Torah Fund Programs to Kvell & Share

Temple Beth El/Rochester, NY Torah Fund Benefactors’ Event

On Sunday, October 15 2017, Temple Beth El Sisterhood held a Torah Fund Benefactors’ luncheon at the home of Tracy Glazer. Twenty-seven of our fifty-two benefactors attended. Our lunch menu was simple: a make your own salad bar which a committee of three was able to prepare (wash, cut, put into serving dishes, etc.) the morning of the event, and kugels and brownies which were prepared in advance in our synagogue’s kosher kitchen. A make your own ice cream sundae (with various toppings) with the brownies served as dessert.

Mrs. Glazer was our guest speaker. She shared a brief overview of her path to becoming director of Rochester Community Hillel Day School. She also explained how the curriculum and classrooms in the school have been brought into the twenty-first century while always remaining true to traditional Jewish values.

Temple Beth El Sisterhood is extremely proud to know that we have the largest group of Torah Fund benefactors nationally, and we’ve raised the most money in our region (International Northeast – which includes Albany to Buffalo NY and eastern Canada-) to support Torah Fund’s many projects. We also were one of only three Sisterhoods that donated to the Women’s League Seeds Program. This was a two year effort to raise additional funds above and beyond our yearly Torah Fund Benefactor campaign.

We try to stimulate congregational support by sending informational mailings to all the women in our congregation rather than simply a select few who may have shown support or interest in previous years. As a result we have found that we manage to increase our Benefactor membership by two or three each year. Last year we found congregants who were not benefactors, motivated by our mailing about the Seeds campaign, who contributed to the Seeds initiative which aimed to refurbish the JTS Women’s League Seminary Synagogue and support Ziegler Rabbinical Students’ year in Israel.

Submitted by Abbey Rasnick, Sisterhood Temple Beth El, Rochester, NY