Have you had or adopted a baby in the last six months? Are you expecting soon, or do you know someone who is?

Let us welcome your baby to the Metrowest Jewish community with a visit and a gift!

Welcome Baby! has welcomed 156 new babies to our community already! Welcome Baby! visits new parents with babies aged newborn to 6 months and gives them a complimentary gift basket filled with high-quality baby gifts. Welcome Baby! connects new parents to resources, family activities, and new friends. If you have a new baby or know someone who does, and would like to connect, sign up here!

добро пожаловать! 

Engaging Metrowest Russian Jewish Families in Jewish Community Life

A grant from the Genesis Fund is enabling us to reach out to Russian Jewish families throughout Metrowest. By developing collaborative relationships, we are identifying and connecting with members of this large and vibrant community through engaging programming and activities. 

As part of this program, JFN is also doing special "Privet Malish" visits -- Welcome Baby! visits with gift baskets and resources tailored for Russian Jewish families. 

If you are interested in learning more about our programs or "Privet Malish," or if you know someone who is, please contact our Russian community connector, Luba Olshan, for more information.   

Play Dates and Get-Togethers

with Our JFN Connectors!

North Area (Connector: Amy Kohen)  

Monthly Drop-In Playgroup in Acton 

Thursday, April 19 

9-11 a.m.  

Free! 

Central Area (Connector: Nissa Weiss ) 

Late-Afternoon Playgroup 

Mondays, April 2, 16, and 30 

3:30-5 p.m.

Free!

For anyone whose kids need a little playtime in the afternoon, please come join us! JFN mom Jen Lerman runs this drop-in playgroup. A perfect chance for you to meet other parents and for kids to have new friends to socialize with!

Special thanks to Jen for suggesting this idea and for volunteering her time to put it into motion! 

475 Franklin St., Framingham

Playtime Meet-Ups

Every Tuesday morning, April 3, 10, and 24        

9:30-11:30 a.m.  

Free! 

Please join Nissa for this weekly drop-in playgroup. Perfect for kids up to 4 years, and for moms, dads, and caregivers of all ages! A light snack will be provided for the kids.   

Please note that there will be no Playtime Meet-Up on April 17, during school vacation week. 

JFS Children's Room 

475 Franklin St., Framingham 

Shalom, Shabbat!

Thursdays, April 12 and 26     

4:30-5:30 p.m.

Free! 

Welcome Shabbat with music, laughter, and friends of all ages! With a little bit of Hebrew and a whole lot of fun, Nissa will lead singalongs and playtime in a warm, inviting setting.  

We are happy to celebrate our early Shabbat at Temple Beth Am for the duration of the spring. 

For more information about any of these Central-area activities, please contact Julie Wolf. 

South Area (Connector: Heidi Anderson)

There's no shortage of music and noise coming from Miriam Bolkosky's house, but it's not always her two-and-a-half-year-old sons, Samuel and Ethan, who are responsible for it. Miriam and her husband, Ben Wright, are both professional musicians. Miriam is a cellist who has performed with the Boston Pops and the National Lyric Opera, among others, as well as a soloist on numerous classical and popular recordings; Ben plays trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Miriam shares how important her family was in her development as a musician, and how fortunate she feels to be able to find the balance between the work she loves and her family.

What was your path to becoming a professional musician? This is something that so many people dream of doing, but so few accomplish. 

The opportunity comes from daily discipline -- and when you're just starting an instrument, that discipline comes from your parents! A colleague of my father's at Hobart [and William Smith Colleges in Upstate New York] made string instruments as a hobby, and when I was born he gave my parents a viola, thinking one day I might play it. Four years later the Suzuki Method hit the U.S. from Japan, and it was suggested that might be a good way for me to start. My dad put a dowel in the end of the viola, and that was my first cello. My first teacher, Laura Sias, is still teaching at the age of 89 in Royal Oak, Mich.

You have two young boys at home now. How do you balance your work and motherhood? Is travel required for your work, or are you mostly local?

Before the kids, I did travel a lot. I toured many times with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and also played in the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio, so I was back and forth to the Midwest every month. I am a member of the Phoenix Ensemble in Ann Arbor, so I do travel there once or twice a year for their chamber music festival. So far, the boys have loved coming to that.

In 1999, you performed on the album Holocaust Cantata. How did you come to perform on this project? As a Jew, what was it like for you? Did you approach this music differently from the way you approach other music you perform?

This was an incredible project. I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to play and record it. My dad is a Holocaust historian; he is very respected in the field and was involved in the development of some of the exhibits at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. He created the Voice/Vision Archive at UM-Dearborn. I was living in D.C. at the time the composer/conductor was looking for a cellist to perform the piece at the Kennedy Center. He heard my name, associated it with my dad, and called me.

You live in Natick now, but have spent much of your career living in bigger cities like Boston and Chicago. How did you choose it and what is your connection to the Jewish community here?

I grew up in suburban Detroit, so I'm pretty comfortable being in proximity, but not directly in, an urban area. It's very difficult for musicians to practice in apartments or condos, so we needed a house where we could make noise at all hours. We love our location since it reminds us of being at Tanglewood. We relocate there during the summer and live in Stockbridge -- and that feels like living "in town"! Our children now attend the JCC preschool in Wayland, and we love the community.

Your children must experience a lot of music firsthand at home. Do you play "kids' music" for them? What do you think exposure to music at a young age does for children?

I could write a dissertation on the effect of music exposure on very young children. My youngest cello students have been about 3, and they absorb everything like sponges. Since my husband is a trumpet player, our guys are exposed to classical music every day. They are on the lawn at Tanglewood listening to rehearsals and concerts all summer. We take them to concerts here but have found they're not very interested in "children's" music. They enjoy identifying every instrument they hear, even on the radio. We try to add a heaping dose of The Beatles, Paul Simon, and Rogers and Hammerstein. I'm sure they'll be exposed to more popular stuff soon enough.

Did you ever hit any roadblocks on your way to becoming a professional musician? If your children decide to follow in your footsteps, how will you help them navigate the challenges along the way?

Of course there is a list of unsuccessful auditions behind me, but I've been very lucky that everywhere I've lived I've managed to do work I love. I've always loved the freelance life; my husband loves playing in the BSO. It's tough for two musicians to be married and each find career satisfaction in the same city. I hope my kids will play. Being part of an incredible concert is so amazing, and I do hope they'll each get to experience that. Right now they're content with "Bravo Mama!," "Bravo Dada!"

Tot Shabbat

Shabbat Singalong with Suzanne Weisman at Congregation Or Atid

The popular children's musician leads preschoolers in song and shares stories that celebrate Shabbat.

For more information about this Tot Shabbat or to get the schedule for the rest of the year, please contact Julie Wolf. 

Jewish Family Network is a collaboration of Jewish Family Service of Metrowest and the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston with generous support from the Metrowest Jewish Community Fund, Clare and Richard Lesser and Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Interfaith families, single parents, people with disabilities, and GLBT families are welcome.