December 14, 2009

 

 

WRJ's Winter 2009 newsletter can be found online here

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September 16, 2009

 

WRJ's Fall 2009 newsletter can be found online here.

 

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June 14, 2009

 

WRJ's Summer 2009 newsletter can be found online here.

 

 

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May 7, 2009

 

At the recent Consultation on Conscience, WRJ President Rosanne Selfon presented Rabbi David Saperstein with a gift for the Religious Action Center’s Legislative Assistant Program.

 

 

 

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February 3, 2009

The Torah: A Women’s Commentary Receives the National Jewish Book Award -
Groundbreaking volume provides women a voice in commentary

 

When the 58th annual Jewish Book Awards ceremony is held on March 5th, the top prize, the Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year award, will be given to the groundbreaking The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. 

Published by WRJ and its partner, the URJ Press, the publication, edited by Dr. Tamara Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, is the result of fourteen years of work by more than 100 women theologians, historians, sociologists, scholars, anthropologists, poets, rabbis, and cantors from the United States, Canada, Israel and South America.

 

For more information about the Torah Commentary and to order, please click here.

 

For information about WRJ's new study program, based on the commentary, please click here.

 

 

 

 

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December 2008

 

Mitzvah Corps and Women of Reform Judaism: Healing the World Together

A report from Mitzvah Corps 2008

 

Mitzvah Corps combines the best of Reform Judaism: teens taking action to heal the world and a love for Jewish learning. Women of Reform Judaism’s support of this program through generous grants from the YES Fund (Youth, Education and Special Projects) have made it possible for more than a hundred teens a summer to tackle the most pressing social issues that are haunting North American cities.  Hands-on involvement in at-risk-communities mixed with teenage energy for social justice makes this a one of kind program. In the coming year, the YES Fund will make it possible for even more Reform Jewish teens to make an impact on the world and lives of the people they touch. Most importantly the YES Fund will help many more Reform Jewish teens take part in a life changing experience for themselves, as well. The collective power of the Women of Reform Judaism combined with the energy of Reform Jewish youth will change the world for the good.

 

Report on the summer of 2008:

Women of Reform Judaism through the YES Fund were vital to the success of the summer of 2008. Mitzvah Corps ran five different sites in the summer of 2008 including Bay Area Mitzvah Corps in San Francisco, Mitzvah Corps Canada, Mitzvah Corp of the South in New Orleans, Urban Mitzvah Corps in New Brunswick, New Jersey and a major Mitzvah Corps track that allows teens to work with participants with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the URJ Kutz Camp for Reform Jewish Teens. There were over 100 participants in all of the Mitzvah Corps programs that volunteered their summers to working in camps for low-income children, Jewish Homes for the Aged, a day camp for children with physical and mental disabilities, rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, soup kitchens and various other projects. WRJ’s support enabled the program attendees to visit museums and sporting events as well as participate in events such as the AIDS walk, a trip to the California State Capitol and Washington D.C. to understand social justice in politics.  The results were energized Reform Jewish teens that have an understanding and responsibility for Tikkun Olam.

 

Testimonials from Mitzvah Corps 2008 Participants:

• It was an awesome experience I would definitely suggest to others.
• I want to come back next year.
• I LOVED this summer!
• Loved it and love New Orleans. It also helped having someone from New Orleans able to show us around. I really got the vibe.
• I came here very unenthusiastic and just wanted to survive, but as I write this, I do not want to go home. The people I met and grew to genuinely love made this the best summer of my life. I will truly miss my new best friends.
• This was the most amazing experience of my life. I have never had so much fun and I have never accomplished so much while having a blast. I met people who I know I will be friends will for the rest of my life! The work was difficult but knowing that I helped someone in some way was the greatest satisfaction I could ever ask for. I am proud to say that Mitzvah Corps of the South has changed my life for the better.
• It was a fun and amazing experience. I was able to do things here I could not do at home.

 

 

 

 

 

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Winter 2008

TO SIGN UP FOR THE WRJ NEWSLETTER, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

 

 

The Shavah-Mofet class-wide B'nai mitzvah ceremony held at Beit Daniel (June 2008).

 

WRJ Grants at Work: Beit Daniel

 

Women of Reform Judaism acts on its mission statement to support the ideals and enhance the quality of contemporary Jewish living to ensure the future of progressive Judaism in North America, Israel and around the world, in many ways. One of those is through its YES Fund (Youth, Education, and Special Projects) grants program.

Beit Daniel, the Center for Progressive Judaism in Tel Aviv-Jaffa Israel is one of WRJ's grant recipients. The Center's education department is working with approximately thirty schools whose students participate in a "class-wide" b'nai mitzvah program.  Through this program, students, primarily those who are immigrants or the children of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union, are given the opportunity to strengthen their ties to their Israeli and Jewish identities.

Shevach Mofet High School in Tel Aviv, for instance, is one of the largest "Russian" schools. Ninety percent of the students there are either first or second generation immigrants from the FSU, live in low income families, and typically...

 

To read the rest of the article, please click here.

 

 

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A New Way In To Torah Study

(Rabbi Hara Person served as managing editor for The Torah: A Women's Commentary)

 
A year ago at this time, we were eagerly awaiting the finished copies of The Torah: A Women's Commentary.  The first books were being bound at the printer near Albany, and those of us who had worked on it were following every step of the printing process with bated breath. On December 7th, a finished book arrived FedEx overnight at my house. The next morning was my son's bar mitzvah, and I presented it to him on the bima, telling him that he was the first bar or bat mitzvah ever to receive the book, but that we hoped there would be many more after him.

 

Two days later, I boarded a plane and flew to San Diego, where boxes of the book arrived in time to unpack, stack up, and debut for the WRJ assembly and Union for Reform Judaism biennial. Even a year later, it still feels exhilarating to have been part of history in this way. I have worked on many books in my career, and I have loved them all the way a mother loves all her children. But no book has ever felt groundbreaking in quite the same way. For though there have been some wonderful books of Torah commentary written by individual Jewish women in the last fifty years, there has never been a book of Torah commentary by Jewish women that is this comprehensive and inclusive. There has never before been a Torah commentary that includes the work of the most renowned Jewish women scholars, clergy, and thinkers from around the world, as well as the poetry of Jewish women, and that weaves it all together, along with the actual Torah text, into a cohesive and creative whole.

To read the rest of Rabbi Person's article, please click here.

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The Meaning of Sisterhood: A Personal Report

 

(Alyssa Agard worked as Manager of WRJ's Department of 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. Sometimes, even when you're not a member, you can experience 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 ..

 

To read more, please click here.

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WRJ/Lilith Salons: A New Way to Explore Sisterhood

Two years ago, Women of Reform Judaism introduced a new program for our sisterhoods: WRJ/Lilith Salons. More free-flowing than a book club, not as spiritual as a Rosh Chodesh group, and more intimate than a lecture, these salons offer a gathering place for a small group of women to for an evening or afternoon of good talk, refreshments, and renewed energy.

The salons usually consist of eight or more sisterhood women who get together in homes four times a year to discuss stimulating articles from Lilith Magazine. WRJ provides leaders - other sisterhood members - with guidelines and trigger questions from the latest issue of Lilith to start the salon discussions, but the conversation moves in whatever direction participants take it. Topics are varied and wide ranging; articles have dealt with reproductive rights, interracial families, interfaith marriage, and new rituals for Jewish weddings.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

 

For more information or to begin a WRJ/Lilith Salon, contact Carolyn Kunin at CKunin@urj.org.

 

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2008 District Convention Recap

 

Six WRJ district conventions recently were held around North America. 

 

To read about the exciting programs and view photos of all the fun, click here.

 

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5769 Chanukah Cards

 

It's not too late to order WRJ's newest Chanukah card by our 5769 calendar artist Jeane Vogel. Blank inside.

 

To order please click here. 

 

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TO SIGN UP FOR THE WRJ NEWSLETTER, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

 

 

Fall 2008

Hello WRJ Friends!

Welcome to the debut of the newest WRJ communication: the WRJ e-newsletter.

As you read this, and hopefully share it with others, we're taking another 
step in WRJ's history through Internet communication. Surely our founding 
matriarchs in 1913 never imagined the technological world we live in today. 
Using the Internet wisely can engage those who know WRJ intimately, more 
than 500 North American affiliated sisterhoods, as well as those who 
want to learn about our
organization.

Each e-newsletter will highlight the important work of WRJ. From features 
on our YES Fund (Youth, Education, and Special Projects) grant recipients 
located throughout the world, interviews with WRJ Scholars at Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and information on recent advocacy 
actions taken on behalf of our 70,000 members, to time-sensitive information 
regarding upcoming WRJ and district events, we hope that this newsletter will 
inform you and encourage you to find your own methods of participation.

As we develop this e-newsletter, we'll be looking forward to hearing from you. 
Our professional staff and lay leaders want to hear your opinions. Let us know 
if this new communication enables you to share both your local sisterhood and 
WRJ stories. Our goal is to provide information about the dynamic world 
of WRJ and the world of Reform Judaism.

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5769 Calendar and Cards Now on Sale
[http://www.womenofreformjudaism.org/5769artcalendar]


The calendar and cards feature the expressive work of award-winning
fine art and portrait photographer Jeane Vogel, who strives to see

past the concrete in order to extract the fundamental nature of the
moment - and hopes to mend at least one small tear in the world.

To view and order cards and calendars, please visit our catalog  
here. 

----------------------------------------------

Leadership Conference

Sisterhood members and leaders are invited to meet in New Orleans from 
January 23-25, 2009.

The conference is open to all WRJ members and is an excellent
opportunity for current sisterhood and district officers and
up-and-coming leaders to bond, share, and learn together.

More information can be found here.

----------------------------------------------

Order The Torah: A Women's Commentary

Read more about this ground-breaking commentary and order it here.

---------------------------------------------- 

WRJ Honored by the World Union for Progressive Judaism

On Sunday, September 14th, Women of Reform Judaism was privileged to
become the first organization ever to receive the World Union for
Progressive Judaism International Humanitarian Award. Founded in 1926,
the World Union is the umbrella organization of Reform and other liberal
Jewish movements worldwide, serving 1,200 congregations with 1.7 million
members in 42 countries.

Women of Reform Judaism was honored for its continued support of
Reform and Progressive Judaism around the world through the YES Fund
(Youth, Education, and Special Projects).  WRJ has been a steadfast
partner of the World Union for more than eighty years, supporting such
projects as the building of the World Education Center in Jerusalem;
the WRJ Music Library at the School for Cantorial Arts at Abraham
Geiger Kolleg in Potsdam, Germany; the building of an elementary
school at Kehillat YOZMA in Modiin, Israel; funding for an early
childhood education curriculum for Jewish children in Russia; and
many, many, more. 

WRJ has also financially supported rabbinical students at overseas
seminaries who will return or initiate a liberal congregation in their
home communities in Central Europe, the former Soviet Union, Australia,
South Africa, Argentina, and England.

Rosanne Selfon, president of Women of Reform Judaism, and Shelley Lindauer, 
executive director, accepted the award presented by Rabbi Eric Yoffie, 
president of the Union for Reform Judaism.  Rosanne acknowledged the 
75,000 women in sisterhoods around North American whose combined 
contributions to the YES Fund enable the support of these wonderful projects.

WRJ was honored along with Rabbi David M. Posner, the senior rabbi of
Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York, who was recognize for
his personal dedication and congregational leadership in generously
supporting World Union programs and the development of Reform Judaism
in Israel.

Rabbi David Saperstein, the director of the Religious Action Center 
delivered the keynote address at the dinner, which was
attended by 400 people.

Rabbi Yoffie's remarks can be read here.
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WRJ Announces Study Guide for The Torah: A Women's Commentary

"The more Torah, the more life."
- Hillel

Since the publication in December of The Torah: A Women's Commentary,
Women of Reform Judaism, along with the Commentary Editors, Dr. Tamara
Eskenazi, Dr. Rabbi Andrea Weiss, and Rabbi Hara Person, have been
working to provide a study program to accompany this historic work.

We're happy to announce that we will be able to offer these materials
to enhance the experience of Torah study for all participants - men and
women alike. 

Users will be able to download both "How To" and "Study" guides for a
chosen Shabbat each month (see schedule below), to be used in a
sisterhood or congregation study group, or individually as you choose.
Parashat Noach is now available here.

Once registered, users will have complete access to all the study
materials as they are posted on the WRJ website. 
 
Nov. 1- Noach
Dec. 6-Vayeitzei
Jan. 3- Vayigash
Feb 7-B'Shalach
Mar 7- T'zaveh
Apr. 4-Tzav
May 2-Acharei Mot/K'doshim
June 6-Naso
July 11- Pinchas
Aug 1- Va-et'chanan
September 12- Nitzavim/Vayeilech
October 17-B'reishit
 
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Saltz Seminar - March 15-19, 2009

Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience Israel
with the women of WRJ.

- Spend a relaxing day at the renowned Carmel Forest Spa

- Meet with women officers at Tsrifin Army Base

- Tour Jerusalem through the Psalms and other texts

- Study Talmud and Torah

- See places of religious and historic significance

- Hear from prominent Progressive Jewish thinkers

- Travel with Reform Jewish women from around the world

The seminar immediately precedes the World Union of Progressive
Judaism conference in Jerusalem. Join WRJ as we once again hope to
send the largest single delegation to the World Union convention.

For registration information and a preliminary agenda, please click 
here.

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District Convention Dates

September 6 - 8, 2008
Southwest Interim
Overland Park, KS

October 24 - 26, 2008
Atlantic District Convention
Morristown, NJ

November 6 - 9, 2008

Southeast District Convention
Charleston, SC

Pacific District Convention 
Seattle, WA

Midwest District Convention
Milwaukee, WI

Central District Convention
Louisville, KY

November 14-16, 2008

Northeast District Convention
Springfield, MA

For more WRJ programs and events, please visit our program and events
page here.

----------------------------------------------
  
Women of Reform Judaism, an affiliate of the Union for Reform Judaism,
is the collective voice and presence of women in congregational life. 
Stronger together, we support the ideals and enhance the quality of
Jewish living to ensure the future of progressive Judaism in North
America, Israel, and around the world.

----------------------------------------------
Women of Reform Judaism
633 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-650-4050
Fax: 212-650-4059
E-mail:   [mailto:] wrj@urj.org
[http://www.womeonofreformjudaism.org]
www.WomenofReformJudaism.org

Copyright © Women of Reform Judaism 2008

TO SIGN UP FOR THE WRJ NEWSLETTER, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

 

 

 

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September 15, 2008

 

WRJ Honored by the World Union for Progressive Judaism

 

 

On Sunday, September 14th, Women of Reform Judaism was privileged to become the first organization ever to receive the World Union for Progressive Judaism International Humanitarian Award. Founded in 1926, the World Union is the umbrella organization of Reform and other liberal Jewish movements worldwide, serving 1,200 congregations with 1.7 million members in 42 countries.

 

 

WRJ has also financially supported rabbinical students at overseas seminaries who will return or initiate a liberal congregation in their home communities in Central Europe, the former Soviet Union, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, and England.

 

Rosanne Selfon, president of Women of Reform Judaism, and Shelley Lindauer, executive director, accepted the award presented by Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism.  Rosanne acknowledged the 75,000 women in sisterhoods around North American whose combined contributions to the YES Fund enable the support of these wonderful projects.

 

WRJ was honored along with Rabbi David M. Posner, the senior rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York, who was recognize for his personal dedication and congregational leadership in generously supporting World Union programs and the development of Reform Judaism in Israel.

 

Rabbi David Saperstein, the director of the Religious Action Center delivered the keynote address at the dinner, which was attended by 400 people.

 

Rabbi Yoffie's remarks can be read here

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The Torah: A Women's Commentary

 

The publication of The Torah: A Women's Commentary in December 2007 at WRJ's 46th assembly was a much-anticipated and moving event. To read reviews and articles about the commentary as they come in, please click here

.

 

 

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April 30, 2008

 

WRJ is also proud to announce that we're being honored at the World Union for Progressive Judaism's International Humanitarian Awards Dinner on September 14. In its text, the World Union states "Women of Reform Judaism has proudly supported the World Union since its inception in 1927, both in terms of program and through an annual block grant. Throughout these years, Women of Reform Judaism has helped to educate overseas rabbinic students returning to build Progressive communities in the former Soviet Union, France, Australia, Germany, England, Israel, and Argentina. In addition, WRJ has bestowed grants for projects to sustain Reform/Progressive communities around the world."

 

Also receiving an award is Rabbi David Posner, senior rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York.

 

 

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April 23, 2008

 

We're happy to announce that, at the upcoming ARZA (Association of Reform Zionists of America) National Assembly in May, WRJ will receive the Gittelsohn Award for "outstanding commitments to Israel engagement and Reform Zionism".

 

In a letter to WRJ leadership, Rabbi Stanley M. Davids, president of ARZA wrote: "our the years, WRJ has consistently been in the vanguard of those striving to help Israel become the democratic, pluralistic, Jewish state of which we all dream, and has, through its support of educational, communal, and tikkun olam projects of the IMPJ, contributed immensely to the building of an Israeli society based on the value of Reform Judaism. It is a true honor for ARZA to be able officially to recognize and celebrate these ongoing efforts."

 

 

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Report - Trip to Abraham Geiger College

March 2008

Lynn Magid Lazar, WRJ first vice president

 

 

 

Guten Tag! That’s how to say good day in Germany – which is where Shelley Lindauer and I had the opportunity to represent WRJ last week.

 

We were greeted at the airport by one of our overseas rabbinic students. We attended the theater and the Berlin Philharmonic. We had afternoon tea with Prince Hassan of Jordan and dinner with his wife, Princess Sarvath el Hassan. We had a wonderful luncheon with nearly thirty German and Polish women rabbis, educators, businesswomen, and journalists. And we attended a gala celebration at the Embassy of Bavaria where we were seated in the second row and acknowledged by name from the podium!

 

I tell you all of this in order to impress you! Not to impress you with our activities, but to impress you with the depth, breadth, and importance of the work of Women of Reform Judaism.

 

Let me explain!

 

Our executive director, Shelley Lindauer and I, spent most of last week in Berlin, Germany representing WRJ as honored guests of Abraham Geiger College. This institution is the Progressive Jewish seminary that trains rabbis for European communities and in 2006 ordained the first rabbis in Eastern Europe since the Holocaust. Many of you who attended our amazing YES Fund event at assembly in San Diego will remember Rabbi Walter Homolka, who received the donated Torah from Congregation Shaarai Shomayim in Lancaster, PA. Rabbi Homolka is the director of Abraham Geiger College and a former recipient of a WRJ scholarship. What a wonderful partnership we have with Geiger College, Rabbi Homolka, and our German sisters and brothers.

 

When Shelley and I arrived in Berlin, we were greeted by one of our scholarship recipients, current rabbinic student Adrian Schell. He is a delightful young man and will become a wonderful rabbi serving a Progressive congregation in Germany. Our hotel was in what many of us remember as West Berlin. There are few reminders of the division, and the Berlin Wall came down nearly twenty years ago, nonetheless Berliners still refer to the two sides of the city as West Berlin and East Berlin. We were able to visit the Brandenburg Gate, see the area that was referred to as “No Man’s Land” (although it is now filled with beautiful commercial buildings and businesses) and visit the remaining section of the wall that has been left standing. We also have a photograph of ourselves at Checkpoint Charlie!

 

We saw many reminders of World War II and the Shoah. We visited a train station in Berlin where more than fifty thousand Jews were deported to concentration camps. There is a memorial at this site depicting the dates, numbers of citizens, and the camp to which they were deported. A giant stone wall with hollow indentations the size of human beings chillingly represents the thousands of men, women, and children who simply disappeared. Another area of the city is home to a two square block outdoor Holocaust Memorial. It is incredibly powerful with its stark concrete block forms, narrow pathways, and absence of writings, descriptions, or explanations. One’s mind is left to imagine and remember. There are many more reminders of the painful and tragic history of this city and country. As one walks along sidewalks in residential areas, one may “trip over” small square gold stones in the pavement. They were installed by an artist and named “Stumble Stones”. On each stone is the name and information about a Jewish person who previously lived in the building adjacent to that stone. In another neighborhood, a community project installed signs on many of the lamp posts. On one side of the sign might be a picture of a telephone – and on the other side is the date and the text of a law enacted in 1940 that states that Jews were no longer allowed to use public telephones. Yet another area of the city is home to a large Jewish Museum. These are very powerful reminders of the Jewish history of Germany.

 

I hope that as you read this you have some of the same reactions that we did. At first the memories are painful and haunting, and yet it is astounding and wonderful that the German government and the German people are acknowledging their history. Citizens in the year 2008 have many and varied reminders and tributes to the millions of German citizens who were lost.

 

Today, however, the Jewish communities of Germany and especially Berlin are incredibly vibrant and growing. Abraham Geiger College currently has sixteen rabbinic students. As you know, in 2006 they ordained three rabbis – the first rabbis ordained in Germany since the Holocaust. Two of those rabbis were WRJ scholarship recipients. With the addition of the new Cantorial School and the WRJ Music Library funded by our YES Fund donations, the College will be able to grow and enhance the professional leadership of Progressive Judaism in Europe.

 

Rabbi Homolka organized a wonderful luncheon for Shelley and me to meet with German and Polish women who are leaders and activists in the Jewish communities. We shared our interests and roles in our respective groups and exchanged names and e-mails. We also brought regards from our president, Rosanne Selfon, who was at home awaiting the birth of her newest grandchild! It is our hope to continue this conversation through electronic media and explore ways in which we can support and enhance one another across the globe.

 

On our last evening in Berlin, we attended the dedication ceremony and the presentation of the Abraham Geiger prize. Every two years, the College awards a prize in honor of its founder who exemplified the best in scholarship and humanitarianism. Among the previous winners are Emil Fackenheim (z’l) and Susannah Heschel. This year the prize was awarded to His Royal Highness Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. This charming and erudite man is an incredible human being and a persuasive voice for global sustainability, reconciliation, and interreligious understanding in our troubled world. During his acceptance speech (which he gave in German, one of the many languages he speaks including Hebrew) he stated:

 

“As Muslims, Jews, and Christians, we are all bound by a common heritage of struggle under one God.” HRH Prince Hassan describes himself by saying that “I am aggressively moderate!”

 

Our entire experience in Germany was powerful, positive, and proud. WRJ was honored and thanked in so many ways and Shelley and I were truly grateful to be able to see the significant results of our contributions to Geiger College. We are making a profound difference in the lives of Progressive Jews all across Europe. We thank our wonderful German hosts and especially Rabbi Walter Homolka.

I am blessed to be able to represent WRJ at this time in our history. I thank each and every one of you for making this possible – because none of us could do this alone. We truly are stronger together!

 

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WRJ's YES Fund grant support a variety of worthy causes. One of our 2007 grants supported a program called "Creative Holiday Celebrations" at Kehillat Mevasseret Zion. This was a Purim Carnival promotion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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February 12, 2008

 

The Union for Reform Judaism weekly publishes Eilu V’eilu. This point/counterpoint model involves a dialogue between two scholars and provides for your active participation. This kind of intellectual debate is at the center of our tradition.

Please click here to read the beginning of a conversation between WRJ Executive Direct Shelley Lindauer and MRJ Executive Direct Doub Barden.

And here for the continuation of that discussion.

 

 

 

 

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First Vice President Lynn Magid Lazar, President Rosanne Selfon, and Executive Director Shelley Lindauer, met with Hillary Clinton at the Consultation of Conscience in Washington DC (May 2007) - photo by Yaakov Hammer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - photo by Yaakov Hammer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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WRJ Leaders Visit Capital Hill

Date: January 12, 2007

Earlier this week, WRJ President Rosanne Selfon and First Vice President Lynn Magid Lazar joined other Reform leaders to visit members of the House of Representatives during the “First 100 Hours” Democratic initiative. The group included Bob Heller and Peter Weidhorn, URJ board chairman and vice chairman; Cheryl Gutman and Honey Heller, CSA members; Aaron Bloom and Doug Barden, NFTB; Rabbi Fred Reiner, CCAR and Temple Sinai, Washington; Rabbi Scott Sperling, URJ mid-atlantic regional director; and, of course, RAC staff members Rabbi David Saperstein, Mark Pelavin, Barbara Weinstein, and Rachel Slomovitz.

Our goal was to meet as many House members and/or staff as possible and to press for passage of a clean minimum wage bill and a bill on expanded stem cell research. WRJ and the movement have long been active through advocacy and action on these two specific issues.

The group met with several newly elected representatives, asking how the movement could be supportive in areas of mutual concern. Discussions included children and the environment, immigration, campaign reform, mental health, and health care in general. Iraq was on everyone's mind. Both Democrats and Republicans were visited. Please note the list of those visited at the conclusion of this memo.

As URJ Board Chairman Bob Heller noted, “perhaps most interesting were our meetings with the new House members who had in common their energy, enthusiasm and belief that they could approach issues on a bipartisan basis at least with their fellow newcomers not yet scarred by Washington's battles. Of interest as well, we met with Rep. Keith Ellison whose dignity and calm affirmation of our Constitutional values during the past few weeks when use of the Koran at his installation ceremony came under attack have been impressive.” Rep. Ellison was most interested in working with WRJ on the children's environment issue, his personal passion.

Representative Allyson Schwartz, (D), Philadelphia, was busy on the House floor, but Rosanne and Lynn spoke with her as they were leaving her office and she was just returning. Allyson, a Tikkun Olam Award winner from former WRJ District 5, now sits in her 2nd term in Washington following a brilliant state legislature career. Rep. Schwartz brings her Jewish and female voice to Congress.

Final note…one of six degrees of separation. Before driving home, Lynn decided to knock on the door of her new freshman Representative who, typically, wasn't available. She did meet with a young aide to whom she described the work of WRJ and Reform Judaism In the midst of their conversation, he said, "Are you Aaron Magid's mom?" He had graduated high school a year ahead of Lynn's son! You just never know who you'll meet in Congress.

Another chance meeting…just as Rosanne and Lynn walked into the Longworth House building cafeteria to meet the group, they literally ran into WRJ board member Mildred Amer who works at the Library of Congress! It's always delightful to see WRJ members!

The day proved productive, educational, exciting, and exhausting all at the same time. Applause to the RAC staff who put this extraordinary day on the Hill together in less than 100 hours, providing background on issues and representatives. Special thank you to Lynn, Rosanne and the others who joined this effective mission to insure that Reform Jewish voices are heard.

While driving home, Rosanne commented via cellphone to Lynn, “Traveling through the halls of Congress with David Saperstein is an incredible experience. We had entry into inner offices, directly meeting with powerful leaders, primarily because of David and his longtime relationships. For me, listening to David speak with our leaders was a fabulous lesson …asking the right questions and listening was an experience well-taught by this expert”.

Steve Cohen (D)* Tennessee
James Ramstad (R) Minnesota
Gabrille Giffords (D)* Arizona
Melvin Watts (D) North Carolina
Keith Ellison (D)* Minnesota
Chris Shays (R) Connecticut
Walter Jones (R) North Carolina
Chris Van Hollen (D) Maryland
John Boehner (R) Ohio
Ron Klein (D)* Florida

* freshman member of Congress

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First Person

The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
11/17/06

By Shoshana Lewin, Contributing Writer

 

It happened one weekend ... at the Sisterhood Sisterhood is not for everyone: People who can't stand other people won't like it. But that's about it.

 

"Something happens," I was told across the "first timers" table Nov. 2 at BJ's Restaurant in Woodland Hills. "When these women get together. I can't explain it, but something happens."

The get-together was the 46th annual Biennial Assembly of the Women of Reform Judaism's (WRJ) Pacific District (that's the West Coast, plus Hawaii, Alaska and Vancouver). The woman talking to me was Sylvia Rose of University Synagogue in Los Angeles. She had a name badge around her neck that displayed a ribbon sporting a plethora of colored stickers -- YES Fund (Youth, Education, Service), WUPJ (Work Union of Progressive Judaism), JBI (Jewish Braille Institute) -- symbolizing some of the myriad programs sponsored by the sisterhoods of WRJ. By the end of that weekend at the Woodland Hills Hilton, Rose would be inducted as one of six vice presidents for 2006-2008.

I looked around the party room 40 of us had taken over for the evening at a preassembly function. I was without question the youngest in the room (if you exclude the wait staff). At 28, I was the youngest person at the conference; as co-vice president of membership for my sisterhood, Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks, I am the youngest woman on our board.

While my peers might have been spending their weekend partying, going to see "Borat" or enjoying a day at the beach, I was learning Torah, voting on policy changes and teaching women twice my age how to increase their sisterhood's membership.

And I loved every minute of it!

I kept hearing over and over again that this "wasn't your mother's sisterhood" (of course, every time I heard that, I looked at the next table where my grandmother -- the "e-mail chair" and former president of our sisterhood -- was sitting).

I joined my sisterhood five years ago, after attending a sukkah party with my grandmother. Like most women who shared their experiences at the assembly, I started small -- I volunteered my time on a committee. I was involved in a Jewish sorority in college and saw sisterhood as the next step up -- minus the keggers, rush week and homecoming. So I went to some meetings, which led to more meetings, and today I co-chair that committee.

The women whom I now consider my good friends at first thought of me as "Char's granddaughter from Chicago." Now she's known as "Shoshana's grandma."

The face of sisterhood is changing, yet a stigma remains. For all of the efforts of these articulate, intelligent, hard-working women, the word "sisterhood" still brings up images of old ladies wearing aprons as they set up the Shabbat Kiddush. It probably doesn't help to point out to my contemporaries that all of the district officers inducted at the meeting were my mother's age or older.

When I suggest joining sisterhood to my friends, who are in their 20s and 30s, they tell me they'll join sisterhood "later" -- and they come up with a slew of reasons why they don't want to join now. But I've never been one to take no for an answer.

Complaint: I don't have anything in common with these women.
Answer: How do you know unless you meet them? Our youngest member is 15; she and her mother are good friends of mine. Our oldest member is 95; she's also a friend of mine.

Complaint: How will I meet guys my age hanging out at a sisterhood?
Answer: Um, hello. These women are mothers and grandmothers who have Jewish sons, grandsons and nephews.

Complaint: The programs are so boring. I don't want to just sit around listening to speakers.
Answer: So join and change it. Our sisterhood has a group of young mothers of children in preschool and religious school who recently sponsored a bra fitting at Nordstrom before the store opened to shoppers -- and brought in an OB/GYN to talk about breast cancer awareness.

Complaint: I don't have time to be involved.
Answer: Really? Well can you make a phone call, fold an invitation or send out an e-mail? Bet you can.

Sisterhood is not for everyone: People who can't stand other people won't like it. But that's about it.

These women offer an arm when you've twisted your ankle and a shoulder to cry on when you get bad news. They bring food when you can't leave the house and tell jokes when you need a good laugh. They'll argue with you when you want a good fight and support you 100 percent when you feel that no one else will. They raise money to send rabbis to school and to send Jewish kids to Jewish camps; they help the infrastructure of their synagogues and that of synagogues around the world.

WRJ is also the predominant sponsor of the new Women's Torah Commentary that is being published next year (I saw a preview of the Chayei Sarah segment, and it looks awesome).

By Saturday, I wore an small Torah pin I had purchased at the "Faire and Share," in support of the YES Fund. But I'm very proud that I join the ranks of those name-badge-wearing sisters who came before me.

Sylvia was right: These women get together and something happens. But I can't really describe it either -- I guess it is something you'll have to see for yourself.

FYI: We're taking over San Diego in December 2007.

 

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Local synagogues will preview women's Torah commentary

New Jersey Jewish Standard

By Lois Goldrich

11/16/06

On Saturday, Nov. 18, Reform congregations throughout North America will have an opportunity to preview and discuss excerpts from "The Torah: A Women’s Commentary," to be published in 2007 by Women of Reform Judaism, the women’s agency of the Union for Reform Judaism, and the URJ Press.

 

Nearly 200 synagogues will participate in the Parashat Chayei Sarah program developed by the two groups to encourage movement-wide study of the Torah portion about the death of the biblical matriarch. Each congregation has been sent a packet including the Torah reading as well as information from the various components of the "Women’s Commentary."

 

Many Voices

These include a central commentary by Prof. Yairah Amit of Tel Aviv University; another view by Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion; post-biblical interpretation by Dr. Judith R. Baskin of the University of Oregon; and contemporary reflections and voices, by Dr. Maeera Y. Shreiber of the University of Utah. Congregations have also been sent suggested methods for study, as well as study-guide questions.

 

Rabbi Joel Soffin, who describes himself as the "sabbatical rabbi" of Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes — standing in for Rabbi Elyse Frishman, who is on a six-month sabbatical — told The Jewish Standard that he became interested in the program through the synagogue sisterhood, which received the WRJ packet. After holding a Sunday morning study session using the materials, the group passed on the information to Soffin, who will devote his Friday evening study session to the subject.

 

According to the rabbi, he will focus on a poem called "Rebecca" by Amy Blank, "describing Rebecca’s feelings as she was going to meet Isaac." After reading the poem, he will lead a "creative discussion" on the piece. In addition, he will cite one of the commentaries provided in the Reform packet, on the phrase, "Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah," drawing additional meaning from the verse.

 

Rabbi Steven Sirbu of Temple Emeth in Teaneck will hand out copies of select pieces from the packet and gear his Shabbat Torah discussion — to be held Saturday morning at 9 a.m., before services — "to commentary, rather than text." Speaking to the question of whether women, in fact, have their own perspective on the Torah, Sirbu said he believes that women have a different outlook on a variety of issues, including the way God relates to human beings, the perception of power and the patriarchal system described in the Torah, and even the idea of the commandments themselves. He also pointed out that any commentary "that gets people to study Torah is a good one."

 

"Though the materials come from a commentary written solely by women, we believe that it is an excellent resource for all members of our community," said Shelley Lindauer, executive director of Women of Reform Judaism. "It is our hope that this program will build momentum and excitement for the release of the historic [publication] at the WRJ Assembly in December 2007."

 

The book contains writings by leading Jewish female Bible scholars, rabbis, historians, philosophers, and archeologists. Their collective efforts will result in the first comprehensive commentary on the Five Books of Moses, including individual Torah portions, written exclusively by women. The collection will include Hebrew and English translation.

 

For additional information on the Parashat Chayei Sarah program and "The Torah: A Women’s Commentary," visit www.wrj.rj.org.