Mid-Atlantic

Candle:

Giving Light to All

Women of Reform Judaism Mid-Atlantic District Newsletter –Winter 2008

from the president’s desk

What an assembly! More than 600 sisterhood women from the United States (includingHawaii), Canada and South Africa gathered in San Diego, CA in December to learn, tobond, to educate, to communicate, and, most of all, to celebrate. And what acelebration it was! We, the Women of ReformJudaism, were front and center, and they, theleaders of the Union for Reform Judaism, came toour gatherings to thank us, to praise us, and topay tribute to our unique accomplishment, to thepower and majesty of women’s voices andwomen’s insights, our gift to ourselves and ourlegacy to future generations.After 14 years of talking, planning,gathering scholars, writing, editing, and raising thefunds to do all of this,

The

Torah

: A Women’sCommentary

is a reality, published andpresented as the centerpiece of the assembly.Rabbi David Saperstein, director, Religious ActionCenter of Reform Judaism, said it all: “The glass

mechitza

has been permanently broken.” RabbiDavid Ellenson, president, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, beamed as he spoke of our commentary and those whowrote and edited it, and Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president, Union for Reform Judaism,admitted how wrong he had been in1995 in his original assessment of what we wereundertaking. Our scholars, rabbis, educators, contributors - all women – spoke aboutthe passion and dedication they had brought to the task and about their joy, and theyread some of the poetry from the “Voices” sections. Women cried and then theydanced in the aisles, and Danny Maseng, composer, actor and singer, offered acelebratory concert. Delegates from URJ and WRJ lined up and waited over an hour topurchase their copies and have them autographed.Our district dinner was attended by more than 40 of the approximately 60 womenwho came as delegates from the Mid-Atlantic. The yellow ribbons we added to ourbadges identified our district, and red hearts signified first-timers. An exuberant YESFund luncheon more than doubled what had ever before been raised at such an event:an incredible $195,000 for Circle of Service and in commitments to silver, gold, pearland diamond Lifelines. Gary Rosenthal, assembly artist-in-residence and a resident ofour district, helped participants create a hands-on glass project proceeds from whichalso benefited the Yes Fund.Workshops covered a multitude of topics from “nuts and bolts” to leadership andmembership management and strategies, from social justice to spirituality, frominnovative programming to music and book clubs – and everything in between. New

WRJ resolutions were ably introduced, presented and shepherded to passage by ourown Mildred Amer, chair, Resolutions Committee, WRJ board member, and pastpresident, Washington Hebrew Sisterhood..We celebrated the installation of Katie Roeper as a new WRJ vice president andConnie Getzov, Joanne Goldsmith and Judy Silver Weisberg as new members of theWRJ board. We wished our own Helene Waranch, immediate past president, WRJ, a

mazal tov

on being named North American chair of the World Union for ProgressiveJudaism.I have barely skimmed the surface of all that happened in San Diego, but I wanted toprovide the flavor for those of you who were unable to be there. Now is the time to thinkabout adding funding in your sisterhood budgets to defray or help defray the costs foryour members to attend our district interims and conventions as well as the next WRJassembly. Plan now.

Toronto, Canada2009

Laia S. Katz, president

A special thank you

We owe our sincere thanks to our members who have made special contributions tohelp ease the constraints of a very tight budget. In doing so they have allowed us toprovide services we might otherwise have had to omit and pay for expenses we hadnot anticipated. We are all in your debt.First our directory was printed thanks to the generosity of

Sue and Gil Sailer

, whounderwrote all the costs of its publication and provided a huge gift to us. Sue is ourcorresponding secretaryFor our district dinner at the assembly in San Diego, each attendee paid $55. Theactual cost of the meal was $70, and the districts were asked to pick up the $15difference per person. And then our

District Angel

stepped forward. She has chosento remain anonymous in her funding of one third of the differential. And then many ofyou who attended also took out your checkbooks, paying the difference in part, inwhole, or beyond.

Bottom line: Instead of tapping our treasury for more than $600 for which we hadnot planned, the net expense to us was $171.THANK YOU ONE AND ALL FOR YOUR GENEROSITY

Reflections from a First-time WRJ Assembly Attendee:

“Why I Thought I Won the Jack-pot”Freda Goldberg, president, Bet Aviv SisterhoodAs president of Bet Aviv Sisterhood in Columbia, MD, I attended my first Biennial Assembly of WRJ in San Diego, CA. I was a little concerned. Would I understandhow WRJ works? Would I fit in?I walked in the door and soon all my concerns disappeared. I was welcomed withopen arms. Registration was easy and the women had smiles on their faces. Theyanswered all my questions, even though I'm sure 20 people before me had askedthe same questions. I had been in leadership positions before but I neverexperienced anything like this. I was overwhelmed by all the women who attendedwith the same purpose--to learn about our Jewishness and how we can make adifference in this world.As I walked into the plenary and learning sessions, people were kind. Throughoutthe remaining days, I would learn the secret. When we would see some of thepeople that we met, and say hello, they would share things about themselvesand their sisterhoods. We laughed, learned and cried together. Attending variousworkshops over the next few days, I was not only impressed by the organization,but by the expert content of the sessions. I took copious notes, but reallyappreciated the information that the speakers handed out for us to take home. Iremember saying to myself how wonderful it felt to know that others cared asmuch as I cared.The YES Fund Luncheon was amazing, and I began a Lifeline in memory of mymother and father. When they announced the total pledged that day- $194,000,chills went through my body. We met several people who had benefited from theYes Fund and even though I was there for the first time, I felt that I had made acontribution to their success with my new contribution.The Shabbat evening and morning services with five thousand Jews prayingtogether were amazing. I can’t even explain the emotions as I danced around withthe youth who benefited from the Yes Fund. My children would have been soproud.Two things happened that were special. First my friend of 36 years and a pastpresident of Bet Aviv Sisterhood, Judy Silver Weisberg, became a member of the Board of WRJ. We all are so happy for her and we know will make a great