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Sisterhood's 125th Anniversary

On April 21, 1886, 13 women, wives and daughters of the founders of our synagogue, met “to advance the welfare of   the Chizuk Emoonah Congregation. Thus, the Ladies Auxiliary, later the Sisterhood of Chizuk Amuno was born. Quarterly dues for wives was 50 cents and 25 cents for daughters. The early role of Sisterhood was to maintain the Lloyd St. building. Festivals, bazaars, Purim Carnivals, gift shop and various other means of raising money to support the shul took place over the years. 

The Ladies Auxiliary paid for new ritual as well as decorating items as the Congregation moved again before settling on Eutaw Place in 1921. By that time Mathilde Schechter, widow of Solomon Schechter, had established Women’s League for Conservative Judaism in 1918. The purpose was to educate Jewish women and perpetuate Judaism in the home, synagogue and community. Chizuk Amuno’s Ladies Auxiliary was one of the founding members.

Along with the move in 1921 to Eutaw Place came the name change to Sisterhood. Their main support was thrown into the school system, especially encouraging and providing a Jewish education for girls.

The first Sisterhood Shabbat was held on March 31, 1940. President Flora Rosenbloom was only allowed to speak from the pulpit after services were concluded. The next year,  she was allowed to speak before the closing prayers. The years of World War II saw Sisterhood throw their support to the war effort as did many other organizations at the time. However, in December 1943 President Florence Rogers brought a motion to the Board of Directors to allow Sisterhood members to sit on the Board. At first, they were allowed a non–voting seat, especially in religious matters, but that finally changed in 1946.  

During the 1950s women of the Congregation directed their activities to synagogue life.
Many were stay-at-home moms and homemakers and had leisure time to devote to Sisterhood. They continued fundraising efforts for the building fund, Torah Fund, and Associated Jewish Charities. The first Bat Mitzvah was Ruth Blum on January 31, 1953, a real milestone in the life of Jewish women of Chizuk Amuno.  

Rabbi and Mrs. Israel Goldman were strong forces in the development of Jewish educational programs for men, women and the youth of CA. Mrs. Goldman’s book reviews received rave reviews and Sisterhood called her “our gem.”

The baby boom growth spurt and move to the suburbs forced the congregation to look for a new location. At Sisterhood Shabbat on March 10, 1956 President Sadye Sklar pledged $50,000 to build the new Social Hall/Krieger Auditorium at the Stevenson Road site. Two million dollars was needed for the entire project, but this was a good start. The first Sisterhood meeting on Stevenson Road was April 7, 1958 with a book review by Mrs. Goldman. However, services were still held at the Eutaw Place building until it was sold to Beth Am in 1974.  

The first Sisterhood Trip to Israel took place in March of 1969 led by the Goldmans. It was a two week trip for 60 members.

With the advance of women’s rights in all areas of American life, Chizuk Amuno resolved in June of 1977 that women were equal in synagogue ritual, including aliyot. The Rabbincal Assembly had paved the way when in 1975 it resolved that women could be called to the Torah and be counted in a minyan. The inaugural of these new honors was Sisterhood Shabbat on February 11, 1978 when for the first time women ascended the bimah and led the service. Women had aliyot and all non-reading honors in the service. President Bette Miller delivered the sermon and Shirley Evans chanted Musaf.  Three women read Torah and Mrs. Goldman recited the Haftorah. This led the way for the first Bat Mitzvah class on Mother’s Day Shabbat on May 12, 1979. After Rabbi Goldman’s death in 1979, Rabbi Joel Zaiman ascended the bimah.  He agreed that Bat Mitzvah girls would be able to celebrate their simhah on Saturday mornings, just like the boys.

In 1986 Sisterhood celebrate its 100th year with a weekend of celebration. A Friday night dinner honoring Past Presidents was held. A luncheon for the entire Congregation followed Shabbat morning services and filled the Krieger Auditorium.  

The remainder of the 1980s and 1990s saw the growth of our schools which Sisterhood supported  through scholarships and gifts. Our Judaica Shop was renovated in 2003 and continues to thrive under the management of Anne King. In September of 2008 we gave $50,000 toward the renovation of the Krieger Auditorium which was unveiled at a gala Kruisin’ to the Krieger evening. As part of the project, Sisterhood commissioned new reading tables used during the High Holy Days in the Krieger. One of our latest projects is our Shredding Event. This is open to the community which is invited to bring boxes or bags of documents to be shredded. We look forward to our 6th Shredding in Spring of 2011 which provides a service as well as funds for Sisterhood programs.

Throughout the years several of our women have served as President of Seaboard
Region (now Branch) of Women’s League. They were:

Florence Rogers  1945-‘48
Bernice Kolodny  1953-‘56
Lillian Forman  1966-‘70
Cille Strauss   1974-‘76
Barbara Leibowitz Lichter  2000-2002
Lynne Lichtig  Current President until 2011.

We look forward to our 125th Anniversary weekend to be celebrated on May 25, 2011.  
Hope to see you then!