OUR SYNAGOGUE
BETH EL SISTERHOOD Tue. May 19, 6:30 Sun. May 31, 3:30pm
We will hold the Sisterhood election on May 19 at 6:30 PM in the Freedman Center, and then launch a Chick Flick. Expect an eVite with details (including the movie selection), but please plan to attend at least the balloting. We need 23 members in attendance to make quorum. It’s remarkable to think about how Sisterhood has grown to need so many voting members present. We will have a brief installation on May 31 at 3:30 PM in the Freedman Center before hosting a talk by our very own Katie Schwartz. Katie will discuss how to research and apply for college scholarships that are available to children as early as grade school. A separate eVite will provide more details.
More on these programs below (click links for details): Please make your check payable to Beth El Sisterhood and mail to: Beth El Synagogue We look forward to your participation! Our
2014-2015 / 5775 Sisterhood board: Being a Jewish congregation, we love to prepare, serve, and eat food. Over the years, Kiddush teams and others working in the kitchen have reported some problems. We found a consensus for re-stocking the kitchen with commercial quality knives, cookware, utensils, and shelving. Those items are costly in themselves, and they should be replicated for meat, dairy, and pareve service. The Strategic Plan may eventually address big ticket items, such as major kitchen appliances that are aging, but before those decisions are made, Sisterhood wants to start making modest yet important purchases and incremental improvements to the kitchen’s storage and organization. Please consider making a donation to support this effort. All of us will benefit from the success of this initiative. Examples
of Items wanted: Stocking and maintaining the kitchen is critical for weekly Kiddushim as well as other religious and social functions held at Beth El. Please help improve the kitchen by making a financial contribution to Sisterhood. The funds we collect will purchase professional quality knives, bowls, utensils, service ware, shelving, signage, minor servicing of equipment, and more. Please
make checks payable to Beth El with "Sisterhood Kitchen
Initiative” in the memo section (send
to Beth El Synagogue, 1004 Watts Street, Durham, NC 27705). Thank
you. New merchandise is already in and more is coming. Check out yadiam, mezzuzot, jewelry and other items now. We welcome your ideas. Presently the gift shop is available when the office is open or by appointment. We are also open Sunday mornings and Wednesday afternoons when volunteers are available to run it during while Talmud Torah hours. We need volunteers to take turns staffing the gift shop once or twice in a six week period. We also need volunteers for other short term projects. The Torah Fund is a long-standing initiative conducted by Conservative Jewish Sisterhoods (more than 500 of them) around the World. These Sisterhoods raise money that goes directly to support these institutions which serve as the primary venues for nurturing the future of the Conservative (Masorti) Jewish Movement: 1) Jewish Theological Seminary; 2) Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies; 3) Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies (in Israel); 4) Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano (in Argentina). All of the Women’s League Sisterhoods have wonderful programs that aid and support their individual synagogues. (Did you know all Beth El Sisterhood members are automatically members of WLCJ – Women’s League for Conservative Judaism?) As members of WLCJ we are asked to go further than our shul, our community, our town. We are asked to do more, to “see the big picture”. We want our Movement to be vigorous, strong and growing. The products of these institutions – our teachers-at all levels, our lay leaders, cantors and rabbis –will achieve beyond imagining, if we do our part. The funding that Torah Fund supplies has done great things in the past and must continue to help make great things possible in the years ahead. Here are some ways that YOU can help: 1) Purchase Torah Fund cards available through our Sisterhood (Call Torah Fund Chair, Mary Joan Mandel at 973-885-5154) at 5 cards for $18. Your family and friends will love receiving actual mail from you. Sample cards are on display in the synagogue's lobby. If you need to send a card immediately, contact Mary Joan. For the total nominal fee of $5 (check made payable to "Torah Fund"), she will provide the card of your choice, write your message, your name and return address, stamp, and mail it. Please note all money for Torah Fund goes directly to Torah Fund. It does not pass through Sisterhood or the Beth El treasury, so please make all checks payable directly to Torah Fund. 2) Torah Fund has its own Tzedekah Boxes. Mary Joan has these boxes available at no charge. Turn in your box once or twice a year. You or she will count your saved money, she will send a check to “Torah Fund” to cover the amount collected, and give you back your box! Any amount you can give to Torah Fund throughout the year will be gratefully accepted. Each fall, a pin is presented to those able to pledge at least $180 over the course of the year (these are given out in August or September). A new pin is produced each year and is connected to a specific theme. This 2014-2015 theme is “Mispochah/Family”. This year's pin is a Tree of Life Showing its roots. Our Jewish families are configured in many ways, all precious. Our roots strengthen us. Please consider making a donation to “Torah Fund” to keep our Movement moving forward in its goals. |
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