The Jewish community lost an important leader this month. And while some people in the Philadelphia community may have known about Len Wasserman and his work, others may not have been so fortunate to have been touched by his unflagging desire to reach out and welcome in intermarried families. Unlike so many others who get involved in such work, Len’s adult children were not intermarried. He simply saw the logic and the moral imperative in creating a context, particularly in the synagogue community, to make interfaith families feel at home. So he started what became Interfaithways and when he couldn’t find funding to support this important endeavor, he funded it himself.

I met Len years ago—our first meeting was at the Philadelphia train station. He wanted to meet me, to learn more about JOI and our work with intermarried families. Over the years, he attended our conferences and we had many conversations. Sometimes, he and I disagreed about which approaches were most effective. But we never disagreed on goals or motivations. He will be sorely missed, but his imprint will be felt for many years to come.

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Through the help and hard work of our excellent partner institutions, we at the Jewish Outreach Institute have brought Grandparents Circles to 49 communities across North America. Over 800 grandparents like you have completed the course and now feel empowered to nurture the Jewish identities of their grandchildren in a respectful, yet meaningful way. Today, you can find circles in Greensboro, NC, Philadelphia, PA, Miami, FL and beyond!

Nevertheless, we know that some of you may not have access to Grandparents Circle courses. There may not be a class in your neighborhood, or you may prefer to explore these sensitive topics on your own. For this reason, we have created two new Grandparents Circle programs that will help you learn the strategies offered by the Grandparents Circle course in order to share your Judaism with your grandchildren. For example, you can now explore the Grandparents Circle recommendations and techniques through a an introspective new reading guide, Grandparenting Your Interfaith Grandkids, to accompany Twenty Things for Grandparents of Interfaith Grandchildren to Do (And Not Do) to Nurture Jewish Identity in Their Children by Rabbi Kerry Olitzky and Paul Golin. By signing up and working with this self-guide, you will emerge with an action plan and sense of optimism in sharing your Jewish identity with your grandchildren.

For those of you who would prefer to grapple with these topics through conversation and engagement, you now have the option to host a Grandparents Circle style get together yourself! If you know fellow grandparents who may benefit from the program, sign up to start a Grandparents Circle Discussion Salon. You can discuss techniques offered in the book, Twenty Things for Grandparents of Interfaith Grandchildren to Do…together in a casual setting; it is a great evening for book clubs, Sisterhood and Brotherhood meetings, or any other casual get-togethers. In fact, it can be a reason to have a get-together in the first place!

If you are interested in either of the two new programs, just sign up on our “Join the Grandparents Circle” page here