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News from the Northeast



February 2, 2016
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Upcoming Deadlines

February 8, 2016
WRJ Incubator Grant Application Deadline

Save the Date!

November 3-6, 2016
Northeast District Convention Albany, NY Marriott

Need a Speaker?

Each Sisterhood in the Northeast District is entitled to a District Speaker once every two years without expense to the Sisterhood – as well as a speaker from the Board of WRJ in alternate years.
Learn more about...

WRJ Consultant Program

Need help with your budget, constitution, or relationships with your clergy or temple?

The WRJ Consultant Program was created to provide WRJ-affiliated sisterhoods with access to WRJ leaders who are knowledgeable on these and other challenging topics.

Consultations can be conducted by phone or videochat. The consultant will be available to the affiliate for as long as needed.

Click here for a list of potential consultation topics.

Click here to request a WRJ Consultant.


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The next e-blast will be sent on March 1, 2016

Message from Paulette Black
Vice President of Area Management


Over the past two years, the extraordinary Women of Reform Judaism have given over half a million dollars to the YES Fund (Youth, Education and Special Projects). I was so proud to stand up at the 2013 WRJ Centennial Assembly YES Fund Luncheon to pledge my support for my Lifeline, and so proud to receive my Lifeline pin at our 2014 WRJ Northeast Biennial Yes Fund Luncheon. My heart was bursting with love and pride for WRJ and the work we do. As Rabbi Rick Jacobs said, “There is simply nothing that you have not done to give, nourish and sustain us and WE THANK YOU!”
We touch so many lives around the world to strengthen the Jewish people. Our YES Fund grants support NFTY and summer camps, scholarships for girls to go to 6 Point Sci-Tech Camp, young children through PJ Library, rabbinic students worldwide, the Israel mother/daughter bat mitzvah program, a legislative aide for the Religious Action Center. and many more. You can read about how our YES Fund donations touch so many lives at the WRJ website. There are wonderful resources available to share with your sisterhoods, including our 2014-2016 donations, the most inspiring video about the many ways we give through the YES Fund, and many ideas to educate your sisterhood on ways to give.
At our recent WRJ Assembly YES Fund Luncheon in November 2015, I want to let you know that over $100,000 was raised. Over $15,000 was raised from your individual donations and the rest of the funds came from your generosity through the Lifeline Endowment program. I would like to thank the following WRJ Northeast sisters for their generosity:
Andrea Gingold and Cheryl Greenfield are working on Silver Lifelines
Robin Krieger completed her Silver Lifeline
Sharon Sobel completed her Gold Lifeline
Trina Novak completed her Pearl Lifeline
Yasha Koach and Todah Rabah!
Our Northeast District YES Fund Committee includes Paulette Black, Stephanie Jacobson, Natalie Berhumoglu and Barbara Thomas. We will be working together to plan for our fundraising efforts through the YES Fund Tree and also our YES Fund Luncheon at the District Biennial Convention, which will take place November 3-6, 2016, in Albany, NY. We welcome help for both these important YES Fund projects. We will be sending out a sign-up sheet prior to our convention asking for you to help us with the YES Fund tree.
Thank you again for saying YES!
Paulette Black, Vice President of Area Management
Interfaith Families: Expanding Our Tents - Area Event held Jan 31 
From left to right: Natalie Berhumoglu, Lucille Karp, Carmen Holzman, and Moderator Barbara Stern
Recap to follow in our next issue. 

News from our Sisterhoods...

All WRJ-NE sisterhood members are invited to these programs
Sunday, February 28, 2016, at 10:30 a.m.
A Graceful Exit: Organizing for the End of Your Life
A Symposium at East End Temple
A Graceful Exit is about living; it’s not about dying. It’s about making choices now, making decisions in the middle of your life that will help support you and nurture you in your later years.
Join us to hear what the experts have to say: a financial services professional, a lawyer, a funeral home director, and a writer on aging issues.
Open to all. For more information, go their website
East End Temple Sisterhood
245 East 17 Street
New York, New York
            -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, March 6, 2016
WRJ Riverdale Temple will host its
Second Annual Mah Jongg Tournament
Reservations a must; register by February 26:
    Tournament play: $45 
    Social play: $25 – beginners welcome!
Includes a light breakfast, dairy lunch & free parking.
Click here for the registration form, schedule and more information.
Questions? Call Susan (917) 509‑3111.
Riverdale Temple
4545 Independence Avenue
Riverdale, New York
Community Events
Rabbi Jeffrey Gale, the spiritual leader of Hebrew Tabernacle, a Reform congregation in Washington Heights, will be participating in a book reading of his recently published book, The Ballad of East and West.
Although classified as historical fiction, it is largely based on Rabbi Gale's Soviet Jewry work in the early 1980s.
Sunday, February 28, 2016, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Word Up: Community Bookshop
Libreria Communitaria
2113 Amsterdam Avenue at 165 Street, New York, New York

Last Chance to Apply for a WRJ Incubator Grant!

WRJ is pleased to announce that sisterhoods can apply for an incubator grant to help fund "outside the box programming" that would provide new ideas for sisterhoods and districts.
Programs should aim to do one or more of the following: create caring communities, promote Reform Jewish values, cultivate spiritual or personal growth, or give more women the opportunity to do tikkun olam – repair the world.
Grants may range from $500 to $5,000 USD, with amounts to be determined by the Incubator Grants committee.
To read about the grants and grant qualifications, please click here.
To apply for a grant, please click here.
Applications are due by Monday, February 8, 2016

Did you know...?

Some interesting facts about Israel:
- Israeli banknotes have braille on them.
- 9 out of 10 Israeli households use solar energy to heat water.
- In 1992, Israel experienced so much snow that there were even a few inches in the Negev desert.
- Israeli stamps have kosher glue on them.
- The world’s oldest continuously used cemetery is the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
- Workers collect the notes placed in the Kotel twice a year, once before Rosh Hashannah, and again before Passover.  They are bundled in bags and later buried in the cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
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