Sisterhood, part of the Women of Reform Judaism, is our organization of religious Jewish women who view the synagogue as the central institution of organized Jewish life and join together to further the aims and ideals of the congregation and community. Our Sisterhood enriches congregational life by providing hospitality, catering, nurseries for the holy days, college and youth activities, camperships and by sponsoring the Emanu Elders, our congregation's seniors.

Torah Study
2nd Tuesday of Each Month, 11:00 a.m.
Facilitators: Linda Kates & Joan Morgenstern

This lay led Torah Study group meets the second Tuesday of each month, reading the Torah portion of the week and examining the commentaries and relevance of those resources to life as we know it today. Bring your own lunch – laugh, share and schmooze in a warm, informal atmosphere for those who enjoy learning without pressure. No previous knowledge of Torah is required. We use English translations, including the new WRJ Torah: Women’s Commentary.
 

Denim & Drinks
Tuesday, October 23, 7:00 p.m.

See everything new in Jeans at this Jeans Shop. You’ll find the latest in denim, drinks, snacks & friendship. Dress code: Jeans, of course.
 

Sisterhood members and other local vendors sell their holiday merchandise at Emanu El. This is your perfect venue for early holiday shopping.
 

Hot Topics With Rabbi Haas

This two-part series tackles timely issues of the day. Rabbi Haas will relate controversial items found in today’s news to commentaries of Judaism’s earliest writers and to current opinions presented by modern rabbis.
 

Rosh Chodesh
Thursday, October 11, Sunday, December 9,
Tuesday, February 5, Sunday, May 4
Leader: Kathy Zieben

Rosh Chodesh has long been recognized as a woman's holiday. In the Talmud we read that women are exempt from work on Rosh Chodesh. Why do women merit a special holiday once a month? In midrash, Pirke DeRabbi Eliezer, we are told that in the incident of the golden calf, the women refused to relinquish their earrings to the men who were building a calf. As a reward. God gave them an extra holy day each month free from work. It is customary to wear new clothing on Rosh Chodesh in celebration of the day's special character.
 

Women’s Tales:
Four Leading Israeli Jewelers
Reception & Guided Tour:
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
Thursday, October 30, 5 p.m.

The work of four of Israel’s leading contemporary Jewelers: Bianca Eshel-Gershuni, Vered Kaminski, Esther Knobel and Deganit Stern Schocken will be shown in a unique presentation. Women’s Tales demonstrates the role that they have played in forging an Israeli identity in the contemporary Jewelry movement. The Houston Center for Contemporary Crafts. HCCC is one of only four American venues to secure this prize show.
 

See what’s new and exciting. Enjoy a tour of showrooms and gain new insight into the latest trends in decorating. And plan to stay for lunch.
 

Complimentary and Alternative Medicine: Yes, it works, but how? Research shows that the vast majority of Americans use some type of alternative medicine. Rarely are we afforded the opportunity to understand how some of these alternative systems work. In this program a panel of alternative practitioners including an acupuncturist, a homeopath and an energy healer will provide participants with information about their healing systems, how they work, and how to integrate them in to a Western model of health care. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns and ultimately make more informed choices about alternative health care.
 

Judaism Through The Arts
A 3-part mini series at the Museum of Fine Arts
Wednesdays: March 5, 12 & 19, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Congregation Emanu El Sisterhood, in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, will offer an encore for our very popular, three-part series, Judaism Through The Arts. The 2008 programs will present new and diverse topics for our Jewish education and enrichment.

Ellen Orseck, accomplished painter, curator, muralist and printmaker, will present her highly respected program of Hitler’s Impact upon Contemporary Art. Hoyt "Toby" Mattox, Executive Director of Society for the Performing Arts – Retired, plans to present his impressions of The Jewish Identity on the American Stage. The third program in this series will expose an extraordinary glimpse into the story of religious artifacts, led by an expert in the field of Jewish Antiquities. Of course, light refreshments will be served—it’s Sisterhood!
 

Sisterhood has created an on-going series of Book Reviews to enhance your Jewish Literacy. This year they are joined in co-sponsoring this series by our Continuing Education Committee. Don’t judge a book by its cover, read it yourself. For information, contact sishood@emanuelhouston.org.

Kindler of Souls
by Rabbi Henry Cohen, II
Tuesday, October 2, 11:30 a.m.
Reviewer: Rabbi Henry Cohen, II

Rabbi Henry Cohen II reminisces about his grandfather in this definitive portrait of the legendary Texas Rabbi. More than 10,000 Jews, mostly from Eastern Europe, arrived in Galveston in the early twentieth century and were greeted by Rabbi Cohen who helped them find jobs through a network that extended throughout the Southwest and Midwest United States. The "Galveston Movement," along with Cohen's pioneering work reforming Texas prisons and fighting the Ku Klux Klan, made the rabbi a legend in his time. As this portrait shows, however, he was also a lovable mensch to his grandson.This book review is underwritten by a grant from two designated Congregation Emanu El Foundation Funds: The Moser Library Fund and the Edis Lewis Parkans Emanu Elders Fund.

The Invisible Wall:
A Love Story That Broke Barriers
by Harry Bernstein
Thursday, December 6, 12 p.m.
Reviewer: Pat Brams

The memoir of growing up Jewish in an English mining town is the first book by a this writer who is 95 years old. He details his sister’s love for a Christian boy and how crossing the street to the Christian side seemed as if you’d breach an invisible wall. It reads like Dickens, with an anti-Semitic twist.

The Liberated Bride
by A. B. Yehoshua
Thursday, February 14, 12 p.m.
Reviewer: Dr. Rob Hochschild

The author has the gift of reflecting complex situations in events of daily life. What appears to be a bittersweet comedy of domestic manners set in 1990 Israel, morphs into a searching exploration of a politically divided society where decent people – Jews and Arabs attempt to live peaceably with each other.

History of Love
by Nicole Krauss
Wednesday, March 13, 12:00 p.m.
Reviewer: Helaine Lane

This hauntingly beautiful novel is about two characters whose lives are woven together with great complexity. It spans sixty years, takes readers from Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe to present day Brighton Beach and deals with loneliness and loss.

Exile
by Richard North Patterson
Thursday, April 10, 12 p.m.
Reviewer: Rabbi Amy Weiss

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been overtaken by events. Underlying political issues may be enough for most readers to put the real world aside and suspend disbelief. David Wolfe, a San Franciscan on the verge of a congressional campaign, has his plans derailed when his law school classmate (and one-time lover), Palestinian Hana Arif, asks him to defend her from charges that she led a conspiracy that assassinated dovish Israeli leader Amos Ben-Aron. Inspired by idealism and passion, Wolfe jeopardizes his political future by taking the case. His suspicion that the suicide bombers who attacked Ben-Aron were aided by a security breach leads him to Israel and Lebanon.