Family Programming

Interfaith Family Programming

BI Neighbourhoods - Congregation Beth Israel Vancouver

BI Neighbourhoods is a year-long program designed to engage young families who are new to Jewish traditions, including interfaith families and people who have recently converted. At each event, there is time for Jewish learning and education, suitable for all ages. BI also provides take-home baskets with Jewish-themed items to help families bring Judaism into their homes. Activity kit details | Kit photos

The BI Neighbourhoods program has been successful in reaching interfaith families, who don’t often take the initiative to connect with the Jewish community and synagogue life. The program connected those families to the rabbis, the synagogue, and to each other. The take-home kits strengthened the connection to Judaism.

BI seeks to ensure that its programs have a “low-cost barrier to entry” so that it is extremely easy for families to join in. There is a small suggested donation.

Activity Kits: BI creates holiday baskets and delivers them directly to participants' homes so they will learn about Jewish traditions and have items available in their homes for each holiday. By hand-delivering the boxes the congregation removed any barrier to entry of coming into the office to collect a box.

Advertising: The program was advertised through email, social media, posters in various Jewish buildings (synagogue, JCC), individual phone calls reaching out and in person connections. What seemed to work best? Emails, followed by an individual invitation (either via text or call). Seeing the event advertised either on email or social media, and then in the synagogue was also effective. For details on the kits see our Supplementary Program Kits page.

“We are continually identifying new families that we can reach out to and connect to our programs… We try to send families home with new knowledge of traditions that they can incorporate easily at home.”- Debra Bulmash, Beth Israel, Canada

Jewish Trails - Congregation Shma Koleinu

Congregation Shma Koleinu, in Houston, offered “Jewish Trails,” a monthly program, designed to empower interfaith/intercultural/low-non-practicing parents to raise Jewish children.

Sara Chen, program coordinator, said it's “geared towards families that feel on the outside of Judaism but don’t know how to begin to teach/celebrate the Jewish life cycle with their young children.”

Each session had an art project done by parents and children together. Here are some examples:

• “Shabbat Shiners” and Shabbat to go kit – Shabbat candleholders made with little flashlights
• Blessing Trail Markers
• DIY Hanukkiah at a local ceramic studio.

Marketing: The program was marketed on social media, YouTube, and flyers/mailings to local schools/preschools.

Program Materials: The NCEJ grant helped CSK provide arts and crafts supplies and for special programs such as a bookbinding class.

Family Jewish Program - The Jewish Enrichment Center of Chicago

The Jewish Enrichment Center of Chicago offers materials and support for families bringing Judaism into their homes, including interfaith families. JEC sends Jewish play kits and hosts weekly Circle Time for families with children ages 0-2 and 3-5 throughout the Chicagoland area and also across the country.

“The topics we chose throughout the year were wonderful entry points for families looking to bring Judaism into their homes.”

Activity Kits: The play kits are filled with developmentally appropriate play materials, craft projects, song sheets, and information for grown-ups about Jewish holidays and topics. The materials provide adults the content knowledge and confidence to play Jewishly with their children and bring Judaism into their families lives, regardless of their Judaic background. For example, the Fall 2020 series play kits offered family pretend play prompts for Rosh Hashanah, information on the origin of the Sukkot holiday, Chanukah candle lighting blessings, and more. The weekly online circle time included songs, stories, and play for the entire family, facilitated by an experienced early childhood educator. Activity kit details | Kit photos

Advertising: The Family Jewish program was advertised on the JEC website and Facebook page, and on the local Federation website, as well as via email campaigns. NCEJ grant funding was used to market to a wider community (including a hyper-local blog, several local newspapers, and a local online Jewish news site) which has resulted in new traffic to their website and a number of enrollments. The most successful advertising was word of mouth and the jBaby website.

Sara Grossman, Assistant Director, says “We’re excited to have gotten our advertisement in front of so many potential new families.”

“(The) program has been an overwhelming success... the craft projects, authentic Jewish materials, and information for parents... encourage Jewish play at home and offer basic Jewish knowledge to parents.”- Sara Grossman, Jewish Enrichment Center of Chicago

Jewish Holidays 101 – Celebrating Interfaith - Syracuse CommunTemple Beth El of Huntington, NY (2025)

Temple Beth El of Huntington, NY offered an educational 6 session program that informed, taught and created discussion around several well-known Jewish holidays and traditions. The program facilitated conversations for interfaith households and help families embrace celebrating Jewish holidays together. Each session was composed of learning about the holiday; its origins, meanings and traditions as well as discussion on how to respectfully integrate those traditions into an Interfaith household.

Participants noted that learning about the customs and rituals made it easier for them to practice the holidays at home, and they appreciated being able to talk in a nonjudgmental way about how to incorporate traditions in an interfaith household.

“This grant allowed us to run a different kind of program that was focused on Interfaith households... Congregants found the program engaging, helpful, insightful... It was interactive and everyone participated... Thank you for giving Temple Beth El the chance to grow and educate all who want to learn about Judaism.”- Lisa Tricomi, Temple Beth El of Huntington

Jew It Yourself - The Jewish Learning Lab & PJ Library Event Post

JIY: Jew-It-Yourself - The Jewish Learning Lab

JIY is a series of monthly classes about bringing Judaism into people’s homes. Geared specifically for young families who have had limited exposure to Jewish ideas, and with a particular focus on interfaith couples, the program worked on giving the participants tools to talk about Jewish values and integrate those ideas into Jewish practices set around the Jewish year.

Advertising: Publicity was done through PJ Library Montreal, word-of-mouth and social media. PJ Library’s marketing was good at targeting a broad number of families, but the best and longest lasting participants came because a friend told them about liking earlier sessions.

Family Jewish Holiday Collaboration - JEWISHcolorado | PJ Library

PJ Library/Jewish Colorado is offering a holiday family engagement program for families in a Denver neighborhood where there are relatively few Jewish institutions. The program is designed to provide an opportunity for PJ Library families to meet other families in the area and explore 4 Jewish holidays: Purim, Shavuot, Rosh Hoshanah, and Chanukah.

“We are meeting families where they are by gathering in neighborhood venues that are accessible and welcoming.”- Bethany Friedlander, PJ Library manager

Program materials: JEWISHcolorado plans on creating holiday celebration boxes, such as a Purim Mishloach Manot box, and a Shavuot flower craft and book.

Marketing: Marketing will be via Facebook, Instagram, email, text, and word of mouth.

Interfaith Family Outreach - JHUB | Jewish Federation of Cleveland

JHUB, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, is a central resource for interfaith families to connect to each other and to Jewish Cleveland through social gatherings, holiday experiences, and Jewish learning.

The first NCEJ grant supported marketing and advertising for programs designed for interfaith families including Family Jewish learning, Young Adult programming, and innovative Shabbat experiences. This enabled JHUB to reach out to a larger audience and increase participation in JHUB programs, with the goal of engaging more individuals and families in the Jewish community.

Activity Boxes: In 2021 JHUB received a grant to produce and market digital J-boxes, such as Shabbat boxes, that can be downloaded. The boxes contain blessings, activities, recipes, and related items.

Jewish& celebrates Family Day with a photo session. Photos courtesy of Ian Lawrence Photography

“Jewish&” – “Jewish Foundations”, course - Miles Nadal JCC, Toronto

‘Jewish&’ is the MNJCC’s programmatic umbrella for initiatives geared towards individuals, families and couples with interfaith and inter-cultural identities.

The program was for everyone: "Whether you identify as Jewish or not, have prior knowledge of Judaism or don’t, come explore the foundational topics of Jewish living, including Shabbat, the year cycle, lifecycle events, synagogue, and spirituality."

Advertising: The main marketing avenues were Facebook, Instagram, word of mouth, and promotion at other programs.

Since 2019 the Toronto JCC has received NCEJ grants for a series of holiday family programs for its “Jewish &” programming. The goal was to gather multi-faith and cross-cultural couples and families for Jewish exploration and education. The program was publicized via social media, newsletters, flyers, and word of mouth.

Jewish Federations of North America - (JFNA)

NCEJ gave out umbrella grants in 2018 and 2019 to (JFNA) for subgrants to federations located in small to medium-size cities. The programs ranged from family activities geared to PJ library participants (many of whom are intermarried) to discussion groups and holiday events for adults.

Program: "A Taste of Hebrew" & "Finding Your Place in B’nai Mitzvah" - The Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis

The Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis (JFGI) received a grant in 2018 to help fund two programs that were geared towards increasing Jewish learning and ritual involvement, especially among intermarried families. Both programs aimed to deepen parents’ commitment to raising Jewish children and strengthen their connection with the Jewish community. Each program was featured in JFGI Connections magazine resulting in strong community interest and registrations. Program descriptions can be found below:

A Taste of Hebrew was designed to teach Hebrew decoding skills to both Jews and non-Jews who cannot read Hebrew, with a focus on parents of children who are in the process of learning Hebrew. The class was intentionally designed only as a very basic introduction to Hebrew in order to make it easily accessible and open to everyone. Learn More | View Program Flyer

Finding Your Place in B’nai Mitzvah, aimed to create a place for non-Jewish parents to deepen their understanding of b’nai mitzvah and feel supported as their children went through this important life-cycle event. Special outreach to interfaith families who were currently synagogue members along with unaffiliated interfaith families who might have been seeking b’nai mitzvah outside the organized Jewish community was made to identify participants for this seminar. Learn More | View Program Flyer

Program: "Interfaith Family Engagement Project" - Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County, NY

This initiative offered monthly 2 hour conversations for parents (with children welcome) focused on building a Jewish home: Shabbat, holidays, and life-cycle events.

Program: "PJ Simchas" - The Jewish Federation of Raleigh-Cary, NC

The “PJ Simchas” program featured multiple experiences, including Shabbat dinners, holiday celebrations, and havdalah, held in both Jewish locations and in public / secular spaces. The goal was to build relationships and connections to Judaism through small group settings.

Family Fun at PJ Simchas Event, Raleigh-Cary, NC

Here are some tips from them for anyone else considering a similar outreach effort:

• Discussion groups offer an informal opportunity to talk about Jewish beliefs and values. The grant encouraged creative ways of reaching people who do not identify as Jewish and who previously had minimal interaction with the local Jewish community.
• Discussions with people who are intermarried and active in Jewish life shows participants they can find a home in Judaism.
• Concrete education accompanied by hands-on-activities helps interfaith families build Jewish homes that work for them.
• People are receptive to learning about Judaism in a small group setting. Many participants increased their engagement with communal life as a result of these initiatives, including becoming involved with synagogues, enrolling in Jewish preschools, and attending JCC holiday celebrations. They appreciated the opportunity to raise questions and have substantive conversations in a comfortable environment.