How to Nurture the Jewish Identity of Interfaith Grandchildren
The Grandparents Circle comes to the Greater Palm Beaches
February 1, 2011 – It’s no secret that intermarriage rates in the North American Jewish community are higher than ever before. When an interfaith couple has children, the grandparents often feel unsure of how they can cultivate the religious identities of their grandchildren, especially when it is not always clear as to how the children will be raised. The Jewish Outreach Institute (JOI) has created a program called the Grandparents Circle that offers Jewish grandparents the skills and techniques to nurture, and in some cases establish, their interfaith grandchildren’s Jewish identity. The program, which was piloted in Los Angeles, is rapidly expanding to new communities across the country, and this fall the Grandparents’ Circle lands here, in the Greater Palm Beaches at various locations.
“I’m excited to be able to bring the Grandparents Circle to my community,” said Amy Bergman, Director of Jewish Family Life at the Friedman Commission for Jewish Education. “Grandparents can have such a strong influence on the religious identity of their grandchildren, even from a long distance, and this course will help them share Judaism with their grandchildren in an engaging and interesting way.”
The Grandparents Circle program, funded by The Fine Foundation, has a number of components. The Grandparents Circle Course is a 5-session educational course that meets either weekly or biweekly. Family-friendly events for grandparents and their grandchildren often held during or close to Jewish holidays or school breaks supplement the course.
The Grandparents Circle also offers a national email discussion listserve for all grandparents, including those who have not yet taken the course or live in a city where it is not offered. The listserve provides a supportive online community of peers from across the country to share their experiences, thoughts, and questions.
Jewish Outreach Institute program officer Marley Weiner, who is National Coordinator of the Grandparents Circle, explains that “the Grandparents’ Circle provides a safe, open-minded environment where people can share their achievements, express their concerns, and acknowledge their challenges. It serves the Jewish community’s needs by empowering grandparents who might be questioning their role in regard to their grandchildren who are being raised in interfaith homes. But more importantly, it gives grandparents the tools to help ensure that their family’s Jewish identity is carried on for another generation.”
The program is free of charge and open to all grandparents whose grandchildren are being raised in intermarried homes.
The Jewish Outreach Institute (JOI)—is an independent, national, trans-denominational organization reaching out to unengaged and intermarried Jewish families, and helping the organized Jewish community better welcome them in. JOI conducts research, runs programs, and serves as a national training institution and network for outreach professionals, guiding and supporting innovative outreach in communities throughout North America.
For more information, contact:
Amy Bergman, Director of Jewish Family Life at the Friedman Commission for Jewish Education 561-209-2608 or a.bergman@cjepb.org
Grandparents Circle National Coordinator Marley Weiner at (212) 760-1440 or MWeiner@joi.org