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Sherrill Berman
Sunday,
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Aug. 25, 2013
12:30 400 pm,
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New parents can bond through
Federation's jbabydetroit!
•
Vivian Henoch
Q4N 11,
Special to the Jewish News
D. Dan & Betty
an
Building Eugene &Marcia Appletaun-S,C
6600\N. Maple Road, \NB 48322
i"nn
447
?,144,1,
Avrivi,
- SHOFAR FACTORY
- PETTING ZOO
- INSCRIBE YOUR HEBREW
NAME WITH A SCRIBE
- CREATE A
SHOFAR STAND
- BEE KEEPER
- EXOTIC SHOFAR DISPLAY
- FACE PAINT
- CHALLAH COVER
WEAVING
- TOUR OF ISRAEL AT
SHALOM STREET
- MOON BOUNCES
- POPCORN
- BBQ FOOD AVAILABLE
FOR PURCHASE
- WOODEN CANDLESTICK
PAINTING
- MOSAIC DESIGN YOUR
NEW/OLD SHOFAR
• •
• • • •
• • • • •
• • • •
• • • •
• • `to •
•
;
Attractions
are all free.
Make your own Shofar -
just $10.
Make your own Tzitzi'
just $10 ,4
Event is free but please reserve at
••
•• • •
4••••••
•
.
www.baischabad.com/shofar
or contact Rabbi Shneur Silberberg at 248.207.5513
or rabbishneur@baischabad.com
SPONSOR
3.
:P3:13
THE ' CTER
EN
WWW.jCC I e org
20 August 15 • 2013
Help For New Families
Shal m S t reet
••
G
irl or boy? What's the Jewish
ritual for naming my baby?
Who do we call for a mohel?
Will we ever sleep through the night
again? Where did the day go?
New parenthood. It will blow your
mind and make you believe in miracles.
It will bring you to your knees and bring
you to tears. It will make you laugh and
kvell at the littlest things. And no matter
how smart you are, no matter how much
you've read, no matter how your own
parents advise, your baby will continue
to mystify and challenge you — for life.
For beginning parents and parents-to-
be, the concept for the Jewish Federation
of Metro Detroit's new program
jbabydetroit! is simple: Fill the need for
new moms and dads to connect to the
community; then feed their hunger to
share their experiences and to learn from
one another.
An initiative of Federation's Alliance
for Jewish Education and NEXTGen
Detroit, and brought to the community
through a grant from the Hermelin
Davidson Jewish Family Education
Fund, jbabydetroit! is conceived as a
means to reach out and bring together
families at a pivotal time for making
social connections that include Judaism
in their everyday lives.
In Transition
Moving back to Detroit after a long
hiatus through her college years and
first years of marriage, Shari Graham
describes how she yearned for the
"heimish (down-to-Earth) feel" of her
hometown.
"New York was a great place to start a
career, but not the kind of place where
we wanted to start our family" she says.
Shari was 34 years old and pregnant
when she and her husband, Heyden,
moved back to Farmington Hills to be
closer to family.
"I found that even though I grew up
here, the transition was hard" she says.
"We were no longer part of the singles
group going out every Friday night, and
we wererit those married couples spend-
ing afternoons in baby swim classes.
A program like jbabydetroit! offers the
bridge between life stages, helping new
families to find organized groups, run by
professionals, and all the better by plug-
ging us into the Jewish community"
detroit!
jbabydetroit! offers young families
entree into the Jewish community.
A Jewish Spin On Parenting
"For some, jbabydetroit! is a first step
into the Detroit Jewish community:'
says Julie Yaker, director of the program.
"Our purpose is to provide the time
and place for community engagement,
as well as the opportunities online
for new moms and dads to find one
another and to discover and explore
together what our community has
to offer in new and existing classes
and resources available in our Jewish
congregations, preschools and Jewish
Community Centers"
Another new family in the commu-
nity, Ariella and Dani Shaffren, moved
to Southfield from New Jersey when
their son Koby was 1 year old. Happy to
see the startup of jbabydetroit! in both
real time and virtual space, Ariella says,
"I think the online component of the
program fills a much-needed niche and
creates opportunities for new moms and
new dads to find and share resources,
to form a camaraderie and to help each
other through life events"
Starting with a Facebook page and
website (www.jewishdetroit.org/jbaby/)
for social networking, jbabydetroit! is
still expanding its class schedule. Times
and locations will be announced soon.
For parents-to-be, jbabydetroit! starts
with a six-week prenatal birthing class
that covers the essentials from birth-
ing techniques to CPR and newborn
care. For parents of newborns to age
2, jbabydetroit! will roll out a host of
activities in partnership with community
congregations and the JCC working with
a growing list of healthcare professionals
and other enterprises in the baby busi-
ness. Classes will begin in October. ❑
Vivian Henoch writes for myJewishDetroit.
org, where this story first appeared.