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News from the Northeast
June 1, 2021
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This eblast is sent from northeast@wrj.org.
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Message from Robin Krieger Area Director, WRJ Northeast District
The Freedge - I live in Newton, Massachusetts, a city of about 90,000 residents eight miles outside Boston. The city is known for top schools, high incomes, and very high housing prices. Newton is not known for unemployment and hunger. Naively, I never viewed poverty as a Newton issue before COVID-19 arrived.
A few months ago, I walked by City Hall and saw tables with lunch meals set up by the Newton Food Pantry (NFP). The NFP supplies donated food five days a week to those in need. Through my temple, Temple Shalom of Newton, I learned they sponsored the Newton Community Freedge.
The Freedge is a refrigerator and pantry located on the parking lot of a Newton dry cleaners. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, different organizations and individuals volunteer all or part of the day to clean and load the Freedge with donations from local businesses. Temple Shalom of Newton committed to sponsor the Freedge every Tuesday. Two months ago, I volunteered to deliver food about to expire from Wegmans.
I look forward to my Tuesday morning deliveries, which have a weekly slot on my calendar. The instructions are simple. Unload the boxes, remove outdated food, clean the shelves, and reload them. . . unless people are waiting. But there are always people waiting for us to arrive, so we leave the full boxes on the pavement and then walk back to our cars. I wonder why each person is there, but I know not to ask and never to judge.
The Newton Community Freedge has a Facebook following of over 1,000 volunteers who post pictures of their Freedge visits. Before leaving the fully-stocked refrigerator, we take a picture and send it to Facebook. But two hours later, another photo is posted, showing an empty Freedge. Fortunately, the next posting shows the refrigerator full again.
I am now aware of the hunger that has increased during the pandemic. Volunteering has opened my eyes to the fact that no community, not even Newton, is immune. I hope for the day the Freedge closes down due to the lack of need.
Robin Krieger
Temple Shalom, Newton, Massachusetts
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Northeast District Area Event Thursday, June 17, 7:30 p.m.
Racism and the Jewish Perspective Rabbi Peter Stein of Temple B’rith Kodesh (Rochester, NY) and Rabbi Barbara Goldman-Wartell of Temple Concord (Binghamton, NY) will take part in a zoom panel conversation. Register by June 13 by emailing ltheuman@rochester.rr.com.
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Thursday, June 3, 8 p.m.
Advocacy in Action Together we will explore WRJ Resolutions and Advocacy Guides, the intersection between education and advocacy, and show you resources available from WRJ to start-up, expand or enhance your Social Action, Social Justice and Advocacy programming. This program is open to everyone. Click here for more information
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Sunday, June 6, 5:30 p.m.
WRN Jubilee Inaugural: Celebrating 50 Years of Women in the Rabbinate WRJ is a proud supporter of the Women's Rabbinic Network (WRN). WRN is the organization of Reform female-identified rabbis, supporting and advocating for members and their values to positively impact women in the Jewish community.
We're excited to extend this invitation to their Jubilee Inaugural to you. Kicking off a year of commemorations, they will honor Rabbi Sally Priesand's boundary-breaking 1972 ordination and the impact of all women rabbis. Join us!
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Tuesday, June 8, 8 p.m.
The Word Mavens The WRJ Film, Fiction and Fine Wine group will present the Word Mavens. Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic will engage and entertain you with their hilarious, fact-filled look at Jewish holidays, traditions, foods and more. They will share funny stories, Yiddish mistakes and little-know facts. Click here for more information
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Tuesday, June 15, 1 p.m.
HUC-JIR: A Jewish Grand Tour Travel across time and space -- from medieval times through the present day – and discover how Jewish sites, history, and memory inform our heritage and identity.
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Monday, June 21, 8 p.m.
Spring Virtual Lilith Salon Please join us for Spring Virtual Lilith Salon.
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Monday, June 21, 8 p.m.
Biden-Harris: The First 100 Days
Join Men of Reform Judaism (MRJ) and RAC Director Emeritus Rabbi David Saperstein for a conversation about the Biden-Harris administration through a Jewish lens.
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Call to Action:
Racial Justice Campaign
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On April 28, 1500 people, including many of you, joined the Zoom launch of the Reform Movement’s Racial Justice Campaign to hear about how we, as a Reform Jewish community, are combating voter suppression and fighting for racial justice nationwide, statewide, and in Canada.
Below are some ways that you can take action and continue learning about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and the Racial Justice Campaign of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
Support Legislation In the U.S. Urge Congress to support voting legisation:
In Canada. Canadian Federal Bill C-22 would repeal mandatory minimum penalties for some firearm offences and drug crimes and, for those who do not pose a threat to the community, make greater use of conditional sentences, counseling, and treatment.
Day of Action
Join a Training Session
RAC-NY Call to Action
Less is More - Parole Reform Bill
Hundreds of Reform Jews across New York have helped move Less Is More parole reform (bill S.1144 Benjamin / A.5576 Forrest) in the state legislature, and now it is time to contact Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie at 518-455-3791 and/or tag him in a tweet @CarlHeastie using the hashtag #LessIsMoreNY and tagging @TheRAC to urge him to make sure the bill passes out of committee and is brought to a floor vote.
Less is More parole reform will help people reintegrate into the community and increases racial justice and strengthens public safety, while also saving the state money. It embodies the Jewish principle that everyone can turn their life around.
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Helyn B. Reich Memorial Scholarship
Scholarships available to study in Israel sponsored by American Zionist Movement (AZM). Reich scholarships are awarded each fall and spring to a limited number of American students who choose to study at one of several designated Israeli universities or attend post-college long-term programs.
Now accepting Fall 2021 applications through July 1, 2021.
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| Calendar and Other Resources
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| Holiday Calendar
June is LGBT Pride Month
June 14 Flag Day
July 1 Canada Day
July 4 Independence Day (U.S.)
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| New sisterhood presidents and women's group leaders! Please complete the LEADERSHIP INFORMATION FORM so that we can update our records and keep you informed with news, events, advocacy alerts, and more.
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| | Keep in Touch
with WRJ Northeast
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| | Request an Online Speaker
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Your sisterhood is entitled to a district speaker without expense to your sisterhood.
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| Northeast District Photos
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| Tools & Resources Northeast Resources
WRJ Resources
WRJ Programs
Other Resources
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| The RAC has established a series of call‑to‑action petitions:
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| Did you know. . . June 6, 1944 and 1967: Important dates affecting Jewish history There are some dates in history, general and Jewish, that stand apart from nearly all others: Sept. 11, 2001, the terrorist bombings in New York and Washington D.C.; Oct. 12, 1492, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain; and Dec. 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt called “a date which will live in infamy.”
Then there is the Sixth of June, which marks two pivotal dates in history: June 6, 1944, D-Day, the launching of the Normandy Invasion, which would lead to the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of the Holocaust; and June 6, 1967, the first full day of the Six-Day War in the Middle East, a conflict whose aftermath is still being played out in the Middle East and on the world stage.
Yes, the Sixth of June is important on both the general and the Jewish calendars. We remember with respect the brave men and women who fought and died in defense of their nations and their shared ideals of democracy and freedom.
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| The Board of the Northeast District of Women of Reform Judaism Wishes You a
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Share this newsletter by using one of the "Share this" icons at the top of the newsletter.
The next eblast will be sent on July 6, 2021.
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| | | Women of Reform Judaism | 633 Third Avenue | New York, NY 10017-6778 US
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