Welcome to Sisterhood at Adas Israel Congregation!
About Us | Special Events/Ongoing Programs | Torah Fund | Sisterhood Gift Shop | Calendar of Events
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Please scroll down to the Calendar of Events to register for programs.
About Sisterhood... Click Here to Join!
Sisterhood, affiliated with Women's League for Conservative Judaism, seeks to perpetuate the values of Conservative/Masorti Judaism through quality programs, social action, ritual and spirituality. We provide multiple avenues for women to solidify their Jewish identity in a rapidly changing world. Most importantly, we are a community---providing mutual support and bonds of friendship for our members.
We are a Community of Sisterhood, joined by the bonds of friendship.
Please join us!
For more information email Co-Vice Presidents of Membership, June Kress or Ozana Papados.
Special Events
Special Spring Celebration - Sephardic Afternoon Tea with chef Susan Barocas and singer Sarah Aroeste, co-founders/co-directors of Savor: A Sephardic Music and Food Experience
Sunday April 14, 2:30pm – 4:00pm
Click here to register
Adas Israel Sisterhood invites all to a Sephardic Afternoon Tea with chef Susan Barocas and singer Sarah Aroeste, co-founders/co-directors of Savor: A Sephardic Music and Food Experience. With a focus on Passover, our participatory afternoon will include hands-on cooking & tasting iconic Sephardic cuisine, singing songs in Ladino and learning Sephardic cultural history. Preregistration is required; cost is $18 per person (Chavera Members attend free of charge).
Susan Barocas, an Adas Sisterhood member, is a writer, chef and cooking instructor who is is passionate about presenting and preserving Sephardic cuisine, culture and history. As founding director of the Jewish Food Experience, she served as guest chef for three of President Obama's White House Passover Seders. At Adas Israel, Susan chaired the Hesed Cooking Committee from its inception to 2023, and she was one of the founders of the Jewish Mindfulness Center@Adas.
Sarah Aroeste is an award-winning Ladino singer/songwriter, author and activist committed to raising awareness of Sephardic music and culture. With eight Ladino albums and two Sephardic children's books, Sarah is credited with helping to revitalize knowledge of Ladino among people of all ages.
Learn more about Savor: A Sephardic Music and Food Experience at savorexperience.com.
Ongoing Programs
Scroll down to view the full Calendar of Events for all ongoing programs.
Weekday Torah with Sisterhood
Monthly, third Tuesday, at 10:30 am via Zoom
Weekday Torah with Sisterhood is an engaging approach to traditional text study that offers participants the opportunity to study and discuss challenging texts and ideas. Students of all levels and backgrounds are welcome. Participants can find class dates, times, and other relevant information on the Sisterhood Calendar of Events. Please contact Marilyn Cooper with questions and concerns.
Knitting and Sewing Circle
Please check the Sisterhood Calendar of Events or Lesley Frost for details about meetings.
Adas Sisterhood Knitting and Sewing Circle includes knitters of different skill levels. Some are members of Adas Israel, others are friends who love to knit. We supply hats, scarves, and similar items for the Edlavitch DCJCC Knitting for the Homeless project. Our dedicated knitters have completed as many as 130 items for donation in one week! We can supply wool, needles, and patterns and can teach the basics of knitting. We meet to share patterns, showcase our work, and socialize. Join us as we knit up a storm ready to help clothe our neighbors for the winter.
Sisterhood Cares
To mark simchas and milestones and for condolences, contact Anat Bar-Cohen (anat@bar-cohen.com).
Adas Israel Book Club
Rose Ruth Freudberg Memorial Sisterhood Library
Facilitated by Librarian Robin Jacobson, the Book Club meets periodically (in-person or via Zoom) to host authors and discuss books of Jewish interest. For further information, please contact Robin Jacobson.
If you would like to mark your calendar with the current schedule of book programs or access recordings of past programs please check the Library page.
The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance
With author-journalist Rebecca Clarren
Sunday, April 7, at 4:00 pm | Register here for this Zoom program
Meet award-winning journalist Rebecca Clarren as she introduces The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance. This fascinating work pieces together the interwoven history of Jewish immigrants and Native Americans of South Dakota. Clarren discovered that her great-great-grandparents received "free land" under the Homestead Act - land that the American government had wrested from the Lakota. What do Jewish sources say about the debt (if any) Clarren's family owes the Lakota for the financial success that stemmed from that homestead?
Torah Fund
As part of Women's League for Conservative Judaism (WLCJ), Adas Israel Sisterhood raises dollars for Torah Fund, which supports five Conservative seminaries across the globe, educating clergy, cantors, scholars, and lay leaders: Jewish Theological Seminary (New York); Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies (Los Angeles); Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies (Jerusalem); Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano (Buenos Aires); and Zacharias Frankel College (Potsdam, Germany).
The WLCJ 2023-24 Torah Fund Campaign is called “Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Ba’Zeh”, Hebrew for “All the people of Israel are responsible for one another”. This year’s Torah Fund Pin highlights the word “Arevut”, responsibility.
By contributing to Torah Fund, we assume that responsibility. Together, our donations help provide housing, tuition scholarships, and university infrastructure for the next generation of Jewish leaders.
Individual donors to Torah Fund at the Benefactor level ($180) or higher receive the distinctive WLCJ Torah Fund pin in recognition of their gift.
You can make donations online at the "Donate" button below, or send a check payable to:
"Torah Fund"
c/o Susie Sorrells, Torah Fund Chair
4508 Sunflower Drive
Rockville, MD 20853
PLEASE NOTE: If you make an on-line donation, please insert Adas Israel and Washington, DC on the lines that ask for the name and location of your affiliate. Otherwise, our Sisterhood will not receive credit for the donation. If you make a donation at the Benefactor or Guardian level, please forward your receipt to susiejs23@gmail.com, so Susie can make arrangements to deliver your Torah Fund pin in a timely manner.
Help strengthen Jewish education and ensure the vibrancy of the Jewish people for decades to come with your gift to Torah Fund. Thank you!
Donations may not be charged to your Adas Israel account.
You can also send a greeting with e-cards to support Torah Fund. Cards can be purchased on the JTS Torah Fund website (click here), and customized for any occasion. The Torah Fund e-cards benefit the general campaign.
RUTH & SIMON ALBERT SISTERHOOD GIFT SHOP
Spring is almost here and the gift shop is continuing to fill our shelves with beautiful merchandise. In addition to fabulous new jewelry, including myriad styles of star of David necklaces, we are stocking up for Purim and Passover. Please visit us to pick out what you want for yourself, to give as gifts, or as additions to your home. And be sure to check out our 25% off “Spring Is in the Air” cart for more jewelry, Michael Aram serving pieces and other items, and many more things to choose from! We look forward to meeting you and guiding you to the perfect item.
And, don't forget, Sisterhood members who paid dues at the Chavera level for 2023-24 are eligible for a one-time discount. So stop by and check us out.
Hours of Operation Update:
Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Tuesday: 9:30am - 3:00 pm
If none of these times is convenient for you, please email us at adasgiftshop@gmail.com, and we can set up a special appointment.
Please note that we will be closed the following dates in April in celebration of Passover:
April 23-24 and April 28-30. In addition, we will be closed Easter Sunday, March 31.
Please visit our website for special announcements: adasisrael.org/adas-gift-shop.
Ruth & Simon Albert Sisterhood Gift Shop
2850 Quebec Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
202-364-2888
adasgiftshop@gmail.com
Special Past Events
Joyce Stern was the Honored Speaker for Sisterhood Shabbat 5784, February 15-17, 2024
Joyce Stern, an active member of Adas Israel Congregation for over 55 years and a longtime leader of Sisterhood Shabbat, was our honored speaker for 2024. With the theme “Building a Sanctuary Then and Now,” Joyce explored the Parashat Terumah with three stimulating presentations: Furnishing God’s Sanctuary (Thursday morning minyan February 15); Angels in the Mishkan (Friday night service February 16); and Inviting the Divine Presence into a Structure and into our Hearts (after Kiddush lunch February 17). The text of each presentation is found here.
Joyce has served on the governing board of Sisterhood for many years, taking on numerous roles. As Vice President for Communications (2011-2015), she created Sisterhood’s first ever e-newsletter, the Adas Israel Sisterhood Source. In 2013, Joyce was recognized with an Eishet Hayil award from the Seaboard Region of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism and at Adas was a Simchat Torah honoree. Over the years, she has been on the synagogue’s bereavement and adult education committees, the Beit Midrash advisory group, and the Rabbinic Planning Task Force. She also served for six years as a member of the synagogue’s Board of Directors. Joyce and her late husband Michael were among the founding families of the Adas Israel Havurah where they held leadership roles and where they raised their children, Lisë and Avidan. Joyce notes that in addition to being blessed with six grandchildren, she is now happily a great grandmother.
The Way We Were and Here We Are
On Sunday November 19, 2023, Sisterhood presented a program that explored Sisterhood History with a “Campy” Show and Fun Gathering. Bringing comfort in the post-October 7 tension-filled time, we spent an afternoon in the warmth of the company of women. The event included a show presented by current Sisterhood members with songs and narratives created 40 years ago by Estelle Jacobs, a famously creative former Sisterhood President, and with new songs created by Estelle’s daughter, Susie Sorrells. We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon sharing memories and meeting new friends in a community of sisterhood. A recording of the show is found here.
2023 Garden of the Righteous Honoree: José Ignacio Burbano, Grandfather of Past Sisterhood President Betty Adler. Click here for more information.
2023-24 Executive Committee
President: Margie Corwin
President-Elect: Elissa Barpal
VP for Communications: Wendy Kates
Treasurer: Ellen Snyder
Co-VP for Education/Programming: Rona Walters
Co-VP for Education/Programming: Patricia Manasevit
Co-VP for Membership: June Kress
Co-VP for Membership: Ozana Papados
Parliamentarian: Marian Fox
Corresponding Secretary: Anat Bar-Cohen
Recording Secretary: Helen Kramer
Immediate Past President: Jill Jacob
Gift Shop Co-Managers: Jean Bernard, Marian Fox, Susan Winberg
Torah Fund Chair: Susie Sorrells
