Welcome to Sisterhood - The Women of Temple Aliyah!
In 2016/17, our Sisterhood management structure was reformatted and we created a Steering Committee consisting of four individuals: Laurie Spitz, Karen Feldscher, Judy Lee and Penny Gordon. Outside of this central committee, we were joined by a Core Committee consisting of 35 individuals who worked with the Steering Committee to set the events and the year. After a year of great success: our communication, the way we are running events, our future looks fantastic and we are moving in a positive direction. As we plan for the future, we wanted to give an update and touch on next year.
State of the Sisterhood will be held Tuesday April 25, 7:45pm at the Temple. We will be discussing what worked and plan for the upcoming year. Please plan on attending. If you would like to be on the Steering Committee, Core Committee, or planning board for 2017/18, please let me know asap and I will add you to the planning email list: [email protected]
"Taza (Chocolate) and Tapas Get-Together 2016
The women of our community connect through Sisterhood, sharing our passion for Judaism, our families and ourselves. We welcome you, and invite you to learn more about becoming part of our amazing community.
Whether you're looking for camaraderie, spiritual connection, social action, or the opportunity to get involved, Sisterhood is here for you. For more information or to help coordinate an event, please contact anyone on our Steering Committee: Laurie Spitz, Karen Feldscher, Penny Gordon and Judy Lee.
2016-17 EVENTS CALENDAR (dates subject to change)
Upcoming events!
Rosh Chodesh group
Monday March 6 @ member's home, 7:45 pm
Sisterhood Purim Wine Tasting and Sale
Saturday March 11 @ Temple Aliyah, 8 pm
For the list of wines for sale, click here
For the extended list of wines, click here
Taste a fantastic selection of wines from Gordon's Fine Wines and Liquors perfect for Passover or anytime. This year we will be having a greater selection than in in the past and you can place your orders in person or mail in at a later date. NOTE: Checks only and no credit cards accepted. Absolute deadline March 22nd and pick up in Needham will be April 2nd. Complete details are on the order form.
Torah Fund Brunch
Sunday March 26 @ member's home, 11 am
Register at http://bit.ly/TorahFund2017
Click here for the program flyer
Join Sisterhood for Torah Fund Brunch, our annual event to support the Torah Fund of the Jewish Theological Seminary. This year, we will be joined by Jill Ebstein, who recently published "At My Pace: Lessons from Our Mothers." The book contains fascinating and unexpected essays written by a number of individuals on the topic of one important lesson that they learned from their mother.
Chocolate Therapy's Wine & Chocolate Pairing: "A Unique Tasting Experience"
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
7:00 Arrival, 7:30 Program
At the home of Dawn Nathanson
Chocolate Therapy will be teaching us all a bit about wine and chocolate and how/why they pair. Learn, laugh and enjoy a variety of wines and chocolates. Light refreshments will be served.
Contact Penny Gordon at [email protected].
Register at: http://bit.ly/WineChocolate2017
State of the Sisterhood (see above)
Tuesday April 25 @ Temple Aliyah, 7:45 pm
Book Group
Wednesday May 3 @ Temple Aliyah, 7:45 pm
Spring Dinner
Wednesday May 17 @ Temple Aliyah, 6:30 pm
Amy Marcus, Guest Speaker
http://topics.wsj.com/person/M/amy-dockser-marcus/1424
We are excited to announce that our Spring Dinner guest speaker is Temple Aliyah's very own Amy Marcus. Amy is a Boston-based staff reporter for the New York bureau of The Wall Street Journal, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, and author of "The View From Nebo: How Archaeology Is Rewriting the Bible and Reshaping the Middle East," and "Jerusalem 1913: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict". Both books were created out of several pieces she wrote for the Journal when she was a reporter in the Journal's Tel Aviv bureau covering Israel and the Middle East. In 2004, Amy received a Harvard Medical School Media Fellowship, where she focused on cancer, in 2006 she received a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in health policy research, and a DART Center Ochberg fellowship in 2009. Born in Boston, she earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, magna cum laude.
College Passover Packages
If you would like to send your college student a piece of home for the holiday, we would love to send them a Passover Packages of treats. Please send your student's name, complete school mailing address and a check for $20 made out to Temple Aliyah Sisterhood, to Michele Wolfman, 31 Paine Rd, Needham, MA 02492. Send as soon as possible but no later than March 24. For more information, contact Michele at [email protected]
Annual Activities:
Spiritual
Sisterhood Shabbat is our annual Shabbat morning service led entirely by Sisterhood members, typically held at the end of January. Supportive instruction enables women to take a hands-on role in all aspects of the service, even if they have never done so before. This moving event includes a relevant speaker and inspires women to feel confident and comfortable participating in Temple Aliyah's year-round egalitarian services.
(Above) Members of the Rosh Hodesh Study Group lighting candles together, during a study group meeting.
Rosh Hodesh Group
Rosh Chodesh is a women's study and discussion group that meets once a month at Temple Aliyah. Organized by member Carol Kotler, each month a different member volunteers to lead that month's discussion. This year, we will read The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights From Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions, edited by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein. Each chapter is in English and we will study one Torah portion each month. We welcome new members for friendship and serious discussion. If you have questions please contact Carol Kotler.
Book Group
Wednesday: 2016-17 dates TBD
The TA book group meets four times a year in the synagogue library. All are welcome to come to any or all of the meetings where a book is discussed and warm conversations abound. The fourth book of the year will be finalized and sent out soon. Contact Ellen Baker with any questions: [email protected].
Community Outreach
Social Action is an important value of Sisterhood. To volunteer, or to find out more information about any of these activities, please contact us.
Circle of Hope
Circle of Hope is a local Needham-based non-profit that collects new and gently used clothing for men, women, children and infants. Once sorted, this clothing is delivered to several Boston-area shelters serving homeless individuals and families struggling with domestic violence and substance abuse issues. Opportunities to help sort clothes at Circle of Hope, as well as donate clothes and volunteer in other ways, are advertised throughout the year. Sign up with a friend or an older child! Donate clothes any time.
College Liaison Committee
Twice a year, at Chanukkah and Passover, our committee puts together packages for our kids’ who are away at college.
Shabbat with the Elderly
In tandem with the families of the Hebrew school, we provide the mitzvah of Shabbat with the Elderly. This project/mitzvah takes less than an hour and involves visiting one of two partner nursing homes on Friday afternoon pre-Shabbat and bringing Shabbat joy to the residents. We interact by saying the prayers over wine, candles, and challah and singing Shabbat songs, Hebrew songs or anything that makes the residents happy. All materials and information is at the facility.
Extra Stuff:
Donations are always welcome as we work to create fantastic events for our members and members of our community. We thank you in advance for your support. Please click on the button below to make a donation through PayPal.
Need reimbursement? If you have incurred any expenses for helping with Sisterhood activities, please download this form, fill it out, and send to Michele Wolfman, 31 Paine Rd., Needham, MA 02492.
