Voices of WRJ: Parashat R’eih

It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through WRJ’s Centennial year. And what a year it has been! We celebrated the Centennial in our own synagogues with Centennial Shabbat services and cakes decorated with the Centennial logo. We celebrated the Centennial with our sisters from North America and abroad at the WRJ Fried Leadership Conference and on the WRJ Centennial Trip to Berlin and Israel. At the Centennial Symposium in New York, we learned our history, studied the legacy of our founders and honored our fore-sisters. And the celebration is not over. It will continue during the long days and warm nights of the summer months and in the fall as our membership year begins anew and our amazing journey culminates at WRJ’s 49^th Assembly and Centennial Celebration in San Diego December 11-15, 2013. As 2013 WRJ 49^th Assembly Local Arrangements Chair, it has been my privilege to work with the WRJ board, WRJ Executive Director Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, the amazing WRJ staff and the Pacific District board. Their dedication to WRJ as an institution and their commitment to ensuring the future of progressive Judaism have been an inspiration. Yet, the hard work, creativity and effort it takes to run a sisterhood are equally inspiring to me. When I attend a Shabbat service, a Seder or an installation at another sisterhood or when I read the listserv and see the questions, the sharing, the support that it provides, I see sisterhood in action and I am awed. So while we celebrate our Centennial and our past, let us remember to give ourselves a pat on the back and recognize our own role in the history of WRJ. We are the sisterhood of today. It is our work that will ensure the future of Reform Judaism and our actions, big or small, will shape that future. Kudos to us. And a hearty Mazel tov to each and every one of us for being a member of sisterhood! Julia Weinstein is WRJ 49^th Assembly Local Arrangements Chair and a member of University Synagogue Sisterhood in Los Angeles, CA.