Chai Lines
International Northeast Region
Women's League
for Conservative Judaism
Networking to Engage, Enrich and Empower
Conservative Jewish Women
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April 18, 2019 Volume 3, Issue 22
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Showing Solidarity with New Zealand
Last Shabbat I attended services at Beth David, Toronto, and was very moved by what their Rabbi Philip Scheim said about what he had done on Friday. He took about 30 people from Beth David, along with some from Adath Israel and Kol Ami Temple(Reform) to go to a mosque in Toronto to show solidarity for the massacre that occurred in New Zealand. It's called "Ring of Peace" and when the tragedy in Pittsburgh occurred, the Muslim community came to synagogues around the city. The idea is to form a ring around the building or 2 rows through which the congregants walk after services and greet each other. However, last Friday was so cold that the Imam invited the group with Rabbi Scheim into the mosque. Rabbi Scheim had prepared some words to say to the congregation but he was overwhelmed when he he learned he was speaking to 5000 people!!
Marilyn Cohen
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Congregation Or Shalom Women's League Sisterhood's newest exciting project
Respectfully submitted by Debbie Rosenzweig
from The Oracle, Toronto JCC magazine
In July, I fell in love with the smiling face of an infant sporting a pair of sleepers that were designed perfectly to allow for the intravenous wires needed for her treatment as they (her sleepers) had snaps along the sides instead of a zipper up the front. This totally touched my heart and knowing that there was something I could do to get involved, on behalf of our Sisterhood, I contacted The Children's Health Foundation (It's All About the Kids), the fundraising organization for The Children's Hospital of The London Health Sciences Centre, The Thames Valley Children's Centre and The Children's Health Research Institute, who confirmed that not only were they looking for new sleepers but for receiving blankets, toys for infants and books and games for teens. I thought this was a wonderful mitzvah and a great way to support our children by joining with The Children's Health Foundation in this project and at the same time, raising the profile of Congregation Or Shalom Women's League Sisterhood!
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FROM WOMEN'S NETWORK, SCHENECTADY
Hillary Fink and Women's Network of Agudat Achim, Schenectady, NY, developed the "first stage" of the family play area located in the lobby outside the congregation's sanctuary. There is a basket of toys and books stored in the tallit closet. All hope this area will help to make Shabbat mornings meaningful and enjoyable for your families.
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MORE GOOD NEWS WANTED
Toot your own horn.
Tell us what is going on in your Sisterhood.
Tell us what is successful in your Sisterhood.
Email Lois Silverman, Chai Line editor, at
and she'll share your news.
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FROM THE PRESIDENT--JOAN LOWENSTEIN
Where can you be at home and learn from some of the most outstanding educators? On April 9th I had the opportunity to take part in
"Mishnah Berakhot, Introduction to
Mishnah" with Rabbi Amy Levin. Women's League hit it out of the park with this one! I found the learning session so informative and stimulating. If you did not take part in this educational opportunity you can find the recording of the session on the Women's League Website. You can watch the Zoom and download Rabbi Levin's keynote presentation from the main WLCJ site here:
http://wlcj.org/18-month-study-of-mishnah-berakhot-with-wlcj/
I so look forward to the next installment, "Chapter One: Shema--Listen" with Rabbi Gail Labovitz on Monday, May 13, at 8:00 p.m., Eastern time. Individual and sisterhood members can register for this session
here! I hope that you take advantage of this and all that Women's League has to offer.
Although we partake in the ritual of the Pesach Seder each year, this too can be an opportunity for learning. Whether it be something you never before noticed in the
Haggadah, or something new discussed at your Seder table, there are opportunities for learning all around us. This year I have the good fortune to be invited out for both Seders. I look forward to participating in this ritual as observed by friends to see if I can learn something new.
I wish for you all a peaceful and meaningful Shabbat, and a
Zissen Pesach!
Chag Sameach,
Joan
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ANNOUNCING WLCJ'S JEWELS IN THE CROWN AWARDS
The Women's League for Conservative Judaism's
Jewels in the Crown Award
was established ten years ago, in 2009, in order to recognize our sisterhoods who have demonstrated excellence in education, cultural programming, and social action, and who exhibit a strong Women's League identity. There were more than 215 total sisterhood recipients at the 2014 and 2017 Women's League Conventions. These sisterhoods offered hundreds of interesting and successful programs that reflected a wide diversity of subjects, issues, social action projects, celebrations, and personal enrichment activities. Learn more about the program at
http://wlcj.org/2014/07/jewels-in-the-crown-awards/
.
Now is the time to start collecting your programs to be submitted for Jewels in the Crown Awards for the 2020 Women's League Convention. Please appoint a sisterhood member to be responsible for completing and submitting the application to us. We will be looking at your programs from September 2017 until June 30, 2020.
Download the 2020 Jewels in the Crown application here!
Each Sisterhood must be current with their 2019 and 2020 per capita, and must participate in Torah Fund in order to be eligible to participate in Jewels in the Crown.
Become a shining jewel in the Women's League crown! Please share this letter with your current executive committee and feel free to contact us with any questions.
B'shalom,
Meryl Balaban (mbalaban@wlcj.org)
Madeleine Gimbel (maddy_gimbel@yahoo.com)
Convention 2020 Jewels in the Crown Co-Chairs
Margie Miller (mmiller@wlcj.org)
WLCJ President
Sisters Journeying Together
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FROM WOMEN'S LEAGUE FOR
CONSERVATIVE
JUDAISM
Networking to engage,
enrich and empower
Conservative Jewish Women
Shabbat Message:
"Passover: A Jewish Spiritual Journey"
By Linda Klempner
WLCJ MetroNorth Region President
 Passover is the pilgrimage festival that falls in Nisan. Passover is a time of renewal and cleaning up. It can also be a time of reawakening. Passover is a time in which one can renew not only the physical, but the spiritual. Passover is the time the Israelites were freed from bondage when they left Egypt. Traditionally, at Passover, people clean their houses to remove all the hametz and symbiotically free themselves from the bondage caused by the cares of their lives.
There were women in Jewish life who held positions of respect since biblical times. For example, Miriam is considered one of the liberators of the people of Israel, along with her brothers Moses and Aaron. Deborah was one of the judges of the Israelites. Seven of the 55 prophets of the Bible were women. Within the last two generations, the role of women has expanded both in American society and Jewish culture. It can be said that, like the Israelites, women of today have freed themselves from bondage.
The traditional Passover Seder has evolved to include thousands of Jewish women celebrating the Passover holiday every year with a Woman's Seder. This is an evening of ceremony and remembrance led by women singing songs and praises, and reciting special prayers. The timing of the Women's Seder (most frequently before Passover, or on a night during Passover other than the first two evenings) suggests its singular position in Jewish ritual life. Attendance at a Women's Seder serves to add a feminist, women-centered dimension to the observance of the universal Jewish holiday of Passover. Some say that women have become fully integrated as equals into all aspects of Jewish life, both religious and secular. If that is true, one could ask if it is necessary to have a separate women's gathering for this Jewish celebration.
To answer this question, we are obligated to read about the very beginnings of Jewish life, up until and including the story of the Exodus. This biblical story of slavery and redemption is filled with stories of courageous women playing key roles in the saving and liberation of the Jewish people:
- The midwives defying Pharaoh's orders and helping male Hebrew babies live.
- Miriam, Moses' sister, first ensuring that her parents would reunite and produce her people's human redeemer, then connecting Pharaoh's daughter with a nursemaid (Yocheved, who was the mother of Aaron, Miriam, and Moses) for the baby.
- Pharaoh's daughter adopting the baby she saves from the river Nile (did she know he was an Israelite?)
To read the biblical story of the Exodus is to understand Passover as, among other things, a celebration of women's heroism. But, in the traditional Haggadah, women are missing. While Moses is absent, as well, there are many references to human beings throughout the Haggadah, but only men and boys are referred to. Women and girls remain invisible. The Passover story is about freedom from oppression, from the expectation that one group of people will obey others unquestionably. It is a story of liberation.
Women's Seders have had an impact on the parameters of the seder experience as a whole. There is a current generation of children who would be confused if there was no Miriam cup filled with water (a symbol of redemption and possibility) present on the Seder table. In addition, in many homes, there is the placement of an orange on the seder plate to represent the importance of women's full inclusion in Judaism.
Today, unlike generations ago, there are many feminist readings and interpretations available for every element of the Haggadah and the Seder meal. Many family Seders benefit from the rich resources that have emerged from readings prepared for Women's Seders and the wider Jewish feminist engagement with Passover. Women's Seders have helped to infuse Seders with a focus on women, as well as men, but with a feminist voice.
The 21st century women in the Conservative movement of Judaism lead congregations as rabbis, cantors, and synagogue presidents. Still, Women's Seders multiply, and their guest lists grow. On March 28, 2019 (21 Adar ll 5779), I attended a Women's Seder hosted by Sutton Place Synagogue in New York City with 120 women and four synagogues participating. The participating clergy were women: Rabbi Rachel Ain, Rabbi Lisa Gelber, Cantor Shiree Kidron and Cantor Shayna Postman. Debbie Friedman's music is an integral part of any Woman's Seder and Sutton Place Synagogue was no different. Women took a break from the meal and headed for the dance floor joining hands as they circled the room dancing to "Miriam's Song." With song, with ritual, with story and prayer we came together for the eighth year to celebrate women. In fact, in my regi
on, MetroNorth, there were three Women's Seder's this year!
The Seder, in a sense, represents our accumulated Jewish spiritual journey. The Seder is the great bond of our tradition as we, as a people, once again engage in our yearly journey from degradation to glory: the process of renewal, the process of regeneration, the process of redemption. The Seder represents the story of our current life and points to the shining conclusion that it is yet unfolding for us and our people as we progress in our journey through life. The Haggadah compresses time and space so as to distill and preserve the accumulated Jewish experience of centuries and enables us to relive it yearly.
Wishing you and your loved ones a joyous Passover!
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WWOT - Weekly Words of Torah for Passover
To inspire, guide, engage, enrich, and empower Conservative Jewish Women
By Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, Executive Director, Women's League For Conservative Judaism
In our Torah reading for the First Day of Passover, from the book of Exodus
, we read about Moses instructing the elders of Israel in all of the laws of Passover. All generations to come are expected to observe the Passover traditions. In addition, the children of succeeding generations are to be instructed at Passover as to the origin and significance of the festival, thus the Haggadah and the Passover Seder. The Torah reading concludes with the last of the 10 Plagues: the slaying of the Egyptian firstborn. Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron and tells them that he wants them out of Egypt as soon as possible. Moses and Aaron comply, and the children of Israel begin to make a quick exit, not allowing time for their bread to rise, hence our eating Matzah.
Order Your 2019-2020/5780 Calendar Diary TODAY!
The next edition of our Women's League Calendar Diary is now available for individual orders!
5780 Calendar Diary features:
- Shabbat and holiday listings
- Candle lighting times in cities in the United States, Canada, and Israel
- Prayers and berakhot
- Locations of sisterhoods in North America and Kehillot in Israel
- Original writing and artwork from our sisterhood members
- Chesed project ideas from Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields
Introduction to Mishnah Berakhot
Chapter One: Shema - Listen with Rabbi Gail Labovitz
Looking for ways to immerse yourself in Jewish study and text? Women's League for Conservative Judaism has just started a new program to enhance, enrich, and engage our Conservative Jewish Women in the 21st Century:
The next session will be
Chapter One: Shema - Listen with Rabbi Gail Labovitz
on
Monday, May 13, at 8:00 p.m., Eastern time.
Call-in information will be sent upon regi
stering - Please refrain from joining the call until
FIFTEEN MINUTES
before the session.
This program is open to REGISTERED individual Women's League and sisterhood members ONLY.
Make sure to register for all individual sessions in order to take the full course.
 Rabbi Gail Labovitz is Professor of Rabbinic Literature and former Chair of the Department of Rabbinics for the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. She was ordained as a Conservative rabbi in 1992, and earned her doctorate in Talmud and Rabbinics in 2002, both at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York. Prior to joining the faculty at AJU and ZSRS in 2003, she taught at JTS and the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, and served as the Senior Research Analyst in Judaism for the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project at Brandeis University, and as the Coordinator for the Jewish Women's Research Group, a project of the Women's Studies Program at JTS. She is the author of Marriage and Metaphor: Constructions of Gender in Rabbinic Literature, and numerous articles, chapters, and reviews; her volume on Tractate Mo'edQatan for the Feminist Commentary on the Babylonian Talmud is forthcoming. Her teaching specialties include rabbinic literature, Jewish law, and gender theory.
Videos from Rabbi Amy Levin's sessions are now available on YouTube for our members!
You can also log into the Members Only section of www.wlcj.org, and open the document in the Mishnah Berakhot folder for links to all YouTube videos - the document will be updated after each session.
Thank You for Your Contributions!
The following have donated recently to Women's League and its many initiatives. All contributions are welcome -
Donate here or send checks to Women's League made out to "Women's League for Conservative Judaism."
Please indicate the name of the program you are donating to in the memo line of the check (i.e. "Masorti").
Masorti WL Days of Study
Temple Beth Or/Beth Torah Sisterhood, Clark, NJ
Women's League for Conservative Judaism congratulates the Rabbinical Assembly, the international association of Conservative/Masorti movement rabbis, on its selection of Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal of Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg, MD as its new Chief Executive. In addition, the RA also announced that its Director of Operations Rabbi Ashira Konigsburg would be elevated to Chief Operating Officer.
Read the full press release here!
Save the Date!
WLCJ Convention 2020
Sisters Journeying Together
Sunday, July 12 - Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Hyatt Regency Schaumburg in Schaumburg, Illinois
(Suburban Chicago)
We look forward to seeing you there!
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NEED HELP?
HELP IS AVAILABLE ON THE WLCJ WEBSITE.
Programs, membership ideas, education material, and more available at wlcj.org
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