Sisterhood
Congregation B'nai Shalom (CBS) Sisterhood is a vibrant group of women which includes members of CBS and those in the surrounding communities. Together we enjoy planning, coordinating and attending a variety of social, educational and spiritual programs. We invite you to be part of this passionate group of women who come together to support the temple, our community and one another.
CBS Sisterhood is a member of Women of Reform Judaism.
Click here for membership information.
Some of Sisterhood’s Annual Events
- Fall Open House
- Member Appreciation Dinner
- Hanukah Party -- supporting a local charity
- Sisterhood Shabbat with clergy, preceded by a pot luck dinner
- Women’s Kallah (a day of lunch and learning)
CBS Events Sponsored by Sisterhood
- Weekly Oneg Shabbat coordinated by Sisterhood's Oneg Captain Program. Please click here for more information.
- Second day Rosh Hashanah pot luck luncheon
- Yom Kippur Break-the-Fast
- Women’s Seder
- CBS Book Group discusses books which are generally of Jewish themes or by Jewish authors. Meetings are held every 6-8 weeks. All Sisterhood and adult members of CBS are welcome. For additional information, click here
Ongoing Sisterhood Activities
- Weekly Drop-in Mah Jongg -Tuesdays at 11:15AM in the lobby of the temple.
- Word Games – on Zoom or in person. CodeNames, Scattergories and Boggle are played on Zoom once a month. In-person Word games are held at the temple once a month. All adults are welcome.
- Rosh Chodesh Group- monthly women’s group
- Quarterly “Girls' Night Out” (often dinner and a movie)
Oneg Shabbat Captain Program
Following every Friday night service, a group of volunteers create a warm, welcoming atmosphere with a variety of treats to eat, of course! We encourage new volunteers to help coordinate the oneg a few nights a year. We will train and support you. A host family will assist you with all aspects of the oneg. Being an Oneg Shabbat Captain is an easy and manageable mitzvah that the community appreciates. For more information, please contact the Oneg Coordinator.
New Members may join, and current members may renew their membership, for the 2023-2024 membership year in 1 of 2 ways. Dues is $36.00. If you wish to add an additional donation to support Sisterhood's programming and fundraising efforts, please include it with your dues payment.
- PAY ONLINE: Complete the membership form by clicking on this link: https://www.cbnaishalom.org/form/2024-2025-sisterhood-membership-form.html
Temple members may pay with a credit card or ACH. Please be sure that you are logged in to the temple website before accessing the Sisterhood membership form.
Non-temple members may pay with a credit card only.
FOR CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS ONLY: There will be an additional $1.11 charge to cover the credit card companies' service charge.
- PAY BY CHECK: Please make your $36.00 check payable to:
CBS Sisterhood
You may mail your check to:
Sisterhood Treasurer
c/o Congregation B'nai Shalom
PO Box 1019
Westborough, MA 01581
OR
Leave it in the Sisterhood Administration mailbox in the main office at the temple.
Drop in Mah Jongg continues at CBS on Tuesdays at 11:15 AM. We hope to meet women who enjoy playing Mah Jongg and meeting other players. Mah Jongg will only be canceled if we do not have at least 4 players respond positively to the weekly email. Contact the Mah Jongg Chair to join the email list.
Word Games on Zoom and in person.All adults are welcome.
Please note: Word games will be on vacation in July and August and will resume in September.
To contact the Word Games Chair or to join the email list, click here.
Rosh Chodesh Women’s Group
We gather once a month (October-June) to learn together. Each month, different members volunteer to lead the discussion about a contemporary or historical Jewish woman of their choice. New members are always welcome. To contact the Rosh Chodesh Chair, click here.
CBS Book Group – Monday, August 19, 2024 at 7:00PM (Location B'nai Shalom)
Join us to discuss The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride —This historical novel begins in Pottstown PA, 1972, when digging workers find a skeleton at the bottom of a well. The skeleton’s name and life story were long-kept secrets by Chicken Hill’s residents, a dilapidated neighborhood where in the 1930’s and ‘40s, immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. A Jewish-owned integrated theater and the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store were local landmarks. The plot shows the struggles of people living on the margins of white, Christian America and what they must do to survive. When the murder’s story is finally revealed and the white establishment’s role is proven, McBride shows that even in dark times, it is love and community that sustain us.
This book was named a 2023 NY Times Notable Book; Best Book of the Year named by NPR, Washington Post, The New Yorker, and Time Magazine; and a Goodreads Nominee for Best Historical Fiction. James McBride is the son of a white Jewish Mother and a Black Christian minister. His mother, Ruchel Deborah Shilsky, was raised in a strict, isolated Orthodox Jewish community in Suffolk VA, where the small population of Jews routinely experienced anti-Semitism. He published the award-winning memoir, The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to his White Mother, in 1996.
For additional Information, please click here to contact the Book Group Chair.