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by Katie M. Roeper “My plate is full.” We’ve all said it, but then somehow we find ourselves raising our hand again with an idea that is too good to ignore. That was the case when I offered up the idea to add a program called WRJ Unsung Heroines to the already robust list of WRJ Centennial-related activities planned for this year. Sharing an idea doesn’t always mean you have to be the one to develop it. However, the one who envisions a program is often the one most eager to breathe life into it.

by Trina Novak As part of the Temple Beth Shalom's Sisterhood in Needham, MA's commemoration of WRJ's Centennial, we decided to collect 100 pajamas and books to represent the 100 years of WRJ, which would be part of our participation in the Pajama Program. The Pajama Program, a national nonprofit organization, collects pajamas and books for children living in difficult circumstances. Living in the Northeast, the need for warm pajamas can be acute.

By Helene H. Waranch

Do not separate yourself from the community… Pirke Avot 4.5 …help me understand those about me and fill me with the desire to serve them. Let me not forget that I depend on others as they depend on me… Gates of Prayer p. 188

As a child, I grew up with sisterhood and interfaith understanding as a regular part of my family life. We shared many experiences with people of different faiths. During my mother's term as president of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Sisterhood when I was a teenager, she began the Interfaith Institute which is now in its 53^rd year. It is an all day program open to people of all faiths and citywide clergy. Each year a specific topic is selected by an interfaith planning committee. A keynote speaker and three responders are invited to present. During lunch, 200-400 participants in small groups have the opportunity to discuss their views on the year's topic.

I knew when I chose to write this week’s D’var Torah on this portion that it was my birth portion but I did not realize that this year, it would come the week after my birthday. I didn’t know that my birthday would be on Purim and that this was the Torah portion that would be read on the Friday night that has been designated as Centennial Shabbat. A rabbi once told me that we are born to our Torah portions. So, since we often say that there are no coincidences, this was obviously the portion I was meant to write about! Still I have never been one to write traditional Dvrei Torah and this one is no exception. I hope you enjoy it.

From WRJ to the Rabbinate by Rabbi Jill Berkson Zimmerman If it weren't for the Women of Reform Judaism, I wouldn't be writing this piece today as a rabbi. Growing up in a Chicago suburb in the 60's, every house on our block was Jewish, as was 70% of our high school. Schools were closed on the High Holidays. I don't think I had non–Jewish friends until I was on the cheerleading squad in high school! In the shadow of the Holocaust, the environment was way more about being a regular American than sharing the particularities or gems of Jewish tradition. Yes, we had seders and everyone got new clothes for High Holy Days, yet I thought there was more depth in the books that I voraciously read for my English literature classes than in Judaism. I was not alone in being thoroughly Jewish, and completely ignorant of what that really could mean.

by Lyn Feldman This week's Torah portion, T'tzaveh, talks about the construction of the priestly garments, particularly the clothing of the high priest Aaron, that are to be worn in the Tabernacle. The parashah also describes the ordination of the priests, a necessary step before the Tabernacle can start to function, and discusses the sacrifices that will take place there.

I have discovered the fountain of youth… attend NFTY Convention! Our kids are AMAZING!  They come in all shapes and sizes, wear crazy clothes, and cling to each other like window stickers. They love being Jewish! They celebrate Shabbat with joy and exuberance. They pray and worship with reverence and intent. They sing and dance to Jewish music as if they are at a rock concert. They listen with respect; they confer with sincerity.  They get it—all of ‘it’ and always with a Jewish heart and soul.

By Elizabeth Levi

Women of Reform Judaism established this essay contest in honor of its Centennial celebration. Teens were asked to write about the influence of women’s leadership in Reform congregations. The following essay was selected as the winner and the author was honored at the NFTY Convention this past weekend: I cried when I found out our new rabbi was going to be a woman. I was in ninth grade and did not like the thought of change. She would change all of our congregation’s traditions. She would not have the same endearing voice as our previous male rabbi. She must be weird – what kind of woman would want to be a rabbi anyway? Four years later, the woman I loathed in one moment would be the same woman I strive to be like every day. She would be the woman who helped shape my Judaism, my leadership abilities, and myself as an individual. She would become one of my friends – someone I texted every so often, someone who helped me through life’s difficulties, someone I cared for as if she were family. Four years later, that woman would change not only my life but my whole congregation in ways no one could anticipate.

This week’s Torah portion is T’rumah (Exodus 25:1-27:19) where the Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelite people, and have them take for Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart is so moved. And these are the gifts that you shall take from them: gold, silver, and copper; blue, purple and crimson yarns, fine linens, wood, oil, spices, and gemstones. And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.”