine, Gila Pomerantz,
Alissa Ralston, Fanny Stein, Sheila Wheeler
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Message From Our President |
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Dear Women of Rodef Sholom and friends,
Chag Pesach Sameach or Happy Passover Holiday! I love Passover, and I am so pleased to be able to celebrate it with so many of you, if virtually, again this year. This is our collective second try at virtual Seders (the ceremonial Passover meal and storytelling), and I think we’ve gotten the hang of it. I have already heard that many of us will continue to incorporate a virtual component to our holidays to stay better connected to our friends and family worldwide, one of the few benefits of COVID-19. I hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday in all the ways you are celebrating it!
I received my first dose of COVID-19 vaccine a week ago at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, for which I am very grateful. It was a picture of efficiency, as hundreds of us walked the winding roped pathways, directed by energetic volunteers waving orange ping-pong paddles. I didn’t have any unpleasant physical reactions to the vaccine, but I was surprised at my emotional one: the whole evening afterwards, I was filled with what seemed to be a year’s worth of sadness at our communal loss of life and health, of worry over how we move through the institutional and individual racism exposed by the pandemic, of anxiety around the abuse of the planet that led to events such as this one. I was fortunate to speak with a wise member of the Women of Rodef Sholom Board that day, who reminded me how important it is to fully process our feelings, even unpleasant feelings, lest they are covered over prematurely and fester. I’m not sure I was entirely successful, but the next day and thereafter I have felt the more expected relief and excitement at the prospect of return to more normalcy.
While I missed our beautiful Women’s Seder again this year, I loved Rabbi Elana’s women’s freedom teachings and the discussions I had with you during that mid-March event. I was also mesmerized by Jewish musical luminary Julie Silver, and I know that we will continue to bring you new wonderous virtual events even as in-person opportunities open up. In fact, I hope to see you at any of our upcoming virtual museum tours from the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles on April 12 and the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama on June 14.
Lastly this month, the Women of Rodef Sholom is in the process of nominating people to join our Board of Directors for the upcoming fiscal period beginning July 1. If you are interested in meeting new people, while learning and engaging in tikkun olam (repairing the world), and you identify as a woman, please consider joining this terrific group.
Join us. We are stronger together.
Jen Levine, President
Women of Rodef Sholom
(she/her/hers)
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In Partnership
Social Justice and Civic Engagement
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View WRJ Events for April 2021 here.
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Marin Organizing Committee (MOC)
and Rodef Sholom
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MOC Leader's Meeting
Thursday, May 6
Mark your calendar for the next MOC Leaders Meeting which will take place on Thursday, May 6 at 7:00pm.
Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) is an organization of institutions, mostly religious and non-profit groups, formed to create relational power that can build and strengthen each member organization, as well as shape Marin County’s public policy for the common good.
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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.
Recently the RAC held two town hall events to introduce the 2021 Racial Justice Campaign, and more than 600 Reform Jews weighed in on which topic they want the campaign to focus on - voting rights or reparations. As we await the results from the town halls, here are a few ways you can get involved now.
Wednesday, April 28
5:00 pm
Subscribe to receive updates about the campaign here.
Legislative Update
Urge Congress to take immediate action to stop gun violence. Every year, almost 40,000 Americans die as victims of gun violence. We have seen this reality first hand these past few days, when 10 people were killed at a grocery store in Boulder, CO, and eight people, six of whom whereof Asian descent, were killed at three different spas in Atlanta. As Jews, we will not remain silent in the face of violence. Call on your legislators and demand that they end unacceptably high rates of gun violence in our country.
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Congregation Rodef Sholom
Community Fridge
Congregation Rodef Sholom is partnering with Venetia Valley and Old Gallinas Children's Center to host a Community Fridge. The fridge will provide food for all of our communities. We are looking for volunteers to help stock and clean the fridge.
Racial Justice Study Group
Sundays beginning April 4
4:00 - 5:30pm
A new racial justice study group is being launched for those who have not yet had an opportunity to participate. The 6-week group will be co-led by Rodef Sholom members Jamie Weinstein and Ruth Ann Binder.
Anti-Racist Parenting Group
Beginning in April, this aspiring anti-racist parenting
group will be reading and trying on strategies from
Jennifer Harvey's Raising White Kids.
If interested, register HERE, and Marika Paez or
Jessica Marker will be in touch with more details.
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The performance of Julie Silver, one of today's most celebrated and beloved performers in the world of contemporary Jewish music, was a special evening of song and storytelling.
Rabbi-Cantor Elana Rosen-Brown’s presentation of Storytelling on the Road to Liberation: Women and the Exodus Narrative(s) was a great way to start the Passover
holiday.
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