Women of Reform Judaism convention comes to town

JANE KAUFMAN | STAFF REPORTER jkaufman@cjn.org | @jkaufmancjn

Eileen Saffran will be the keynote speaker Nov. 9 as the Women of Reform Judaism open its Central District Convention at Embassy Suites and The Temple-Tifereth-Israel, both in Beachwood.

About 90 women from Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee and West Virginia will gather for the convention called “Embrace Your Voice.” The three-day gathering includes a mix of workshops, panels, meals and services, along with a tour of Temple TiferethIsrael’s museum. Awards will be given and officers will be installed.

Saffran founded The Gathering Place in 2000. It has locations in Beachwood and Westlake and has served 40,000 cancer patients. The Gathering Place offers free programs and services addressing the emotional, physical, spiritual and social needs of individuals and families currently coping with the impact of cancer in their lives.

“I think the key to my message is that anyone can make a difference,” Saffran said. “We are taught early on through our religious education our value of tikkun olam (repairing the world) and how critical it is that we find our passion and get outside of ourselves.”

Saffran grew up in a small Jewish community in Lexington, Ky. She celebrated her bat mitzvah in the mid-1960s at her Conservative synagogue.

“I grew up with that sense of community all of my life,” she said. “And that has been a theme all of my life and that’s what I have created at The Gathering Place.”

Robin Rosen-Sharpe of Temple Beth Shalom in Hudson, who is the area director of WRJ Central District for Northeastern Ohio, will present on awardwinning central district programs and co-lead Shabbat morning services.

TTTI Cantor Kathryn Wolfe Sebo will lead songs at services.