RENEW, REFRESH, RESTART…TOGETHER
2022 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA EVENT
JULY 17, 2022
Temple Judea
5429 Lindley Avenue
Tarzana, CA 91356
SoCal’s PD Area Event on Sunday, July 17 exceeded our expectations! Over 100 women from synagogues across the Southland gathered for the first time in person since 2019 for a wonderful day of sisterhood, learning, and camaraderie. Thank you to our hosts Temple Judea Sisterhood and to our committees for all your hard work in making the day go smoothly.
The topic that we explored this year was RENEW, REFRESH, RESTART…TOGETHER. From the minute you stepped foot on the beautiful campus, until the close of our final friendship circle, you were treated to a day of activities and workshops – all designed to move your sisterhood from the digital world back into the dynamic world of face-to-face, in-person activities.
The topic that we explored this year was RENEW, REFRESH, RESTART…TOGETHER. From the minute you stepped foot on the beautiful campus, until the close of our final friendship circle, you were treated to a day of activities and workshops – all designed to move your sisterhood from the digital world back into the dynamic world of face-to-face, in-person activities.
Our highlight of the day was our keynote address by Holocaust survivor Trudie Strobel and her biographer, Jody Savin. They shared the incredible story of how they met, the heartbreaking story of Trudie's early life, and the creative way that Trudie restarted her life with renewed vigor and a refreshing outlet for her pain. Jody's book about Trudie's life, Stitched & Sewn: The Life-Saving Art of Holocaust Survivor Trudie Stobel, was available for purchase at the event and on Amazon.com. Trudie and Jody also led a workshop. Watch this video to learn more about Trudie and Jody.
And speaking of workshops: Our district leaders and special guests were excited to share their knowledge and experience in a variety of areas, whether you were new to the board – or have "been there, done that" (there actually was a workshop called "Been There, Done That, What's Next For Me?") – we had something for everyone.
For your Sisterhood toolkit, we have workshops on persuasive writing for bulletins and flyers, sharing new ideas for programs and fundraisers, managing people with different communication styles, and starting social action and advocacy programs. And, of course, we have a WRJ 101 workshop for new presidents and a WRJ 102 for ongoing presidents and rising leaders.
We also had several workshops, especially for personal enrichment, such as creating a Living Legacy for your family, challah making, an art project, a book discussion, learning the meaning of key Jewish songs and prayers, and more.
Our Social Action Project was collecting feminine hygiene products to donate to Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, a faith-based nonprofit in the LA area whose mission is "to prevent, reduce and eliminate poverty, hunger, and homelessness."
We collected seven items that were specifically requested: feminine pads, single-use razors, deodorant, shampoo, Vaseline, Chapstick, and lotion. Hope of the Valley, which was founded in 2009, will distribute these supplies to the homeless women in their shelters and Tiny Home Villages.
Thank you to everyone who made this Area Event an amazing day!
Questions? Please email Flo Cohen at SoCalAreaDay@gmail.com.
For your Sisterhood toolkit, we have workshops on persuasive writing for bulletins and flyers, sharing new ideas for programs and fundraisers, managing people with different communication styles, and starting social action and advocacy programs. And, of course, we have a WRJ 101 workshop for new presidents and a WRJ 102 for ongoing presidents and rising leaders.
We also had several workshops, especially for personal enrichment, such as creating a Living Legacy for your family, challah making, an art project, a book discussion, learning the meaning of key Jewish songs and prayers, and more.
Our Social Action Project was collecting feminine hygiene products to donate to Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, a faith-based nonprofit in the LA area whose mission is "to prevent, reduce and eliminate poverty, hunger, and homelessness."
We collected seven items that were specifically requested: feminine pads, single-use razors, deodorant, shampoo, Vaseline, Chapstick, and lotion. Hope of the Valley, which was founded in 2009, will distribute these supplies to the homeless women in their shelters and Tiny Home Villages.
Thank you to everyone who made this Area Event an amazing day!
Questions? Please email Flo Cohen at SoCalAreaDay@gmail.com.
2020 Southern California VIRTUAL Area Day
Sunday, July 12, 2020, ON ZOOM!
Area Day was a great success! Thank you to all who participated!
If you were unable to attend or if there was another session that interested you,
the recordings will be posted soon in the Pacific District Yammer group.
Questions or can't get on Yammer? Please contact SoCalAreaDay@gmail.com.
SoCal Area Day will look a little different in this time of physical distancing because we cannot meet together, but we hope to be able to connect with you all like never before. All you will need is a computer, tablet, or smart phone and the Zoom app. This will be the most unique Area Day in SoCal Pacific District’s long history!
So, please join us as we look at the coming year by “Zooming into 2020.” Share ideas for membership, programming, fundraising, budgeting, advocacy and more. Learn how to feel confident about planning meetings and events in a virtual world. And we want you to leave with more fresh ideas than you use! We will still connect to each other, just in a different way.
Invite your sisters to join in and let’s have the best Area Day ever! Without you, we will be one Sister short!
So, please join us as we look at the coming year by “Zooming into 2020.” Share ideas for membership, programming, fundraising, budgeting, advocacy and more. Learn how to feel confident about planning meetings and events in a virtual world. And we want you to leave with more fresh ideas than you use! We will still connect to each other, just in a different way.
Invite your sisters to join in and let’s have the best Area Day ever! Without you, we will be one Sister short!
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SCROLL DOWN TO READ ABOUT PAST SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA DAYS!
2019 Southern California Area Day
Sunday, July 14, 2019
University Synagogue, 11960 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90049
Valuable Leadership Training
Lively Discussions of Interesting & Relevant Topics
Social Action, Advocacy and Lots More!
If it's July, it must be time for Area Day in SoCal! Our location for the 2019 Area Day was lovely University Synagogue, just a mile off the 405 on Sunset. The festivities started at 9 am with coffee and a light breakfast. At 9:45 we all gathered together for welcomes, introductions, and some wonderful speakers, including our Keynote Speaker Ariella Loewenstein, Deputy Regional Director, ADL Los Angeles, who spoke on “ANTI-SEMITISM IN OUR CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY”. The most difficult choice of the day was which workshop to take!
On Saturday, there was an optional friendship dinner and program at the Hotel Erwin in Venice. District President Dana Adler and Area Vice President Erika Barnathan led a discussion on Listening Campaigns, followed by Stars of Hope painting and a lovely dinner and Havdallah.
Our social action project this year was for BABY2BABY. We collected mountains of new, unopened baby diapers and wipes.
Much planning went into making this year's Area Day a valuable experience for all sisterhood and prospective sisterhood members and WRJ members. Thank you to University Synagogue Sisterhood for hosting this wonderful day!
On Saturday, there was an optional friendship dinner and program at the Hotel Erwin in Venice. District President Dana Adler and Area Vice President Erika Barnathan led a discussion on Listening Campaigns, followed by Stars of Hope painting and a lovely dinner and Havdallah.
Our social action project this year was for BABY2BABY. We collected mountains of new, unopened baby diapers and wipes.
Much planning went into making this year's Area Day a valuable experience for all sisterhood and prospective sisterhood members and WRJ members. Thank you to University Synagogue Sisterhood for hosting this wonderful day!
Check out our Area Day photos on Social Media!
On Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter:
@wrjpacific
#SOCALareaday19
#wrjpd
On Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter:
@wrjpacific
#SOCALareaday19
#wrjpd
2018 Southern California Area Day
"SISTERS SHARING IDEAS WITH OPEN HEARTS"
Sunday, July 8, 2018
9:30 am – 3:30 pm
Temple Beth Hillel, 12326 Riverside Drive, Valley Village, CA 91607
Another amazing WRJ PD SoCal Area Day is in the books and the Daughters of Zelophehad, which conveniently was the parsha of the week, would have had a great time. The weekend was spent fulfilling the mission of this year's theme: Sharing Ideas With Open Hearts
On the Saturday before SoCal Area Day, several district leaders visited the new 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy West in Thousand Oaks. Camp Director Jordanna Flores gave us a tour of the camp facilities, located on the Cal Lutheran campus. This year, 25% of Sci-Tech West campers are girls and they expect that number to go up as word gets out about this new West Coast camp. Jordanna expressed her gratitude for the scholarships that the WRJ YES Fund provides for female Sci-Tech campers. We peeked in on campers playing strategy games and saw several physics projects in progress. We joined the campers in tie-dyeing challah covers and dropped off some e-waste for their recycling/art projects. We are looking forward to seeing the art projects the campers make from our e-waste donations (we collected an SUV trunkful between Saturday and Sunday)!
On a very warm Sunday morning in the San Fernando Valley, 115 women from 21 sisterhoods gathered at Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village. We were welcomed by Cher Krichmar, WRJ PD VP and co-chair of the Area Day planning committee. She was joined by PD President Judie Shor Ning and District First Vice President Dana Adler, who flew in from Albuquerque and Tucson, respectively. More welcomes came from Evelyn Lever and Leslie Nathan, co-presidents of our hosting sisterhood, Women of Temple Beth Hillel.
A timely d'var was given by Rabbi Eleanor Steinman of Temple Beth Hillel, who spoke of the women from our Torah portion and how that relates to women today. The guest speaker for the day, Sister Gretchen Haile, talked about our ever-growing homeless population and how we, as individuals, can help. For the day's social action project, we collected pairs of white tube socks, an item we were advised was desperately needed by people living on the streets.
As is typical of our Area Day agenda, women chose from among seven workshops in our morning session and seven different workshops in the after lunch. They could choose to study Torah or learn about the Sisterhood basics (technology tools, marketing, membership, or programming), or they could explore body movement, sing, participate in a book review, do a fabulous craft and more. Over breakfast and lunch, everyone had a chance to take part in our purse sale and buy beautiful-themed WRJ unique glass stones.
In between the two sessions we gathered for lunch where we heard from Dana about all the exciting details of our upcoming 2018 WRJ PD Convention in San Diego. WRJ PD VP Lauren Milana played the YES Fund video and asked us to give. Attendees really stepped up to the plate for the YES Fund with donations totaling more than $4,400. We also had the chance to see two of our sisters receive their WRJ Lifeline pins, one gold and one silver.
Our day came to a close with singing and dancing as we were accompanied by the fabulous Susan Edwards Martin on the piano. As we said good-bye, you could hear women saying, "See you in San Diego!"
On the Saturday before SoCal Area Day, several district leaders visited the new 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy West in Thousand Oaks. Camp Director Jordanna Flores gave us a tour of the camp facilities, located on the Cal Lutheran campus. This year, 25% of Sci-Tech West campers are girls and they expect that number to go up as word gets out about this new West Coast camp. Jordanna expressed her gratitude for the scholarships that the WRJ YES Fund provides for female Sci-Tech campers. We peeked in on campers playing strategy games and saw several physics projects in progress. We joined the campers in tie-dyeing challah covers and dropped off some e-waste for their recycling/art projects. We are looking forward to seeing the art projects the campers make from our e-waste donations (we collected an SUV trunkful between Saturday and Sunday)!
On a very warm Sunday morning in the San Fernando Valley, 115 women from 21 sisterhoods gathered at Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village. We were welcomed by Cher Krichmar, WRJ PD VP and co-chair of the Area Day planning committee. She was joined by PD President Judie Shor Ning and District First Vice President Dana Adler, who flew in from Albuquerque and Tucson, respectively. More welcomes came from Evelyn Lever and Leslie Nathan, co-presidents of our hosting sisterhood, Women of Temple Beth Hillel.
A timely d'var was given by Rabbi Eleanor Steinman of Temple Beth Hillel, who spoke of the women from our Torah portion and how that relates to women today. The guest speaker for the day, Sister Gretchen Haile, talked about our ever-growing homeless population and how we, as individuals, can help. For the day's social action project, we collected pairs of white tube socks, an item we were advised was desperately needed by people living on the streets.
As is typical of our Area Day agenda, women chose from among seven workshops in our morning session and seven different workshops in the after lunch. They could choose to study Torah or learn about the Sisterhood basics (technology tools, marketing, membership, or programming), or they could explore body movement, sing, participate in a book review, do a fabulous craft and more. Over breakfast and lunch, everyone had a chance to take part in our purse sale and buy beautiful-themed WRJ unique glass stones.
In between the two sessions we gathered for lunch where we heard from Dana about all the exciting details of our upcoming 2018 WRJ PD Convention in San Diego. WRJ PD VP Lauren Milana played the YES Fund video and asked us to give. Attendees really stepped up to the plate for the YES Fund with donations totaling more than $4,400. We also had the chance to see two of our sisters receive their WRJ Lifeline pins, one gold and one silver.
Our day came to a close with singing and dancing as we were accompanied by the fabulous Susan Edwards Martin on the piano. As we said good-bye, you could hear women saying, "See you in San Diego!"
2017 Southern California Area Day
"WOMEN REACHING OUT, REACHING IN, REACHING UP"
Thank you to Women of Temple Judea, Tarzana, CA for hosting!
Women reaching out, reaching in, reaching up...but in the dark? Well almost. Saturday night an explosion at a power station caused the west San Fernando Valley to be plunged into darkness including Temple Judea in Tarzana where our Area Day was to be held the next day. Texts and emails started flying. Our District President and First VP were in the dark at their hotel. Lori Glasky was stuck in the elevator at her hotel. We had 130 women coming the next morning. Did we have a Plan B? Not really. However, a Plan B was quickly formulated (thank you Temple Beth Hillel). Fortunately, power was restored by morning and Plan B was not necessary after all.
Whew! What an exciting way to start a phenomenal Area Day! The Women of Temple Judea were our outstanding hosts, welcoming us into their beautiful synagogue. 130 women attended, representing 22 sisterhoods in SoCal plus 3 sisterhoods from the Southwest including Albuquerque, Tucson, and Tempe. After our mini-breakfast, we filed into the sanctuary for the opening program. District President Judie Shor Ning gave us a "State of the District" report, followed by 1st VP Dana Adler who revealed the news of where our 2018 District Convention will be held. Communications VP and Chai Line Editor, Julia Weinstein, told us we could all have our own personal secretary if we use the DONATE Button on the Pacific District website. Beautiful cards of condolence or best wishes or in honor of will be emailed by Lorraine Thall when we use the DONATE Button on the homepage of the PD website.
Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot of Temple Judea delivered our d'var. As our Area Day is almost always on the same weekend, we very often have the same Torah portion to reflect on. And what better portion to talk about women reaching out than Pinchas about the Daughters of Zelophehad. We next heard an impassioned presentation from WRJ and PD Board Member, Resa Davids, about how important it is for us all to be as informed as possible with issues going on in Israel and to read, read, read. Our keynote speaker was Rabbi Keara Stein, Director of InterfaithFamily. We love Rabbi Keara. She is an engaging and dynamic speaker and always reminds us that if it weren't for WRJ and the YES Fund, she might not have become a rabbi.
We ended our morning program with this year's social action project. Brought to us by Jodie Reff of Women of Temple Beth Hillel, we all made "Bags of Hope" to hand out to homeless people we encounter anywhere in our cities. With donations from each of the sisterhoods attending Area Day, we filled the bags with water bottles, protein bars, fruit cups, peanut butter, cans of sausages, as well as socks and toiletries. We included a note in the bag that can be personalized and a card with instructions for how to replicate this project in your home or at your synagogue. We all took a bag home at the end of the day.
Area Day had seven inspiring workshops in the morning and seven equally inspiring workshops in the afternoon. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in between the two workshop sessions where we heard from our two visiting HUC-JIR student Rabbis, Lillian Kowolski and Joanne Loiben, recipients of WRJ YES Fund scholarships, and who also presented one of the day's workshops. We filled out our YES Fund donation cards as we watched the new and wonderfully educational YES Fund video. After our last workshop session we gathered back in the social hall to sing a song of peace and wish everyone safe travels home.
The day before Area Day, 33 women attended Saturday at Camp and joined the campers at the new URJ 6-Points Sports Academy on the Occidental College Campus in Eagle Rock, where we shared the Pacific District "Bags for Hope" social action project, had dinner in the college dining hall and celebrated a joyful camp Havdalah.
Whew! What an exciting way to start a phenomenal Area Day! The Women of Temple Judea were our outstanding hosts, welcoming us into their beautiful synagogue. 130 women attended, representing 22 sisterhoods in SoCal plus 3 sisterhoods from the Southwest including Albuquerque, Tucson, and Tempe. After our mini-breakfast, we filed into the sanctuary for the opening program. District President Judie Shor Ning gave us a "State of the District" report, followed by 1st VP Dana Adler who revealed the news of where our 2018 District Convention will be held. Communications VP and Chai Line Editor, Julia Weinstein, told us we could all have our own personal secretary if we use the DONATE Button on the Pacific District website. Beautiful cards of condolence or best wishes or in honor of will be emailed by Lorraine Thall when we use the DONATE Button on the homepage of the PD website.
Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot of Temple Judea delivered our d'var. As our Area Day is almost always on the same weekend, we very often have the same Torah portion to reflect on. And what better portion to talk about women reaching out than Pinchas about the Daughters of Zelophehad. We next heard an impassioned presentation from WRJ and PD Board Member, Resa Davids, about how important it is for us all to be as informed as possible with issues going on in Israel and to read, read, read. Our keynote speaker was Rabbi Keara Stein, Director of InterfaithFamily. We love Rabbi Keara. She is an engaging and dynamic speaker and always reminds us that if it weren't for WRJ and the YES Fund, she might not have become a rabbi.
We ended our morning program with this year's social action project. Brought to us by Jodie Reff of Women of Temple Beth Hillel, we all made "Bags of Hope" to hand out to homeless people we encounter anywhere in our cities. With donations from each of the sisterhoods attending Area Day, we filled the bags with water bottles, protein bars, fruit cups, peanut butter, cans of sausages, as well as socks and toiletries. We included a note in the bag that can be personalized and a card with instructions for how to replicate this project in your home or at your synagogue. We all took a bag home at the end of the day.
Area Day had seven inspiring workshops in the morning and seven equally inspiring workshops in the afternoon. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in between the two workshop sessions where we heard from our two visiting HUC-JIR student Rabbis, Lillian Kowolski and Joanne Loiben, recipients of WRJ YES Fund scholarships, and who also presented one of the day's workshops. We filled out our YES Fund donation cards as we watched the new and wonderfully educational YES Fund video. After our last workshop session we gathered back in the social hall to sing a song of peace and wish everyone safe travels home.
The day before Area Day, 33 women attended Saturday at Camp and joined the campers at the new URJ 6-Points Sports Academy on the Occidental College Campus in Eagle Rock, where we shared the Pacific District "Bags for Hope" social action project, had dinner in the college dining hall and celebrated a joyful camp Havdalah.
2016 Southern California Area Day
"When The Well Runs Dry: Renew, Refresh, Recharge"
Thank you to the Sisterhood of Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana for hosting!
Twenty-five women started the weekend by joining in a social justice themed book discussion (instead of doing our customary pre-area day leadership training session). We began with a little wine and cheese around 5pm and a lovely outdoor Havdalah Service. This was followed by Julia Weinstein facilitating an inclusive discussion of the book Waking Up White by Debby Irving, a racial justice educator and writer. Then we enjoyed a delicious dinner together.
Sunday's SoCal Area Day was hosted by the wonderful Sisterhood of Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana. This is the synagogue that was devastated by fire a couple of years ago. They have completed their renovations and what a beautiful campus it is; perfect for an Area Day.
Highlights of the morning program were the d'var Torah from Beth Sholom Cantor Reinwald, complete with sing-a-long, and our Keynote Speaker, April N. Baskin, URJ Vice President of Audacious Hospitality. April spoke to us openly and compassionately about her life growing up as a Jew of color. April also led a workshop on Audacious Hospitality.
Other workshops offered a variety of choices from leadership training (who will follow me?) and nuts-and-bolts (fundraising, membership, programming, budgets) to poetry writing, Shabbat music and meditation, technology, work/life balance, Torah study and a fun craft.
Last year's district-wide social action project was donating gift cards to the Sisterhood of Temple Beth Sholom to help replace what was lost in the fire and for which they expressed their deep gratitude. This year's project was to collect donations and sign giant Uniongrams to send to the
Victim Service Center of Central Florida to help Orlando, FL victims of the Pulse Shooting Crisis with their recovery.
After a song session wrap-up, accompanied by Cantor Reinwald, it was time to go home, tired, but with a feeling of satisfaction from a day filled with camaraderie and learning. Big thanks to the Sisterhood of Temple Beth Sholom for being phenomenal hosts and thank you to all the women who actively participated in the planning of this day. It takes a village of sisterhood women to create a successful day like this.
Margie Meadow, WRJ PD SoCal Area Vice President
Sunday's SoCal Area Day was hosted by the wonderful Sisterhood of Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana. This is the synagogue that was devastated by fire a couple of years ago. They have completed their renovations and what a beautiful campus it is; perfect for an Area Day.
Highlights of the morning program were the d'var Torah from Beth Sholom Cantor Reinwald, complete with sing-a-long, and our Keynote Speaker, April N. Baskin, URJ Vice President of Audacious Hospitality. April spoke to us openly and compassionately about her life growing up as a Jew of color. April also led a workshop on Audacious Hospitality.
Other workshops offered a variety of choices from leadership training (who will follow me?) and nuts-and-bolts (fundraising, membership, programming, budgets) to poetry writing, Shabbat music and meditation, technology, work/life balance, Torah study and a fun craft.
Last year's district-wide social action project was donating gift cards to the Sisterhood of Temple Beth Sholom to help replace what was lost in the fire and for which they expressed their deep gratitude. This year's project was to collect donations and sign giant Uniongrams to send to the
Victim Service Center of Central Florida to help Orlando, FL victims of the Pulse Shooting Crisis with their recovery.
After a song session wrap-up, accompanied by Cantor Reinwald, it was time to go home, tired, but with a feeling of satisfaction from a day filled with camaraderie and learning. Big thanks to the Sisterhood of Temple Beth Sholom for being phenomenal hosts and thank you to all the women who actively participated in the planning of this day. It takes a village of sisterhood women to create a successful day like this.
Margie Meadow, WRJ PD SoCal Area Vice President
Thank you to the sisterhood of Temple Sinai in Glendale for hosting the 2015 Southern California Area Day!
July 12, 2015
"It's the journeys we take, the paths we follow, that create a better world."
This was the year to think outside the box in Southern California. Would starting later and finishing earlier be received as a positive idea? Would our women find it rewarding to replace morning workshops with a social action and advocacy presentation attended by all? Would workshops in the afternoon be enough? The answer to all these questions and more was a resounding yes!
120 women from 22 sisterhoods attended this year's SoCal Area Day held at Temple Sinai in Glendale. Our morning began with a beautiful and personal D'var Torah on The Legacy of Zelophehad's Daughters by Rabbinic Intern Liora Alban, followed by an inspiring and educational Social Action presentation on the issue of Reproductive Justice by our two dynamic speakers, Mary Larson, President, California Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and Toni Bond Leonard, theologian and consultant to RCRC nationwide. Serious challenges ahead include expanding and maintaining reproductive health programs for all women, regardless of income.
At lunch, we showed the new WRJ YES Fund video and in the afternoon, we offered innovative workshops on 8 different topics. After a rousing rendition of our WRJ anthem, Limdu Heitev, we headed for our cars and the drive home. It was a great day.
Thank you to Temple Judea Sisterhood, Tarzana, CA for hosting the 2014 Southern California Area Day
“Shoulder to Shoulder: Women United”.
Pinchas
כתף אל כתף: הנשים ארצות
