Author Connects Women Feb. 11
By Anne Koppel Conway
November 1, 2006

Meredith Jacobs, author of "The Modern Jewish Mom's Guide to Shabbat," will be the keynote speaker for this year's "Learn It to Live It" Connections, to be held at the Portland Hilton, Feb. 11.

The annual event, a celebration of and for Jewish women, is a no-minimum donation fundraiser for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, said Dana Sacks, Connections co-chair along with Nicole Elovitz. This year's restructured event will include brunch and two sessions of workshops in addition to the keynote address.

Although Jacobs originally created her Web site, www.modernjewishmom.com to prove to the publishing world that her book was marketable, Modern Jewish Mom took on a life of its own. Now people from all over the world peruse the site, which offers advice, projects, recipes and family Torah discussion topics to help Jewish moms make Jewish homes.

Jacobs, who lives in Rockville, Md., will speak about how mothers can create balance using Jewish traditions in today's world … or "How to make Shabbat when your kid has soccer practice."

Her mother, Ellen "Buddee" Levin, from Dresher, Penn., writes a column on the Web site imparting wisdom to the younger generation. Buddee, also a speaker at the February Connections event, will talk about the differences between raising children today and when she had her hand at the helm.

The mother-of-the-author is currently knitting a sweater she plans to wear to Connections. She only knits for family, however, so don't ask.

Jacobs also mentioned generational differences: "When I was growing up, we did not have a Shabbat dinner every week, but my dad was home for dinner every night."

In this 21st century, with her family having "a bazillion" activities and her husband Jonathan's work schedule, a planned Shabbat ensures the family will be together at least one night a week.

Jacobs completed her undergraduate degree at Haverford College and then earned a master's in business at Johns Hopkins. After graduating, she first took a $16,000 a year advertising job in New York and then moved to the D.C. area where she met Jonathan.

One of Jacobs' articles about making Hanukkah a special family-time will be featured in Parenting magazine in December.

Jacobs will deliver her keynote during the brunch; then attendees will be able to choose two of the 14 planned workshops, said Sacks. "The topics will be so exciting, it will be hard to choose."

"Workshop topics, spanning the life of a woman," said Elovitz, "will range from religious to health to emotional, including 'How to have difficult conversations' and 'How to live life with passion and purpose.'"

The admission fee will cover the cost of the brunch, Elovitz said.

The first Connections in 1994, the brain child of Rita Philip, was such a successful event that Connections became a major part of the Federation's fund-raising campaign. The first one was a thank you to women for their generous support.

Invitations for Connections will be mailed after the first of the year. The event is open to all women in the greater Portland area. If you do not receive an invitation, contact Jen Feldman at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, 503-245-6449 or jen@jewishportland.org

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