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As some people prepare their costumes and get their candy appetite ready today for Halloween, others still will not be celebrating this day of spookiness. Like Matthue Roth, who fills us in on what’s it like to be a hasidic Jew in Brooklyn on Halloween in the comic below. Enjoy!
(Click to enlarge the comic.)
Looking for a fun way to add some Israeli flair into your kids’ lives? If you’re in the New York area, head over to Brooklyn and check out Keshetot, an innovative music, story, art, and movement program for infants and toddlers. It’s run by Israeli teachers and conducted exclusively in Hebrew, making it a great way for both you and your little ones to learn a little Hebrew and more about the Israeli culture. The program is for both non-Hebrew and Hebrew-speaking families, and is funded in part by the UJA Federation of New York.
Interested? Check out this video to get an exclusive look at what happens at Keshetot:
Keshetot meets at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The fall semester, which consists of 10 sessions every other Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 12 p.m., begins on September 23rd and runs through January 13, 2013. The price is $300 for families with one child and $350 for families with more than one child.
For registration and more details please contact: sarberman@cbebk.org, 718-768-3814 ext 245.
My parents (like many, many Jewish parents before them) are partial to telling me that things happen for a reason (or more accurately, that just about everything is bashert). So it was no surprise that following the heartache of finding a house we liked, signing what we thought was a binding contract and then discovering that the sellers hadn’t actually signed and instead went with another deal, my parents comforted me by saying that this house wasn’t meant to be, and that our bashert house was just waiting for us to find it. Read the rest of this entry →
There’s some exciting news coming out of Brooklyn: Congregation Beth Elohim, a landmark synagogue in Park Slope, has been named a finalist in the American Express Partners in Preservation Program. As finalists, they have a chance to win up to $250,000 to restore their beautiful stained glass windows in the main sanctuary.
As the only Jewish institution named as a finalist, we’re definitely pulling for them. To win, they need your votes, and here’s how you can help:
- Vote for CBE daily at http://pipvoting.nationaltrust.org/detail/10
- “Like” them on Facebook and share the link so others can do the same
- Encourage your family, friends and neighbors to vote for CBE
- Join them for CBE Connects, an Open House event on Sunday, May 6 from 2 to 5 p.m.
And to thank you for voting in person at CBE or tagging the CBE Facebook page in your status update, they’re raffling off a year’s free membership at CBE and an iPad. So vote early, and vote often!
When you run a Jewish parenting website, you hear about all sorts of great parenting resources. And of course you want to share the wealth. This is one of those times.
There’s an organization called the Jewish Childcare Association that’s running a series of programs on adoption here in New York. Their adoption program, Ametz, provides guidance throughout the adoption process, including support groups, information sessions, and all sorts of other resources.
And there are two upcoming sessions in Brooklyn that you shouldn’t miss, even if you’re just starting to think about the concept of adoption. The first is on April 17 and focuses on raising adopted kids in Jewish families–including the issues, concerns, and decisions that parents face. It’s appropriate for those who are considering adoption, pursuing adoption, or who have already adopted. They’ll give tips and tricks on how to create family traditions that celebrate adoption and the identities of adopted kids and parents. Read the rest of this entry →
Ross Martin might be the busiest person I’ve ever met. In addition to heading up MTV Scratch–the network’s creative team aimed at the new millenial generation–he’s also a blogger, an indie poet, and, infamously, one of Amy Sohn’s top Park Slope DILFs. Here, he tells us about being a professional trendsetter but a nerdy dad, how he introduced the world to Matisyahu, and how his staff forces him to be Sabbath-observant.
How do you balance being the cool parent and, well, the voice of responsibility?
Uh, our kids wouldn’t even name me the coolest parent in our family. I try to convince them I’m cool all the time, but it’s just not happening. To them, I’m a “voice of responsibility,” as you put it, who tries really hard to be funny and thinks he’s thinner, less bald, and a better athlete than he actually is.
Do you ever want to keep your kids away from any of the stuff you discover–Jersey Shore, for instance? Read the rest of this entry →
The scene at Keshetot one Sunday morning.
Last year I wrote a post about Israelis in Brooklyn, this amazing organization started by a local Israeli momma who wanted her kids to have a greater connection to their Israeli roots. She banded together with friends, neighbors, and community leaders to create programming to help create that sense of community and belonging here in Brooklyn. Read the rest of this entry →
The playspace at the amazing Kings Bay Y @ Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn.
In case you hadn’t picked up on it from all the Brooklyn-based blog posts I write, I live in Brooklyn, NY. In some ways, my neighborhood feels like the capital of kid-related things. But until this past fall, we were missing one thing–a community center.
Enter the Kings Bay Y at Windsor Terrace. This place is kind of awesome. They have a beautiful, new drop-in playspace for 0-6 year olds (separated by age, of course) complete with a rock wall for the older kids and a jungle gym for younger ones. And they also run a free Tot Shabbat every Saturday morning, postnatal Mommy & Me fitness classes, and even Spanish music classes. The Y is a really family-oriented organization, and has been adding classes based on the needs and desires of the local community. Check out their website for the latest offerings.
And if you want to hear even more, this Monday, January 16, is an open house designed to answer questions and allow families to check out the space. If your kids are summer-camp age, you should definitely make a point of stopping by to hear more, as they’ll be talking a lot about their summer camp program.
Will we see you there?
Leiby Kletzky
When I woke up this morning, there were a number of angry emails on my local parent listserv in Brooklyn. People were complaining that they had been woken up the day before by an “Orthodox Jewish organization” calling too early, waking up their kids.
As it turns out, those were volunteers trying to help locate an 8-year-old Hasidic boy named Leiby Kletzky, who disappeared on Monday after convincing his parents to let him walk home by himself from camp. They waited outside, but he never arrived.
The boy went missing and then the worst possible news was announced this morning. The boy had been abducted and brutally murdered. I’ll spare you the details because they’re too heinous to digest. And while it’s the kind of thing that would have always horrified me, as a parent, I’m horrified by it on a whole new level.
Of course, parents on my local listserv apologized once they realized why the phone had been ringing. And, it was amazing to watch the way the Orthodox Jewish community responded. Hundreds of volunteers mobilized to look for the boy, arriving by the busload from all pockets of the city. Phone calls were made. Within hours, $100,000 was raised as a reward for information leading to an arrest.
In the end, none of it could help. The boy was dead. A man was found and arrested.
It’s a cliche to say that this is every parent’s nightmare. But it is. So, let’s take a moment to think about Leiby. And his family.
I live in one of the most family friendly neighborhoods in New York City. So domestic that one website blamed it for the semi-recent breakup of Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal (MOT!) because they just weren’t ready for the pregnancy/baby/dog-loving vibe.
So I’m used to seeing playgroups, music classes, baby swim lessons, baby yoga, mommy yoga, mommy and baby yoga, toddler yoga…anything that you can dream up for a child, it exists here in Park Slope. And I hear about all of it on what some call the Brooklyn Mafia, the Park Slope Parents listserv. But I hadn’t seen this yet. Starting on Sunday, January 23, there’s a Mommy & Me class for Russian-speaking Jewish parents called TotTussovka. Personally, I’ve always been really intrigued by Russian Jewry. My great-grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Russia in the early 1900’s, and I grew up in the era of campaigns to support Soviet Jewry. The band Safam wrote a song called Leaving Mother Russia and I used to blast this anthem (on tape) in my room. (Yes, I am a Jewish dork. If you, unlike me, were less dorky in the 80’s, you can find everything you need to know about the Soviet Jewry movement in Gal Beckerman’s book, When They Come For Us We’ll Be Gone).
Though I’m not really into borscht. Strange, I know.
Anyway, the point is, I’m totally excited about these classes. It seems that there’s a huge Russian Jewish population here in brownstone Brooklyn, and they want their kids to have a high-quality program focused on arts and culture. TotTussovka is sponsored by the Jewish Community House of Brooklyn and the UJA-Federation of New York.
Here’s what they have to say about it: “Instill a love for Russian language and Jewish traditions in your child through interactive play in a fun and imaginative environment. Each sixty minute program is led by a bilingual musician/educator who sings and plays an instrument. You and your child will love our Russian sing along, storytelling time, imaginative play, language activities, dancing, and games.”
They had an event a couple of months ago with a famous Russian artist named Zhenya Plechkina, and they plan to do additional holiday programs throughout the spring. They want you to pre-register, because space is limited.
I kind of really wish I spoke Russian.
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Kvell, verb `k'vell
To burst with pride, as over one's child
Kveller, noun `k'vell-er
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