Sisterhood

Ongoing Sisterhood Projects & Activities

• Book and a Bagel

Ongoing, evenings, approximately every two monthswith dates and places arranged by the Coordinator. Enjoy a bagel nosh and lively discussion on books by Jewish authors or themes and share your analyses with others. Cost $4.00 for a light dinner. Coordinator: Linda Arato

• Rosh Chodesh Renewal

Ongoing, approximately every two months with dates and places arranged by the Coordinator. Enjoy celebrating the New Moon and studying Torah using “The Torah: A Women’s Commentary”. Cost $4.00 for a light dinner.
Coordinator: Alexis Rothschild

• Camp Kalsman Campership Fund

This fund was established by Sisterhood in April, 2008 for the purpose of sending Jewish children for a week or more to Camp Kalsman, the newest URJ camp in Washington State in situations where families would not otherwise be able to send them. Sisterhood carries out fundraising projects from time to time to provide money for this Fund.
Contact either Lisa Pozin or the Temple Executive Director to make application for a grant.

• The Blessings Wall Project

In honour of the 100th Anniversary of the Women of Reform Judaism (“WRJ”) in 2013, the women of Temple Sholom have joined with Sisterhood in the preparation & assembly of a large art project known as "The Blessings Wall". We anticipate this art project will be on display at the WRJ Assembly in San Diego in December, 2013 and at our Temple.

Each participant is collecting the matches she uses to light Shabbat candles for a period of 52 weeks commencing October 14, 2011. All of the individual art projects will then be grouped together to form the Blessings Wall.

In the Fall of 2012, in addition to the used matches, participants are also to provide a patterned piece of paper, a piece of fabric (which could also be woven, knit or crocheted), a music sheet, journal entries, a photograph, art work or other item that represents an aspect of her personality or character which will become part of the backdrop of the Blessings Wall.

This is an opportunity for us to commemorate the recitation of the blessing over the Shabbat candles. The emphasis on prayer and the act of lighting the candles provides us with visual evidence that we are committing ourselves to sacred time.

To learn more about The Blessings Wall Project, contact the Coordinator, Julia Bennett at
sisterhood@templesholom.ca

This art project is co-sponsored by:

“Award Winning”
Sisterhood of Temple Sholom,
Women of Reform Judaism

and by
Temple Sholom Healing Centre

• Women of the Wall

Our Sisterhood keeps an ear to the ground on the struggles of the Women of the Wall; a group of women whose central mission is to achieve the social and legal recognition of our right, as women, to wear prayer shawls, pray and read from the Torah collectively and out loud at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. With an established “Women of the Wall” fund at Temple Sholom, we encourage members to make donations to this fund to assist these women in obtaining the same rights we enjoy in the Diaspora.

Sisterhood expects to have a program at its Annual Meeting on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 that will provide our membership with a greater understanding of the situation surrounding the Women of the Wall.

To learn more about Women of the Wall, please visit their website: http://womenofthewall.org.il/
Coordinator: Alisha Koubi

• Women of Reform Judaism - Israel Twinning Program

In March, 2009, 25 Israeli congregations were members of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), 15 of which had formal women’s groups. These women’s groups have collectively been founded as “WRJ–Israel”. Each of these WRJ–Israel members will determine its own goals and programs in order to energize the women of the congregation, support the congregation, reach out to one another, and empower their members, thus becoming stronger together.

In order to assist these WRJ-Israel sisterhoods in meeting their goals, WRJ offered Sisterhoods throughout North America the opportunity to “twin” with one of these WRJ–Israel sisterhoods; in essence building a long-term mutually beneficial relationship between the two sisterhoods. Today there are 25 WRJ-Israel women's groups affiliated with Women of Reform Judaism.

Congregation Ohev Avraham, Haifa, Israel

In 2010, our Sisterhood twinned with the Sisterhood of Ohel Avraham; a Reform synagogue in Haifa with a mix of native Israeli's and North American Jews who believe strongly in the Reform philosophy. Our Sisterhood President, Alexis Rothschild, visited with the Sisterhood of Ohel Avraham in Haifa during her trip to Israel in the spring of 2010. Our Sisterhood’s goal in taking on this twinning project, is to provide support and encouragement to one another and to work together to create a meaningful project or projects that will help to enrich the lives of those who participate in them.

For more information, or for any one interested in visiting Ohel Avraham when in Israel, please contact Alisha Koubi for additional information or you can visit the Leo Baeck website for some more local information: click here.

Coordinator: Alisha Koubi

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