New JLI Course Will Keep Women ‘Well Connected’

By COLlive staff

What comes to mind when you think of religion? A way of looking at life, perhaps? A story about the world? Or a way to pray? For many, faith is a core set of beliefs surrounded by a little ceremony. For us, that’s precisely backwards: Judaism is less a system of belief than a system of action.

This fall, the Rosh Chodesh Society (RCS)—the women’s division of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI)—launches its latest course, “Well-Connected: It’s Not What You Know. It’s What You Do.”

Well-Connected, slated to run in close to 250 locations (in-person and virtual classes pending Covid restrictions) across the globe, is a seven-part series that examines the spiritual role of Judaism’s army of practical observances. It unveils profound individualized meaning alongside empowering contemporary messages that simmer just beneath the surface of an act of kindness, a prayer, a lifecycle tradition, a doorpost scroll, and their extended family of sister-mitzvot.

“Each mitzvah longs to bare its mystical soul, is profoundly beautiful in the eyes of those who behold its meaning, and is a precious opportunity to connect well with something beyond ourselves—something breathtakingly infinite and beautifully intimate all at once,” says RCS director Mrs. Shaindy Jacobson.

“The course will be taught and hosted by the most dedicated, selfless, inspiring educators from all around the world—the Rebbe’s shluchos—and it is designed for women at all levels of Jewish knowledge.”

“Well-Connected explores how the dos and don’ts reveal the soul of Jewish ritual life and how each deed connects us to something far beyond ourselves. If you’re feeling mitzvah-curious, or you simply want to find out more about the practical side of your heritage; if you’re looking for a deeper engagement with Jewish ritual and how to live in deed on any level, Well-Connected is indeed the course of study for you,” says Mrs. Rochel Gordon, co-directors Chabad of Tasmania in Newstead, Australia.

“Living in Tasmania, Australia, almost as far from Judaism as one can get, I spend many hours traveling to different cities, meeting with Jewish women to teach them about their heritage. There is nothing as effective as learning with people. I have seen how the Rosh Chodesh Society courses have changed their lives, the lives of their families, and my life as well.”

“As a people, we have been gifted a unique way of connecting to the very essence of our existence—our life force, our souls. Through study and practice we realize the purpose and function of the mitzvot, enabling us to soar freely on the wings of gratitude,” says Shlucha Mrs. Musie Kesselman of Greenville, South Carolina. “I invite all Jewish women to join me in discovering how each Jewish ritual is transformative in its ability to connect the dots between Heaven and earth. This will, de facto, be an incredibly well-connected journey, filled with remarkably fulfilling, impactful actions.”

Mrs. Mazal Sternbach, co-director of the Chabad center in Africa’s most populous city of Lagos in Nigeria, says most Jewish women in her community are foreigners—many Israelis whose husbands have jobs there.

“They’re far from home and lonely for much of what is familiar to them—I have the honor of engaging these precious Jewish souls through learning Torah and Chasidus with them,” says Mrs. Sternbach. “The Rosh Chodesh Society program was one of my most successful peulot, even during this past pandemic year, and the women could not get enough of it. The learning helped all of us—myself included—to not only survive, but truly thrive. I’m looking forward to teaching the newest course, Well-Connected, and to reaching even more women than before.”

“The Rosh Chodesh Society women’s learning series does it again!” says Mrs. Vivi Altabe of Marseille, France, facilitator and RCS coordinator for French-speaking teachers. “Another brilliant collection of pertinent, practical, and powerful themes to gather around and unpack as a family. From the most seasoned participant to the newest arrival, there is always something special that speaks to the mind and heart of each and every woman who joins us.”

The Rosh Chodesh Society is an international Jewish sisterhood that aims to connect, empower, and inspire Jewish women through monthly Jewish learning and cultural experiences.

As Mrs. Jacobson notes, “From across the fifty U.S. states to Canada, Europe, Africa, Australia, Israel, and Asia, 250 of the Rebbe’s shluchos are teaching, reaching, inspiring, and affecting thousands of lives with the rationale, relevance, practical applications, beauty, and richness of the divinely inspired real-life messages of Jewish practice. May they be blessed forever!”

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For more information on Well-Connected, please visit http://roshchodeshsociety.com/.