​Wow! What a great week this was! Our appraiser at our February meeting was able to tell us so much about the antiques we brought - we were very impressed by her knowledge. And Bingotini, as always, was a blast!  Pictures from Bingotini are already up on our website (check out all the smiling faces), and pictures from the antiques meeting will be up shortly. To see the pictures, go to tassisterhood.org and click on "Photos" on the menu. If you can't find the photos, give Jackie Zev (our technology chair) a call (818-832-9099) and she's sure to be able to figure out what the problem is.
Mark Thursday, March 21 on your calendar for our meeting on Holistic Health: Medical and Recreational Marijuana. And have you RSVP'ed for our Sisterhood Seder on Wednesday, April 3 yet? I hope so, because this event is very popular, and space is limited. Flyers for both events are available on our website on the upcoming events page. Here's a direct link to upcoming events for your convenience: https://www.tassisterhood.org/upcoming-events.html.

Did you know that the theme of the Sisterhood Seder this year is "Viva Pesach! Celebrating Latin American Jews"? Along those lines, we tell you about Muriel Eva Verbitsky de Hunt (1934–1980), a Jewish Argentine cultural anthropologist, academic and writer.  In 1953, after graduating in anthropology from the Universidad Femenina de México, she became a researcher at the Escuela Nacional de Antropología. In the 1950s and 1960s, she undertook fieldwork in Oaxaca, first studying the Cuicatec Indians and later conducting research in the Mixtec region under Kimball Romney. She earned an M.A. in 1959 and a Ph.D. in 1962 with her thesis "The Dynamics of the Domestic Group in Two Tzeltal Villages." She moved to the US in the late 1950s, but still spent significant time doing research in Mexico. In the mid-1970s, Hunt stressed the importance of kinship in investigating the anthropology of Mesoamerica, increasingly focusing on regional analysis and publishing "The Transformation of the Hummingbird: Cultural Roots of a Zinacantecan Mythical Poem" (1977). Hunt became a professor at Boston University in 1978. Tragically, her life was cut short by cancer at the age of 45.

This will be a fun week, with our February meeting on Thursday and Bingotini on Saturday. The pair of events will be a contrast between the old and the new. For our February event, we are trying something new - you can bring an antique and have our expert give you an estimate of what it is worth. It will be a blast to see what special objects we all have hidden in our households. And Bingotini is a tried and true favorite. If you haven't RSVPed for Bingotini yet, you can still come, but please let us know - we want to be sure to set up enough tables. The February meeting is $5 (waived for Sisterhood members and Friends of Sisterhood) and Bingotini is $36 at the door.
 
Speaking of upcoming events, RSVPs for the ever popular Sisterhood seder are now open! Get your RSVP in early, because this event sells out! This year, our seder is on a WEDNESDAY - Wednesday, April 3. The theme this year is "Viva Pesach! Celebrating Latin American Jews."
 
For more information about any of these events, check out our website (tassisterhood.org) - The scrolling box has flyers for all three events. And after each event, be sure to go back to our website to check out the pictures we took!
 
Hopefully, you can make at least one of the events, because it won't be the same without you!
 
On the theme of "antiques" this week, we mention the Biblical story of Ruth. What is more antique than the Bible?! Everyone knows that Ruth was the Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi, and that when Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem after the deaths of her husband and both her sons, Ruth went with her, saying, "For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God."
 
But consider yourself a biblical scholar if you also knew that Ruth is the great-grandmother of King David. In biblical times, lineage was traced through the paternal line, and Ruth marries Naomi's cousin Boaz and has a son, Obed, who has a son, Jesse, who is David's father.
 
Here are more interesting facts about Ruth's story that are typically not taught in religious school. Before Boaz could be allowed to marry Ruth, another closer relative to Naomi (who is unnamed) had to reliquish his right/obligation to marry Ruth. Fortunately for Ruth and Boaz, the relative does do this and he ratifies his choice by taking off his shoe and handing it over to Boaz. An interesting way of "sealing the deal"! Can you imagine if that is how we certified deals nowadays?
 
Stay tuned for future interesting facts about Biblical stories that are typically not taught in religious school!

First a quick reminder about our meeting on Feb 21 where you can bring one Antique item and get an estimate of its value, and Bingotini on Feb 23. Hopefully you have already RSVPed for Bingotini if you can come. Go to our website (tassisterhood.org) for more information about either event.

Did you know that, of your membership dues, $18 goes to the our umbrella organization, the Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) and $2 goes to WRJ Pacific District? Why is our Sisterhood part of WRJ? Because of everything WRJ does to support Judaism, Jewish women and Jewish youth. 

You could spend hours wandering around the WRJ website (www.wrj.org) learning about the multiple leadership and spiritual development programs, the upcoming conferences, conventions and trips, the funds WRJ provides to support rabbinic students, kids programs, Jewish camps, and other special projects, the work they do to promote social justice and their support of political activism to make the world a more equitable place.
 
Not only does WRJ make a difference at the National level, but our Sisterhood benefits from their programs as well. One example is WRJ's Chai Mitzvah program. Chai Mitzvah is a program to enhance Jewish engagement and deepen one's spiritual connection to Judaism. Like a book group, Chai Mitzvah network groups meet monthly with text-based source books on Jewish topics. 

At our Sisterhood we have one Chai Mitzvah group. If there was enough interest, we would start a second group.   Check out the Chai Mitzvah website (www.chaimitzvah.org) and if you are interested, let us know!

On the subject of spiritual leadership, have you heard of Sarah Schenirer? She was born in 1883 into a prominent rabbinic family in Cracow, Poland. Schenirer, who attended a Polish elementary school for eight years, envied her brothers the opportunities they had to learn Torah. In 1917 Schenirer decided to initiate some type of educational activity for the women of her community. First she organized a lecture series for adult women. Then she set up a kindergarten for girls. The school, called “Bais Ya’akov”, grew and grew. It is now a worldwide movement with tens of thousands of pupils in hundreds of institutions.

​Have you sent in your check for Bingotini yet? It's Saturday, Feb 23 (7:30) - two days after Sisterhood's antique items meeting on Feb 21.  Bingotini is always a fabulous event! Why don't you call some friends and fill a table? If you do, let us know and we will reserve seats for your group so you can all sit together.

RSVP by Feb 17 to get the $30 price. RSVP by sending a check payable to TAS Sisterhood to Sue Cohen, 22349 James Alan Circle, Chatsworth, CA, 91311 - or you can leave it at the Temple. You can even pay online using paypal or a credit card by using the donate button on the Sisterhood website (www.tassisterhood.org). If you pay online, please add a dollar per person to cover the paypal or credit card fees. 

One of the reasons we work so hard to fundraise is to support our youth, who represent the future of Judaism. This has long been a priority of the Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ), the umbrella organization for our Sisterhood. Here is one paragraph from an article by Paul Reichenbach, Director of Camping and Israel Programs, Union for Reform Judaism, speaking about how WRJ's priorities and commitments changed his life*1. 
"There is an extraordinary story to tell in celebrating the leadership role of the NFTS*2 calling for the establishment of our Union camps. Just as NFTS led the way to inspire the establishment of NFTY*3 in 1939, in 1950 a Sisterhood resolution was passed calling for the creation of residential camps for Reform Jewish youth. That audacious dream was fulfilled in 1952 with the founding of the Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute followed by Camp Saratoga (Swig) in 1953. By 1958 the UAHC*4 was operating five camps with the establishment of Union Camp Institute (Goldman), Harlam, and Eisner. By July 1, 2014, the URJ will operate 14 camps in the USA and Canada. This commitment to powerful immersive Jewish experiences for our young people has been sustained by the allocation of scholarship dollars by local sisterhoods making the dream of camp a reality for so many deserving children. It is estimated that the typical WRJ chapter allocates at least $2,000 a year for camp financial assistance.*5"

Notes:
1) You can find the entire article at https://nfty.org/2013/12/03/it-takes-a-sisterhood-wrj-and-youth/
2) NFTS is the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, which was WRJ's name until 1993. 
3) NFTY is the National Federation of Temple Youth, the umbrella organization for our youth group. 
4) UAHC is the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, which was the URJ's name until 2003. The URJ is the umbrella organization for our Temple.
5) We are a "typical WRJ chapter"

So, come have a great time at Bingotini, and help us raise the money that we budget for camp financial assistance!