CT and MA Jewish Moms connect with Israel and Judaism…and one another

By Stacey Dresner 

SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND – Jewish mothers from both Greater Hartford and Western Massachusetts were among 350 women who visited Israel last month as part of on an eight-day trip organized by Momentum, a program that helps women connect to their Jewish values and to the State of Israel. The flagship Israel program is a joint partnership between Momentum and Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.

The trip’s itinerary ran the gamut from must-see sites in the Jewish state to lectures from several of the country’s influential figures. Trip highlights included: a visit to the Ethiopian Heritage Center, where they heard from l Israeli women such as Torah educator Rachelle Fraenkel, the mother of one of the three boys who were kidnapped and murdered by the Hamas terrorist group in 2014; a tour of the mystical city of Tzfat; dancing at the Western Wall; floating in the Dead Sea; and hiking up Masada. 

The Hartford cohort at the Kotel in Jerusalem: (l to r) Olga Kinchla, Danielle Wu, Pam McGuire, Michelle Meyer, Polina Melamud, JFGH Emerging Leadership Director Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Donna Boruchov, Leesa Wallace, and Jamie Jensen.

The women also met with Ukrainian and Russian alumni of Momentum who recounted the harrowing story of how they recently fled the war and made aliyah to the Jewish state.

Trip participants included women from across the United States, Canada, France, Spain, and South Africa. The women experienced Israel within the framework of Momentum’s four central goals: connecting to Jewish values, engaging with Israel, taking action, and fostering unity without uniformity.

Seven women made up the Hartford cohort — its third cohort — to participate in the Momentum program and its trip to Israel.

“The trip went far beyond seeing the sites of Israel,” said Olga Kinchla of Wallingford, Conn. In addition to seeing the sites, she said, “We were also able to strengthen our connections to Judaism and each other.”

The Hartford group’s trip was  facilitated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and heavily subsidized by former Federation Board chair Cary Lakenbach. Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Federation’s  Emerging Leadership director accompanied the group and serves as the cohort’s community leader.

The Western Massachusetts delegation – the community’s first group to participate in the Momentum program — was sponsored by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Western Mass.

Momentum cohort from Western Mass. at the opening night ceremony in Tel Aviv. (Front row, l to r) Jorie Epstein Mares, Rabbi Yafa Chase, Levanah Leiber, Elizabeth Roberts. (Back row, l to r) Mila Sherman, Dawn Cordeiro, Liza Feldman, Dawn Doucette-Kaplan, Robin Warner, Felecia Sloin, Jordana Willers, and Heather Diedre. (Aviram Valdman)

“I’m here to come home and to explore Israel and find further, deeper, spirituality, to heal a part of my soul and to foster relationships with eleven other moms,” said Heather Deirdre of Easthampton, Mass. on her first visit to Israel. “It’s an amazing opportunity to be in a place that is like no other.”

Momentum was established when Lori Palatnik, a Washington, D.C. mom, noticed that communities were struggling to connect women with Jewish values and Israel. Together with eight women from the D.C. area, she developed the concept of a subsidized trip to Israel for Jewish mothers as a transformative investment in the Jewish family.

“In many households, the mother sets the tone for how much a family will incorporate Jewish life and attachment to Israel into their homes,” said Palatnik, Momentum’s founding director. “In many ways, she is the figurehead and through her, we can begin to see generational change in terms of being more connected, inspired, and engaged with one’s heritage and connection to Israel.”

Formerly the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, Momentum has seen tremendous success in its mission to inspire women to not only discover but become enchanted with Israel. To date, the organization has reached 20,000 women from 34 countries and works with 300 partner organizations, such as Jewish Federations, JCC’s and local communities.

According to their annual report, within three months after their trip, approximately 91 percent of participants agree that Momentum enabled them to bring more meaning to their Jewish practice; 83 percent report feeling extremely connected to Israel and 52 percent talk about Israel with their family on a weekly basis.  

“It was truly life changing for these women,” said Rabbi Yafa Chase, director of Western Massachusetts programs at the Hartford Grinspoon Foundation and facilitator of the Western Mass cohort. “Of the 12 women, 11 had never been to Israel. These were all women who really yearned to have this experience in Israel. And Momentum really did a phenomenal job in organizing a trip that really helped us feel a deep connection to Israel, to Judaism and to each other.

“What’s amazing about the program is that it’s not only this incredible, immersive experience in Israel, but it’s also a year of learning together. We will be meeting once a month as a group to continue learning. Each woman will pick a topic that she really wants to research and then she will facilitate a session on whatever that topic is, whether its Shabbat, or Kabbalah or a holiday, or Judaism and the environment,” Chase added.

Led by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, the Hartford cohort will also spend the next year “reinforcing the practices, traditions, and lessons we learned over the course of the week in Israel.”

“We are lucky to have many Jewish resources at our disposal in the Greater Hartford area,” Lenkiewicz added. “Implementing the practices and customs in our daily and weekly lives is one exciting step towards a life-long engagement journey.”