Life is always full of change, but having your nuclear family disrupted is startling and emotionally wrenching. We all plan our lives, but no one plans to get separated, divorced or lose a spouse. But these things happen. Join together with others in the community who are looking to feel less isolated as they reconstitute the idea of family. This group is meant to be a place for WRT members to find community and offer support to one another. It is open to anyone at any stage of the divorce or separation process, and/or those single parenting, and attracts a diverse age-range of participants.
As part of our gatherings, we will work together to understand Jewish traditions and teachings, re-interpreting them and including them as part of our new lives. We'll will work to make WRT a more inclusive community so that those who are not part of traditional family structures feel more welcome. Mostly, we will gather together to share meals, conversation, resources and friendship. Child care provided.
Grandparents' Circle: 
Share stories with other WRT grandparents whose adult children have intermarried. Facilitated by WRT member and experienced chaplain, Naomi Safian, (who also happens to be a grandmother of children growing up interfaith homes), this group will provide a safe place to speak openly about the challenges of being a grandparent in interfaith families. While a reality of contemporary life is the intermingling and mutual embrace of all people--a value we hold dear--expressing one’s unique love of Jewish tradition once an adult child has intermarried requires nuance, patience, and a great deal of care. How, then, can we transmit a heritage we value and cherish to our grandchildren growing up in interfaith homes? How can we safely share our own family’s traditions as well as our people’s history without offending or creating conflict? Let us come together, to probe these sensitive issues and experience the support of community and the affirmation of fellow travelers along the journey. To be held at WRT on selected evenings.
Grandparents Circle is a program of the Jewish Outreach Institute and funded by UJA-Federation.
WRT Bereavement Group:
Our prayerbook tells us the daily duties whose worth is beyond measure. One of these important tasks is to accompany the dead for burial. But who accompanies the living as we strive to make meaning out of our loss and to repair the brokenness we feel in our hearts? Join us for the words of our tradition and the stories of our lives. May the memory of our dear ones be a blessing.
Contact the Temple's Main Office for additional information on all of these programs, 914-723-7727.
The clergy team at WRT is please to partner with members of the community in our work to bring support, comfort and healing to our congregants:
Jane Slevin, LMFT, received her masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Iona College. She is a member of the Partners in Caring team and the Coordinator of the Family Caregiver Network (FCN) at Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS). Both programs are funded by UJA Federation of New York and provides free services such as support groups, individual counseling and resource referrals.
Naomi Gross Safian, certified Jewish Chaplain, received her accreditation from the National Association of Jewish Chaplains. Prior to her work with
The Grandparent Circle, Naomi was a tutor of B’nei Mitzvah at WRT. Among her many roles in the Jewish community, Naomi served as Cantor at Temple Beth Am, Yorktown Heights, and Congregation B’nai Yisrael, Armonk, and was the Jewish Chaplain at Calvary Hospital, Bronx, NY.
