I’m very excited to announce that our new parenting website Kveller.com is now live.
The idea for a Jewish parenting website was first dreamed up by MyJewishLearning in 2007, so it’s quite gratifying to finally see it come to fruition. The website is meant to be a resource and community for parents of Jewish children age 0-5 (that is, from pre-conception to preschool). Instead of trying to tell you about Kveller, I’ll let the website speak for itself.
There is no one way to parent Jewishly, and we are not about to change that. Whether you grew up observing Shabbat every Friday night, or had your first taste of matzo ball soup when you married into a Jewish family, the ways you can incorporate Judaism and Jewish culture into your parenting style are diverse. Kveller is here to give you ideas for your children’s early years–ideas for first-time parents, interfaith parents, queer parents, adoptive parents, and everything in between–with the hopes that you can find information and inspiration that is right for your family.
Kveller also wants you to know that you’re not alone. There are parents all over the country raising Jewish kids who confront similar questions and quandaries. Kveller is here to connect you to each other through our discussion forums, blog, and local event listings.
I would be remiss, of course, if I didn’t thank UJA-Federation of NY, which provided seed funding for Kveller. They’ve been incredible partners in this project.
And also a special shout out to Sam Apple who came up with the name Kveller.com — just as we were giving up hope of ever finding a great name for the site. You can show your love for Sam by buying his book American Parent.
To get you started with Kveller, here are some links to some of my favorites (so far):
– The homepage, of course
– Former Daily Show and Tonight Show writer Rob Kutner discusses why Stephen Colbert would be a good Jewish father
– Blossom’s Mayim Bialik talks about the myth of “having it all”
– Search for baby names on our Jewish baby name bank
– Discover Kveller’s favorite Jewish kiddie music
– David Shneer tells us about being a gay dad in a family with three parents
Also check out the special pages we have set up to connect parents in Brownstone Brooklyn and Downtown Manhattan with local events and each other. We hope to expand to other cities and neighborhoods eventually.
And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook.
Shabbat
Pronounced: shuh-BAHT or shah-BAHT, Origin: Hebrew, the Sabbath, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
