If you are viewing Chai Lines on your smartphone,

consider a landscape orientation for easier viewing.

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,

 When I started writing this column, I had a hard time expressing what I had been thinking over the prior couple of weeks, since the beginning of the war in Israel.

Then I started to think of my emotions. I have been afraid, upset, and scared. This is not how I usually feel. I am usually the one in my family who wakes up in the morning and says “Modeh Ani Lefanacha” - Thank you God for all that I have been given.

However, since the terrible war in Israel started, things have not been the same. At 8:30 a.m. on October 7, 2023, on Shabbat/Shemini Atzeret, it was decided that the services at Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto, Ontario, would not be the same as usual. On this day, the choir, in which I am a participant, would not be singing - as that was too joyful. Should we cancel services? No, we would continue, but not in a freilach way. This was just the beginning. After Yom Tov was over, I turned on the news and checked my phone and realized how terrible things were.

My first thoughts were: what could we, in Toronto and the diaspora do to help friends and family who are living in Israel? How could we feel closer to them?

Luckily, being active in Women’s League, I have been participating in Makom B’Yachad on a regular basis for some time. We have had some wonderful speakers these past few weeks. Lorna Szefler from Kehillah Netzach Israel in Ashkelon and Rabbi Chaya Rowen-Baker, Dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary have shared their fears and prayers with us during these difficult times.

A way of actually supporting the soldiers in Israel is through giving needed medical supplies. Beth Tikvah Synagogue contacted their membership and asked for some necessary supplies such as band aids, first aid kits, warm socks, and other necessary items. In just two days, one of our rooms in the synagogue was full to the brim with supplies that were sent by cargo to the soldiers.

In addition, on October 24th, the Toronto community held An Evening of Music and Prayer in Solidarity with Israel and The Jewish People. The organizer, Aliza Spiro, the creative director of the Song Shul in Toronto, expressed it well. In her words “I understand the value of music and I understand the power of prayer.” Cantor Tibor Kovari, Cantor Simon Spiro and Cantor Charles Osborne and a number of professional Broadway singers and members of parliament provided a fabulous free evening of song and prayer. You can view this concert by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOEJvS1k0Gc

So now, I am starting to feel more like myself. I know that I am not traveling to Israel to be there physically, but I can at least be there spiritually.

Even though the war in Israel continues, we in the diaspora have found ways to connect with our brothers and sisters there.

Let us continue to pray for Israel and stand together. Am Yisrael Chai.

Adele Weinstein

President Beth Tikvah Women

INR Program/Education Vice President

INR Conference 2024 Co-Chair

REGION MATTERS:

I highly recommend our upcoming region program, titled “Journey to Judaism” with our guest speaker Jerrilynn Payne. Read all about her amazing careers in the flyer below but this only touches on part of her compelling story. Join us by registering at the following link: https://womens-league---international-northeast-region.ticketleap.com/journey-to-judaism-featuring-jerilynn-payne/

Register for the series Sichot Beyn Achayot, Conversations Between Sisters. This program is designed to foster a deeper understanding between North American WLCJ members and Masorti women in Israel and around the world. The next two sessions will be on Sundays, November 19th and December 17th at Noon. Read the flyer below and register today.

Our Region Conference will be on May 5-6, 2024, in Toronto at Beth Tikvah Synagogue. Please start planning to join us in person. Our Co-Chairs, Adele Weinstein and Rivy Blass have great ideas and together with their Planning Team will be offering all those attending a fabulous experience. More information will be available in upcoming Chai Lines issues.

Marilyn Cohen

Region President

INRPresident21@wlcj.org

Announcing

Our 2023-2024



Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Ba’Zeh

Campaign

All the people of Israel are responsible for one another

The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) was founded in 1886. The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies was founded in 1996 and was the first independent rabbinical school located on the U.S. West Coast. The Schechter Institutes in Jerusalem was, founded 39 years ago. The Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano in Buenos Aires was founded in 1962. The Zacharias Frankel College in Potsdam, Germany, was founded in 2013 to train Conservative/Masorti rabbis for Europe. (More information about all of these institutions may be found on the Torah Fund website: Torah Fund - Jewish Theological Seminary (jtsa.edu))

These schools are fulfilling their mission of educating our future rabbis, cantors, educators, and scholars. These schools will ensure the future of the Conservative/Masorti movement not only in North America where we live, but around the world. In these troubled times, we need to believe that we will have a future. We are needed, more than ever, to support the students at these fine schools. Your donations to Torah Fund help the students. Your donations to Torah Fund, be they large or small, matter. Please be as generous as you can be.

This year’s pin says "Averut" which means responsibility. This word is taken from the full expression: Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Ba’Zeh - all of Israel is responsible for one another. Today the theme resonates with us as we follow the news from Israel.

In the U.S., to donate online the link is: Donate to Torah Fund (jtsa.edu)

For U.S. ecards, start here: Torah Fund eCards – Send an eCard to a loved one. (jtsa.edu)

In Canada, start with the ecards link and then make an additional donation: Canadian eCards – Torah Fund eCards (jtsa.edu)

Paper cards are available from your local Torah Fund Chair and the chairs can order more cards by using the handy order form. If you need the form, let me know. Please note that the Torah Fund offices suggests selling the paper cards for $5 each.

Consider a donation to our special project, 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.” Our goal is to raise $200,000.00 that will be split equally between the two projects. Use the links above and use the drop-down menu to select Spaces.

If you are not yet a member of the Torah Fund Legacy Society, consider joining so your mitzvah of generosity to our students can continue beyond your lifetime. Learn more here: Torah Fund Legacy Society - Jewish Theological Seminary (jtsa.edu)

Comments? Questions? Contact me!

Linda Boxer

INR Torah Fund VP

INRTorahFund@gmail.com

EXILE MUSIC

By Jennifer Steil

Exile Music by Jennifer Steil is an interesting fictional account seen through the eyes and senses of Orlathe (Orly), an imaginative ten-year-old Viennese Jewish girl as she grows to womanhood. The background of this book spans the rise of Hitler and the Nazi era of Germany, Austria, Europe and eventually Bolivia, South America, where her family eventually finds sanctuary during and after the war years.

To the Zingel family music and cultural traditions are initially of the utmost importance as they assimilate into the rudimentary life in La Paz. Appreciation of natural elements such as the mountains, air, altitude, and bold sky of Bolivia becomes their new culture. Spanish is a whole new language. New, also, is their assimilated lifestyle and balancing of life.

They encounter the prejudices within the Bolivian class system that compares to the discrimination that they left behind in Europe. Eventually, they adjust and are accepted. 

There are many twists and unexpected turns that provide closure for the reader. 

Ruth Borsky

INR Books Chair

Finding Strength Through Community



By Julia Loeb, International President

This week’s Torah portion, Chayyei Sarah, the life of Sarah, opens, ironically, with the death of our matriarch. We read that when Abraham learned the news of Sarah’s death, he “proceeded to mourn for Sarah and to bewail her.” The rabbis note that when one suffers the loss of a loved one, typically, one first cries in despair, and then later eulogizes and mourns the loss. The rabbis explain that for Abraham the loss was so profound that his grief long persisted even after formally mourning for her and eulogizing her to the community. 

These days, I think we are all also feeling a tremendous sense of loss. At first, it was the shocking news, on October 7, of Hamas brutally and inhumanely killing so many, and kidnapping hundreds more. This week marks the Shloshim of those killed in the attacks and even after the initial shock and mourning of those deaths, we, like Abraham, continue to cry, feeling utter despair at those being held hostage, at the inhumanity of this attack, and at those still dying in the conflict. When we see other nations, and even people in our own country, call the terrorists heroes, chant for the destruction of Israel, refer to October 7 as a tremendous victory, or worse, view the attacks as “fake news”, we feel like we are in some kind of a nightmare. And when we notice the burbling up of antisemitism around the world, we remember what was allowed to happen during World War II and fear that we again have deluded ourselves into complacency. 

Most of us have just changed the clocks, falling back one hour. But in some ways, it feels like we have fallen much further back to the dark times of 1938. 

My grandparents and my husband’s grandparents were proud Germans. They were respected members of society. Bob’s grandfather treasured a World War I medal he received for fighting for the Germans. They felt so much a part of that society that they could not imagine that they would become the targets of persecution and systematic murder. Have we fallen into that same trap of complacency and security here? We have assured ourselves that if there were problems where we live, we could always find refuge and safety in Israel. Now Israel is under attack and fighting for its future, and we feel less secure than in recent memory. Some are taking off their kippot or Magen David necklaces in public. Some are even removing mezuzot from their doors. In this week’s Torah portion, Abraham says that in Canaan he feels like a “resident alien.” Are we sometimes made to feel that way here?

These are fraught times. We need to stay strong, support Israel and each other. This is a time to pull together as a community. The community of Women’s League has been tremendous solace to me these past weeks, providing a place to pray together, to share, to hear concerns, to offer each other support, and to organize support for Israel and the Masorti community. Our members have donated generously to causes in Israel and have found other productive ways of showing support. Our recent Sichot Beyn Achayot, Conversations Between Sisters program, and our programs on dealing with trauma and grief could not have been more relevant.

Women's League has just signed on as a sponsor for the March for Israel on November 14th at 1:00 p.m. on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Come join us to show solidarity with the Israeli people, to demand the immediate release of the remaining hostages and to condemn the rise of antisemitism. We will be sending more details about this in the next few days.



In the margin notes of the Shabbat prayer book we use, Lev Shalem, there is a poem by Merle Feld which describes an idealized place where we feel safe and truly at home: a “place where we are respected and cherished, protected, acknowledged, encouraged, heard.” To me, and I hope to many of you, that is Women’s League. In good times and in bad, we offer a true community. 

May this war and this spate of antisemitism end soon, and may we, and all the world, learn to live in peace together. 

Week At A Glance

This week at Women's League:

• Weds. Nov 8 & Fri. Nov 10, 2023 - Join us on Makom B'Yachad on Zoom
• Saturday, Nov 11, 2023 - Read up on WWOT: Parashat Chayyei Sarah
• Voices of Change: A WLCJ Civil Rights Journey registration is OPEN

Are you fluent in Zoom? Can you spotlight a speaker? Start the recording? Set up breakout rooms? Do you know how to let people in from the waiting room? Or would you like to learn more about how to use Zoom’s moderating features? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions we need you!

WLCJ is looking for volunteers to help run Zoom for our Region conferences and Women's League programs. Hours vary and are flexible. Please reach out to Esta Lichtenstein with any questions or to sign up.

Questions?

Esta Z. Lichtenstein

WL Communications Chair

elichtenstein@wlcj.org

Monday, March 11 - Wednesday, March 13, 2024

The Jewish fight for civil rights helped create fundamental changes in this country. Join us as we learn about the brave freedom fighters and tour significant civil rights sites in Georgia and Alabama. Some of those sites include the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and MUCH more! 

These first-hand experiences will allow us to explore issues of race and racism, and the legacy of civil rights. As we travel and reflect together as a Women’s League community, we will personally consider how each of us can make an impact today.

Civil Rights Monday- Wednesday Trip Costs

Price $1200 paid in full at registration

$165 single room supplement

What is included

• All meals from Monday lunch through Wednesday lunch.

• Continental breakfast on your own is included at each hotel.

• All provided group meals are kosher.

• Hotel for Monday and Tuesday nights.

• Ground transportation in an air-conditioned coach bus.

• Admission to all museums and historic sites.

What is not included

• Transportation to and from your home city to Atlanta

• Lodging before or after the trip (information on suggested hotels to follow)

• You must arrive in Atlanta before 10:00 AM on Monday March 11 so we recommend that if you are flying in, you might want to arrive on Sunday in case of any flight delays.

• We will not return to the Atlanta airport until 5:00 PM on Wednesday March 13 so we recommend that you book a flight after 7:00 PM that night or stay an additional night and fly home the following morning.

Space is limited. Please register soon so you don’t miss out.

Registration Deadline

December 1 for Women’s League members.

If there is still space available after December 1, we will then open the registration to family of Women’s League members until December 15. Your payment for the tour and meals is refundable until December 21.

Randy Schwartz

WL Special Projects Chair

rschwartz@wlcj.org

Find more Israel-related Resources on the WLCJ website

We now have a webpage with all the resources collected. Please go to www.wlcj.org and click on the Resources menu and then Israel.

Parashat Chayyei Sarah - November 11, 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. 

Parashat Chayyei Sarah is very apropos for the time we are living in. We read about Abraham finding a final resting place for Sarah, after she dies. Abraham wanted to ensure that his beloved wife was buried properly, a responsibility that we hold sacred until this day. In the past month, our people have seen the deaths of nearly 2,000 people, many of whom may have never thought that they would need a burial plot so soon. This responsibility then fell on others in the community. The responsibility of burial is truly a communal responsibility, as we read stories of funerals where people were concerned that nobody would be in attendance, because the deceased’s family lived outside of Israel, and then hundreds of people actually attended the funeral. Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Ba’Zeh All the people of Israel are responsible for one another.

To register as a Women’s League participant, please select United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism as your synagogue name and enter WLCJ for Synagogue Name (other).

First Class is on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023

7:30 PM ET

Please join us as we begin our educational journey with the Bat Mitzvah Class of 2023-2026. 

Highlights of the Class:

This is a three-year program.

Year One

Living in Jewish Time

Year Two

The Three Pillars of Judaism: God, Torah, and Israel

Year Three

Preparing for your Bat Mitzvah

Sessions will meet on a Thursday night each month over Zoom at

7:30 PM ET / 6:30PM CT / 4:30 PM PT

November 16, 2023

December 21, 2023                  

January 18, 2024

February 15, 2024

March 21, 2024

April 18, 2024

May 16, 2024

June 20, 2024

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

Registration closes November 14, 2023.

There is a one-time fee of $36 for this three-year program.

Special Announcement for our Canadian WLCJ Sisters:

Please enter the discount code: CAN9US$ at the checkout page of the registration page to get the Canadian Dollar equivalent ($27 C$)

Toby B. Holtzman

WL Bat Mitzvah Class Co-Chair

tholtzman@wlcj.org 

Anne Schimberg

WL Bat Mitzvah Class Co-Chair

afkschimberg@gmail.com

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

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

Masorti Olami / Mercaz Olami Grant-Sponsored Program:

Sichot Beyn Achayot - Conversations Between Sisters

Women’s League for Conservative Judaism stands united with our Sisters in Israel. We pray for the safety and security of our Sisters and Brothers in Israel. We send you our prayers and words of strength. Sisters, if you are able, we invite you to join us in our program Sichot beyn Achayot.

Three-Part Series

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 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

Did you miss Session One? Click on the button below to view the recording. Session One: Helping the Stranger: Mitzvot, Motivations and Methods

Sunday, October 22, 2023

Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023

7:30 PM ET

Please join us as we welcome back WL Personal Conversation programming this fall with a two-part series to raise awareness for the inclusion of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

Part 1: A discussion with Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe

Rabbi Dubowe is the first female deaf Rabbi to be ordained in the world.

Get to know Rabbi Dubowe as she shares her incredible and inspiring life's journey to the pulpit.

Part 2 is scheduled for February 29, 2024. Save-the-Date as we continue the conversation to raise awareness.

Grace Schessler

Personal Conversations Co-Chair

gschessler@wlcj.org

Jani Majewski

Personal Conversations Co-Chair

artique40@aol.com

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

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

Now that we are past the Tishrei holiday period, we plan to provide programming articles for WL Week twice monthly from now on.

Jill Tomar

jill.tomar@gmail.com

Toby Maser

tmaser@wlcj.org

We would like to introduce two art programs presented by a Sisterhood member from Germantown Jewish Centre in Philadelphia. Her name is Mindy Shapiro and the programs are The Art of Jewish papercutting and Mussar and Zentangle...

Mindy Shapiro, MA, is a Jewish papercutting, Zentangle®, and book artist whose groundbreaking creativity, intricate designs, and use of color distinguish her as an artist. She is also a longtime Jewish communal professional with more than 35 years of experience. Mindy was the founding director of Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing!, a program of Moving Traditions...

COMMUNITY LEARNING

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

Philosophy, Art and History

EVENTS &

LEARNING

Honoring Educators, Conservative Movement Convening, and Fall Learning

ONLINE JEWISH LEARNING

Classic Jew-ish Recipes Revamped for Every Day

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 5784 Calendar Diaries

Pocket Size = $11.00

Planner Size = $26.00



You may now order bulk quantities online. 

WLCJ Convention 2023 Resources, please click on the image:

To learn more about these opportunities,

Naomi Graetz taught English at Ben Gurion University of the Negev for 35 years. She is the author of Forty Years of Being a Feminist Jew (2018), Unlocking the Garden: A Feminist Jewish Look at the Bible, Midrash and God (Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2005), The Rabbi’s Wife Plays at Murder (Beersheva: Shiluv Press, 2004), S/He Created Them: Feminist Retellings of Biblical Stories (1993; 2003), and Silence is Deadly: Judaism Confronts Wifebeating (1998). Her book Silence is Deadly has been translated into Hebrew and will be published by Carmel Press in 2024. She teaches a variety of courses on zoom to an international audience and is a regular blogger for the Times of Israel.

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