Spring has arrived in the Northeast District – a great location to experience nature at its best, with colorful blooms, birds chirping, streams flowing with an abundance of water, the chromatic spectrum of green color everywhere… and the ideal time to start planting new seeds for the growing season ahead!

I would like to take this opportunity to begin our growing season in the WRJ Northeast District by introducing the Northeast District Committee for Youth, Education and Special Projects Fund, commonly known as the Northeast YES Fund Committee. Committee members include Nancy Bosco, Cathy Sacks, Helene Phillips, and myself. As a committee, we are tasked with planning and promoting meaningful programs at WRJ Northeast District events to educate all members and the community at large about the Lifeline Endowment Fund and WRJ’s Social Good philanthropic agenda.

Each year WRJ allocates YES funds to support and strengthen the Progressive Reform Movement. This includes, but is not limited to, summer camps, student scholarships and awards, grants to the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), PJ Library, and emergency grants to help those respond to current events and those in need.

The WRJ Northeast YES Fund Committee has already started thinking about our YES Fun-d-Raiser for the upcoming Kallah, during the weekend of October 27-29, 2019, in Norwalk, Connecticut. Mark your calendars now – the guest speaker for this event will be Sandy Adland, WRJ YES Fund Committee chair and WRJ Executive Committee member, from Temple Israel Sisterhood in Canton, Ohio. We are honored to have Sandy as our guest speaker and would like to plan a successful event that truly demonstrates the strength of the WRJ Northeast District. In order to do so, we need your support. On behalf of the Northeast YES Fund Committee, I would like to ask you for your input: what types of programs and activities would be most meaningful to you and your communities? PLEASE EMAIL ME your ideas and suggestions and I will gladly share them with the Northeast District YES Fund Committee for consideration. If you would like to participate as a committee member, please reach out; we would love to have new inspired members on our team!

The YES Fund is making daily impacts in North America, Israel, and the world because of your collective generous financial support. Thank you!

Best wishes for a meaningful Passover! Hag sameah to you and your family.

Carmen Holzman
WRJ Northeast District YES Fund Chair
Congregation Beth Israel, West Hartford, CT

The WRJ Social Justice Conference is a powerful opportunity to become better-educated and trained on social justice issues. SJC is intended for any woman (age 18+) interested in advocacy in the Reform Movement through a Jewish woman’s lens.

Fees: $360; $100 for young adults (18-30)
REGISTER BY APRIL 26.

Sisterhood hosts an official tournament. Cash prizes for high scorers. Entry fee $30. Questions: email tempbethammj@gmail.com or call Cynthia (508) 879-5596.
Register by April 21.

Rachel Kadish spoke about her National Jewish Book Award winning novel, The Weight of Ink, to a full house of over 100, at East End Temple’s annual Library Event on March 17. A reception with book sale and signing followed, including a dessert buffet by sisterhood members.

The Religious Action Center has started organizing at the state level, as an effective way to make change. California was the first state where this happened, regarding the issue of immigration reform. Now, several states have full-time organizers with active in-state coalitions. RAC-NY has begun working together with Reform congregations in New York State to have an impact.

RAC-NY’s first campaign is to make drivers’ licenses available to undocumented New Yorkers. This issue is one of the top priorities for some of the largest immigrant justice advocacy groups in New York. Monday, April 8, is the first RAC-NY gathering in Albany to connect in person and lobby for this issue, which is known as the Green Light NY Campaign.

WRJ Northeast District has made a connection to this RAC-NY thanks to Area Director Liza Robbins Theuman. As Liza wrote,

WRJ has always been miles ahead of the URJ with their policy papers, signing onto amicus briefs, etc. Now we hope to help make one issue that has been identified become a bill. We are 102 Reform congregations across the state, and the legislature will listen to us. Social justice is the jewel in the Reform Jewish crown, and God wants us to act. We can truly act on the mandate of tikkun olam, repairing the world.

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Rabbis Bethie Miller and Jeffrey Sirkman of the Larchmont Temple (NY) have prepared a set of Jewish study materials about this issue.

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Follow NY State Assembly and Senate bills, A3675 and S1747 – also known as the Driver's License Access and Privacy Act.

Has your sisterhood had an incredible program? WRJ Or Ami “Light of My People” Awards recognize exemplary social justice, community service, and educational programming that serve as a model for WRJ districts and sisterhoods.

Programs must occur between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2019.