TBZ’s 9th Annual Women’s Retreat
The Sisterhood:
Building Connections and Finding Strength Together
Sunday, February 28th-Saturday, March 6th
Sunday, February 28th
7:30pm
Opening Panel
Individual Paths and Collective Impacts: 3 Women’s Journeys to the Rabbinate and Communal Jewish Liturgio-Ritual Responses to Feminist Leadership
Join Rav Claudia, Rav Tiferet and Rabbi Carol Glass as they share their personal journeys to becoming rabbis at different seminaries and at different points in time between 1980-2013. During the second half of the program the panelists will discuss how the presence of women in the rabbinate has influenced the development of Jewish rituals and changed aspects of the worship experience. Moderated by Dr. Judith Rosenbaum, CEO, Jewish Women’s Archive.
Monday, March 1st
7:30pm
After Abel & Other Stories with Rav Claudia and Leah Hager Cohen (session 1 of 4)
Join Rav Claudia and TBZ member Leah Hager Cohen to study a collection of modern midrashim, imagining familiar stories from the perspective of women. We will read portions of Michal Lemberger’s After Abel together with their corresponding parshiot. You will have a chance to ask questions of Michal Lemberger herself, when she makes a guest appearance in the third session. Order the book ahead of time here or here.
Tuesday, March 2nd
8:00am
Boker Tov TBZ, Led by Annie Braudy
Start your day with TBZ’s daily morning davening, and learn about our sister/friend Serach Bat Asher, a mysterious woman from the Torah and Midrash.
1:00pm
Jewish Feminist Artist Helene Aylon: Discovering Resilience Inside and Out
Join us in appreciating our heritage, our bodies, our Jewish feminist creativity, our community—all contributing to our own personal resilience.
Enjoy this beautiful video introduction to Helene Aylon and her art before the session:
Led by: Leah Abrahams, fine art photographer and ghostwriter; and Robin Okun, abstract figurative painter and former movement facilitator.
7:00pm
Movie: The Glorias (2020)
Journalist, fighter, and feminist Gloria Steinem is an indelible icon known for her world-shaping activism, guidance of the revolutionary women’s movement, and writing that has impacted generations. In this non-traditional biopic, Julie Taymor crafts a complex tapestry of one of the most inspirational and legendary figures of modern history, based on Steinem’s own memoir My Life on the Road. THE GLORIAS (Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Lulu Wilson, Ryan Keira Armstrong) traces Steinem’s influential journey to prominence—from her time in India as a young woman, to the founding of Ms. magazine in New York, to her role in the rise of the women’s rights movement in the 1960s, to the historic 1977 National Women’s Conference and beyond. Watch trailer here.
Movie followed by brief discussion moderated by Diane Balser.
Wednesday, March 3rd
7:30pm
Weekly Torah Study Ki Tissa: Uncovering a tradition of Women’s Resistance
Led by Gail Reimer. We’ll look at selected texts from the parsha, commentary and Midrash related to the building of the Mishkan and the building of the Golden Calf.
Thursday, March 4th
6:30pm
The Megillah as a Mirror: Power Dynamics Between Women and Men in Everyday Life, led by Rebecca Mautner
A continuation from the introduction at TBZ’s Megillah reading, participants will explore the text of Megilat Esther and reflect in breakout sessions how the power dynamics between male and female characters in the megillah occur in our own lives.
Friday, March 5th
9:30am
Nishmat Hayyim AM Sit led by Sheila Katz
What is the Joy of Adar in a Pandemic Year?
Our tradition teaches us to set aside Adar as a month in which we are meant to “increase our joy.” How do we do this ever? And, davka, how do we do this now, at as we approach the one-year mark of a pandemic that has taken over half a million lives in this country alone? What is this joy of Adar? What does it teach us about our meditation practice and our lives, and how does the meditation practice teach us about the nature of joy? Our exploration includes powerful women’s teachings of the enigmatic heroine, Esther.
4:30pm
The Shabbos Bride and COVID, led by Dr. Miriam Diamond
The centerpiece of the Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat service is “L’cha Dodi”. What is this song about? What does it mean to welcome the “Shabbat Bride”? How did this metaphor evolve? In this session, we will look at an early text referring to Shabbat as a bride. We will take a closer look at the imagery of L’cha Dodi. We will view and discuss an original short play about the Shabbos bride during COVID.
About the play:
It’s a Friday night in 2020. The Shabbos bride shows up for her usual synagogue entrance. She finds the building locked and deserted due to COVID. Seeking refuge, Shabbos connects with other characters struggling to cope with the pandemic.
Program segues into Kabbalat Shabbat
5:30pm Kabbalat Shabbat Services
Shabbat, March 6th
9:00-9:45am
Mindful Movement with Kathy Kates
A gentle yoga practice to begin your shabbat morning. All levels welcome!
10:00am
Shabbat Morning Services
11:45am
Being B’not Mitzvah: A Conversation with Rav Claudia and recent b’not mitzvah Lila Horberg Decter, Eva Kates, Noa Handelsman and Tovah Falck.
Join some of our remarkable young teens for a conversation about friendships during Covid, becoming b’not mitzvah and sharing their life wisdom with one another.
6:30pm
Havdallah
Join Rav Claudia and Rav Tiferet for a conclusion to the retreat week with breakout rooms for deeper connections and gleaning gems from the week to take with us.
TBZ's Women's Retreat 2021 