BCOD and Newtown welcome Elul
BCOD and Newtown welcome Elul
Ohel Devorah’s Elul Zoom event combined Mrs.Mina Elbaum’s Shloshim with Elul words of inspiration by Rebbetzin Rivkah Groner and Story Presenter Mrs. Timmy Rubin. At a Shloshim, it is customary to learn Mishnayos. In Pirkei Avos Perek 3 Mishna 10 Reb Chanina ben Dosa says, ‘Anyone who acts with love towards his fellow so that people find him to be pleasant, Hashem also finds pleasant, because that person has treated Hashem’s children well’. That mishna seemed like a perfect match for Mrs Elbaum and her kind, nurturing way. Mrs Elbaum was like royalty the way she warmly welcomed everyone into shule. She wouldn’t leave shule until she smiled and said something nice to everyone. She was like the Mezuzah on the door and was kissed by all who entered. Mrs Elbaum loved and cared about everyone. Rivkah also described how Mrs Elbaum loved davening and saying Tehilim so dearly.
Timmy Rubin ‘kept us on the edge of our seats as she shared her story of how she became who she is today’ said one of the RCWC event attendees. ‘We followed her fascinating journey from Melbourne, through India, Europe and New York before coming back to Melbourne. Thank you Timmy!
Newtown women’s Rosh Chodesh circle also had a wonderful evening welcoming in the new month of Elul. There was a wonderful attendance of ladies of all ages from around Sydney. Thanks to guest speaker psychologist Zipporah Oliver OAM for her personal and encouraging inspiration, taking us through the journey of time seeing where we’ve come from, where we’ve fallen short, trusting in hashem’s love to help us pick ourselves up and looking forward to forgiveness, healing relationships and reconnection to our own soul.
We got stuck into reading through some heavy duty Rosh Hashanah davening, and enjoyed real live singing as it befits a good farbrengen. The evening was dedicated to the memory and aliyas haneshomo of Elka Feldman’s grandfather Yaakov Yisroel Ben Shamai whose yahrtzeit is on the second night of Rosh Chodesh Elul and who loved the heartfelt song of a niggun.
It was also dedicated as a Refuah sheleima, complete and speedy recovery for a dear community member Judy Silver, Yehudis bas Shiphrah who is a stalwart of every event.
The ladies recalled that this now brings our Newtown Rosh Chodesh women’s circle to its anniversary month and immediately started planning for the next one!
The latest at RCWC
The latest at RCWC
Two new projects, ‘Eshet Chayil’ and ‘Connecting through Candle Lighting’ were added as well as 3 new affiliates, Beis Chabad Ohel Devorah (BCOD), Newtown Shule (Sydney) and Chabad of Contra Costa (CofCC) (USA).
Our programs were adapted for zoom events and provided to our three newest affiliates who used them successfully for the months of Nissan, Iyar and Sivan..
Chabad of Contra Costa is a RCWC affiliate in the USA, in the state of California. Secretary of the RCWC, Naomi Rafael was visiting her Dad nearby several months ago and introduced Rebbetzin Chaya Berkowitz to our ‘concept of connecting, nurturing and empowering’ women on Rosh Chodesh ‘through the power of story’. For Nissan, Rebbetzin Chaya Berkowitz of Cof CC combined the RCWC event with her birthday celebrations, and for Iyar the Torah message written by Shulamit Nutovics was the highlight of their event.
For their Iyar event Ohel Devorah’s Rebbetzin Rivkah Groner included a Story Presenter for the first time since they ventured into Zoom events. Sharon Sackville’s powerful story riveted and inspired the audience. For Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the RCWC Dvar Torah, written by Dr. Sara Rosenfeld, was well received followed by a delicious recipe swap which included stories behind the recipes. For the month of Av in an event inviting the women for a cuppa and a story to share in memory of Mrs. Elisabeth Slater.
Newtown’s Rebbetzin Elka Feldman went to great effort to attract women who have a connection with them and their Shule. Women from all over the world, women of all ages and stages and from many walks of life participated in their event. This is one of the advantages of running virtual programs. History was made in Newtown, NSW, as this was their very first ever RCWC event.
The Expansion
The Expansion
Due to its popular appeal, moves were soon afoot to expand and offer this outstanding program to women’s groups in Melbourne.
In October 2013 Rosh Chodesh Women’s Circle™, Inc was registered as a trademarked not-for–profit association. With the helpful guidance of consultants and the founding members our first Board meeting took place early in 2014 to formulate a mission, a vision and goals. Our first Affiliate Bentleigh Chabad was soon followed by Merkos Women, The Shiur Group, North Eastern, South Caulfield and a new Project for seniors Linking the Generations.
We began at Elwood
We began at Elwood
On October 21, 2009 more than 50 women, members of the Elwood Talmud Torah Shule in Melbourne Australia, attended the inaugural Rosh Chodesh Women’s Circle event at the home of their Rebbetzin Sara Gutnick. For the next five years the Elwood women were invited to a Rosh Chodesh evening of reward and recognition, connecting through their stories, absorbing the messages of every month, being nurtured and nourished in an atmosphere of camaraderie and acceptance.
