The Sisterhood is an auxiliary group interested in sharing their talents and energy, while connecting with other women in the Temple Emanu-El community through intellectual, spiritual and social activities.
Upcoming Sisterhood Events
This year saw our Sisterhood continue to be a huge gathering place for the women of Temple Emanu-El and women of the greater Jewish community. Some of this has come about through word of mouth, but also because of the Movie Club and Wednesday Mahjong open to not only the entire Jewish community but the community at-large. The Temple Office and I have fielded calls from prospective members who are new to the community and have heard good things about our Sisterhood. Sisterhood now has eleven (11) members who are not members of the synagogue. We are proud to have offered a minimum of two events per month throughout the year. We increased our event opportunities with a monthly Rosh Chodesh Group led by Chazzan Sherry Barnes. We had a performance by a professional actor “Sheryl Faye presents – Ruth Bader Ginsburg” that drew over 60 participants from the Jewish Community and received rave reviews. For the first time in our history, we are now sending birthday greetings to Sisterhood members each month on our newly designed Sisterhood notecards. Thanks to Sue Fornara for designing the card and to Susan Rosen for sending them out each month. This year we added twelve (12) new members for a total of 108 members. Our “Sisterhood Kick-Off Event” in September was one of the largest ever with 65 participants. We were happy to welcome Yahav, our Israeli Emissary to our ranks this year. She attended many of our functions and provided us with a program on her life in Israel in March.
This year we donated $5,000 for the bathroom renovation, $2,500 to the Religious School and $2,500 to the Terri Goldsmith Memorial Golf Tournament.
For 2025-2026, Lisa Marcus will be replacing Nancy Trostler as Membership Co-Chair. A big thank you to Nancy Trostler for all her hard work and the wisdom and creativity she added to the Board. After a long stint as Corresponding Secretary, Gail Schor will be retiring from this position. Next year this position will be filled by new Board member, Amy Green. Many thanks to Gail for her years of service on the Board.
MAY EVENTS
- Thursday, May 22 at 6:00PM – End of Year Paid-Up Membership Dinner
- Thursday, May 29 at 1:00PM – Rosh Chodesh in the Sanctuary
- Date To Be Determined – Movie Club hopes to see “Bad Shabbos” at the United Theatre in Westerly. This comedy is about an engaged interfaith couple who are about to have their parents meet for the first time at a Shabbat dinner when an accidental death gets in their way.
JUNE EVENTS
- Tuesday, June 3 at 6:30PM – Book Club at the home of Lois Panikoff. We will be reading “Hotel Cuba” by Aaron Hamburger.
- Wednesday, June 4 at 11:30AM – Lunch at the Gelston House (for those who RSVP’d) followed by Ragtime at the Goodspeed at 2:00PM (for those who have already purchased tickets)
- Tuesday, June 10 – MAHJONGG TOURNAMENT
- Thursday, June 26 at 1:00PM – Rosh Chodesh in the Sanctuary
- Date to be Determined – Movie Club
Happy Spring! Looking forward to seeing you at all our May and June events!
– Barbara
SPRING MAHJONGG TOURNAMENT: TUESDAY, JUNE 10TH, 2025
Don’t miss out on all the Mahjongg merriment!!
Our full-day tournament returns on Tuesday, June 10th. We will be ready for food, fun, and frolicking starting with continental breakfast, followed by lots of game-playing, home-made lunch, afternoon desserts, and prize money for special hands and to the top winners.
We offer two options: Tournament Play (our most popular, 4 games/hr) and Relaxed Play. If you are newer to the game and not quite ready for tournament play, or prefer not to commit to a full day, join us at our Relaxed Tables. It’s just as much fun, maybe more, and no Excedrin needed.
See the flyer with all the details. Send Registration form and checks to the Temple to secure your spot.
Don’t hesitate to contact me for any additional information. I love to talk mahj!
Iris Freeman
ifreegang@aol.com
SAVE THESE SUMMER DATES
RSVP date extended to May 15
- Wednesday, June 4 at 2:00PM – “Ragtime” at Goodspeed
- Wednesday, August 13 at 2:00PM – “All Shook Up” at Goodspeed
Join Some Fun Groups!
Weekly Walking Group
Our Walking Group continues to walk (weather permitting), usually on Wednesday and Thursday at 10 am. We often walk at the Niantic Boardwalk, and sometimes places such as the Connecticut College Arboretum, and Harkness. If you are interested, please let Debra know by emailing debrawool@gmail.com.
Sisterhood Book Club
The Sisterhood Book Club continues to grow. Everyone enjoys meeting in the homes of members. We have worked out the “technical” problems of Zoom if you can not make it in person.
For upcoming Book Club meetings please see the Upcoming Events listing in Barbara’s note above. If you are interested in being added to the Book Club list, please email Suzanne Crawford at suzm.crawford@outlook.com. Don’t forget to email Barbara at professeur38@me.com, if you would like the Zoom link.
Temple Emanu-El Gift Shop
We continue to expand offerings at the gift shop which are available by appointment. You can contact Anne to schedule an appointment at Judaicashop@tewaterford.org, or contact the Temple Office. Come in and look at our wide array of Judaica items. There is no sales tax, and our prices are cheaper than retail stores. Profits go to support your congregation and community. Anne is also willing to special order items for you, and has a wide array of items that can be ordered from a variety of vendors. If it’s jewelry you are looking for, she have a catalog full of beautiful items to order. This small Judaica company ships right out and the items are gorgeous and very well priced. Also, there is always wonderful new products coming in!
For those of you who have visited Florence, Italy, you may have toured the old synagogue of Florence. A reminder of your trip is now in our gift shop. A beautiful mezuzah that depicts that synagogue is also in our gift shop.
Also remember to look at the Modern Tribe website. We can send you a link that will earn the synagogue 5% back to our synagogue.
Thanks to everyone for continuing to support our shop!
– Anne
The Sisterhood Membership Drive for 2024-25 is ongoing.
Click the link below for the membership letter.
24 25 TE Sisterhood Membership Letter Final
Our Sisterhood Membership continues to grow. As of October 1, 2024 our membership roster has 95 women! It is never too late to join us. I know that many of you are very busy with your families and other organizations and volunteer work. Some of you I have spoken with express the concern that “you will be asked to do something if you become a member”. Please know that membership in Sisterhood provides you the opportunity to join together and meet other Temple women and participate in any or all of Sisterhood activities. Volunteering to help out with something is not a requirement.
Sisterhood Board – Our Officers:
President: Barbara Senges
Treasurer: Jennifer Zettler
Corresponding Secretary: Gail Schor
Recording Secretary: Debra Wool
Membership: Nancy Trostler and Linda Barnett
Book Club: Suzanne Crawford
Movie Club: Eileen Shapiro
Judaica Shop: Anne Cohn
Publicity: Sue Fornara & Susan Rosen
Social Justice Moira Ross
Do you have any ideas for a Sisterhood program? Maybe you have a skill you would like to share. We are always looking for suggestions! Some other programs we discussed were a drawing class on Zoom, as well as a program in person at Smith Acres in Niantic in the spring. If you have any suggestions or special talents, please let us know. It’s always fun to try something new.
WRJ Programs
We have mentioned all of the on-line programming available through our umbrella organization, WRJ. If you check their website, wrj.org, you will see their calendar filled with speakers, tours, etc. Hope you can take advantage of some of their programs.
RECENT ACTIVITIES & EVENTS INCLUDE:
What a great year we have had!
- Book Club (seven) – Thanks to our new Book Club Chair, Suzanne Crawford, for organizing and encouraging our return to in-home/hybrid book clubs.
- Walking Group – Thanks to Debra Wool for coordinating each week.
- Membership Kick–Off Event, Membership Drive, End of Year Dinner– Many, Many, Thanks to Jennifer Zettler!
- Safe Futures 4K, Dignity Grows, Learn Decoupage and Do a Mitzvah and Panel Discussion on Book Banning – Thanks to Moira Ross, Social Justice Chair.
- Two successful Mahjongg Tournaments – Thanks to Iris Freeman and Robbin Alpert for making these all-day events happen. Iris also sells Mahjongg cards for the benefit of Sisterhood each year, which adds around 1,500 dollars to our coffers. Also thanks to Iris and Robbin for offering a series of “How To Play” lessons and a twice monthly Mahjongg group at the Temple.
- Judaica Shop Chanukah Fair – Thanks to Anne Cohn
- Trivia Night, Evening at Smith’s Acres,Steel Magnolias at Niantic Playhouse, South Pacific at the Goodspeed, Movie Club, Trip to Audubon Society and Griswold Museum – Barbara Senges, Debra Wool and Merrill Mazzella.
- Assembly and Distribution of Holiday Bags for “Friendly Visitors Program” – Thanks to Eileen Shapiro for organizing and all our members who assisted.
- Designing and Planting Gardens at Safe Futures – Thanks to Cecile Feldman and her crew.
- Sisterhood Service – Thanks to Eileen Shapiro for organizing
Friendly Visitor Program Bags
On Monday, March 18 at 10:00AM, we once again gathered in the Social Hall to assemble Purim bags for the Friendly Visitor Program. On Monday, April 15 we assembled Passover Bags.
Thank you to Eileen Shapiro for helping to coordinate the Friendly Visitor Program along with JFEC. Sisterhood helped to assemble and distribute Chanukah, Purim, Passover & Rosh Hashanah bags to residents in our community who are in nursing homes and independent living facilities.
Trivia Night
We have had some great trivia nights! Our last Trivia Event was on Zoom in January 2025, and was a fun evening! Thanks to Barbara for coming up with great questions!
In April we made our yearly visit to Smith’s Acres in Niantic. Thank you to Merrill for once again organizing this fun outing. This year we filled an oval planter with herbs and pansies.
In March at the Temple, we learned the art of decoupage while performing an important mitzvah. Alaina Roberge from Alaina’s Arts in Waterford guided us through the decoupage of a vase. We donated these vases, filled with spring flowers to the Friendly Visitor Program for the residents of local care facilities.
We have hosted multiple Mah Jongg Tournaments. We host players from all across the northeast for a fun-filled day of Mahj. Thanks to all who have participated and all who help make these events happen. A special thank you to Iris and Robbin!
The Kick-Off Dinner on October 12, 2024 was a huge success! We had forty-eight women attending and a great time was had by all. Thanks to our Membership Chair, Jennifer Zettler, for planning and implementing this incredible evening. The food was delicious and plentiful. In fact, we had so much left over that we sold “doggy bags” for $18 and we will be donating $225 to help Israel. The twelve women who stayed to play “Bunco” really enjoyed it. Hopefully, later in the year, we can hold a Bunco Night or Afternoon where more of you can participate.
Above: End-of-Year Sisterhood Dinner – May 18, 2023
Planting at Safe Futures!
Smith’s Acres Greenhouse
We made a Succulent Cocktail Glass and enjoyed pizza and wine!
Contact the Sisterhood
Related Pages:
Get Involved
Brotherhood
Social Action News