Grace Schessler, Vice President of WLCJ, and Karen Seltzer, Program Activity Chair, have collected these programs which can be adapted for use by many Sisterhoods.
March 2, 2021
If These Knishes Could Talk… The Story of the New York Accent
Want to have a free and fun night with your Sisterhood? Plan a movie night via Zoom! Free through this YouTube link, https://www.youtube.com/knishes, or available for just a few dollars on Amazon, your Zoom host can click to “Share Screen,” “Share Audio” and “Optimize Video” and you’ll be at the movies with your friends!
This comical documentary explores the history of the New York accent, what it is, how it evolved, and the love/hate relationship New Yorkers have with it. It showcases writer Pete Hamill, director Penny Marshall, attorney Alan Dershowitz and screenwriter James McBride. It also follows why New Yorkers eat chawclate (chocolate) and drink cawfee (coffee), and how the accent became the vibrant soundtrack of the city.
Be sure to make this a B.Y.O.P… Bring Your Own Popcorn and allow time after the movie (which is 53 minutes) for discussion and schmoozing.
Other movies to consider:
February 26, 2021
Go Where You Haven’t Gone Before!
Would you like to tour secret and hidden places in Israel? Contact Itamar Ben David, a young, friendly and enthusiastic guide who knows all the most interesting places to take you to! Itamar is a VIP tour guide in Israel and due to the Covid19 pandemic, he started to guide live, interactive tours via Zoom! With over 14 years of experience guiding thousands of happy travelers all over Israel, he’d be more than happy to share his knowledge and passion with you! Check out his website: www.itamarbendavid.com.
Suggested Virtual Tour: Jerusalem’s Temple Mount
Amazing virtual tour of the holiest place on earth…The Temple Mount! You will hear all about the traditions at the bridge between Heaven and Earth and learn about the cradle of monotheism. After a short “flight” from your homes to Israel, you will take the highway from Ben Gurion airport directly to Jerusalem. You will learn about the Old City and focus on the Temple Mount/Mount Moriah, the cradle of the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. You will virtually walk and explore the plaza, admire the buildings, and learn about the different traditions that make this place so important to billions of believers.
Another Suggested Virtual Tour: Jewish Heritage Tour to the Galilee
From the ancient synagogues of Tiberias and Meron to the ones in Tzfat, from Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon to Ha-Ari, you will cover the history of the Jews in the Galilee after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and all the way to the glorious days of Kabbalah. You will also see how the spiritual development affected modern Israel!
For up to 50 participants, the fee is $220 for a one-hour presentation plus time for Q&A. For 50-99 participants it is $300. This is the perfect program to consider partnering with another Sisterhood or your synagogue’s Men’s Club to halve your expenses!
February 19, 2021
Now is the time to plan for Spring!
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Home gardening has boomed during the coronavirus pandemic. Stories of lockdown-driven home gardening leading to sales booms have been reported in garden stores around the country from Oregon to Minnesota to Ohio to Florida. Home gardening has offered a safe outdoor pastime while growing food for your own table.
However, there’s a learning curve to outdoor gardening. Without proper knowledge, visions of a fresh garden salad can become wilted leaves and inedible vegetables. What is soil pH? Blossom end rot? Powdery mildew? Spider mites?
Spring will be here before you know it and along with it will come planting season. Many members may be interested in a Zoom gardening class. There are a number of resources that should be available to Sisterhoods.
Greatgardenspeakers.com has a wide variety of topics. Their experienced speakers come from virtually every state. Contact information is on the site.
Gardening provides exercise, an outdoor experience, and the pride of growing your own food. Let’s help our members have a great harvest this year.
February 12, 2021
Passover Programming Ideas
With Passover beginning this year on March 27, many of us are thinking about what our Sisterhood can do virtually to recognize, celebrate and honor the traditions of the holiday. Below you will find several ideas that ascend from the very simple to the more complex. As always, feel free to contact me to further discuss any of these concepts!
February 5, 2021
Mah Jongg Madness Continues in Quarantine
Whether your Sisterhood would like to plan an afternoon (or evening) of play or perhaps a fundraising tournament, not even a pandemic can keep us from enjoying Mah Jongg! Using the online option www.realmahjongg.com you can bring your members B’Yachad, together, for some distracting fun.
All your members will need is a desktop, iPad, iPhone, or android device and her own card to play.
For a tournament, play at rotating tables using tournament scoring to win prizes (Amazon eCards are super easy to send). You can also sell raffle tickets prior to the event day for chances to win additional prizes while raising even more funds.
Things you’ll need to do:
For more information, Helene Urbaitel, of Congregation Beth Shalom Sisterhood in Atlanta, GA, has graciously agreed to be available to answer questions via email at helene@bethshalom.net.
January 28 2021
January 22, 2021
It is Possible to Fundraise Virtually!
As you may know, Headline Entertainment has been successfully booking virtual/zoom shows throughout the pandemic. Although we now see light at the end of the tunnel, we still have months to go before we can see in person live shows. Headline Entertainment is offering special pricing for bigger name talent during the pandemic from The Tonight Show, to America’s Got Talent, and more – most of whom are on their website, www.headlineentertainment.us.
If you’d like to learn more about booking a Comedy Show Fundraiser, call Johnny Lampert (845-639-0620) and he will walk you through the simple steps and secure something great for you while also helping everyone stay connected with one another!
Remember, laughter is good for the soul!
January 15, 2021
From Baghdad to Calcutta
Tel Aviv Street Art Tour will take you through the most visible and famous graffiti in town, as well as some of the most hidden pieces of street art, and it will uncover their stories for you.
Graffiti in Israel was boosted in the early 2000s largely due to the British artist Banksy, one of the world’s most famous street art artists, who visited Israel and the Palestinian Authorities, causing a stir in the local scene. Some pieces of Tel Aviv street art are well-executed artworks representing the artistic flair of the city while others have a political or social criticism and can serve as a crash course to Israeli society. Explore Tel Aviv’s urban art and, through it, explore provoking, moving, fascinating pieces of history, politics, and culture of Israel itself.
Contact LET for more information at shalom@let.travel
January 8, 2021
Tel Aviv Street Art Tour will take you through the most visible and famous graffiti in town, as well as some of the most hidden pieces of street art, and it will uncover their stories for you.
Graffiti in Israel was boosted in the early 2000s largely due to the British artist Banksy, one of the world’s most famous street art artists, who visited Israel and the Palestinian Authorities, causing a stir in the local scene. Some pieces of Tel Aviv street art are well-executed artworks representing the artistic flair of the city while others have a political or social criticism and can serve as a crash course to Israeli society. Explore Tel Aviv’s urban art and, through it, explore provoking, moving, fascinating pieces of history, politics, and culture of Israel itself.
Contact LET for more information at shalom@let.travel
January 1, 2021
Then and Now: 100 Years Ago. A look at the amazing similarities between our world 100 years ago and today.
The Word Havens
Authors Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic are the award-winning authors of the Dictionary of Jewish Words (Jewish Publication Society 2006), The Whole Spiel: Funny Essays About Digital Nudniks, Seder Selfies and Chicken Soup Memories (Incompra Press 2016) and Stuff Every Grandmother Should Know (Quirk Press Feb. 2019).
For more than 15 years, The Word Mavens have shlepped around the country to schmooze with Sisterhoods, Men’s Clubs, JCCs, seniors and communal groups, sharing their insights from years of researching and writing about Jewish life. Since the spring, they’ve been Zooming around the country to speak to their audiences.
In their humorous book talk, The Word Mavens celebrate Jewish traditions, holidays, beloved foods and the Yiddish and Hebrew words that describe them. Their program which includes everything from fun facts about bagels to why there is no substitute for a good “Oy!” – rekindles childhood memories and makes audiences laugh out loud.
They are charging $200 for an hour long program over Zoom, with extra time at the end to read and answer questions and to schmooze.
People really love their take and they have some funny props that they show (because they can’t really talk with the audience).
Sisterhoods can reach them by email -info@thewordmavens.com – or get more information (samples of their writing and their presentations) on their website: thewordmavens.com
This can be used as a joint program with other Sisterhoods or even with your Men’s Club. It can also replace your paid-up membership program as a thank you to your members.
December 1, 2020
November 25, 2020
Meet Me at the Met
Your Sisterhood or Region may find a virtual tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City a fascinating program. Whether distance or the coronavirus makes a Zoom visit the most appropriate, The Met offers a number of engaging online discussions led by a Museum guide.
Current offered tours include:
Museum Highlights: Discover works of art that highlight the diversity and breadth of the Museum’s collection, which spans more than 5,000 years.
American Art: Explore The American Wing, including Native American art, through paintings, sculpture, and historic interiors, ranging from the seventeenth century to the early twentieth century.
Art of the Ancient World: Contains art created across cultures in the ancient world, from China, Egypt, Greece and Rome, to the Americas.
The Met Cloisters: View highlights of The Met Cloisters, the only American museum dedicated to the art and architecture of medieval Europe, home of the famous Unicorn Tapestries.
Modern and Contemporary Art: A wide range of art created across the world in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries will be showcased.
Special Exhibition About Time: Fashion and Duration The Costume Institute’s 2020 exhibition traces a century and a half of fashion—from 1870 to the present—on the occasion of The Met’s 150th anniversary.
A 60-minute online tour has a maximum 40 people per reservation. Tours are available Monday through Friday, 10 am to 3 pm. Limited appointments are available on weekends.
There is a $300 flat fee per adult group. However, discounts are granted on a case by case basis. The administration recommended contacting them directly to discuss your group. Payment is due one week in advance.
Grace Schessler
International VP WLCJ and Program Chair
gschessler@wlcj.org
NOVEMBER 19, 2020
Bingo
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NOVEMBER 9, 2020
New Year Greeting Card
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Your Sisterhood may want to do something to help raise funds for programming and for your synagogue. Here is a New Year Greeting Card fundraiser held annually by my Sisterhood in Las Vegas.
We send out a solicitation card to the whole congregation. [To view a copy of the card, click here]. It is printed on card stock and as you can see, will be cut in two after it is printed. I have shown both sides, so you can see how to do it. We send this out in late summer so that people have plenty of time to answer.
Sometimes it is necessary to call people, who have participated in the past or those you think may wish to be included in your card, with a friendly reminder.
Involvement is strong and we have raised thousands of dollars, even after printing and mailing expenses!
Also available for you to view is the format we used for our card. It is a tri-fold layout. [To view a copy of the trifold card, click here]. When you see it on the computer, the middle section, when folded, is actually the front of the card. You can attach your mailing label directly on the card there. The left side is on the inside when folded and the right side is the back when folded.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me: memarkfas@cox.net
Kim Memar
WLCJ Programming Committee Member
NOVEMBER 3, 2020
Bob Alper: The World’s only practicing clergyman doing stand-up comedy… intentionally!
Bob’s unique background (he’s an ordained rabbi who served congregations for fourteen years and holds a doctorate from Princeton Theological Seminary) prepared him well for a twenty-seven year comedy career with wonderfully unique material presented in a way that’s intelligent, sophisticated, and 100% clean. Bob performs all across North America and England, at corporate events, theaters, non-profits, conventions, private parties, churches, and, naturally, synagogues.
“The Spirituality of Laughter” Has been adapted to a Zoom format. It’s a Jewish look at the Holiness of Humor. This program is part informal sermon (with plenty of laughs) exploring how Judaism values the spiritual, psychological, and physiological benefits of laughter, followed by 30 minutes of pure stand-up comedy! Rabbi Alper has other Zoom formatted programs available as well.
To find out more, check out www.bobalper.com or
contact Rabbi Alper at 802-362-5151 or email info@bobalper.com
OCTOBER 19, 2020
About the Exhibit:
Judith Leiber: Master Craftsman tells the story of a fearless woman ahead of her time. This exhibition honors the Holocaust survivor-turned-mega-designer’s life, work and legacy and will feature photographs of Leiber alongside a comprehensive selection of Judith Leiber’s bags, belts, pillboxes and glasses, from collectors in Florida as well as from The Leiber Collection.
The contact person is Nancy Doyle Cohen, Museum Manager of the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. Her contact information is:
Office 786-972-3164
Cell 305-332-7791
nancohen@fiu.edu
The tour takes about an hour, which includes time for your sisterhood president/leader to make announcements plus have a few minutes of “socializing.”
They give a brief overview about the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, followed by a two minute video explaining how the purses are created. Then, the museum curator shares her desktop and takes sisterhood members through the exhibit, providing commentary and information about the Leibers. There is also time for questions from your members at the end.
If anyone in your sisterhood has a Judith Leiber bag they would be welcome to share their bag and tell when and where they got it.
There is not a set fee for the tour. Organizations have sent donations from $180 to as much as $500.
This exhibit could be a “gift” given to your sisterhood rather than a paid up membership brunch, luncheon or dinner.
It is also an excellent program to do as a joint program with other Sisterhoods in your “neighborhood” whether that is locally or by zoom.
OCTOBER 13, 2020
Wonderful “get to know my sisters better” program.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
Let’s go to the Movies: Join a Film discussion with (your Sisterhood name here)
With movie theaters closed or attendance restricted, choose a film for online viewing and schedule a discussion date. You can click on the attachments below for a selected list of Jewish themed films available online (of course, you can choose your own) and questions for the discussion facilitator. The facilitator can look up films on Wikipedia for synopses and information. A co-leader may be needed to help with discussion. Don’t forget your microwave popcorn!
This program can be held once a month or any frequency that suits your Sisterhood members.
Jewish Films Available on Streaming Services
Questions for Leading a Film Discussion
SEPTEMBER 21, 2020
The Mob Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada
You can have your guests view the online tour by themselves and give them a couple of days to get it done. Then you can all meet via zoom with an Educator from the Mob Museum for Q & A. Your guests view the current online tour at www.themobmuseum.org. You will need to email or call to set up the Zoom day and time for the Educator to meet with your guests. Plus, if people have other Mob-related or Las Vegas questions that are not featured in the Museum, they can still have those questions answered.
Contact info: Rodney Arnett, Jr., Sales Manager
702.724.8622
rarnett@themobmuseum.org
PS: Their AV/IT team is working on creating a fun virtual tour that multiple people can join.
Volunteer to Present: Homemade with (insert Sisterhood name here)
The nicest part of this program is that everyone gets to spend about an hour together cooking, learning and schmoozing!
This program can be held once, once a week, once a month, or a few times a year around holiday time.
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