PCJL

The Jewish Women's Resource Center

Dedicated to the blessed memory of Miriam Masha Dexter

The Jewish Women’s Resource Center aims to connect and support Jewish Women at the University of Pennsylvania. Our goal is provide women with the resource that will help them to learn how to integrate Jewish values and traditions into their pursuit of a career. The Center will foster a bond among female Jewish students, faculty, and alumni at Penn through conferences, workshops, and mentorships, as well as networking sessions via events designed to introduce participants to female business and communal leaders and role models across the country.

PCJL Board of Directors Member, Boris Kalandar initiated this project as a means to connect the thousands of Jewish Women from across the country that converge each semester on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Mr. Kalandar envisions The Jewish Women’s Resource Center as a place where Jewish women become empowered academically and spiritually as they make career choices and connect with their Jewish heritage.

He is dedicating the center to the blessed memory of his daughter, Miriam Masha Dexter, z”l. Be the one who makes a difference and gives life to this Center dedicated to Penn’s Jewish women. Contribute to establishing the PCJL: Jewish Women’s Resource Center.

The Jewish Women’s Resource Center aims to connect and support Jewish Women at the University of Pennsylvania and the local Jewish community. Our goal is to provide women with the resources to learn how to integrate Jewish values and traditions into their lives as well as their pursuit of a career. The Center will inspire and empower Jewish women, explore the Jewish view of womanhood and spirituality, help them to make both professional and personal connections among their peers and the community, tackle challenges and issues facing women and offer tactics to overcome the obstacles, and empower women to be leaders. The Center will foster a bond among female Jewish students, faculty, and alumni through conferences, a lecture series, social events, and mentorships, as well as networking sessions via events designed to introduce participants to female business leaders and role models across the country.

The library in the Jewish Women’s Resource Center will offer students a variety of reading materials including publications by famous female authors. The library will serve as a relaxing environment for students to study and hold group meetings for class. Monthly book club meetings will be held and review both establish and up and coming Jewish female authors.

The library will also offer computers with access to all relevant websites, data-bases, and electronic information for research purposes. The library will keep students informed of new publications, websites, and academic happenings that are relevant to their needs.

Scholars-In-Residence

The Jewish Women’s Resource Center will bring notable female Jewish speakers to the University of Pennsylvania. Speakers will include faculty members and prominent female scholars who will talk on a variety of topics. The guest speakers should appeal to a wide cross section of the university population.

Possible scholars-in-residence for the coming year include:

• Susan Handelman
  Professor of English at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. A native of Chicago, she is the author of two books on Jewish thought and a translator of the Rebbe's book On the Essence of Chassidus.
  
  
• Dr. Miriam Grossman, MD
  Author of Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness Endangers Every Student, which draws on her 10 years' experience as a staff psychiatrist at UCLA Student Psychological Services. She is a Senior Fellow at the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, a non-profit organization that strives to advance America's women.

• Bronya Shaffer
  Noted lecturer on Jewish Women's issues, she brings her listeners a refreshingly modern view grounded firmly in Torah values. Her broad scope of knowledge enables her to present a Torah perspective on modern life in a uniquely sensitive and sensible fashion, appealing to diverse audiences both observant and non-affiliated.
  
  
• Shimona Tzukernik
  Founder and director of OMEK, a center devoted to in-depth transformational learning for women. She is also a course-writer for the Jewish Learning Institute.

Women’s Programming

The Jewish Women’s Resource Center will offer a wide variety of programming with a female focus. This programming will aim to empower women in their personal, religious, community, and professional lives. Monthly Rosh Chodesh get-togethers will allow women to discuss all aspects of being a female Jew. Students will learn about their heritage, history, and their important role in Judaism.

Programming will include:

• Conferences
• Social Gatherings
• Cocktail hours
• Wine tastings
• Spa day
• Cooking Classes
• Shabbat
• Passover
• Purim
• Hanukkah
• Women’s Health
• Discussions in conjunction with Healthy Living
• Israeli Dancing
• Breast Cancer Walk

• Jewish Food from All Corners of the World
• Art Workshops with professional artists
• Art therapy workshop, Painting the Soul Canvas: Jewish Meditation and Painting with Neria Cohen
• Jewelry Making
• Pottery
• Volunteer Opportunities
• Group Dinners/Lunches
• Study Sessions
• The role of women in the bible
• The pivotal role of women in Judaism

Women’s Shabbat

• Cooking the Shabbat Meal

Female students may join the women of Chabad to learn how to prepare a traditional Shabbat meal.

Service And Dinner

The Jewish Women’s Resource Center will hold women’s only Friday night Shabbat services and dinner once each semester. The service will be led by women, for women. Discussions will focus on women’s role in the bible and throughout Judaism. This event will provide a unique opportunity for women in the Penn Jewish community to get to know each other and bond in a special environment. Women’s Shabbat promises to be full of fun, singing, dancing, and learning!

Women’s Mentoring

The Center will hold special women’s mentoring events. The events will pair female professionals with female students about to begin their careers. This will allow students to ask any and all questions and to find out what it’s like to be female and Jewish in today’s work world. The mentors will serve as an excellent example to female students and will demonstrate that you can maintain your Jewish identity throughout your career and become incredibly successful. In an often male dominated business world, this will be an invaluable opportunity for female students to really connect with female professionals and perhaps find internship and job opportunities.

• Marjorie Kellner
• University of Pennsylvania alum, founding principle of Harvest Management
• Marlene Post
• Past National and International President of Hadassah, chairperson of Birthright Israel North America
• Zoya Raynes Friedman
• Drexel Alum, member of JP Morgan Capital Introduction Team, philanthropist
• Restaurateur, Stand-up comedian

• Amy Erlbaum
• Philanthropist, bachelors and masters degrees in
  education with certification in special education, as
  well as a certificate in special needs Jewish education
• Reina Marin
• Penn Alum, Philanthropist
• Jenny Preis
• Penn Alum, JHP alum, VP Morgan Stanley Real Estate