It was the perfectly silly Zayde game. I covered Bina, my 18-month-old granddaughter, up with the blanket and she’d pretend to be asleep. I pulled the blanket back and she giggled and announced “awake”. We did this 10 or 11 times until it was time...
Shavuot is a major Jewish holiday celebrated forty-nine days after the second day of Passover. It was originally a harvest festival, but now also commemorates the giving of the Torah. Among Shavuot traditions is to gather with friends and family for a "Tikkun Leil Shavuot",...
Food and fun, kitchens, and dining room tables. When we grandparents cook with our children and grandchildren, we not only share our favorite foods. We share our values, our traditions, our stories, and most importantly, our love....
My maternal grandmother, Lena Krostar Gorbach, was the only grandparent I knew. She was born around 1880 in the Pale of Settlement to parents who had an arranged marriage, as was customary for Jews at that time. Her parents soon divorced; her mother came to...
When I was age eight my maternal grandfather Max, passed away. My grandmother Bessie, known as "Gram", moved into our two-bedroom apartment in a Bronx city housing authority building. She and my grandfather, immigrants from Romania and Russia, came to America in the early 1900's seeking...
1. Can you share a bit about your experience during the COVID-19 pandemic? As grandparents, my husband and I have tried to keep enthusiasm high, find new books and activities to share on Face Time, talk and listen, laugh at silly things, celebrate birthdays and Seders,...
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted every family, and every family differently. So too has it affected grandparents. Since the onset of the pandemic, the Jewish Grandparents Network has gathered significant anecdotal information about how the crisis has impacted intergenerational relationships and the roles that grandparents...
This bubbie has universal wisdom that could change your approach to everyday life. We invite you to watch this wonderful Eli Talk by Jane Shapiro. Discover a personal account of Jane's three Jewish values of Bubbiehood and their impact on family life: Tzimtzum (contraction): The overpowering...
On September 8 and 10, 2020, the Jewish Grandparents Network and the Blue Dove Foundation hosted a two-part series focusing on the emotional challenges grandparents, parents, and children are facing during the Covid19 pandemic and approaches to promoting emotional well-being and resilience. We are pleased...
When I was a child I had a plan in place “should anything happen to my mom and dad.” It was simple; I’d just go live with my Aunt Betty, my mom’s sister. Clueless as to what plans my folks might have made in that...
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