On Thursday night, November 5, 2020 Project Inspire put\ntogether a marvelous special edition Shabbat Show (The Shabbat Show\nExtravaganza) to welcome in the Shabbos of the Shabbat Project. They had a\nspecial show just for woman to start it off and power it on. There were\npowerful speakers who shared their personal stories with us to teach us the\nimportance of gratitude in our lives. There was music and a virtual trip to the\nKotel, as well as many more inspiring segments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main program, that was open to everyone, contained an\nadditional two packed hours of Connection, Unity, and Sharing Shabbat,\nfeaturing cities from across the world! No longer were we just ourselves\ncelebrating Shabbos alone during this pandemic. We had a chance to connect with\nand draw inspiration from exciting programs being launched around the world!\nWithin the program were moving videos about the power of lighting Shabbat\ncandles and keeping shabbat apart but together. They had many fabulous guest\nspeakers including Eli Beer, the founder of United Hatzalah in Israel, Lori\nPalatnik, the founding director of the Momentum trips that have made such a\ndifference in the world of Jewish women and their families! We had the chance\nto hear about all the programs that Olami is offering on college campuses and\nhow it is rediscovering ways to bring Shabbos to college youth with Covid\nsafety in mind. There was a fascinating tour of the Artscroll printing factory\nand the power of Torah learning that is open to all of us through the many\nvolumes of Judaic texts that are available with wonderful English translations\nand books on all topics of Judaism! These are just a few of the many speakers\nand topics that were presented at this awesome program. I was so inspired and\nblown away by all that is going on in the Jewish community and so proud to be a\npart of it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can\u2019t even begin to imagine how much time, work, research,\ntalent and money went into the Women\u2019s Power Hour and two hour Shabbat Show\nExtravaganza! Charlie Harary was great;\nhe is a real pro as a talk show host! \nHashem should bless all your efforts! Those who missed out on the\noriginal viewing should take advantage and watch the recording of this\nwonderful program!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–Dena Kerner, Rockland Community Leader<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to COVID Rockland Project Inspire had monthly learning\nmeetings at Lisa Weber\u2019s home where we would all get together and learn about\ncustoms, holidays and important Jewish women. Once COVID started, we couldn\u2019t\ncontinue our monthly meetings and couldn\u2019t see each other at all. Some of us\nwere celebrating simchas during this time and others lost some loved ones.\nThere was no way for us to see each other and keep up with each other\u2019s lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I initiated pre-Shabbat Show zoom meetings for our Rockland\ngroup so we could see each other and talk for half hour a week about our lives\nand Shabbat. We shared different ways we bring in Shabbat and different rituals\nwe have. We then decided to discuss the parsha of the week. We then follow up\nwith a discussion about life, Torah and lessons we can apply to how we view\nlife\u2019s events. The meetings take place every week, even on Thanksgiving and New\nYear\u2019s Eve. You can usually find 12-15 women on the Zoom meeting each week. I\ncan say for myself that I look forward to Zooming every Thursday with these\nwomen who I consider sisters. It helps me to know that I will see their faces\neach week and get to learn with them and be there for each other during these\ndifficult times. It has also made me more interested in learning about the\nweekly parsha. I even felt comfortable researching the weekly parsha myself and\ntalking about it and what I learned from it at last week\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think these meetings have become a silver lining for the\nparticipants in otherwise lonely times. I think we each look forward to 7:30 pm\non Thursdays for connection and inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
— Rhonda Benjamin Goldblatt, 2016 Project Inspire\/Momentum\ntrip participant<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was honored to be a part of the Project Inspire trip to Israel\nin 2016. The absolute best experience of my life! Our pre-Shabbos zoom meetings each week\nbrings back wonderful memories as many of us were together on that trip. I love learning not only the weekly parsha,\nbut the customs of all the holidays. I look forward to this every week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
— Perian Kaye, 2016 Project Inspire\/Momentum trip participant\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I thoroughly enjoy our regularly scheduled Project Inspire\nzoom meetings on Thursday nights. It a good opportunity to see and connect with\nother Jewish women. We have an attendance rate of about 12-16 participants,\ncomposed of secular and observant women. \nEach Thursday, one woman presents the weekly parsha and then a\ndiscussion follows. We are free to share our experiences and Jewish traditions\nwith the group in a non-judgmental, supportive forum. I look forward to Thursday nights as it adds\nstructure and routine to my week. During these challenging times, it’s a\nconstant in my life. The women of Project Inspire Rockland are a special group\nand I am grateful and fortunate to have them in my life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
–Cheryl Epstein, 2016\nProject Inspire\/Momentum trip participant <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the past several years, I’ve been hosting (in person!) our monthly Rockland Project Inspire gatherings. From ‘Wine and Wisdom’ to Woman-to-Woman Learning, our ladies have enjoyed each other\u2019s company for Torah learning and growth<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the Corona crisis and its shut-downs, all these\nin-person gatherings came to a screeching halt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then came Zoom…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the weekly success of Project Inspire\u2019s “The\nShabbat Show” (with the beloved Charlie Harary), we in Rockland decided on\na weekly Zoom meeting to take place just prior to this program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our weekly Zoom meetings have evolved from purely social\ngatherings and catching up on each other\u2019s lives to learning and discussing the\nweekly parsha – Parsha Pointers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This venue has allowed us to keep the constant connections\nstrong and growing, even if we can’t meet in person we can still see each\nother, panim el panim, face to face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–Lisa Weber, Rockland City Leader<\/p>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Thursday night, November 5, 2020 Project Inspire put together a marvelous special edition Shabbat Show (The Shabbat Show Extravaganza) to welcome in the Shabbos of the Shabbat Project. They had a special show just for woman to start it off and power it on. There were powerful speakers who shared their personal stories with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-audio"],"yoast_head":"\n