A sisterhood celebrates its centennial

One hundred Bibs were donated to an abused women’s shelter.

Janette Pellegrini/Herald

The attendees enjoy a wonderful dinner before the service.

Janette Pellegrini/Herald

Cantor Jerry Korobow and Miriam Fine, who is the longest serving sisterhood board member, having started in 1934.

Janette Pellegrini/Herald

past presidents of sisterhood, from top left: Donna Levy, Greta Kantrowitz, Pat Glass and Alane Nadel. Pictured bottom from left: Janet Ettelman, Carole Schrager, Sylvia Dultz, Current President Shari Cooper, Barbara Stern and Marge Nordell.

Janette Pellegrini/Herald

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The Women of Reform Judaism held its Centennial Sisterhood service on March 1 at Temple Am-Echad in Lynbrook.

Founded it 1913, the sisterhood had 156 members representing 52 congregations. WRJ now represents more than 65,000 women in nearly 500 women’s groups in North America and around the world.

With a mission to ensure the future of Reform Judaism, WRJ works to educate and train future sisterhood and congregational leadership about membership, fundraising, leadership skills, advocacy for social justice, and innovative and spiritual programming. Through its YES Fund (Youth, Education, and Special Projects), WRJ provides scholarships for students at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and other Reform seminaries around the world. They are in partnership with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Council on Aging, the Department of Public Information, and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, among other coalitions and commissions dealing with social concerns in the interreligious and general communities.

“This was a very special service, written for us by the national board,” Said Barbara Stern, who sits on the WJR board. The kick-off to the centennial year started in February, Stern added, and will culminate in San Diegeo at a biennial conferece. “We are going to be naming and ‘Unsung Heroine’ who has worked hard for the organization but does not seek recognition.” Stern belongs to the sisterhood at Temple Am-Echad in Lynbrook, which represents the successful merger of two south shore congregations, Temple Emanu-El of Lynbrook and Temple Sinai of Long Island in Lawrence.