(Alyssa Agard worked as Manager of WRJ's Service to Sisterhoods and Districts until August of this year, when she relocated to Houston, TX.)

There are so many ways you can illustrate the importance of sisterhood. Being a member of a WRJ sisterhood means that wherever you are, you are never far away from a fellow sisterhood member. Although I have yet to join a sisterhood, I have already experienced the benefits first-hand.

I was feeling like the clichéd "stranger in a strange land" after having moved from New York to Houston a few months ago. With no friends or family around, and with the high holidays fast approaching, the transition was especially hard on me. 

So it was especially touching when Linda Zoll, a WRJ board member reached out and offered a warm welcome along with an invitation for lunch and a tour of some of the Jewish spots in the city. An invitation was extended to break the fast with her family and she went out of her way to get tickets for my husband and me to attend high holiday services at her synagogue. Linda made me feel welcomed and helped me feel a part of the community - to me that is what sisterhoods are all about. It excites me to think that I may someday be part of this organization in a different role that I once was.

It really takes an experience like the one I had to truly feel the power of sisterhood. Some women join sisterhoods for the social aspect; others to participate in community service programming. I know that I will join a sisterhood at some point for the social aspect and to give back to the community, but also so I can do what was so kindly done for me. I hope to someday make a woman feel like part of the community and not like a stranger in a strange land, whether or not she is new to the community.