Our Time Together

Join our community of grandparents, family members and professionals by reading these stories and essays and submitting your own posts to: info@jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org

Click HERE for guidelines for posts on the Jewish Grandparents Network website.

Behind the Scenes at the Jewish Grandparents Network

In this personal interview, David Raphael, Co-founder and CEO of the Jewish Grandparents Network, and Ilene Vogelstein, President, reveal: The compelling reasons that the Jewish Grandparents Network was created. How the voices of many Jewish grandparents have been sidelined in Jewish institutional life — and...

Shavuot Discovery Kit

This interactive guide is designed especially for grandparents and grandchildren (ages 3–8) to use together — either in person or at a distance. The kit offers ideas and activities to bring Shavuot to life through play, imagination, and hands-on discovery. The 13 downloadable pages include:…

Bat Mitzvah’s 100th Birthday

How Jewish life has changed since the first Bat Mitzvah 100 years ago

The Blessing of Making Aliyah at Age 79

David Raphael Note: I wrote this essay in 2010 and it was published in The Forward   Two years ago, at age 79, my mother became an olah hadashah, a new immigrant to Israel. We moved her to live in the small apartment above my…

Passover Discovery Kit

This interactive guide is designed especially for grandparents and grandchildren (ages 3–8) to use together — either in person or at a distance. The kit offers ideas and activities to bring Passover to life through play, imagination, and hands-on discovery. The 14 downloadable pages include:…

B-Mitzvah Family Text Discussion Cards

18 text discussion cards prompt B-Mitzvah teens and their families to relate thought-provoking texts from the Jewish tradition to their own lives.

Get Cooking with Your B-Mitzvah-Age Grandchild

Listen to what’s on your B-Mitzvah grandchild’s mind as you cook together.

Purim Discovery Kit

This interactive guide is designed especially for grandparents and grandchildren (ages 3–8) to use together — either in person or at a distance. The kit offers ideas and activities to bring Purim to life through play, imagination, and hands-on discovery. The 13 downloadable pages include:…

Grandparents Are Now Part of a National B–Mitzvah Family Education Program

Moving Traditions B-Mitzvah curriculum weaves in grandparents as integral to the family experience.

Music, Movement, and Dance: Grandparents and Elders’ Roles in the B-Mitzvah Rite of Passage

Music, movement, and dance are core ingredients in transforming B-mitzvah into a vibrant celebration.