WL Week
Tuesday, November 21, 2023 | 8th of Kislev 5784
Week At A Glance
This week at Women's League:
- Tues. Nov 21 & Weds. Nov 22, 2023 - Join us on Makom B'Yachad on Zoom
- Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 - Read up on WWOT: Parashat Vayetzei
- Tuesday, Nov 28, 2023 - Give to Giving Tuesday for Masorti Women's Days of Study
- Tuesday, Nov 28, 2023 - Give to Giving Tuesday on FACEBOOK for Masorti Women's Days of Study - Help our donations get MATCHED!
- Voices of Change: A WLCJ Civil Rights Journey registration is OPEN
- WL Leadership Institute registration is OPEN
#GivingTuesday Women's League Campaign
Now through
Sunday, December 31, 2023
All of the #GivingTuesday Campaign will go to the “MASORTI WOMEN’S DAYS OF STUDY”.
#GIVINGTUESDAY Facebook Fundraiser
Help us spread the word in social media! Please click on the button below to share our WLCJ GivingTuesday Facebook Fundraiser. Together we are louder and heard even further if you help us share our fundraiser page. Let's exceed what we raised last year on Facebook! Click on the button below.
In-Person Opportunities
WL Leadership Institute
Sunday, January 28 - Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Women’s League for Conservative Judaism – committed to developing skilled and dedicated leaders – invites you to attend an inspiring Leadership Institute that will expand your skills as a leader and enhance your knowledge as a Jewish woman while strengthening your connection to Women’s League, your sisterhood, your community, and Klal Yisrael.
OUR FIRST LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE IN FOUR YEARS WILL BE HELD ON
JANUARY 28-30, 2024
AT B’NAI TORAH CONGREGATION,
BOCA RATON, FLORIDA
WHAT IS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE?
A 2-day workshop that will enhance your personal style of communication with interactive exercises and role-playing. Discover tips and techniques for using language that motivates, stimulates and encourages women to volunteer.
An opportunity to Network with other women, master goal setting, time management and team building. Learn the secret of keeping yourself challenged.
WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT THAN OTHER LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS?
The Leadership Institute’s unique format allows participants to build a personal program to expand Jewish knowledge and leadership skills.
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
$299 (discounts available if more than one woman from your Sisterhood registers) includes materials, programming, and meals. This fee does not include hotel or transportation to B’nai Torah.
Registration for the hotel ranges from $249-$279 + tax per night double occupancy.
The learning and sense of community created during the Institute comes both from the shared experiences during the formal program and the unstructured time together at the hotel. To facilitate this, we strongly urge local participants to stay with the rest of the group at the hotel.
Your Region, Sisterhood/Affiliate or your Rabbi might have scholarship money to help cover these costs. Don’t forget to ask!
Register by January 5! Space is limited and fills up quickly.
Our next Leadership Institute will be held in July 2024 on the West Coast (exact dates and location tba)
Voices of Change: A WLCJ Civil Rights Journey
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.
Virtual Opportunities
WL Personal Conversations
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
Jani Majewski
Personal Conversations Co-Chair
WL Kehilah
Bridging Faiths and Rights: A Civil Rights Exploration
“Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.”
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
Please join us on December 7th, as we explore the history of the Civil Rights movement, past and present. It was an organized effort by Black Americans to end racial discrimination and gain equal rights under the law. Many people of conscience, from all races and faiths, were a part of this movement, including the Jewish community.
This is the first program in a series that will examine in depth the Civil Rights movement. Each program is a standalone program which can be attended individually or as part of the series. At the end of the series Women’s League will sponsor the trip Voices of Change: A WLCJ Civil Rights Pilgrimage. ALL WLCJ members are invited to attend these programs, regardless of whether they intend to participate in the trip.
WL Hanukkah Program
We Are Going on a Treasure Hunt!
The Maccabees were able to find a treasured cruse of oil, but what can you find?
Join us on December 14 at 8 pm ET for a little Hanukkah fun, reminiscing and candle
lighting. We’ll search and share and laugh and learn and end with communal candle lighting.
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.
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 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
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
Did you miss Session Two? Click on the button below to view the recording. Session Two: Addressing Homelessness and Food Insecurity - Mitzvot, Motivations and Methods
Sunday, November 19, 2023
WLCJ Guess Who Game
Guess Who?
Photos from just a few years ago of four members of the WL Executive Committee. Can you guess who they are? Answers will be revealed in the next newsletter.
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 Vayetzei has one of the most wonderful verses, and reminders for all of us. After Jacob wakes up from his dream with the ladder, he states, “Surely God is in this place, and I did not know it.” (Genesis 28:16) What if we all took the responsibility to make sure that our actions, our speech, our daily life were evidence that God was truly in the place where we were?! How beautiful and utopian a world it would be if everyone lived like that! What can you do today to make sure that God is truly in the place where you live? It is our responsibility to strive for that ideal.
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.
Zoom link can be found in WL Week. Please email info@wlcj.org if you are not in our mailing list.
Friday, Nov. 24 - Zoom line available for shmoozing, there will be no Makom B'Yachad service.
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
Women’s League's got talent — Join the communications team! Positions need to be filled!
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.
War in Israel
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.
Women's League for Conservative Judaism was proudly represented yesterday among the approximately 300,000 participants at the National Mall, standing in solidarity with Israel.
From the Seminaries We Support
March for Israel, Monday Learning, and More
A message from Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz
Navigating the Israel Conflict: Insights From American Jewish University
A message from Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson
Torah Fund
Digital Torah Fund eCards for every occasion!
Women of the Wall
Four Mothers Tallit
Garden of Eden Tallit
Spirit of Israel Tallit
All prices include regular shipping (with tracking, 2-4 weeks). Express shipping costs an extra $20 per item.
Region / Sisterhood Affiliates Programming
Dec 3, 2023 at 9:30 AM ET
FLORIDA
For more information, contact Nancy Goldberg: TFWLCJFL@gmail.com
Dec 6, 2023 at 7:30 PM ET
GARDEN STATE
But they were good to their mothers...
Learn about the rise and fall of Jewish gangsters who dominated crime from the 1920's until the end of World War II. We will explore famous crime figures like Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky, and organizations (e.g. Murder, Inc., The Brownsville Boys).
We will learn about lesser known fascinating characters such as Gangy Cohen, Waxy Gordon, Moe Annenberg, Longey Swillman and others.
This lecture will help us understand the cultural drivers that created this group and ultimately led to their decline and integration into American Society.
For more information, contact Susan Winter:
winter.susan@gmail.com
Dec 12, 2023 at 7:30 PM ET
INTERNATIONAL NORTHEAST
More information and registration link to come next week.
SAVE THE DATE
Jan 21, 2024
CENTRAL GREAT LAKES
SAVE THE DATE
CGLR Torah Fund Event will take place on January 21, 2024.
7:00 PM CT | 8:00 PM ET
Details will be published when they are finalized.
Do you have any upcoming programs that are virtual/hybrid?
Send it to info@wlcj.org to add it in WL Week.
Ongoing WLCJ Resources
To learn more, or email chair of WL GoogleGroups/Hebrew Classes, please click on the image:
WLCJ 5784 Calendar Diaries
Pocket Size = $11.00
Planner Size = $26.00
You may now order bulk quantities online.
WLCJ Convention 2023
WLCJ Convention 2023 Resources, please click on the image:
Additional 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...
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New York, NY 10018
Office: (405) 870-1260