Series helps non-Jewish moms raise Jewish kids

By Jewish Review

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This fall, Portland will join the roll of communities offering a Jewish Outreach Institute program geared to help the some 200,000 non-Jewish mothers nationally who within the context of skyrocketing Jewish intermarriage have agreed to raise their children Jewish.

Since 2002, JOI has sponsored a program called “The Mothers Circle” to provide these women with free education and support in raising a family in an unfamiliar faith. The program, which began in Atlanta and launched nationally in 2005, has expanded to more than 30 communities.

Lois Shenker, a renowned local Jewish educator, author of “Welcome to the Family! Opening Doors to the Jewish Experience” and a personal life coach, will be the program’s Portland facilitator.

The Mothers Circle program is funded locally by an Innovation Impact Grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, sponsored and coordinated by Congregation Neveh Shalom and co-sponsored by Congregations Beth Israel and Shaarie Torah, the Mittleman Jewish Community Center, the Oregon Board of Rabbis and the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation.

Caron Blau Rothstein, who moved to Portland last year with her husband Ari and three sons, introduced the program to Portland. Rothstein, no relation to Neveh Shalom Executive Director Fred Rothstein, joined Neveh Shalom as its program coordinator in January.

She said she first saw the benefits of the Mother’s Circle while working as a Jewish communal professional in Baltimore for 12 years. When she was teaching Jewish childbirth classes for the Center for Jewish Education, she said she often “passed” families to her colleagues at the Jewish community center who had brought the Mothers Circle to Baltimore.

Here, Rothstein will serve as the program’s coordinator.

In Portland, the program will be held at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center, which Rothstein said has a “lower threshold” and might feel more comfortable for non-Jewish moms seeking support in raising their children as Jews.

“Courses like this help support raising Jewish children,” said Rothstein. “It provides the tools and support that mothers need. Often the Jewish spouse might not be as able to provide this guidance.”

The program has a number of components. “Mothers Circle: The Course” is an eight-month, bi-weekly educational course. Family events are offered throughout the year, and a rabbi is on call to answer questions one-on-one.

The Mothers Circle also offers a national e-mail discussion listserve for all mothers of other religious backgrounds raising Jewish children, even if they live in communities where the course is not yet available. The listserve provides a supportive online community of peers from across the country to share their experiences, thoughts and questions once they sign up at www.TheMothersCircle.org.

The Mothers Circle Course will run its first session from November 2008-June 2009 on the first and third Sundays of each month from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the MJCC. Tuition and childcare are free, and no prior Jewish knowledge is required.

The Mothers Circle creates comfortable spaces for women to learn about Judaism, explore Jewish holidays and rituals, discover how to enrich their families’ Jewish experience, and deepen their connection to the religion of their husbands and children—and to do so with peers.

There will be a sample Mothers Circle session on preparing for the High Holidays on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. at Congregation Neveh Shalom. There will also be two information sessions at the MJCC for prospective participants, Sunday, Oct. 5 at 9:30 a.m. and Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m.

For more information on the program or to attend these sessions, contact Mothers Circle program coordinator Caron Blau Rothstein at 503-246-8831 or Portland@TheMothersCircle.org.