Crystal Award

Rotary Club of Livingston
Receives Crystal Award

The Helen D. Schwartz Memorial Crystal Award for community service is given only when our Section Board and Awards Committee deem a recipient worthy. This year, the Rotary Club of Livingston was added to the list of winners. The award was presented at our Opening Event on September 26 at Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston.

Debbie Kirchen, past president of the Rotary Club (and a proud NCJW/Essex member!) accepted the award, saying:

“Rotarians are driven by a commitment to service above self. Thank you for this honor … we look forward to many more years of working together to support and uplift our community.”

For the past few years, the Rotary Club of Livingston has played a key role in the NJCW/Essex Back 2 School Store, providing dental kits (toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss) for more than 1,000 children who participate at the Store. It may be difficult for some of us to imagine, but we have learned not all children have access to personal dental care at home, and for some, this is perhaps the first time they will have a toothbrush to call their own.

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2024 Opening Event

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A New Year Begins with Opening Event

The excitement and anticipation of the new NCJW/Essex year was on display the night of September 26. NCJW/Essex President Andrea Rakitta Mintz captured the feeling as she spoke at Opening Event at Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston. She recounted the amazing work we do on menstrual equity, reproductive rights, community projects including the Back 2 School Store, and much more.

“The common thread is making life better for women, children and families AND safeguarding individual rights and freedoms,” Andrea said. “Those two things always go hand-in-hand and fuel what we do – and how we do it… Let’s continue to do great things together.”

Thank you to Ellen and Don Legow, whose generous support makes this annual event possible, and a special shout out to event chairs Susie Botwinick and Jodi Chisarick, who, with an able assist from VP, Engagement Lisa Katz, planned and brought the event to life. Special thanks to Cantor Sharon Knoller for her invocation, to Deborah Legow Schatz who introduced our speakers, and to Lauren Tabak Fass, who expertly guided the conversation with our speaker, Tara Schuster.

A Self-Care Journey

Tara Schuster spent years as a successful storyteller, and she certainly had an interesting one to tell at Opening Event. Her journey – from difficult childhood to professional success in the television industry, to an understanding of how self-care is the key to self-actualization and an important part of standing up to antisemitism, to a new purpose of sharing her story to help others – made for compelling listening and left us with a few things we can do.

She opened with a self-described “bummer” about the toxic relationship she had with her parents growing up, and how much the absence of those bonds influenced everything that followed. An awakening came on her twenty-fifth birthday.

“The only person coming to rescue me is me. It wasn’t my fault, but it is my responsibility,” she recalled.

And a Google doc was born. Tara organized her thoughts and ideas and questions into one online space. Everything from “what are my values?” to “what vegetables should I eat?” made it onto the doc, and through that work, she began to re-parent herself.

Re-parenting sounds scary, but it a simple concept: learning how to be yourself, and according to Tara, organizing that work around self-care.

Skeptics say self-care is selfish, or struggle to define what it really means. And, in our busy lives, who has the time anyway to pour more and more resources and time into yourself?

“I firmly believe self-care is also community care,” Tara explained. She pointed out the safety instructions before every airline flight include the instruction to put your oxygen mask on first, then help the people around you. Self-care is fundamentally the same: you cannot be good for others, unless you are okay yourself. It is not self-indulgence, and our own healing is core to being part of a community.

Tara also believes standing up to antisemitism and being a proud member of the Jewish community are essential parts of self-care. Her experiences in Hollywood and comedy, populated in both myth and reality with very Jewish, very self-deprecating and often very liberal people, reinforced her feelings that entertainment should be imbued with the joy and pride of being Jewish. “It’s incredibly dangerous, especially now, when we see things being promoted and celebrated in popular culture that rob us of our dignity,” she said.

Fighting back means speaking up, even when it’s hard and uncomfortable. Tara’s example of explaining to a fitness instructor that playing a Kayne West soundtrack after his attack on Jews to accompany a class felt insensitive and like an affront to her as a Jewish student. Initially defensive, the instructor eventually came back to Tara, confessed to not realizing the context and the harm, and vowed not to play that music in class again. Tara returned, buoyed by her action, and with more confidence to speak up the next time a similar scenario presented itself.

“Little interactions in our daily lives can change the culture,” she said. “We are the culture. And, I promise the more we do it, the easier it gets.”

Cut to the end, and the news is positive. Tara shared that she and her father continue to work on their relationship, an ongoing process that writing her first book kick-started. “The book had to go through legal review, which is perhaps the most painful part of writing a memoir,” she said. “When I showed it to my father, he said ‘it’s all true, in fact, it was much, much worse’, but don’t change a word!”

The honesty in that exchange was a breakthrough, and the only way they – and anyone else – began to heal.

Self-Care Takeaways

The evening concluded with Tara sharing a few accesible ways to practice self-care, and wishing us well on our self-care journeys:

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Power Up the Vote 2024

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Wow! What a Day!

Thank You for Writing 2500 Postcards in Three Hours

More than 200 people came ready to “Power Up the Vote” on Tuesday, September 17. Attendees streamed into a room decorated with red, white and blue to find stacks of postcards scattered on more than a dozen tables, with instructions nearby on what to write and information on the voters who would receive these important messages before the upcoming election.

Attendees settled in, flexed their hands, clicked their pens, and got to work! When it was all done, about 2500 postcards were written, addressed, stamped and ready to be mailed to voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and New Jersey with an additional 100 letters on their way to voters in Arizona, Michigan, Ohio and North Carolina. On this National Voter Registration Day, the conversations were lively and the collective effort to raise awareness of the importance of voting and making every voice heard was electric.

We were thrilled to be joined by the League of Women Voters of Livingston and members of the Essex County Clerk’s office with information on voter registration and how to become a poll worker. Speakers punctuated the day with great insight, things to consider ahead of Election Day and, even better, things we can do!

But, as our pens reminded us, the most important is: "let's all vote!"

Inspiring Speakers

Our great line-up of inspiring speakers shared their insights on what’s happening in New Jersey, the importance of the women’s vote and ways to identify and combat mis- and disinformation. Thank you to Helen Archontou, CEO, YWCA Northern New Jersey, Nuzhat Chowdhury from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Melissa Marks from the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and Sarah Blaine from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

Our Fabulous Chairs and Committee

Our phenomenal committee, led by Get Out the Vote Co-Chairs Laurie Kahn and Elisa Madorsky, worked throughout the summer to plan and execute this meaningful day. From coordinating with all the agencies on whose behalf we wrote postcards, to pulling together a great speaker line-up, to organizing a smooth-flowing day, everything was great and in its place, down to the last red, white and blue balloon! Thanks also go to NCJW/Essex VP of Advocacy Lauren Tabak Fass and Director of Advocacy Rebecca Grossman for their important roles in making it a fabulous day.

Amazing Co-Sponsors

Thank you to our many, many co-sponsors who supported and helped promote Power Up the Vote! Special shout out to Temple B’nai Abraham for being such a wonderful host!

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2024 Back 2 School Store Recap

Snapshot

A Year of Planning.
A Week of Set-up.
A Day of Shopping Smiles and Joy!

Sunday, July 28 dawned bright and sunny and Back 2 School Store volunteers took their places, ready to welcome hundreds of children and their families for a day filled with shopping, community and smiles!

Our 16^th annual Back 2 School Store was off and running as the doors of Millburn’s Congregation B’nai Israel opened. Children entering grades K- 5 this fall were invited by nearly 40 social service agencies, churches and schools to participate in the Store. Close to 500 students arrived with parents and caregivers, ready for a special shopping experience and a day they will never forget.

Personal shoppers lined up to meet the children and guided them through the Store, browsing racks of shirts and pants and helping them choose the perfect color, design and size. Next came a set of socks and underwear, enough to last each child a full week, followed by one of the most popular stops: Coats.

A brand-new, warm winter coat seems silly in July, but the children’s faces said otherwise. Pointing at shiny silver and gold or green hearts with a warm purple lining or a cool all-black or grey design, volunteers slipped coats on and off the children’s shoulders, checking the fit, and more importantly, watching as the kids checked themselves out in the mirrors along the wall. Selection made, the coat made its way into the bag, quickly followed by a matching hat and gloves.

The ensemble was complete!

Sneakers are Back!

With an entire corner of the main shopping area dedicated to measuring sock-clad feet, trying on to get the right size, then then taking a few hops and steps, sneakers were definitely back! This year marked the return of sneakers to every in-person shopper’s Back 2 School Store bag. Some children could not wait until the first day of school, and proudly wore their new kicks for the remainder of the shopping journey and all the way home.

Yes, there's more!

No back-to-school list would be complete without supplies and books. Children stopped by the Book Nook to choose two titles based on the kinds of books they like to read. From there, it was off to select a backpack filled with supplies like paper, pencils, crayons and more. The Rotary Club of Livingston once again donated dental kits with toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss for each child.

Welcome Special Guests

The Back 2 School Store welcomed several special guests on Sunday. State assembly member Rosie Bagolie joined us again this year, visiting many of our partners in the Gaelen Family Resource Center and shopping with several children. Livingston Town Council members Shawn Klein and Ketan Bhuptani and Millburn Mayor Annette Romano also stopped by and journeyed through the Store helping children fill their bags.

For Parents and Caregivers: GFRC

Audrey Gaelen, long-time supporter and sponsor of the Gaelen Family Resource Center, saw first-hand the wonderful community partners who shared resources, information and more with parents and caregivers. University Hospital offered glucose screenings, blood pressure checks, and hearing screenings, the League of Women Voters helped register voters before the upcoming election season, and Girls Helping Girls.Period. gave each visitor a bag filled with menstrual products. Many people also took advantage of free vision screenings courtesy of Project BEST.

The Big Finish!

Taking a cue from an election year, children voted for their favorite part of the Back 2 School Store, placing a sticker on a board representing their choice. Surveys – and a few last-minute accessories – completed the day. The children met up with their parents and caregivers, excitedly showing off all their new stuff… and headed off with a little more confidence and ready to learn.

It Takes a Village

The Back 2 School Store is NCJW/Essex’s signature event, with close to 300 volunteers giving their time to make it happen. Elizabeth Brandwein Cohen, Sherri Fendelman and Danielle Kurlander served as co-chairs for 2024, leading a Steering Committee who sourced all the clothes, bought all the books, organized all the backpacks, helped recruit and train our volunteers and generally did everything possible to make the day a success.

A special shout out to our Honor Roll of Donors and our wonderful roster of Sponsors, whose excitement and support of the Back 2 School Store is something for which we are so grateful.

And, we were not done. On Monday, July 29, more volunteers gathered at the synagogue to finish “mobile shopping,” filling bags for children who were unable to attend in person. Local agencies picked up these last items, along with menstrual products, and distributed them to their families.

Including NCJW/Essex Families!

Until Next Year

Then it was time to pack everything away for a few months, as the children get ready for school and planning begins for the 2025 Store. Thanks for an amazing day!

2024 Back 2 School Store Recap Read More »

Recap – 20th Annual Golf Invitational

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Thank you to everyone for an amazing day of golf, friends, sunshine and laughter, all for the best cause.

Your generosity means that much-needed funds will go toward helping improve the quality of life for women, children and families here in Essex County. Your participation allows us to continue with programs like the upcoming Back 2 School Store providing more than 1,000 children with clothes and supplies as they return to class; the Linda & Rudy Slucker Center for Women which provides guidance and counseling for women entering or re-entering the workforce; advocacy and outreach efforts on issues like gun violence prevention, reproductive justice and menstrual equity; and so much more.

See you next year!

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The 4 Ps of March at NCJW/Essex

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Some people associate the “4 Ps” with marketing. This March at NCJW/Essex it meant something different. Read on…

Pickleball

Back by popular demand, NCJW/Essex took over the pickleball courts at Center Court in Chatham on March 14 for our second indoor pickleball round robin. Among the dinks and lobs and put aways was much laughter and fun.

Purim

NCJW/Essex got a head start on Purim celebrations with a Mitzvah-in-a-Minute in partnership with Hillel of Greater MetroWest NJ. We gathered to assemble Purim baskets filled with treats for local college students preceded by an inspiring conversation about Jews on campus and much more! Chag Purim Sameach indeed!

PACK (Post Abortion Care Kits)

More than 50 people attended the latest PACK (Post Abortion Care Kits) on March 17 at Temple Emanu-el in Westfield. The group assembled 300 kits for Cherry Hill Women’s Center and Pilgrim Medical Center in Montclair and heard from Jasmine Winters and Eiko LaBoria from the Women’s Center as well as Elle Kotopoulos from Pilgrim Medical The speakers shared stories and information and answered questions from a rapt audience. Thank you PACK co-chairs Paula Green, Jessica Zirkel-Rubin and Marlene Tuch for continuing to find ways to expand this program.

Preparing (food)

NCJW/Essex teamed up with parents of the Early Childhood Center at JCC MetroWest to prepare meals – soup, garlic bread, dessert – for 10 clients of the NCJW/Essex Center for Women. This marked the return of our Fill the Freezer program where volunteers spend a few hours cooking and packaging ready-to-heat and serve options for our clients and learning more about the work of the CFW and NCJW/Essex. Thanks to Melissa Berger for organizing and to all who stirred, chopped and participated!

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Decoding Dobbs: A Recap

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"We cannot legislate abortion without considering the people
who have abortions."

Lynn Paltrow, Founder, Pregnancy Justice

Lynn Paltrow is a pioneer in finding effective ways to use women’s stories about their lives, their pregnancies, and their abortions both in the court and with the public. She founded National Advocates for Pregnant Women in 1999, which became Pregnancy Justice in 2021. On March 7, Lynn addressed more than 100 women gathered for our annual Lunch and Learn which in the past has been a celebration of Roe, but has turned into something much different and much more urgent following the Dobbs decision.

The conversation began with a sobering recitation of how Dobbs unleashed a war on women and the curtailment of women’s rights. The Supreme Court’s majority opinion called abortion unique because it takes another human life, but abortion is not unique – up to 20 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth.

“You cannot regulate abortion without considering the people who have abortions,” Lynn stated plainly. The consequences of Dobbs are broad, she continued, including a deliberate subordination of half the humans in the country and affording more rights to a fertilized egg or a frozen embryo than to someone who can get pregnant.

What’s the remedy? Lynn, who calls herself an “apocalyptic optimist,” outlined a few opportunities to move the narrative – and the results – forward.

Emphasize connections between pregnancy and abortion: “We need to listen to why people have abortions. Maybe it is because they want to wait to marry someone they love or finish their education or to pursue a common occupation of life,” Lynn urged. “All of these are rights given to men, but not to women or people who can get pregnant.”

“People who have abortions are the people who have babies, just at different times,” she said. Creating linkages between birthing centers and abortion clinics, along with combining the power of people who focus on abortion rights and people who advocate for maternal health will lead to better outcomes for everyone.

Demand what we want – full personhood for women and people who can get pregnant: “That which is primary continues to be that which is male.” Misogyny – both overt and subtle – is embedded in our daily lives. Everything including the way medicine, the courts and other institutions treat women reminds us of the education and work that remains.

Remain vigilant and active: Thanks to years of work by NCJW/Essex and its coalition partners, New Jersey enjoys some of the most expansive abortion protections in the United States, where state legislatures are overwhelmingly white and male. Yet, despite the laws on the books, five counties across the state do not have abortions clinics or services.

The Dobbs decision emboldened people pushing for a national ban on abortion. Project 2025, the conservative roadmap for like in America, outlines what Phoebe Pollinger, NCJW/Essex Reproductive Rights Chair, called a “hellscape for reproductive rights.” Convincing people who believe lies to stop believing those lies is one of the biggest challenges in our society, according to Lynn (and many others). And, the discourse on “late term abortions”, which are decidedly not a thing, denigrates the medical profession and leads us to ask, “at what point in pregnancy does a woman lose their civil rights?”

“It has been a privilege to represent the clients I have,” Lynn said with pride, “and to share their stories.”

One of her most memorable cases was defending the first woman charged and convicted with delivery of cocaine to a minor through her umbilical cord. While the verdict was rightly overturned by the Florida Supreme Court, the lessons of the case proved more illuminating.

Pregnant, drug-using women are often targeted for prosecution and science shows that none of the criminalized drugs cause pregnancy loss.

“If any of these drugs were good for pregnancy loss, I’d ship them straight to Texas!” Lynn said with a smile.

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December Snapshot at NCJW/Essex

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Wrapping Up 2023

It was another busy December at NCJW/Essex. We connected. We volunteered. We advocated. And, we ended 2023 getting things done.

Read more about our day at the United Nations, our first indoor pickleball event and our annual Holiday Toy Drive and Gift Wrap.

Bearing Witness at the United Nations

NCJW/Essex joined advocates and witnesses and others from NCJW at the United Nations on Dec. 4 for “Hear our Voices: Sexual and gender-based violence in the October 7 Hamas terror attack.”

The gathering gave voice to the silenced, especially the women who were raped and murdered during the attack. Speakers including NCJW CEO Sheila Katz, elected officials, first responders who witnessed the aftermath of the attacks, and others implored the international community, which has largely been silent, to speak up against the horrors and atrocities.

Peace, Love and Pickleball

The courts at Center Court in Chatham were filled with NCJW/Essex members and friends on December 12 for our first indoor pickleball event. Players – from beginners to experts – enjoyed lunch together before hitting the courts for an exciting round-robin session. Congratulations to our prize winners: Corrine Siegel, Melissa Trachtman, Jodi Chisarick, and Elisa Madorsky.

That's a Wrap on 2023 Mitzvahs-in-a-Minute

On Friday, Dec. 15, close to 40 volunteers came together to wrap more than 300 gifts headed to the children at Focus Hispanic Center for Community Development in Newark and to the children of our Center for Women clients.

This annual event is a wonderful way to cap off a year of exciting and meaningful Mitzvahs-in-a-Minute. We hope to see everyone at upcoming 2024 MIMs.

Kudos to co-chairs Dorie Eisenstein and Rachel Fink, Mitzvah-in-a-Minute Coordinator Penina Barr and VP, Volunteer Outreach Cindy Charney for all their work to make it happen.

December Snapshot at NCJW/Essex Read More »

Community Lunch & Act: The Act of Coming Together

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The Act of Coming Together

Hands on hearts, and connected in a circle that filled the room, our Community Lunch & Act concluded the way it began: feeling the comfort and support that comes with being together as we stand in solidarity with Israel and against antisemitism.

It has been nearly two months since the vicious terrorist attack in Israel. In its aftermath, the war, the wait for more hostages to be released, and the frightening rise in antisemitism have filled our thoughts and our conversations. Our Jewish community feels more important to us, and in fact, is more critical than ever. As the Talmud teaches: all of Israel is responsible for one another.

That’s why on November 29 we came together to act, doing what NCJW/Essex does best which is getting things done. Our Advocacy team, together with the REDI (Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Committee Chairs created an afternoon focused on action and reminding us of our mission.

We were joined by leaders from Hillel of Greater MetroWest, who shared the work they are doing on six college campuses in our area. Hillel Director Rebekah Adelson talked about meeting with college presidents to help them understand and address the changing needs of Jewish students on campus. She also reminded us that there is still joy to be found among these young people – a joy that will be uplifted with the delivery of the special Hanukkah gift bags, filled with sweets, holiday decorations and personal notes, the group assembled.

Like at many Shabbat dinners since October, none of our tables were completely full, each with an open seat, representing a hostage still held in captivity. The message “bring them home” featured prominently in the hundreds of postcards written that afternoon addressed to elected officials along with our thanks for what has already been done.

NCJW/Essex members who attended the March for Israel rally in Washington, DC earlier this month relayed their experiences, highlighted with a powerful video (below/audio begins about 35 seconds in). The transformative experience of being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people and listening to passionate remarks about Israel and what it means to be a Jew both inspires and motivates.

It felt good to be together and to do something. One of the attendees sent this thank you note: “Today’s NCJW/Essex event was amazing! I was so inspired and moved. It was wonderful to be with such an amazing group of women and accomplish what we did. Ah, if only women ran the world!!!”

Perhaps the biggest takeaway was that in such a time of darkness and uncertainty, it is okay – in fact, it is necessary – to laugh and to find joy and light and love. NCJW/Essex strives always to bring more light to the world as we do what we do best: help the most vulnerable members of our community by improving the lives of women, children, and families and safeguarding individual rights and freedoms.

Thanks to VP of Advocacy Laurie Kahn, Lunch & Learn Chair Meryl Goodman, REDI Co-Chairs Debra Goldsmith, Paula Green and Myrna Wertheimer, Executive Vice President Andrea Mintz and Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement Stephanie Abrahams for making our first Community Lunch & Act so meaningful and memorable.

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March for Israel

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#StandUptoJewishHate

Representatives from NCJW/Essex joined hundreds of thousands of people from across the country who gathered in Washington, DC on November 14 to express our commitment to bringing the hostages home, our support of Israel and to #StandUpToJewishHate.

Standing side by side, Jews and non-Jews united, and helped combat the fear, isolation and outrage experienced by Jews and our allies around the world. We left the march feeling renewed as a community, ready to take action in support of our beliefs and recognizing that “Never Again” is Now.