Older adults tend to have invaluable wisdom to share. Mara Kleiman, director of Jewish Life and Learning at Milwuakee Jewish Day School, is making sure her middle schoolers don’t miss out on it through a program called Better Together.
“I see such a gap between these generations,” Kleiman said. “But there’s also so much experience they have to offer our young students at this transformational time in their own lives.”
Better Together fosters connection among different Jewish generations through events that bring together a group of older adults and eighth-grade students. This is Kleiman’s second year running the program, which is funded through a grant for intergenerational programming from the national Jewish organization Legacy Heritage Fund.
“I learned a lot of new things after that first cohort, and an idea I had going into this second year was partnering with different organizations for each program,” she said. “It helps both our students and senior citizens get to know more about Jewish Milwaukee.”
Better Together has hosted several programs in the course of this school year.
The first was The Braid, a performance brought to MJDS through a partnership with The Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center. Kleiman described The Braid as “a storytelling performance by descendants of Holocaust survivors about their family stories.” The participants and the eighth-graders met before the show and engaged in discussion afterwards.
“I was very impressed with the performance and how the kids responded to it,” said Nadine Siegman, one of the older adults involved. “I think the smartest thing that [Kleiman] has done this year is joining with community leaders. The programming has been outstanding.”
Better Together’s second event, a partnership with Hannah’s Kitchen & Cafe, allowed the older adults and the kids to deepen their relationships as they split off into smaller groups. Each group was tasked with creating of a side dish for an Israeli meal.
“That event was really about food and Jewish memory,” Kleiman said.
One of the participants, Debi Alpert-Frolkis, called the event “an activity where your hands got dirty, and you were really able to joke around with the kids and teach them.”
She highlighted how cooking bonded the groups: “There was a camaraderie there, and then we all sat together and ate.”
Better Together’s latest event was a partnership with The Friendship Circle of Wisconsin.
Kleiman loves how the program brings people together. “Not only the senior citizens and eighth graders, but every organization we are partnering with,” she said.
She also noted that “half of the senior citizens decided to do it again,” returning from last year’s cohort. “They are really enjoying this experience.”
Alpert-Frolkis, a returning participant, agreed, saying the program was fun: “I learn from them, and I hope they learn from me. You just hope that the opportunity allows itself to get to know these kids. So that you’re no longer a stranger but become another adult in the community who cares about them.”
While Alpert-Frolkis considered the opportunities of the program “really unique,” she also said that “cross-generational connection is something we have always had represented in Judaism.”
“It’s also interesting because some of the kids are my adult children’s friends’ kids,” Alpert-Frolkis said. “So I saw my kids’ generation grow up, and now I’m seeing their kids grow up, and it’s kind of fun. You know, you remember when they were first born, and now they’re 12 and 13 and 14 years old. And it’s like, Wow, I remember when your mother was that age.”
According to Kleiman, the eighth graders of MJDS are “especially respectful, mature, and excited,” making the older adults feel wanted and listened to. Both Alpert-Frolkis and Siegman are repeats from last year’s cohort and expressed looking forward to each new event.
“They’re all so wonderful, and I’m excited for the next one,” Siegman said. “I’ve been lucky because all three times, I have the same two girls sitting with me, and I really like them, they’re sweethearts. When I was sitting alone, they chose to sit with me, and that made me so happy.”
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