2023 Eleanor Kretzer Kavod Award Winners
WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood of Portland Oregon
Program: Wine, Women and Words: A Special Membership Event
Category: Programs for Our Sisterhoods
Beth Am Women, Los Altos Hills, CA and Shirat Ha-Yam of Odessa, Ukraine
Program: Mother’s Day Photo Exhibit: Women of the Bible through a Creative Lens
Category: Programs that Extend to Other Parts of Our Congregations
Temple Beth Sholom of Orange County
Program: Period Products Kits for Unhoused Girls
Category: Programs for our communities
The Kavod committee represented different parts of our District and was made up of eight members including Peggy Martin, Jen Levine, Bev Mendel, and Diane Amarillas from Northern California, Sherill Lief from Southern California, Sandy Gatlin and Judy Lohr-Safcik from the Southwest and Rhonda Daniels from the Pacific Northwest. We also enlisted outreach help from our WRJ PD Sisterhood Board, our amazing Area Directors, and our Sisterhood Presidents. We welcomed programs that were presented in person, on Zoom and a hybrid of both. Our WRJ PD IT/technical team was amazing, and we could not have done this without their support and help. A special thank you to Shoshana Lewin Fischer and Julia Weinstein for all of their help.
The Kavod committee met on ZOOM a half a dozen times. We listened to each other’s ideas and learned from each other’s thought processes. We used a well thought out rubric to rate the submissions and did not vote on a project if it came from our own sisterhood. I want to thank everyone on our team for all their hard work and thoughtful contributions.
The Eleanor Kretzer Kavod Award was developed by our District to honor the hard work and dedication of a remarkable women. This award recognizes and honors innovative programs and projects throughout our District. Eleanor Kretzer a woman from Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village, CA, served both her sisterhood, the Pacific District and what is now the Women of Reform Judaism, in many capacities for many years. Eleanor was a mentor to many of our district presidents, a great leader, and made women’s rights and social justice her priorities.
We thank and appreciate the 12 sisterhoods who submitted applications of their successful programs or projects that were initiated after the WRJ Pacific District’s last convention held online in October of 2020 through the application deadline on 12/31/22.
The first award is for: Programs for Our Sisterhoods – These are the programs that we plan for our own sisterhoods, collaborate with other sisterhoods and all perspective members and individual WRJ or PD members. They may include: religious or spiritual programs, social programs, or leadership training.
The winner of this award is:
Wine, Women and Words: A Special Membership Event
WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood of Portland Oregon
The Beth Israel Sisterhood’s membership committee planned a special membership event to reach out to women who were affiliated with Congregation Beth Israel but were not members of their sisterhood. Their goal was to engage these women and increase their numbers with new members. The challenges were many, but the rewards were even greater. They were still in pandemic mode, so they needed to be conscious of health and safety issues. One of the board members had attended a WRJ workshop on small group programming which proved to be inspiring. Previous membership programs were usually large events with many attendees. Food and speakers were always a part of the events. They could no longer follow the old script. And they were all tired of virtual meetings and events. The need to be with other women and to make personal connections was very strong. However, they needed to keep the gatherings small for safety.
It was decided to spread the gatherings out to several different sites; locations were selected for their geographical diversity. Sisterhood members made High Holiday phone calls to the woman of Congregation Beth Israel. Those women who were not members of sisterhood were invited to the upcoming membership event. All women received an email invitation so each could RSVP with her preferred location in or around Portland. An afternoon of casual fun was held at four homes of individual board members. The small group settings of 4 to 6 women (masked and socially distanced), provided a chance to get to truly know each other, find areas of common interest, and make new friendships. After an ice breaker, groups could discuss an article from "Lilith Magazine" or just share ideas. The Board members answered questions about the sisterhood and talked with the guests. It helped the board members learn what their sisterhood might do that would meet the needs of this wonderful community of women. The Board created a calendar of activities for the following year with many of the ideas generated. Many of the attendees not only joined their sisterhood but have become very active. The intimacy of the program made it a success.
The next award is for: Programs that Extend to Other Parts of Our Congregations – These are sisterhood sponsored or co-sponsored programs that benefit other groups within our congregational communities. They may include: collaboration with other congregational committees; special activities for preschool or religious school parents; or fundraisers with proceeds benefitting the congregation.
The winner of this award is:
Mother’s Day Photo Exhibit: Women of the Bible through a Creative Lens
Beth Am Women, Los Altos Hills, CA and Shirat Ha-Yam of Odessa, Ukraine
In partnership with their sister congregation Shirat Ha-Yam of Odessa, Ukraine, this program was originally designed as a collaborative text study and online photography exhibit inspired by biblical women. When the war in Ukraine caused their partners to flee or take up arms, Beth Am Women pivoted and made the project a tribute to their sisters in Odessa, incorporating photographs of their congregation. Although the initial goal was to develop relationships between the Beth Am Women and the Women of Shirat Ha-Yam through text study and art, their revised goal sought to raise awareness and support for their sister Congregation in Odessa.
Throughout the fall and winter of 2021-22, members of Beth Am Women and Shirat Ha-Yam met over Zoom to get to know one another and plan the project. They had a Zoom information night to explain the project and requirement to the congregation. They posted a video of the information night online, so those who were unable to attend could view it. Sadly, the war in Ukraine intervened, bringing an end to the collaboration. Members of Shirat Ha-Yam were scattered throughout Ukraine and neighboring countries.
Beth Am Women decided to move forward with the project as a tribute to the bravery of their partners in Odessa. They created a separate video tribute and show of support for the members of Shirat Ha-Yam, which was posted on the Beth Am website, and was also distributed to the Odessa congregation via social media postings. Photographs captured of the Shirat Ha-Yam community were salvaged and incorporated in the exhibit, along with photographs from the members of the Beth Am community.
The final Kavod Award is for: Programs for Our Communities – These programs may be related to Tikkun Olam, social justice, civic engagement programs, or fundraising to benefit underserved groups in our communities. They may include: sponsored forums on key issues such as racial justice, immigration reform, educational inequity, housing, and homelessness; social action and advocacy in our area to address critical needs for housing, food, healthcare, educational assistance, and violence prevention; or programs to encourage widespread voting.
The winner of this award is:
Period Products Kits for Unhoused Girls
Temple Beth Sholom of Orange County
Temple Beth Sholom Sisterhood recognized the additional challenges faced by unhoused women and girls in our community as they struggle to obtain the period products necessary for a healthy and dignified life. Sisterhood Invited Temple Beth Sholom’s Social Action Committee and the Temple-wide community to join their project by donating period products for the kits. March is Women’s History Month, so it was a perfect time to show their support and solidarity with unhoused girls and women in their community. Sisterhood members sent emails, spoke at sisterhood meetings and posted on social media encouraging members of the Temple to collect period products. Bins were set up at the Synagogue to collect the items and Friendship Cards were made to attach to the kits. Kits were assembled. A presentation was made discussing the challenges of unhoused women and teens in Santa Ana. Orange County Rescue Mission in Tustin were the recipients of the period products.
Mazal tov to these deserving winners!
We want to thank all of the sisterhoods who submitted applications for a Kavod Award and to encourage all of you to start thinking now about submitting for an award to be announced at our 2025 Convention. All of your submissions were inspiring and creative. Choosing winners in each category was challenging.
Thank you to all for this wonderful opportunity.
Rhonda Daniels and the Kavod Committee
Program: Wine, Women and Words: A Special Membership Event
Category: Programs for Our Sisterhoods
Beth Am Women, Los Altos Hills, CA and Shirat Ha-Yam of Odessa, Ukraine
Program: Mother’s Day Photo Exhibit: Women of the Bible through a Creative Lens
Category: Programs that Extend to Other Parts of Our Congregations
Temple Beth Sholom of Orange County
Program: Period Products Kits for Unhoused Girls
Category: Programs for our communities
The Kavod committee represented different parts of our District and was made up of eight members including Peggy Martin, Jen Levine, Bev Mendel, and Diane Amarillas from Northern California, Sherill Lief from Southern California, Sandy Gatlin and Judy Lohr-Safcik from the Southwest and Rhonda Daniels from the Pacific Northwest. We also enlisted outreach help from our WRJ PD Sisterhood Board, our amazing Area Directors, and our Sisterhood Presidents. We welcomed programs that were presented in person, on Zoom and a hybrid of both. Our WRJ PD IT/technical team was amazing, and we could not have done this without their support and help. A special thank you to Shoshana Lewin Fischer and Julia Weinstein for all of their help.
The Kavod committee met on ZOOM a half a dozen times. We listened to each other’s ideas and learned from each other’s thought processes. We used a well thought out rubric to rate the submissions and did not vote on a project if it came from our own sisterhood. I want to thank everyone on our team for all their hard work and thoughtful contributions.
The Eleanor Kretzer Kavod Award was developed by our District to honor the hard work and dedication of a remarkable women. This award recognizes and honors innovative programs and projects throughout our District. Eleanor Kretzer a woman from Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village, CA, served both her sisterhood, the Pacific District and what is now the Women of Reform Judaism, in many capacities for many years. Eleanor was a mentor to many of our district presidents, a great leader, and made women’s rights and social justice her priorities.
We thank and appreciate the 12 sisterhoods who submitted applications of their successful programs or projects that were initiated after the WRJ Pacific District’s last convention held online in October of 2020 through the application deadline on 12/31/22.
The first award is for: Programs for Our Sisterhoods – These are the programs that we plan for our own sisterhoods, collaborate with other sisterhoods and all perspective members and individual WRJ or PD members. They may include: religious or spiritual programs, social programs, or leadership training.
The winner of this award is:
Wine, Women and Words: A Special Membership Event
WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood of Portland Oregon
The Beth Israel Sisterhood’s membership committee planned a special membership event to reach out to women who were affiliated with Congregation Beth Israel but were not members of their sisterhood. Their goal was to engage these women and increase their numbers with new members. The challenges were many, but the rewards were even greater. They were still in pandemic mode, so they needed to be conscious of health and safety issues. One of the board members had attended a WRJ workshop on small group programming which proved to be inspiring. Previous membership programs were usually large events with many attendees. Food and speakers were always a part of the events. They could no longer follow the old script. And they were all tired of virtual meetings and events. The need to be with other women and to make personal connections was very strong. However, they needed to keep the gatherings small for safety.
It was decided to spread the gatherings out to several different sites; locations were selected for their geographical diversity. Sisterhood members made High Holiday phone calls to the woman of Congregation Beth Israel. Those women who were not members of sisterhood were invited to the upcoming membership event. All women received an email invitation so each could RSVP with her preferred location in or around Portland. An afternoon of casual fun was held at four homes of individual board members. The small group settings of 4 to 6 women (masked and socially distanced), provided a chance to get to truly know each other, find areas of common interest, and make new friendships. After an ice breaker, groups could discuss an article from "Lilith Magazine" or just share ideas. The Board members answered questions about the sisterhood and talked with the guests. It helped the board members learn what their sisterhood might do that would meet the needs of this wonderful community of women. The Board created a calendar of activities for the following year with many of the ideas generated. Many of the attendees not only joined their sisterhood but have become very active. The intimacy of the program made it a success.
The next award is for: Programs that Extend to Other Parts of Our Congregations – These are sisterhood sponsored or co-sponsored programs that benefit other groups within our congregational communities. They may include: collaboration with other congregational committees; special activities for preschool or religious school parents; or fundraisers with proceeds benefitting the congregation.
The winner of this award is:
Mother’s Day Photo Exhibit: Women of the Bible through a Creative Lens
Beth Am Women, Los Altos Hills, CA and Shirat Ha-Yam of Odessa, Ukraine
In partnership with their sister congregation Shirat Ha-Yam of Odessa, Ukraine, this program was originally designed as a collaborative text study and online photography exhibit inspired by biblical women. When the war in Ukraine caused their partners to flee or take up arms, Beth Am Women pivoted and made the project a tribute to their sisters in Odessa, incorporating photographs of their congregation. Although the initial goal was to develop relationships between the Beth Am Women and the Women of Shirat Ha-Yam through text study and art, their revised goal sought to raise awareness and support for their sister Congregation in Odessa.
Throughout the fall and winter of 2021-22, members of Beth Am Women and Shirat Ha-Yam met over Zoom to get to know one another and plan the project. They had a Zoom information night to explain the project and requirement to the congregation. They posted a video of the information night online, so those who were unable to attend could view it. Sadly, the war in Ukraine intervened, bringing an end to the collaboration. Members of Shirat Ha-Yam were scattered throughout Ukraine and neighboring countries.
Beth Am Women decided to move forward with the project as a tribute to the bravery of their partners in Odessa. They created a separate video tribute and show of support for the members of Shirat Ha-Yam, which was posted on the Beth Am website, and was also distributed to the Odessa congregation via social media postings. Photographs captured of the Shirat Ha-Yam community were salvaged and incorporated in the exhibit, along with photographs from the members of the Beth Am community.
The final Kavod Award is for: Programs for Our Communities – These programs may be related to Tikkun Olam, social justice, civic engagement programs, or fundraising to benefit underserved groups in our communities. They may include: sponsored forums on key issues such as racial justice, immigration reform, educational inequity, housing, and homelessness; social action and advocacy in our area to address critical needs for housing, food, healthcare, educational assistance, and violence prevention; or programs to encourage widespread voting.
The winner of this award is:
Period Products Kits for Unhoused Girls
Temple Beth Sholom of Orange County
Temple Beth Sholom Sisterhood recognized the additional challenges faced by unhoused women and girls in our community as they struggle to obtain the period products necessary for a healthy and dignified life. Sisterhood Invited Temple Beth Sholom’s Social Action Committee and the Temple-wide community to join their project by donating period products for the kits. March is Women’s History Month, so it was a perfect time to show their support and solidarity with unhoused girls and women in their community. Sisterhood members sent emails, spoke at sisterhood meetings and posted on social media encouraging members of the Temple to collect period products. Bins were set up at the Synagogue to collect the items and Friendship Cards were made to attach to the kits. Kits were assembled. A presentation was made discussing the challenges of unhoused women and teens in Santa Ana. Orange County Rescue Mission in Tustin were the recipients of the period products.
Mazal tov to these deserving winners!
We want to thank all of the sisterhoods who submitted applications for a Kavod Award and to encourage all of you to start thinking now about submitting for an award to be announced at our 2025 Convention. All of your submissions were inspiring and creative. Choosing winners in each category was challenging.
Thank you to all for this wonderful opportunity.
Rhonda Daniels and the Kavod Committee
