All Good Things Must Come to An End

by Carol S. Simon

It is hard to believe that this administration is coming to a close. We started with a desire to make a real difference for our sisterhoods and for our members by reaching out to connect and engage. We have been passionate about enriching each member’s life through Jewish values and experiences.

I want to take this opportunity to take stock of some of what our incredible team has accomplished over the past three years.

We expanded our use of technology to connect in myriad ways, which is quite exciting and exhilarating. I hope you have taken advantage of our updated website, loaded our App on your phone, joined Women’s League Reads, participated in a Distance Workshop or Personal Conversation, and have read my Shabbat messages and your region newsletter online.

Three years of evaluating our what, why and how have morphed into our Big Bold Steps strategic plan. Here’s a sneak peak at the bold steps that will be our focus as we enter our next 100 years. You can find out more Monday morning at Convention 2017:

• Region Structures: the team has been working to create the individual plans that will work best for each region.
• Education and Program: the team is updating our extensive programming, making the best and most popular easily available.
• Social Action: the Modern Jewish Family initiative will address inclusiveness and equal status for all Jewish family structures.
• Women’s League and Sharsheret have a new working partnership to provide programs and resources for those facing breast and ovarian cancer and the communities that support them.
• Communications: we are linking all of our members by expanding our online network. Make sure we have your email and permission to connect directly with you.

I encourage each of you to attend convention (July 23-26 in Arlington, Virginia) to learn all about our new Bold Steps and how to introduce these ideas into your own lives, either personally or through your sisterhood.

To the 2014-2017 Executive Committee and Board of Directors: I thank you for taking this journey with me. Each of you has been integral to our having achieved so much. Todah rabbah.

Representing you was life changing for me. Good things don’t actually all come to an end. This journey has given me so much that will not stop just because I am leaving office: deep friendships, an expanded commitment to the values of being a Conservative Jewish woman, and unimagined leadership skills. I am a better person because of what I have learned. As Women’s League’s first triennial president, and the first from Florida, I am the proof that any member, no matter where she lives, can make a difference.

Women’s League has accomplished remarkable things over the past 100 years. Now we look to the next 100 years to continue updating Mathilde Schechter’s vision of a community of women who are Jewishly educated, involved in the betterment of their communities, and dedicated to the well being of Jews, and all people, worldwide.