Global conference for Jewish women
Two Melbourne Jewish mothers will participate in the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP) Leadership conference this month in Maryland, USA.
TWO Melbourne Jewish mothers will participate in the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP) Leadership conference this month in Maryland, USA.
Lana Block and Rochelle Rothfield will be among more than 300 women from around the world coming together over three days to hone their leadership skills and -create a global Jewish women’s movement.
The annual conference was launched in 2013 with 65 participants from the United States, Canada and Mexico. This year’s event, jointly presented by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, is expected to be the biggest yet, drawing participants from countries including Cuba, Greece, Israel, Russia, Spain and South Africa.
Amont the high calibre attendees will be Lihi Lapid, a noted Israeli author and women’s rights advocate, and Rachel Frenkel, the mother of Naftali Frenkel, whose kidnapping and murder along with two other boys by Palestinian terrorists sparked Israel’s 2014 military operation in Gaza.
The JWRP was founded in 2008 with the mission of empowering women to change the world through Jewish values. Its major project is Momentum, a highly subsidised nine-day trip to Israel. So far it has seen more than 8000 women take part – including Block and Rothfield.
“I went on the trip and I came home totally inspired; it really had a profound effect on me,” said Rothfield, a mother of two who runs a legal recruitment business.
She subsequently became involved in Jewish Women’s Awakening (JWA), the local subsidiary of JWRP established by Debby Garfunkel and Wendy Faraday in 2014.
Block, who runs the Young Achiever’s Program at Jewish Care and is a mother of three, was similarly enthused by the Israel trip.
“We were incredibly inspired and wanted other mothers to have the opportunity to experience this fantastic spiritual experience and bring it back to their families,” Block told The AJN.
Both women are hopeful that they will be able to enhance JWA through their participation in the conference.
“There are so many issues that are pertinent to Melbourne, and Australia generally, that relate to the program and the follow-up that we really want to raise with the parent organisation,” said Rothfield.
“I hope to learn about other local cities and what they’re doing -successfully and what hasn’t been so successful in their experience. And then bring the ideas and the wisdom home for us in Melbourne.”
The sentiment was echoed by Block, who said, “We look forward to bringing back ideas, suggestions, and implementing what we learnt not only in JWA but in our professional and personal lives too.”
For more information, email jwa.melbourne@gmail.com
PHOEBE ROTH
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