Words from our President

By Jill Goldstein, Sisterhood President 2023-2025

After I became Sisterhood President, so many people asked me “Why?  You worked here for over 30 years, aren’t you tired of Beth Shalom yet?” There are many responses I could have given, but the one closest to my reasoning was written by one of our Past Presidents—Shira Wajcman—in her article that appeared in this space.  She wrote “Sisterhood is a diverse group of women coming together to help each other, our synagogue, and our community and thereby the world”. She went on to say, ‘Working for a common goal as a group has more of an impact than one individual working alone”. I could not think of a better way to spend part of my retirement than working to repair the world through Sisterhood and the Women’s League of Conservative Judaism.

In the last year we held the Sarah Peltzman Education Series in person, Bams 4 Mams, a Women’s Seder, Sisterhood Shabbat, a lesson in Tai Chi, wine tasting, Israeli dancing and more. We re-started PrayerWorks and are resuming Warm Up America. We installed our incoming Sisterhood Board of Directors in person as well. Our Community service activities will soon resume in the Ronald McDonald Family Room and we are beginning a new project with Happy Bottoms.  This year, we will also continue our project–Banishing Bullying Behavior, as well as donating to the Torah Fund Campaign. We also donate money to many aspects of our synagogue including Rose Family Childhood Education Center, Polsky Religious School and USY, all made possible through our fundraising efforts and our beautiful Sisterhood Gift Shop. We are also affiliated with Women’s League of Conservative Judaism, and at their national convention this past summer, we were awarded with the “Jewel of the Crown” for programming—an award that is only given out every three years.

As our world continues to step back from the “Covid years” and we become more of an in–person organization, Sisterhood is planning more programming to meet our objective of becoming interactive, while also understanding that Zoom is still the best option for some of our members.  

It is our goal in the coming year to provide programming for women of all ages.  If you are a new member of Beth Shalom, your first year’s dues are gratis.  If you are not a new member, dues are $36.  If this brief article has not convinced you to join—attend a program, meet our members, and then decide.  I know that no matter your age or interests, we have something to offer you whether it be educational, social or by way of community service. If you have an idea for programming or community service, please let me know. If you are a member, I thank you and hope you will continue to be part of our wonderful Sisterhood. If you aren’t a member of Sisterhood, I welcome you to join us. As Shira said, “Together we can help each other, our synagogue, our community and the world”.

To join Sisterhood, please make your dues payment here.

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To learn more about membership in Sisterhood, contact our Membership VP here.