Shalom

My husband, son, and I joined our current synagogue in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, in 1998. The two of us were both raised Reform and a Conservative shul offered a different world to us: services with unfamiliar prayers and melodies, more in-depth holiday observances, and new traditions. Being invited to join the sisterhood board reinforced my belief in the importance of spending time with other Jewish women. That act of inclusion started my journey as a Conservative Jew. It grew into the roles of Sisterhood president, various Mid-Atlantic Region Board positions including president, on to WLCJ Women of the Wall Liaison, and now WLCJ International VP and Torah Fund Chair. My husband joined me on this journey as he became involved with our synagogue board and is now in his fourth term as synagogue president. He also has been a strong supporter of my work in Women’s League. 

When invited to my first Torah Fund event, I was not knowledgeable about Torah Fund’s purpose. At our event at a sisterhood member’s lovely home, a JTS cantorial student talked to us about her journey to JTS and sang beautifully. The experience made a deep impression on me. As Sisterhood president, I helped plan future Torah Fund events and learned more about WLCJ and the depth and breadth of Torah Fund. The experience gave me an opportunity to know Sisterhood members of all ages and see their support of Israel and Torah Fund. 

Why do we call our dedicated philanthropy Torah Fund? In 1942, Dora Spiegel, Women’s League president (1928T1944) and her colleagues founded Torah Fund to ensure following generations would continue raising funds to enhance our future Jewish leaders’ education. They chose the name ‘’Torah Fund” to make it easy for our members to remember. As we all know, Torah Fund is not about taking care of Torahs or raising money for Torahs. Instead, our philanthropy supports the five global Conservative/Masorti schools of higher Jewish education helping our students as they pursue their studies and their dreams: The Jewish Theological Seminary (New York), Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies (Los Angeles), The Schechter Institutes (Jerusalem), Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano (Buenos Aires), and Zacharias Frankel College (Potsdam). 

Looking at our world today, where would we be without our intelligent, creative, and caring clergy, cantors, lay leaders and Hillel directors? Since October 7, our students and graduates have helped us deal with our shock and grief by offering special services, prayers, poems, writings from the heart, rallies, petitions, Masorti missions, and the list goes on and on. 

As Jews, we need to gather with our fellow Jews, who understand each other’s trauma. Rabbi Beth Nadich, a 1999 JTS graduate who specializes in communal trauma care, taught us in several WLCJ sessions that the Jewish world is experiencing collective trauma. Many on the outside world are not experiencing our despair and so cannot understand our anguish. Without the compassionate support of our Conservative leaders, our ability to deal with this situation would be even more destructive to all of us. 

So, on behalf of Torah Fund, I thank our students, graduates, and Conservative leaders for helping us come together, supporting each other and Israel, and showing the world Conservative/Masorti Jews believe in Judaism and stand with Israel. 

Am Yisrael Chai.