Sisterhood
Sisterhood Officers:
Co-Presidents: Linda Abrams, Patti First, Gayle Vogel
Immediate Past President: Lynn Album
Our Sisterhood, formed in 1919, is the oldest auxiliary of the synagogue. Our most significant contribution to the synagogue has been our Sisterhood Sanctuary. Our women have mentored the Confirmation Classes, instituted an Adult Education program, participated in our Adult Bat Mitzvah program hosted theater trips and more. The canopy at the entrance to the synagogue is one of the many projects that have been funded and donated by the Sisterhood Gift Shop, in addition to a major cash contribution at the end of each fiscal year.
Our Sisterhood welcomes you to join us and become active. As Sarah Addison Allen, The Peach Keeper, said: “We're connected, as women. It's like a spider web. If one part of that web vibrates, if there's trouble, we all know it, but most of the time we're just too scared, or selfish, or insecure to help. But if we don't help each other, who will?” We are proud to say that our Sisterhood is a vibrant part of Beth Sholom.
Sisterhood in 2020-2021
Beth Sholom Sisterhood continued to be inclusive
of all the women of Beth Sholom. We hope many of
you chose to come to our exciting and fun programs.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions we provided all of our
programs throughout the year on Zoom and it was
fabulous to see such a large turnout for each of our
events.
Our Opening Meeting in October showcased a
wonderful Cabaret performance entitled “Oy Vey, I'm
Gay” starring Beth Sholom's home grown Eric Jaffe
(they/them) – Philadelphia's foremost drag performer
of the year. They brought us wonderful tidbits about
their life growing up here from a LGBTQ+ perspective.
December brought us Heather Grutzmacher (Buddha
Bar) and Felicia Greenfield Blau (Reboot Integrative
Wellness Center) to share their insights “From
Meditation to Marijuana.” They helped us see how to
relax and heal with their restorative arts.
Due to the tremendous work of Marge Boxbaum and
Holly Lankin (our Vice Presidents for Religion) along
with the wonderful direction of Rabbi Andrea Merow,
Sisterhood was able to share the Rosa Goldstein
Memorial Sisterhood Shabbat via Zoom on February
6, 2021. The women who participated were incredible
and the only thing missing was being together with all
of you – oh, and the food of course.
In keeping with the times we were experiencing,
February also brought us Shana Album Shank, a firstline
interventional radiology nurse, sharing how she
became a COVID-19 patient. It was an amazing story
of resilience.
Judy Newman, PhD, and Penn State Professor, taught
us all the ways to “Grow Old Successfully” when she
spoke from her brain (theory and research) and her
heart in April. Consider yourselves smarter and wiser!
Finally, on May 17th we learned the art of Zentangle
taught by Mindy Shapiro, a certified Zentangle
teacher and President of the Guild of American
Papercutters. Even for those of us who are not artistic,
it was a fun event – and we even made a piece of
Zentangle to hang on the wall at home.
We are busy planning a host of wonderful programs
for this coming year – hopefully in-person. We can't
wait to see you there!
