Columbia Jewish Congregation went a while without having a director of its youth-focused programming. It also lacked a Tot Shabbat program. Recently, though, all that has changed with the introduction of the synagogue’s new Menschkins program for families with children aged 6 and under — and the introduction of the new director of youth and family engagement who took on the position this summer, Stacey Freedman.
Freedman brings with her 30 years of experience creating programs for children as a former teacher and children’s librarian. Outside of her CJC-related work, she serves as the children’s instruction and research supervisor at the Howard County Library System.
While she is a lifelong Maryland resident, having grown up in Randallstown, Freedman wasn’t a member of a synagogue until her daughter entered first grade.
“I didn’t know any synagogues in Howard County,” she admitted. “But a friend of mine who I worked with had mentioned CJC, and we liked what we saw, so we ended up joining.”
Before she became the director of youth and family engagement, Freedman served on the CJC board. She played a key role in introducing one of her passions to the synagogue: mahjong, a tile-based game that originated in China.
It’s an activity that she also brought to the Miller Branch Library. The two mahjong programs have a surprising amount of overlap, as Freedman promotes CJC’s mahjong offerings at the library.
“Most of the places [in the area] where you can go to play mahjong are 50+ centers, but you have to be over 50 to actually do activities there, and most of them are only during the day,” she explained. “The library and CJC are two of the only places where not only is everyone allowed regardless of age, but they also host mahjong games during the evening and night.”
She added that the first few mahjong sessions at CJC drew in “huge crowds,” and that it was clearly in demand.
As part of the CJC board, Freedman helped plan a few different holiday programs aimed at children for Purim and Passover. But CJC’s member base skews older, so there have been more concerted efforts made to bring in younger families with children. CJC’s Rabbi Michael Hess Webber and executive director Robin Rosenfeld asked Freedman if she would volunteer under the former director of youth and family engagement, and she gladly accepted.
But that director’s appointment only lasted a year, so Freedman was promoted. Together with the others, she helped to create the Menschkins program, which serves as CJC’s main program for families with young children. Once a month, they meet for themed activities, including arts and crafts, story time, a sing-along and a family dinner.
“We considered putting in Tot Shabbat, but I was like, ‘Everyone calls their youth program that. We should come up with something else,’” Freedman explained. “Our board president came up with ‘Menschkins,’ and we all thought that was cute.”
Not all of these programs have the same structure. Freedman described one session where the families participated in a sticker rally, earning stickers in a premade passport for every activity they completed that they could later turn in for a prize.
There’s a surprising amount of crossover between Freedman’s responsibilities at the Howard County Library System and at CJC. In addition to creating children’s programs, she also curates the selection of books available at the synagogue.
“I was wearing my librarian hat going into CJC. The first thing I did was look at their bookcase of PJ Library and other kids’ books, and I said ‘we need to fix this,’ because they were all thrown together,” Freedman recalled. “I organized them so we can actually find what we’re looking for … We’ve also been trying to bring more diverse titles to our collection, especially in children’s picture books.”
In her new role, Freedman hopes to bring more families with children into the fold at CJC.
“One thing I really love about CJC is the welcoming feeling it has,” she said. “I don’t recall services being a lot of fun growing up, but [Rabbi Webber and Cantor Steve Hummel] are a lot of fun, and watching them up on the bimah together playing off each other feels very welcoming.”
