What You Can Do
If you want more information, know of a Jewish child in need of a home, need help in raising a child with disabilities of any kind, are looking to adopt, or are able to assist our organization financially, please call, e-mail or write us!
For those of your with qualms about adoption:
Everything I needed to know about adoption, I learned from marriage (or, Take my mother-in-law...please!)
Long ago we figured out that the best response was "Does s/he love you, even though s/he's not genetically related to you?" Turned out that most spouses were perfectly comfortable with that (also, fortunately, it turned out that most husbands and wives weren't genetically related!). In that case, we added, why couldn't one also love a child who was not genetically related?!
While the inability to produce a genetic offspring, to maintain the family gene pool, is a painful experience, it is important to separate the child-producing experience from the child-raising experience. These are really two separate events, and if we can derive the pleasure of the first, why deny ourselves the pleasures (and challenges) of the second?
After a while of working with this analogy, it really seemed to us that adoption was like marriage in lots of other ways, too:
- You can love someone you are not related to genetically.
- You need to start with a commitment for "forever" There is no guarantee that things will always work out, but you have to start with that commitment.
- Love doesn't conquer everything, but it helps ( you may need support, counseling, etc, too)
- The process may require some adjustment - just as in a marriage, you may have to get used the quirks of another person, so too in adoption
- Age may not be very important, certainly is not the most important aspect of the relationship
- The marriage is more important than the wedding; likewise, parenting the child is more important than how you got him/her (that is, adoption is also a great experience, and usually requires fewer stitches)
- The relationship of biological and adoptive families is really like that of in-laws. By adopting someone else's child, you now become part of their extended family.
- Marriage totally changes your life in ways you can't begin to understand until you've been there; so, too, does adoption.
If you would like to help a Jewish child experience his or her Jewish heritage in a warm, loving home, or if you know anyone else who might; if you know of a Jewish child in need of a home; if you need help in raising a Jewish child with disabilities of any kind; or if you are able to assist our organization financially, we would very much like to hear from you.
If you would like to donate to us, you can mail a check or donate to us through Networkforgood at nfggive.org or use Zelle.