WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood

WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood

WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood 

 

At Congregation Beth Israel, WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood’s mission is to bring women together to support and benefit Congregation Beth Israel and the community by providing opportunities for friendship, service, spiritual growth, and learning.

WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood is a warm community of all who identify as women as well as those who identify as transgender, gender-queer, non-conforming, or non-binary.

 

Upcoming Events

Sisterhood’s Annual Honey Fundraiser

A sweet gift of honey for your loved ones is a wonderful way to prepare for the High Holidays and, via WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood’s Honey from the Heart fundraiser, you can send an 8 oz. jar of kosher honey to loved ones near and far. 

Click to place your order; free shipping in the United States for honey ordered before August 8! 

* WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood shares profits of the fundraising with ORT America who organize this effort. ORT America is the leading fundraising organization for World ORT. This global educational network, schools, colleges, and international programs propels more than 300,000 students in more than 30 countries to develop careers and lead fulfilling, independent lives.

Board Retreat

On August 4,  the new board will have their annual retreat. This is an opportunity to  to create goals and events for this upcoming year. Contact Ellen Z if you have not received your personal invitation.

WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood Mahjong Meetup
Wednesday, August 7, 6:00 PM
Wednesday, September 11, 6:00 PM (note date change)
Wednesday, November 6, 6:30 PM
Wednesday, December 4, 6:30 PM  


In-Person ONLY
Shirley and Herbert Semler Board Room


Join us for a fun evening of games and greetings. It does not matter what your experience level with mahjong is you are welcome to join us; please RSVP.

Bring your own drinks, snacks and maj cards. Contact Ellen Z. with any questions

Bee the Change | Pacific NW Sisterhood Retreat
Friday, October 18, 4:00 PM – Sunday, October 2, 12:00 PM
In-Person ONLY
URJ Camp Kalsman (Arlington, WA)

This year we have a theme of Bee the Change – Bee the Change within ourselves, in our daily lives, in our communities and in the world. Register here!

New this year: We are offering a one-day option to attend on Saturday. This will work similar to Area Days in the future. You will join the retreat attendees at camp and participate in a full day of camp, workshops,
meals and worship.


 Click here to sign up for the Saturday-Only Area Day option

Click for full details!

If you have questions or want to get involved in planning the weekend, or want to lead a workshop, please
email 
pdsisterhoodretreat@gmail.com.

Also, please join our Facebook group: PNW Sisterhood Retreat.

 View the Retreat Brochure and the evolving Tentative Schedule here.

 Please contact Ellen Z. if you’re interest in carpooling; scholarship funding is available.

 

WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood Fall Kickoff
Thursday, September 5, 6:00 PM
In-Person ONLY
Goodman Hall
Please RSVP by September 1

Kickoff another year of Sisterhood at CBI! Reconnect with old friends, meet new friends and listen and learn from Melanie Billings-Yun from the League of Women Voters, who will speak on “Ranked Choice Voting in Portland this November: Amplifying Your Voice.

Sisterhood Social Action

Our Sisterhood will continue to write postcards for Reclaim our Vote, a Center for Common Ground initiated through the Religious Action Center of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Every Voice, Every Vote Campaign.   This engages under-represented voters in the upcoming Presidential election. See rac.org

Sisterhood Gift Shop

The gift shop is open when the religious school is in session, which means we will reopen this fall.

A limited selection is available in the CBI Main office. Check the CBI website for the office’s open hours and summer schedules.

If you are a new Sisterhood member, let the staff know so you can get a one-time 10% discount on your purchase.  Contact Bonnie Barg for any questions.

Sisterhood Board Meetings

Sisterhood Board Meetings

All are welcome to join us for our monthly board meetings and quarterly gatherings, which are listed below.    You can also always find the full schedule of CBI events at www.bethisrael-pdx.org/joinus.

Thursday, September 12, 6:30 PM – Zoom ONLY
Thursday, October 17, 6:30 PM
Thursday, November 14, 6:30 PM
Thursday, December 12, 6:30 PM

Connect With Sisterhood

Want to be up-to-the-minute with all things Sisterhood? Read on, or click one of the buttons below.

Sisterhood Leadership

Immediate Past President – Susan Berniker
President – Ellen Zellinger
Vice President/ Temporary Treasurer  – Nadine Block
Recording Secretary – Rita Effros
Corresponding Secretary – Michael Richman
Membership Co-Chairs – Elaine Berman and Rhonda Daniels
Fundraising Co-Chairs – Michelle Shari Kruss and Melissa Himmelman
Programming Co-Chairs- Reilly Kwaitkovsky and Debbie Geller
Emertia  -Ellen Bick
Gift Shop – Bonnie Barg
GS Bookkeeper – Judy Stone
Social Action Co-Chairs – Lara Guroff andJennifer Pesetsky
Religious Liaison – Sally Swire
Outreach to Robison – Virginia Gitter
Volunteer Coordinator  – Debbie Braymer
Communication/Newsletter – Rose Marshall
Social Media – Kate Royston
College Outreach Co-Chairs – Leslie Berman andLeslie Geller
Rosh Hashanah Sweets Table  -Davina Doby andSue Gordon
Community Seder Co-Chairs -Virginia Gitter, Rhonda Daniels and Kristen Siemon

 

President’s Message | July 2024

I am excited to be taking on the position of President of Beth Israel Sisterhood. Seven years ago, when we moved to Portland, I hoped that the sisterhood would be a way for me to meet new people.

So, I went to a gathering at Kathleen Doctor’s. I told my husband, “I will either be home in 5 minutes or 3 hours.”. After being made to feel welcome, a couple ladies asked if I wanted to join their programming committee. The rest is history!

 Since then, I have not only enjoyed the sisterhood I have experienced but I have learned about WRJ and the huge impact we have locally and nationally (even internationally). The three pillars of WRJ Sisterhood; Spiritual, Sisterhood, and Social Action can all be experienced here at Beth Israel’s Sisterhood regularly.

I look forward to working with our incredible board and getting to know the members over the next couple of years. As we make our plans, we will make sure we consider our mission:

To bring women together to support and benefit Congregation Beth Israel and the community by providing opportunities

for friendship, service, spiritual growth, and learning.

Thank you for entrusting the presidency to me. I will do my best to be worthy of the position.

Shalom alekhem (Peace to you),


Ellen Zellinger

May 2023
Susan Berniker

This week we have a double parsha, B’har (On Mount Sinai)-and B’chuktai (My Laws). Throughout Leviticus God issues lots of laws, rules and instructions to the Israelites. Why? The Israelites made some bad decisions in the previous chapter and now G-d is prescribing explicit behavior expectations.

At the beginning of this portion, God instructs Moses to tell the Israelites that in every seventh year, the land shall observe a Sabbath of complete rest: Fields should not be sown and vines should not be pruned.

This resonated with me because one of my Pacific District Action and Advocacy teammates, dedicated to fighting the climate crisis, explained this concept last year—as 2021-2022 was a Shmita year. Everyone on our zoom call seemed to know what Shmita meant, but I had to Google the word during the conversation and discovered that it means the seventh year—the year that farmers give the land a rest, and rest themselves as well.

Throughout 2021-2022 there was lots of Shmita programming in Jewish communities worldwide presented by organizations like The Shmita Project—whose purpose is to invite people into community to think creatively about bringing Shmita values to life in homes, communities, and the wider world.

There are endless things to talk about in just this tiny part of the parsha. One idea to note is the beauty that our Shabbat is every seven days and the parallel that the earth’s Shabbat is every seven years. I didn’t put that together until reading this Torah passage.

Another theme in this passage is that the land belongs to God and we must take care of it. In addition to the concept of Shmita, G-d gives instructions for the Jubilee year which occurs after seven cycles of Sabbatical years—after forty-nine years. A jubilee year is to be celebrated when all the land that had been sold during that time should be returned to its original owners. From this, we learn that land cannot be sold permanently. Israelites were just tenants on God’s land, as we are today.

Clearly, B’har is a springboard for discussion on how to care for our environment. Given that the URJ is initiating a new campaign focusing on Global Warming, I imagine that we’ll have opportunities to delve into this concept more deeply as a congregation.

I end this d’var borrowing an idea I read in a Torah commentary on B’har. The conclusion was an appeal for everyone to eat less meat and suggested adding a no meat meal in your weekly repertoire. The author then provided a meatless recipe to replace a meat dish. Similarly, I close this d’var with a request for you to email me a favorite meatless recipe to share. I’ll gather and post them in the next WRJ/Beth Israel newsletter. May we be inspired to take steps together to be better stewards of the earth for our children and future generations.  

Counting the Omer
April 2023
Leslie Berman

Every year at this time, we relive the epic story of Passover. Retelling the Israelites’ journey from a narrow place of slavery, to freedom, we experience the continued relevancy of the Exodus story. The Exodus narrative provides a guiding metaphor for each of us to unbind ourselves, get unstuck, perhaps join hands and move. The Counting of the Omer leads us through this process.

What does it mean to Count the Omer?

For seven weeks of seven days, we count from the second night of Passover until our arrival at Sinai. Originally, the counting was rooted in the spring harvest, the counting of the grain. Now it is known as a season of soul searching. During each week of counting, we move – from waking up, to setting out, to entering the wilderness, to being in the unknown, to finding our way, to becoming our vision, and finally, to arriving.

How will we move through the process this year? How can we recognize our shackles, cry out for change, take the risk to wander from our known places into the unknown wilderness, and arrive at our own promised land?

What will be our journey? Will it be a personal one, or one focused on social injustices that continue to plague the world? Will it be a journey we choose, or one that has been chosen for us? Will the journey be welcome, or unwelcome? Every time we make a transition from the known to the unknown, the possibility of transformation is there. During the first week of counting, we woke up. We situated ourselves in the present moment.

“Wanderer, your footsteps are the road, and nothing more; wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking.” Antonio Machado.

During the second week of counting, which begins tonight, we set out. Lech Lecha, -go forth or go to yourself. Acknowledge the courage we must gather to move forward.

What have you woken up to in the past year? In what ways are you being called to journey forth right now? What small step might you take today to begin?

Today is 9 days, which is one week and two days of the Omer.

D’Var Torah
April 2023
SHEMINI; Leviticus 9:1-11:47

Rita Effros

Shemini means Eighth- the day after the 7-day ordination ceremony of the priests

There are two main themes of this parsha:
(1) Just before the priests are to be installed, Aaron’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu offer “strange fire” before God and die in the process.


(2) Laws of Kashrut

Rabbi Shefa Gold: On the face of it, it looks like they did something very wrong and were punished for it, thereby leaving us with a stern warning: You must play by the rules… or else! The text states that they, “offered strange fire which God had not commanded them. And fire came forth from God and consumed them and they died before God.” (Leviticus 10:1-2).But perhaps Nadav and Avihu did not do anything wrong, but instead did something extraordinarily right. Perhaps death was not a punishment, but instead a passionate Divine embrace of beloveds.

Rabbi Gold: “I view this story as a blessing; I look for the place within me that is willing to offer up everything, directly from the impulse of the heart, without being asked, without conforming to what is deemed normal”.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: What did Nadav and Avihu do wrong? After all, Moshe had also acted spontaneously when he broke the tablets after the sin of the Golden Calf. But what made Nadav and Avihu deserve so severe a punishment? The difference was that Moshe was a Prophet. Prophets sometimes act spontaneously, because they both inhabit the world of time.

The priestly vocation was to remind the people that there are limits/boundaries. There is an order to the universe and we must respect it. Spontaneity has no place in the life of the Priest or the service of the Sanctuary. That is what Nadav and Avihu , who were priests, failed to honor.

The classic example of the important of limits is the environment. As Jared Diamond has documented in his books, Guns, Germs and Steel, and Collapse, almost wherever human beings have set foot, they have left a trail of destruction in their wake. They have farmed lands to exhaustion and hunted animals to extinction. They have done so because they have not had, embedded in their minds and habits, the notion of limits. Hence the concept, key to environmental ethics, of sustainability, meaning limiting your exploitation of the Earth’s resources to the point where they can renew themselves. A failure to observe those limits causes human beings to be exiled from their own garden of Eden.

Rachel Adler also reminds us that the acts of eating also have boundaries.
Leviticus asks us to practice justice, especially in our acts of eating. In our dietary code, the body of the worshiper is made analogous to the sanctuary.

Our Challenge: In parshat Shemini, the story of Nadav and Avihu, which is about ecstasy, wild abandon, and supreme intoxication contrasts with the description of the path of discernment, responsibility and sobriety. Our spiritual challenge is to embrace the wisdom of both these paths.

D’Var Torah, January 12
Sh’mot (Exodus 1:1-6:1)
Nadine Block

This is a very well-known section of the Torah, as we tell this story every year on Pesach. In this parshah, the new king of Egypt, threatened by the growing numbers of Israelites, forces them into slavery and orders newborn males to be killed; the Pharoah’s daughter discovers Moses in a basket in the Nile and raises him; Moses flees from Egypt, but is then summoned by God to free the Israelites from Egypt; and finally a reluctant Moses assembles the elders of the Israelites, tells them what God instructed him, and then confronts Pharoah.

I was struck by the coinciding of this Torah portion with our celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend.

Moses was a reluctant leader. He essentially says to God, “are you sure I’m the guy for this job?” He points out to God that he has a speech impediment, he worries he will not be able to convince the Israelites to unite behind him, and he implores God to find someone else. I think many of us can relate to how Moses felt. It is frightening to step forward for weighty tasks with such consequences. But his moral compass was powerful, compelling him to correct wrong in the face of risk.

Moses was also a witness. He saw firsthand the suffering of the Israelites and decided that something had to be done. One commentary on this parshah said “we have to get proximate to the injustices we are trying to correct”. Dr. King Jr. and other civil rights leaders spoke loudly and repeatedly about the injustices and compelled society to not only see what was happening around them but to take action. Dr. King Jr. said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

This Torah portion is a good reminder to all of us, especially as we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend, of what is at the heart of reform Judaism – the articulation of social injustices and the mitzvot of acting to address those injustices.

Jewish Yoga

The Jewish Yoga event was led by Cantor Cahana and Cantor Green. Jewish Yoga is a phenomenon that has grown out of a desire to reconnect Jewish practice with the unification of mind, body, and soul. It is a mindfulness practice with Jewish sacred texts and kavanot (intentions) at the core. It is an opportunity to be present through guided meditation and light movement.  

Community Seder

This year’s annual Community Seder was a wonderful event. The service was led by Cantor Cahana and Cantor Green.  With the Jewish Family and Child Services (JFCS), we were able to more than double the attending clientele; we served a Seder meal to 63 individuals. It was rich with the diversity of Russian, Ukrainian, and other backgrounds.

Thanks to JFCS for their work gathering the attendees and providing translators. Thanks to our clergy and to Kate Gillespie (organizer) and all the Sisterhood volunteers.  Thanks to those who helped drive individuals to and from the event.

Naked Lady Party

In February, we held our first Naked Lady party. This is a clothing and accessories swap meet! Sisterhood members and interested congregants gathered things they no longer wanted, brought  them to CBI, and choose from among the items to enhance their own wardrobes.

It was such a success that we will hope to make this an annual event so watch for more information at the beginning of the year.