'Bold Visions': Jewish Family Service outlines new services at annual meeting By William Sweet WEST SPRINGFIELD - Launching a new package of services geared at deepening and strengthening Jewish life in the Pioneer Valley, Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts announced plans to develop a Center for Jewish Life Enrichment on the Grinspoon Jewish Community Campus in Longmeadow. "I've never been so excited in my life," said JFS Executive Director Robert Marmor at the agency's annual meeting on Nov. 11. The bulk of the annual meeting, held at West Springfield's Majestic Theater, was devoted to announcing details concerning the agency's Bold New Visions campaign, a five-pronged outreach effort launched to meet the concerns and needs of the region's Jewish population. "This will be a dramatic leap forward for the JFS," said JFS board president Martin Broder. The campaign represents a returning to roots for the organization, which was formed 93 years ago to aid recent Jewish immigrants to the area. The agency's mission has blossomed considerably over the years, and now includes substantial services for non-Jewish populations as well. In particular, the group is noted for its AdoptionLink program, which placed 11 children with families this year, as well as its New American program, which helps refugees and other immigrants become citizens and adjust to life in the area. JFS was recently cited by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society as the largest Jewish resettlement agency handling the immigration of non-Jews. "It's something I firmly believe in," said Marmor. "We've touched hundreds of lives." However, in the face of increasing intermarriage and an increasingly diverse and unaffiliated Jewish population, the agency concluded that it needs to return to its roots. "While it has always been our mission to assist all individuals and families, the time has come to put the 'J' back into Jewish Family Service," said Rosalind Torrey, Director of Jewish Life Enrichment for JFS. While JFS originally helped provide for basic needs of a newly-immigrated and indigent Jewish population, most Jews have very different needs today, officials said. "As the community shrinks, Jews are still looking for connections," Marmor said. "In order to remain relevant, we have to create a new service approach." "For instance, interfaith programming -it's not happening now," he said. Bold Visions represents a restructuring of JFS's system, with the intent of making it more user-friendly, need-based, and family-friendly, he said. The agency plans to vacate a 6,000 square-foot office it rents in Springfield, but will keep open its smaller Forest Park office. A study committee spent the previous year evaluating all existing communal space in the Jewish community, particularly the Jewish Community Center at the Longmeadow campus. They concluded that existing sites weren't viable, and that the project requires new construction at the campus, Marmor said. The new center would house new programs aimed at Jewish life enrichment such as workshops and lecture, while still providing current offerings such as counseling. JFS is still early in the process, with no date set for the new building construction, Marmor said. JFS wasn't giving up any figures yet on how much this is all expected to cost, and how it will pay for it. JFS now has a budget in excess of $2 million. "We are working closely with the JCC and Temple Sinai on a collaborative effort and partnership to locate the JFS Center for Jewish Life Enrichment on the Grinspoon Jewish Community Campus. JFS is planning a responsible, thoughtful initiative that is not bound to a specific timeline, Marmor said. He said there aren't plans to cut any of the current services to make room for this considerable expansion. "All the JFS's current programs will continue," he said subsequent to the Nov. 11 announcement. "They remain spheres of excellence and our basic core competencies." He added that, while space is being vacated in Springfield for the new Center, JFS plans to keep its three-year-old Northampton office open. "We have every intention of keeping the Northampton office," he said. "Like all programs, it depends on continued funding and support of the community." The center would address five areas. Under "Family Connections," the agency plans to sponsor programming and resources for parents and children. Under a segment being called "Outstretched Arms," JFS is planning programming to serve interfaith and other diverse families. "There are a lot of families who feel they might not fit" into the Jewish community, Marmor said. Officials noted that these families' particular needs aren't being served, and their participation could greatly benefit Jewish life as a whole in the region. A third program area would address "Health and Wellness," offerings to "strengthen the Jewish mind, body, and spirit." A fourth area would involve serving disabled Jews and their needs. A fifth program, "Jewish Linkages," would serve to strengthen Jewish institutions in the region. "Bold Visions enhances the lives of Jewish individuals and families without focusing on times of crisis exclusively, which may be how people have historically thought of JFS," Torrey said. This fall the agency piloted a few new programs such as a new Jewish Parent Support Group, and one-time workshops for parents such as "Stretched Too Thin" and "Mom, Can I Have a Cell Phone For Hanukkah?" An excellent example of this programming in action is the new "Bond with your Baby" program in Hampshire County, said Torrey. "On Wednesday mornings you will find new parents engaged in discussion and song at LGA-Schechter...Felicia Sloin not only teaches songs and melodies, but she also educates parents on how to incorporate Jewish practice into daily living," she said. "For many in the group this is not only their first experience as parents, but it is their first exploration of the Jewish community and what it may have to offer them as a family," she said. "The feedback from the community has been overwhelmingly positive," Torrey added. Marmor noted that JFS is up to the task of fulfilling this bold plan. Its staff of 35 is "the most dedicated, qualified, and tireless group of individuals," he said.