I am so grateful for Debra Rubin’s Religion News Service article about In Shifra’s Arms. It’s being picked up by the Washington Post, Huffpo and others. Isn’t my baby Raviv adorable? *Gush*. Anyways…
I want to fill in some details for those who are interested in learning more about us.
First of all, we are multi-denominational and non-political organization. I happen to attend an modern Orthodox synagogue, but we have volunteers from diverse backgrounds and I am always recruiting people from diverse backgrounds to volunteer and of course we will all respect clients whatever their background. I want pro-choicers, pro-lifers, Reform, Orthodox, Conservative, unaffiliated who see the value of our organization to participate and they do. I don’t ask people their affiliation and for a litmus test. In terms of the Helpline Counselors, everyone knows that we are here to listen and to offer help for continuing pregnancies, giving birth and moving forward even under very, very challenging circumstances. We’re not here to lecture and we let women make up their own minds. I can’t imagine how we could operate any other way, honestly.
Secondly, we are not in the business of telling people whether abortion is permissible or not in a specific case according to Jewish law. Different denominations, different rabbis differ on this, and we’re not pretending to speak for them. We’re here to offer help no matter circumstances are. We of course encourage women to seek additional support from their doctors and rabbis as needed for things beyond our scope.
Thirdly, we are actively looking to expand!
We have built a database of resources for women facing crisis pregnancy which can easily be replicated in other cities. Our database isn’t just of organizational resources- it’s people who are willing to help and volunteer their time and abilities. We have a mediator for couples who are struggling with a new baby, we have some who can help with budgeting and mentor single parents and on and on. Really, every Jewish community should have this. And once we are fully effectively doing this for the broad Jewish community, we should make sure to actively offer help to people outside the Jewish community.
We have some awesome interns this summer who will be helping us recruit more volunteers/ donated goods as well as distribute our literature…. can’t wait for their start date!
