Sichot beyn Achayot: An Open Dialogue Between Diaspora and Israeli Sisters

2025 Programs

Sichot beyn Achayot: Conversations between SISTERS 

Session Two
Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 12:00 PM ET
(CLICK HERE TO VIEW PROGRAM RECORDING)
Title: Addressing Homelessness and Food Insecurity: Mitzvot, Motivations and Methods
The Torah commands us to pay a poor person’s tithe [Deuteronomy 14:28] and to leave the corners of our fields unharvested so that the poor may glean with dignity [Leviticus 23:22]. How do we fulfill the mitzvah of caring for the most vulnerable members of our society today when the need is so great?

Guest Speakers:
Rabbi Sigal Asher, Fellow at the Beit Midrash for Israeli Rabbis at the Shalom Hartman Institute and Hamidrasha at Oranim
Abby J. Leibman, President and CEO, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
Meredith Jacobs, CEO, Jewish Women International (JWI)
Gillian Ganzler, Chair, Rebecca’s Tent, Rebecca’s Tent: Spiegel Women’s Shelter at Shearith Israel in Atlanta, GA

Session Three
Sunday, December 17, 2023 at 12:00 PM ET
(CLICK HERE TO VIEW PROGRAM RECORDING)
Title: Volunteerism: Mitzvot, Motivations and Methods
“That which is hateful to you do not do to others. All the rest is commentary. Now go and study.” [BT Shabbat 31A] This was Hillel’s famous answer to a potential convert who asked him to summarize the Torah while standing on one foot. Today we will study the hows and the whys of volunteerism and the many ways in which 21st century women are giving their time to benefit others.

Guest Speakers:
Rabbi Judith Edelman-Green, Spiritual Pastoral Caregiver
Rabbi Helaine Ettinger, Rabbi at Philipstown Reform Synagogue in Cold Spring, NY, and Coordinator of the Rabbis Without Borders (RWB) Service Corps
Rabbi Chaya Rowen Baker, Dean, The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary

2022 Programs

Sichot beyn Achayot: Conversations between SISTERS 

How did the first bat mitzvah lead to the expanded roles for Jewish women, both in the synagogue and the community? We will explore how things have changed in the last 100 years and ponder what the next 100 may bring.

Speakers: 
Prof. Alice Shalvi, Founder of Women’s Rights Movement in Israel and Israel Prize recipient for her contribution to education 

Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz, JTS Chancellor and Irving Lehrman Research Professor of American Jewish History

Saralee Schrell-Fox, Educator and Chazzanit, Jerusalem

Rabba Dikla Druckman-Sherzer, Fuchsberg Jewish Center, Jerusalem

Workshop 2 – November 20, 2022

Click HERE to view this session. 

Topic: Conversations Between Conservative and Masorti Sisters

Click HERE to view recording of this session.

Davening at Robinson’s Arch video

Rabbi Debra Cantor’s Presentation

Topic: Davening as Conservative / Masorti Women

Speakers: 

Women’s League: Rabbi Debra Cantor, Congregation B’Nai Tikvoh, Bloomfield, CT

Masorti Olami: Rakefet Ginsberg, Executive Director Masorti Movement in Israel

Two speakers will examine the question of davening as Conservative/ Masorti women; they will address the experience of davening with Women of the Wall, and also davening in an egalitarian setting at Robinson’s Arch.

Program funded by: generous grant from KKL/MERCAZ

This program is designed to foster a deeper mutual understanding between the members of WLCJ in North America and the Masorti Olami women of Israel. It is designed to address the question, “How are we the same, and how are we different?

Each of the 3 workshops will address this question by concentrating on one specific issue that is both relevant and timely to us all, and will include presentations from 2 speakers, one from each side of the Atlantic. This workshop will each be followed by a Q&A session in which all attendees will be encouraged to participate. The third and last workshop, coming in December, will conclude with breakout rooms in which participants will have an opportunity to join the conversation. Click here for the Conversations Between Sisters_3 Workshops Flyer.

Participation in this program is a benefit of your membership. 

Questions?

Contact Rabbi Margie Cella

mcella@wlcj.org