Sisterhood

Voice Mailbox, 703-425-1880, ext. 243
sisterhood@olamtikvah.org

Meet other interesting women, develop new interests and skills, and make a difference in the synagogue! Want to join? Complete the membership form and survey, and submit both pages with your dues to Olam Tikvah, attention Sisterhood Membership, or leave it in the Sisterhood Membership drawer outside the main office.  New OT members are invited to join Sisterhood with a one-year complimentary membership.

Browse our 2010 Annual Report to see what who we are and what we do.

2010-2011 Events

Lunch in the JTS Sukkah, Sunday, September 26. Enjoy a day trip to the Jewish Theological Seminary and lunch in the JTS Sukkah. Be immersed in history n the Rare Book room and inspired in the Women’s League Sanctuary—the house that we built! If you haven’t visited before, now is the time! See what is new! Touch our past! See our future! The cost is $75, all inclusive. Guests, male and female 18 years and older, are welcome. RSVP to Jane Behrmann (contact information is in the Directory) or sisterhood@olamtikvah.org.

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan Celebration, Thursday, October 7, 7:30pm. Cheshvan, also known as Marcheshvan (bitter Cheshvan), is known not for the holidays it contains but for its dearth of celebration. Falling between the grandeur and awe of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the fragility of Sukkot, and the miracles of Chanukah, the month of Cheshvan has no celebration, no commemoration. The month itself is bitter because it lacks celebration. In turn, it guides us to contemplate what we may not have but so desperately want. Please join us at Olam Tikvah as Rabbi Paskind leads us in an exploration of your deepest desires for this New Year. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Sara Pollack (contact information can be found in the directory).

Vanessa Ochs

Fall Brunch, Sunday, October 17, 9:30am. Our speaker this year is Dr. Vanessa Ochs, a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at UVA. She is the author of Inventing Jewish Ritual (winner of the 2007 National Jewish Book Award) and Sarah Laughed in addition to numerous other works. We hope you will be able to join us. You can RSVP on your dues/order form sent out in early July.

Order now through Borders by clicking the link above. OT is a Borders affiliate and will earn a percentage of the cost--at no additional cost to you. You can even use your coupons and discount codes.

Book Club Discussion,  Sunday, November 14, 9:30am. This will be the first of several book club discussions throughout the year. Join the OT Sisterhood for an exciting event as author Jennifer Rosner discusses her book If a Tree Falls: A Family's Quest to Hear and Be Heard. Jennifer Rosner's revelatory memoir explores family, silence, and what it means to be heard. When her daughters are born deaf, Rosner is stunned. Then, she discovers a hidden history of deafness in her family, going back generations to the Jewish enclaves of Eastern Europe. Traveling back in time, she imagines her silent relatives, who showed surprising creativity in dealing with a world that preferred to ignore them. Rosner shares her journey into the modern world of deafness, and the controversial decisions she and her husband have made about hearing aids, cochlear implants, and sign language. An imaginative odyssey, punctuated by memories of going unheard, Rosner's story of her daughters' deafness is at heart a story of whether she - a mother with perfect hearing - will hear her children. If a Tree Falls is a poignant meditation on life's most unpredictable moments, as well as the delights and triumphs hidden within them. For more information, you can log onto Jennifer's website at www.ifatreefalls.com. Please RSVP by November 5 to Gerri Sterling using the email in the OT directory.

Annual Chanukah Bazaar, Sunday, November 14, 9:00am–1:00pm. Come check out the beautiful selection of Chanukah gifts that our Judaica shop has to offer. Proceeds from the Judaica shop support Sisterhood and Olam Tikvah.

Women’s League Convention 2010, December 12-15, at the Marriott Waterfront located in Baltimore, MD. Every two years, hundreds of women from across North America, Israel, Mexico, and Europe meet for four exhilarating days; many take advantage of a pre-convention Shabbaton. Each convention incorporates dynamic speakers and impressive study, exciting programming, a focus on growing successful sisterhoods, public policy resolutions, Women’s League unique training services, fabulous camaraderie, and stirring tefillot (religious services). Please see the flyer for more information.

Books for Baltimore: Building a Community of Readers One Child At a Time. Linking the twin values of study and tzedakah, and in keeping with the convention theme of celebrating community, the special project for the Women’s League 2010 Biennial Convention is to purchase 7,000 books--one for every third grader in the Baltimore City Public Schools! Please see the flyer for more information.

Membership Event, Sunday, December 19, time TBA. Enjoy a night out with great good and good friends. More information to come.

Tzedakah Projects

Adopt a Unit at DASH's New Domestic Violence Housing Program.  The District Alliance for Safe Housing, Inc. (DASH) provides access to safe and sustainable refuge for victims of domestic violence. You can help make the safe space into a home by donating new comforters and sheets (either one full-size or a family set of two twin-size and one full-size) from the gift registries at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond.  Donated items may be brought to the Spring Brunch.

Help Us Help Bailey’s and Graham Road Elementary Schools: Bailey’s and Graham Road are local elementary schools with large numbers of children in need. They have asked for desperately needed seasonally appropriate clothing. Please bring new or gently used clothing for the children and their families - all sizes needed. Items can be dropped off in collection boxes in the office lobby of Olam Tikvah or in the OT Religious School Office.

Support Our Military Families. OT Sisterhood and Gesher Jewish Day School are collecting manufacturers' coupons to send to young families overseas to use in their commissaries. There is a collection box in the lobby. Coupons can include health & beauty, baby care, food & paper products, etc. Coupons can be up to two months expired.

Community Service

Mitzvah Meal Prep Help Needed. Diane Fertman is looking for women to help prepare Mitzvah Meals. If you are interesting helping in the kitchen, please contact Diane at n.fertman@verizon.net.

Casseroles for So Others Might Eat (SOME). Sisterhood prepares extra large casseroles each month at OT. All casseroles should be delivered frozen to Olam Tikvah in the morning of the date listed. If you are unable to deliver on that date but would still like to make one, please contact Shirley or John Baer. The casserole drop off/delivery schedule for the next six months is as follows: February 17, March 17, April 14, May 18*, June 16, and July 14. For more information about SOME and the casserole recipe, please see our Social Action page. (*Due to Shavuot, please drop off SOME casseroles at OT for May on TUESDAY, May 18 no later than 2:00pm.)

Judaica Shop

The shop is open during Religious School hours, or call Joanne Stryer, 703-425-3237, to make an appointment. See our shop's page.

Sisterhood Cookbook: Try a new recipe! You can order the Sisterhood's cookbook, With Love and Best Dishes, or pick up a copy at the Judaica Shop or in OT's main office.

Torah Fund

Ensure our legacy to future generations of Conservative Jews. The Torah Funds supports the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, and Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano, strengthening and perpetuating Conservative/Masorti Judaism throughout the world. Please make your check payable to WLCJ-Torah Fund and mail it to Olam Tikvah Sisterhood.

Kehillah Kedoshah: Celebrating Community Woman to Woman - The 5771 Theme. This year’s theme is depicted in the pin design pictured here: a hamsa shape with images reflecting women in celebration, dancing and praising. A common term for Jewish community in Eastern Europe, Kehillah Kedoshah also implies a community bound together by similar values and beliefs. The hamsa is a popular Middle Eastern symbol dating back to ancient times. It is particularly popular among Sephardic Jews, who sometimes call it the “hand of Miriam.”

You are Torah Fund-at any level!

Keter Kavod - $5000
Scholarship Patron - $2500
Patron - $1200
Associate Patron - $600
Guardian - $300
Benefactor - $180

Receive the 5771 pin in recognition of your generous support.

Other Services from Sisterhood

Challah for Shabbat.  Plain braided challahs are $7.50 per pair. For more information, contact Deb Gould, (703) 356-3825 or send an e-mail to otchallah@yahoo.com.

Personalized candelabra rentals, invitations, kippot. Rent a candelabra for lighting at your simcha, order invitations and kippot at a discount. Contact Lisa Shankman or OT's main office for more information. Proceeds benefit Sisterhood.

Need a mitzvah meal?  Contact Diane Fertman or the  OT main office if you or someone you know needs a mitzvah meal (a complete Shabbat dinner) delivered to the home.

Simcha Catering. For all your special occasions at Olam Tikvah. We can provide an Oneg or Kiddush following your Bar or Bat Mitzvah, baby naming or aufruf. For information, contact Leona Shoon in the main OT office, (703) 425-1880.

We support our Olam Tikvah community:

• Our Mitzvah Corps provides Shabbat meals to OT members when a new baby arrives, someone is ill or an immediate family member has passed away. This classic Shabbat meal includes chicken, kugel, vegetables and a challah. Donations to the Sisterhood Mitzvah Corps are greatly appreciated, or you can join a dedicated team responsible for preparing and distributing the meals. Please call Diane Fertman or the OT office if you need a Mitzvah meal or know of someone who would like one, or if you would like to help.

• The Bikkur Holim committee arranges for visits to congregants who are ill or homebound.

• Our fundraising activities help support the religious school, youth groups, Israel Quest, and synagogue activities and building improvements.

We help the greater community by:

• Sponsoring Shabbat meals at George Mason University and Virginia Tech Hillel.

• Supporting Fairfax County high school alcohol-free graduation parties.

• Visiting residents of the Fairfax Nursing Center.

• Making casseroles for a homeless shelter every month.

• Supporting the Jewish Theological Seminary through donations to the Torah Fund.

Women's League for Conservative Judaism

Olam Tikvah Sisterhood is affiliated with the Women's League for Conservative Judaism. We received the Seaboard Branch Membership Award in 1998. At the new Women's League web site you can:

• Check out news and information for Sisterhood Members.

• Easily update your profile, including any changes to your home or e-mail address.

• Log in to access personal profile using your Women’s League ID number.

• All Sisterhood members have an ID number on their preprinted form. All new members will be assigned an ID from Women's League.

To log in for the first time: use your ID number preceded by usr_. If an ID number is 123456, the login is usr_123456. The password you will need for the first time you access your account is the same number preceded by pwd_ (example: pwd_123456). Passwords should be changed after the first time you log in.

3800 Glenbrook Road · Fairfax, Virginia  22031 · phone 703-425-1880  · fax 703-425-0835  · info@olamtikvah.org

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