Dear Friends,
On Friday, May 8 we had a beautiful installation service. Many thanks to Lynda Ginsparg and Joey Ostrum and to Rabbi Straus, Rabbi Franzel, and Cantor Portnoy. Mazel tov to our new President, Debbie Fleekop. She is warm, caring, smart, well-organized, and full of great ideas. I know that she will do a wonderful job. Congratulations as well to our incoming Executive Board Officers: Leslie Brier, Wendy Oldstein, Joey Ostrum, Marjory Bildersee, Donna Miller, Fonda Hartman, Jennie Nemroff, Lynda Ginsparg, Ruth Niesen, Sue Ellen Laken, Beverly Prince, Sue Rubin Plick, Wendy Kivitz, and Carol D. Frank. I want to give a special thanks to our outgoing Officers: Marcy Aufschauer, Norma Bolden, Marcia Perman, and Joan Stein.
Our Closing Dinner and Israeli Movie Night was a pleasure, relaxed and fun. Thank you, Wendy Oldstein, for planning three years of wonderful events. And thank you as well to Mark Komen for all the beautiful flyers that you and Wendy made.
As my two-year term as Sisterhood President comes to an end, I look back with pride and gratitude for all that we accomplished and all that we shared. I want to thank the women on the Executive Board, the General Board, the Gift Shop Committee, our 305 members, and all the people who attended our events. We could not have done all that we did without the hard work and support of these terrific women. I also want to thank our wonderful clergy, the incredibly dedicated Board of Trustees of MLRT, and all the staff who help facilitate all that we do.
We had some very special occasions for learning & prayer: WRJ publication of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. At Rabbi Straus’s suggestion, we invited Rabbi Andrea Weiss, one of the editors of this award-winning book, to speak at MLRT. She discussed the development of this first-ever Torah commentary by female scholars. * Two Sisterhood Shabbats, one featuring Cantor Sarah Sager, the person who inspired WRJ to commission the new Torah commentary. * Torah Study with Rabbi Straus each month before the General Board Meeting.
Our Social Action Projects included: Cook for a Friend, we make 300 kosher meals a year for elder people in need * A benefit concert to support the work of Cease Fire, PA, which works to promote sensible gun legislation in Pennsylvania * Helping to outfit apartments for refugees from Myanmar through HIAS, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. We collected, Brotherhood transported, linens, dishes, tools, toiletries, pots & pans, school supplies, lamps, furniture, etc. * Coat Drives, Blizzard Bags for Jewish Family & Children’s Services, and donations of clothing & house wares to local charities from our Rummage Sale *Two Christmas Day events at homeless shelters in Philadelphia * Daisy Day in support of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia * Support of the Supportive Older Women’s Network * Interfaith Hospitality Network of the Main Line.
For Main Line Reform Temple: Sisterhood Choir, singing at more services than ever before * Repaired the spotlight on our front lawn, let there be light! * Reframed the 1975 Sisterhood Tapestry * Donated $8,000 to install a computer system in the Temple library * Sponsored Bimah flowers, February - July 2009 * Holiday lunch for MLRT Staff and Clergy * B’nai Mitzvah Gifts * Supplied snacks for opening day of Religious School, candied apples for Simchat Torah, Hamantaschen for Purim * Supported programs for Religious School and Early Childhood Education *Camp Harlam First Time Camper scholarships * Purchased the “Rock Band Game” for the Youth Lounge * Supported the L’Taken Seminar in Washington, D.C. for 10 Graders * Upgraded the Cantor’s Sound System * Sisterhood Tributes to Galas for our clergy * Operated the Sisterhood Gift Shop, selling Judaica & gift items * Sent Holiday Greetings to staff and Clergy, Congratulations to Confirmands, and condolences to Temple members.
For Women of Reform Judaism, WRJ: Award-Winning Contribution to rebuild the Chapel on the Hill, Camp Harlam. * Sisterhood Area Day: We invited local Sisterhoods to share a day of leadership training sponsored by WRJ * World Union for Progressive Judaism * Circle of Service * Jeannette Miriam Goldberg Fund * Jewish Braille Institute * Donations to the YES Fund (Youth, Education, and Special Projects) to support scholarships for Rabbinical and Cantorial students * District & National Conferences.
Fundraising: We raised money through our dues, our Shalach Manot project (delivering Purim goodie bags), the Sisterhood Gift Shop, the rummage sale, sales of Uniongrams, holiday and Confirmand greetings, BINGO, and jewelry sales. Many of these projects, especially Bingo with Cantor Portnoy, the Shalach Manot packing day, and even the rummage put the “fun” in fundraising.
Sisterhood Social Events: We also had many events where we got together to talk, eat, enjoy, and learn, including: dinners with speakers such as Stephanie Stahl of CBS3, Rabbi Straus’s book review, pottery painting, a docent tour of the Renoir exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Wharton Esherick Museum, two Israeli movie nights, a Polynesian Dance class, tour of Laurel Hill Cemetery, a Wine Tasting with Brotherhood, & the Rosenbach Museum tour of the Maurice Sendak retrospective.
I look forward to sharing the next two years with our new Sisterhood President, Debbie Fleekop, and the fantastic group of women on our incoming Executive Board. I know they will be years filled with friendship, mitzvot, and many enjoyable gatherings. We already have plans for a very special speaker at our Opening in the fall, so please remember to sign up for Sisterhood when the MLRT membership renewal packet arrives.
I wish you all a long, lovely summer.
Fondly,
Linda Finkelstein
