Our vision for Sisterhood+ is to be a community of learning, friendship, and spiritual growth.
Sisterhood+ is open for all members and friends of Temple Shir Shalom.
Sisterhood+ currently offers a book club, monthly Rosh Chodesh gatherings, and a variety of other events ranging from field trips, eating out together, and educational programs.
We are always open to ideas for events and looking for volunteers to help.
As our new leadership begins, much is in the works and will be announced as time goes on.
We are excited for this new chapter to begin and all that is to come.
Gracie Gibson & Raf Leathers
Co-Chairs
Janet Lerner
Treasurer
Our Sisterhood Trip to the Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg
By Ronnie Lovler
Our Sisterhood + field trip to the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 15, was a mind-boggling experience for all of us. We are all aware of the Holocaust, of course. A few of us may have family members or know people with relatives or friends who lost their lives in the Holocaust. We all do remember and feel the impact of the Holocaust, a reason I think so many of us jumped at the opportunity to visit the museum.
Our bus was nearly full, and when we reached the museum, we were divided into two groups for touring purposes. Our guide was the daughter-in-law of Holocaust survivors and other Jewish immigrants, and her personal connections added meaning to the tales she told. But the meaning was there anyway. I think we all had more questions but were so taken by what we heard and saw that it was hard to get the words out to request more detail.
Couple that with the fact that there was so much to get out and hear about in our two-hour visit, and we were absorbing so much that collectively we didn’t have the time or impetus for questions. Not that we didn’t want to know more. Most of us agree that a return trip to the Holocaust museum is in order, where we can go more slowly and linger before each display to read and absorb the information.
Standouts in this museum are the authentic Danish fishing boat, Thor, which saved many Jews during the Holocaust era. The 10-ton vessel was used in the 1943 rescue of 7,000 people. Also on display is Boxcar #113-069-5, which took so many Jews to their deaths in Auschwitz and Treblinka.
Something else that captured our collective attention was the interactive conversations that could be had with a Holocaust survivor through the work of the USC Shoah Foundation’s Dimensions in Testimony.℠ We got to hear from a 95-year-old man who died only a few weeks before we visited the museum. The Florida Holocaust Museum is one of just a dozen museums worldwide where this exhibit is o display.
Was the trip worth it for us? You bet. Speaking for myself, I was so enthralled that I forgot to take pictures. My only picture was a selfie with seatmate, Bev Giordano, as we were getting back on the bus. So a return visit is definitely in order.
