 |
III. Grassroots Jewish Communities
 Sometimes
people don't feel that existing institutions are right
for them, so they come together with friends and acquaintances
to create a place that fits their lives, ideas, and philosophies
more closely. Other times, a leader sees the need to create
a place for "the people" to come together to have their
voices heard and create a sense of community and belonging.
These then grows into a grassroots alternative to the
establishment.
Such is the case with the Mosaic
Multi-Racial Jewish Family Camp in San Francisco.
Appealing directly to multiracial Jewish families, the
Mosaic Camp has targeted an often-overlooked need as the
Jewish community has become more multicultural due to
interracial marriages, adoptions, and conversions. The
Mosaic Camp places special emphasis on the cycle of outreach
stage focusing on reaching out to new people. Recognizing
that the Jewish community can be unwelcoming to newcomers,
the camp also concentrates on providing a smooth transition
into the mainstream community for multiracial families.
The East Coast has a longer-standing grassroots community
devoted to welcoming multiracial families into Judaism.
The Jewish
Multiracial Network, operating in Boston, New
York, and Washington, DC, places particular emphasis on
the "providing services" stage of outreach. The Jewish
Multiracial Network tailors its varied programming to
the unique needs of multiracial families that have often
been overlooked by the community.
Another grassroots organization, the Danforth Jewish
Circle, has created an alternative community specifically
for unaffiliated and intermarried Jews in a non-Jewish
neighborhood of Toronto. Like the Jewish Multiracial Network,
the Danforth Jewish Circle has assembled a series of program
initiatives that speaks to the grassroots community it
represents. One stage in the outreach sequence that the
Danforth Jewish Circle concentrates on is the development
of community support. Such support isn't limited to financial
sustenance but encompasses a wide range of organizational
assistance that creates bridges between a grassroots community
and the larger Jewish world.
In Rockville, Maryland, the
Center for Inclusiveness in Jewish Life also provides
a bridge for the unaffiliated to enter the larger Jewish
world, fulfilling the crucial stage in the cycle of outreach
of making the transition into the community.
In Colorado, the Greater Denver/Boulder Outreach Roundtable
concentrates on grassroots organizing among unaffiliated
and intermarried Jews. The Outreach Roundtable generates
localized groups centered on topics as diverse as a Women's
Career Support Group and a Children of Holocaust Survivors
Group. With its emphasis on organizing, the Outreach Roundtable
stresses the importance of reaching out and making contact.
And by catering its programming to the specific needs
of the communities it assists, the Outreach Roundtable
has met with great success in the outreach step of providing
services.
Two rabbis in Portland, Oregon-who also happen to be a
married couple-run an innovative organization called Gesher
(meaning "bridge," as in a bridge to the Jewish community).
Their program Rekindling the Flame brings unaffiliated
Jews to their home for welcoming Shabbat dinners. Recent
JOI/JCP research found that more than 98% of program attendees
felt welcomed and 67% indicated that the experience translated
into greater interest in celebrating Jewish home life.
The program is now being studied nationally for replication
in other cities.
Mosaic
Multi-Racial Jewish Family Camp
San Francisco, CA
Sponsoring Agency: Camp Tawonga
"Mosaic" is a beautiful collection of different colored
pieces. "Mosaic" pertains to Moses, a Hebrew child, raised
by Egyptians, who married a non-Jewish woman of color
and became the leader of his people. "Mosaic" is a weekend
at Camp Tawonga-the trans-denominational resident summer
camp of the San Francisco Bay Jewish community-designed
specifically for multi-racial and multi-cultural families.
The Mosaic Weekend will help these families connect with
one another in supportive ways, provide a warm and welcoming
place in the organized Jewish community, and raise the
awareness and sensitivity of mainstream Jews and Jewish
institutions to the special challenges and issues facing
participating families. Virtually nothing is currently
available to these families at present and there is no
network or means of communication. Much of the project's
efforts will be the process of identifying, finding and
recruiting families to join us.
"Participants at Mosaic Family Camp explore and
celebrate the cultural richness inherent in a multi-racial
family. They create and enjoy an atmosphere of inclusiveness
within the Jewish community. They join discussions or
just relax and enjoy while taking advantage of everything
Tawonga has to offer: swimming, hiking, singing, Shabbat
study and freylach, great food, campfires, family talent
shows and much more. Whether you are part of a multi-racial
or multi-cultural family or see one in your future, all
are welcome." -- Ken
K.
Jewish
Multiracial Network
New York, NY
Sponsoring Agency: Camp Isabella Freedman
The Jewish Multiracial Network brings Jewish multiracial
families and individuals together to learn about and celebrate
their Judaism. It creates opportunities for a large and
growing part of the Jewish community that often feels
alienated to experience Jewish society and traditions,
and become part of a developing national Jewish multiracial
network. JMN is committed to the democratic values of
diversity and community and seeks to help its members
strengthen and promote positive, relevant Jewish identities.
Programs include an educational conference in NYC, a weekend
retreat at Camp Isabella Freedman in CT, and a series
of local events in Boston, Washington, DC, New York, and
other cities.
 "The
most moving thing at the multiracial retreat was the stories
of the Gen X-er's: young adults who grew up in interracial
Jewish families. These people were so impressive-all
with strong, confident personalities tempered by struggle
and ultimately triumphant. They told of their challenges,
growing up and currently, to claim their Jewish identity
in the face of subtle or not-so-subtle rejection, from
both the Jewish community and their other ethnic communities.
They spoke of the isolation of always being different,
being 'the only one' in religious school, camp or synagogue.
Of constantly being asked 'Are you Jewish?' Of growing
up with nobody to talk to about all this.
 "At
the retreat, we overheard a table filled with elementary
school kids asking each other, 'Are you Jewish? Are you?
How about you?' I'm sure that for some, it was a delightful
shock to discover that, for the first time in their lives,
everybody at the table was both dark-skinned and Jewish.
Just like them. That's what makes it so wonderful and
life-changing for the families who come. Helping our kids
grow up strong, secure, clear about who they are, and
feeling good about themselves is our most important life
goal. But it can't be done in isolation. They need to
belong to a warm community that nurtures these qualities.
"My hope for my own children is that they will grow up
in a world where, increasingly, they won't have to feel
the sting of being 'the only one,' and they will never
have to struggle alone. That they will rejoice and find
strength in all their identities-Jewish, African-American
and European-American-and never have to choose between
being black and being Jewish."
-- Tom S.
Danforth
Jewish Circle
Toronto, CANADA
Sponsoring Agency: Bloor JCC
The Bloor JCC - Danforth Jewish Circle Connection is an
initiative to reach out to Jewish people and their families
living in the east end of Toronto who are either intermarried
or unaffiliated with other Jewish institutions. The program
has three main objectives: to make Judaism meaningful
and accessible through a wide variety of social, cultural
and religious programs that faithfully reflect the community's
needs; to offer children weekly classes in Jewish studies
that are engaging, enriching and educational; to strengthen
the leadership and organizational foundation of the DJC
in order to ensure its long-term commitment to the community
which it serves.
"As a child, being part of a Jewish community was something
I took for granted. As an adult, I had to seek one out.
The Danforth Jewish Circle offers a wonderful sense
of community, of belonging, to adults and children alike.
It reflects my need to honour Jewish traditions while
embracing current truths: many in our group are intermarried,
but deeply committed to nurturing Jewish life. The DJC
is where my spiritual and social needs intersect."
-- Emil S.
Center
for Inclusiveness in Jewish Life
Rockville, MD
Sponsoring Agency: Am Kolel Judaic Resource Center
 The
Center for Inclusiveness in Jewish Life (CIJL) develops
methodologies to link the wide variety of previously unaffiliated,
intermarried and disconnected Jews to the broader network
of the Jewish community. People who feel alienated from
Judaism for any reason know they can turn to the CIJL
for support and effective problem solving.
"A CIJL Workshop for families and couples during the
winter holidays included questions, information, and good
food, along with a genuine atmosphere of acceptance and
storytelling. There was one story I found especially heartening.
The youngest married couple in the group told of their
first shared holiday season, he being Jewish and she having
been brought up Catholic. He talked about his distant
relationship to Christmas trees and his desire to keep
it that way, until he came to understand how significant
the tree had been to his wife and her family. While she
had not asked for a tree, he knew that to bring a Christmas
tree into their home would be a gift of the heart, so
he did.
 "She
also wanted to find a gift of the heart for her new husband
and went to a Jewish bookstore for the first time seeking
ideas for Chanukah. After an overwhelming sense of the
unfamiliar, she retreated and phoned her mother in law,
but eventually did leave the store with a cookbook and
menorah. Behind these gifts was a desire to step into
the other's former life and find new ways to bring 'what
used to be' into 'what will become.'
"They also said that one of the reasons they had sought
out a place such as the CIJL Workshop was to continue
their commitment to each other and the family they will
one day have, and needing (beyond themselves) a place
to ask hard questions and find support. The workshop
had provided an experience that was a stepping stone for
them as an intermarried couple."
--Sharon N.
 Greater
Denver/Boulder Outreach Roundtable
Denver, CO
Sponsoring Agency:
Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado
The Outreach Roundtable is a grassroots, community-organizing
program which empowers intermarried and unaffiliated Jews
to engage in Jewish life. This project creates intimate,
chavurah-type groups based on common interests and life
cycle situations. The groups support members to nurture
and develop their Jewish interests and to create welcoming
opportunities for entering and participating in Jewish
life.
"Being involved in the MOM'S GROUP gave me the incentive
and courage, after wanting to join a temple for the 8
years since we've been in Boulder, to finally do so. It's
also been terrific because it's given me a chance
to meet other women in interfaith relationships and
talk about family issues we have in common." -- Andrea
G.
 "When
you're in an interfaith marriage its not easy to pull
a Seder or holiday celebration together all by yourself.
I don't know all the recipes and the rituals. That's what
I love about the INTERFAITH FAMILY GROUP. We share holidays
together, everyone brings a little something, some people
know a lot more about the traditions, and I'm learning!"
-- Marion D.
"What really made a difference for me was how warm
and personal the connection was. I had been feeling
isolated and met the outreach coordinator at the Jewish
Festival and was so touched to receive a phone call soon
afterwards. I haven't been a part of the Jewish community
before. It's been so nice to have a place to go to get
to know other Jewish women and share our lives." --
Sharon B.
"It can be hard to meet people when you're single at
this age. You feel islolated, especially around the holidays.
It's hard to go into a synagogue when you don't know anyone.
The 40's & 50's SINGLES GROUP has been a comfortable
place to get together with other people, have dinner,
go Israeli dancing. I feel like I have a social network
now." -- Jeannie
B.
 Rekindling
the Flame
Portland, OR
Sponsoring Agency: Gesher
Project Rekindling the Flame is the quintessential program
of Gesher, a home-based organization devoted to outreach
founded by Rabbi Laurie Rutenberg and Rabbi Gary Schoenberg
in 1990. Rekindling the Flame is a comprehensive outreach
project that welcomes disconnected and unaffiliated Jews
and engages them in a relationship with Jewish living
and learning, with the goal of leading into informal connections
and formal affiliations with Jewish life and the Jewish
community. Over 11 years, Gesher has welcomed more than
seven thousand different individuals to its Shabbat and
Holiday dinner programs. Gesher brings in Jews who have
had their positive Jewish memories erased, as well as
"Jews on the move" who have not connected with the Jewish
community, and shares with them the warmth and connection
of Jewish life. Gesher imparts to them a deep sense of
belonging to the Jewish people. Each experience at Gesher
fosters the understanding that the home is sacred, that
we are part of the larger Jewish community, and that we
are heirs to one of the world's great traditions of spiritual
wisdom.
 Gesher's
program has received national attention for its ability
to reach large numbers of unaffiliated Jews, imparting
the greatest sense of welcome, inspiring the most change
in home celebration of Jewish life, and impacting connections
with the Jewish community. Gesher's success stories include
disconnected Jews who have crossed the bridge into the
life of the Portland Jewish community to become members
of synagogues and the local Jewish Community Center, and
parents who send their children to day schools. Gesher
alumni have become chairs of Super Sunday campaigns, president
of a community day school board, president of a synagogue,
and board members of every agency of the Jewish Federation
of Portland. These accomplishments are particularly noteworthy
as the preponderant majority of Oregon's disconnected
Jews are third- to fifth-generation Americans.
 JCP
support of Gesher has spurred Gesher on to further growth.
With the support of a grant from the Covenant Foundation,
Gesher is currently developing replication materials that
will seek to make Project Rekindling the Flame a possibility
in every sizable Jewish community in the country. Gesher
is a recipient of a grant from STAR (Synagogue Transformation
and Renewal), working with two Portland synagogues to
re-infuse Jewish home-life into the core of synagogue
community. Gesher's newest project entails exploring the
creation of a program with Portland Public Schools and
a local university that will allow public high school
students to take humanities courses integrated with Judaic
studies for credit during the regular school day.
|
