Mid-Atlantic

Candle:

Giving Light to All

Women of Reform Judaism Mid-Atlantic District Newsletter –Summer 2009

From the President’s Desk

Incredibly, it’s already almost 4 months since wemet in Tysons Corner for “VISION & FORTITUCHALLENGES into OPPORTUNITIES”. Some of youhave installed new officers and all of you are gearingup for the fall. I hope that you will make use of thegreat training and workshops full of information fromconvention. For those who couldn’t be there, thehighlights are shared in this newsletter.DE -

Mid-Atlantic District is also getting ready for the newyear with our first board meeting on

August 30

. The details are in theCandle and on our Mid-Atlantic District website. The meeting is for the entireboard, including sisterhood presidents, and we welcome any sisterhoodmembers who would like to attend.Our district is growing as we are joined by new affiliate Lake NormanSisterhood from North Carolina and reactivated Sisterhood of TempleShalom in Chevy Chase, MD. I know we all look forward to seeing them atMid-Atlantic District events.Following our meeting, the next exciting WRJ happening is WRJ’s 47

Assembly in Toronto, beginning

Nov 4th

. Again, there are details in theCandle and on the WRJ website:

www.womenofreformjudaism.org. Itpromises to be very special. I realize that we are very slowly coming out of tough economic times, but as we learned at convention, finding a way tomeet the financial challenge will lead to leadership opportunities and a visionfor the future that benefits your sisterhood. I hope many sisterhood womenfrom our district will attend and meet in friendship at our District Luncheon.I want to thank Katie Roeper and Rochelle Kramer for their hard work thatresulted in our Mid-Atlantic District website:

www.wrjmidatlantic.org. I

hopeyou check it on a regular basis for district news and watch the “Good andWelfare” section to keep in touch with fellow district members’ happenings.I also want to again thank Mid-Atlantic District Past President Laia Katz, WRJTreasurer Blair Marks and the women of Washington Hebrew CongregationSisterhood for their efforts in creating a wonderful and memorableconvention. Thanks too, to the outgoing and newly installed Mid-AtlanticDistrict Board Members. It is their dedication and efforts that keep ourdistrict strong.

Finally, don’t hesitate to call on me or any of the board with questions,requests for assistance, or to use our knowledge base and experience. Makeuse of the District Speakers Bureau and contact the appropriate vice-presidents and committee chairs for ideas and suggestions. And, SisterhoodPresidents, please stay in contact with your Area Directors. They are the firstpoint of contact between you and WRJ.I look forward to greeting you in person on Aug.30

.Denny Norris, President

RECAP of the Mid-Atlantic District’s 62

Biennial Convention “Vision & Fortitude: Challenges into Opportunities”

Washington Hebrew Congregation hosted the 62

Biennial Convention of theWomen of Reform Judaism Mid-Atlantic District at the Westin Tysons CornerApril 24-April 26, 2009. Nearly 100 delegates from over 25 Sisterhoodswitnessed the installation of President Denny Norris of Temple Emanuel,Goldsboro, NC.We were fortunate to have our WRJ Treasurer, and now future WRJPresident, Blair Marks as our special guest. Blair hails from CongregationKol Emeth in Marietta, GA. Shortly after the convention, Blair wasnominated to be the next WRJ Board First Vice President.The convention opened on Friday with several workshops including “Buildingfor Tomorrow” and “Marketing Your Sisterhood.” The old expression “hurry up and wait” was never more appropriate as thedelegates waited patiently for transportation to Washington HebrewCongregation for a musical Shabbat and dinner. Finally, the buses arrivedan hour late and everyone was able to attend part of the service and to hearinspiring greetings from Blair. Luckily dinner came after the service andeveryone was on time for that.Our Shabbat service on Saturday was led by Washington HebrewCongregation Rabbi Sue Shankman with Louise Johanson and RobinFarquhar reading from the Torah. Outgoing district President Laia Katz gavethe D’Var Torah.The service was followed by the popular two minute reports. WRJ VP KateRoeper from Congregation Beth Ahabah, Richmond, and District Web Master,Rochelle Kramer, of Temple Emanuel, Winston –Salem, NC, then introducedthe new district website.Our luncheon carried out the service project of providing Dr. Seuss books tothe Abram Simon School in SE Washington. Each table was a theme from aSeuss book. Abram Simon School is a project where many Washington

Hebrew Sisterhood Women volunteer in the classroom. It is named for aformer Washington Hebrew Rabbi who is the husband of Carrie Simon, whofounded the organization now known as Women of Reform Judaism.The keynote luncheon address was delivered by Rabbi Michael Farbman,associate rabbi of Washington Hebrew Congregation, who had been sent bythe World Union of Soviet Jewry to reinvigorate a temple in St. Petersburg,Russia. Rabbi Farbman spoke of his experiences there and came in spite of the fact that his youngest son, Samuel, was in the emergency room of Suburban Hospital in nearby Bethesda, MD. Sam is fine now!The Saturday afternoon sessions included an extenuation of last year’stheme in Raleigh, “Embracing Change: Women Raising Jewish Children,” aswell as the theme for this year with a session on “Vision & Fortitude: OurPeople are Hurting.” Our banquet and installation were held on Saturday night…and our theme of Vision and Fortitude… was once again put to the test because the airconditioning was not working!! However, we persevered and a celebrationof continuity began with Havdalah led by Cantor Lisa Levine of TempleShalom, Chevy Chase, MD. Blair Marks presided at installation. Specialguests included the family of incoming District President Denny Norris, LarryVogel, President, URJ Mid-Atlantic Council, and some 11 former DistrictPresidents, The former presidents were Joan Wachstein, Arlene Rephan,Helene Waranch, Harriet Sturm, Martha Bindeman, Joan Kraft BursteinmMarsha Kaplan, Carla Shoap, Susan Aaronson, Deborah Coblenz, and LaiaKatz. Our beloved former President Jean Fromson was unable to attend atthe last minute because of a fall. Cantor Levine provided the after dinnerentertainment with a variety of songs from her repertoire.Following breakfast in the hospitality suite on Sunday, President Denny heldan orientation for new officers, area directors, committee chairs, andsisterhood presidents. Among the sessions were Health Concerns Unique toWomen and Difficult to Handle Situations. Following the post conventionboard meeting, the Circle of Service Program, Brunch, and the FriendshipCircle, the convention ended to the delight of the hard working hostcommittee led by Harriet Contract of the Washington Hebrew CongregationSisterhood.

Helpful Highlights from the Mid-Atlantic Convention

One of the best parts of Convention is hearing the two-minute Reports fromour sisters and finding new ideas that we can take home to try in our ownsisterhoods. Here are ten ideas- some new and some new twists on thingswe already know that may work for you. Please contact the sisterhooddirectly for more details on any of the programs.