Together Again… but in Good Health

By Jeanette M. Brownstein, Florida Region President

“Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht” Man/Woman Plans and God Laughs. We have all certainly learned over the past two-plus years that life is unpredictable, but we women have overcome these bumps in the road and have repeatedly refocused and moved on with new and creative ideas and programs.

The Florida Region had planned a hybrid (in-person and virtual options) Shabbaton/Retreat for the first weekend in May.

Unfortunately, due to COVID exposure to some of the volunteers who were directly involved with the implementation of the weekend, plans were abruptly changed early on Erev Shabbat, and we pivoted to a full virtual event for Sunday only and canceled the Shabbaton. A difficult decision was made in consultation with the host synagogue leadership, Florida Region WLCJ leadership, the weekend’s leadership, and the WLCJ Executive Director, International President, and Medical Chair.

We certainly tried to create a safe in-person/virtual event where we could be “Together Again”. Food was bought, the chicken was defrosting, centerpieces were made, welcome bags were ready to be delivered to the hotel, name tags were made, special added touches made by the host affiliate members were completed, tables and tablecloths for our outdoor meals were ready to be put in place, complicated electronics were prepared for this hybrid event, prayer books for the Rosh Chodesh celebration were ready as were copies of the Megillah Ruth which we were to study, individual spice bags were made for Havdalah, sticks were collected for our marshmallow toasting at our planned kumzits, mitzvah project donations for a local women’s shelter were ready to be brought from around the state and so on and so on.

To say we were sad and disappointed is an understatement. But in a few hours’ time, our village of Sisters worked B’Yachad and pivoted to a one-day-only virtual event. Phone calls were made and emails were sent to eager volunteers who were to prepare the weekend’s meals, e-mails and phone calls were made to those about to travel from around the state, hotel reservations were canceled, emails were sent to all registered participants about the change in plans with new details for the now one-day Zoom event, food was repurposed, returned and donated, centerpieces were put away for future events, many, many supplies were put back into their storage places and arrangements were made to collect and ship the mitzvah project donations from around the state. Each session had to be rethought to accommodate everyone on Zoom and new PowerPoint presentations had to be created for the now totally virtual event.

Money will be refunded, and the details above may become a distant memory, our disappointment will wane, but what we won’t forget is how our Sisters from around the Region worked together in a very short period of time to turn one of those “unpredictable life events” into a wonderful, memorable, positive day that we in the Fabulous Florida Region can be proud of.

What did we learn from all of this? Preserving a life takes precedent over everything. Pikuach Nefesh, one of our most important Jewish principles, teaches us that safeguarding the health of individuals takes priority over everything. And, of course, that our sisters of Women’s League can rise to any occasion on a moment’s notice. But most importantly we are all safe, healthy, and had the opportunity to spend an incredibly uplifting, educational day Together/B’Yachad on Zoom. All involved were inspired by the special day that came out of this experience, and we will look forward to the future when we can try again to be together in person.

Yes, it was disappointing and yes, it was an overwhelming amount of preparation that we did not get to see come to fruition. And YES, we were still able to be B’Yachad for one day of the full weekend that had been planned, but most importantly we are all healthy and are able to celebrate another Shabbat with our family, friends, and loved ones.

Shabbat Shalom!

Jeanette M. Brownstein
Florida Region President
flpresident21@wlcj.org