WEST HARTFORD – Jewish individuals and families in Greater Hartford who want to build friendships around a shared interest now have additional support to do so, thanks to the Greater Hartford Havurah Initiative, a recently launched partnership of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.  

“Havurot [small social groups, plural for havurah] are a great way to meet others who share your values and interests,” says Jennifer Schwartzman, Federation’s director of Community Connections. “You can start a havurah for young families, empty nesters or singles, or around a hobby like hiking or quilting.”

Local havurot include newly-formed Farmington Valley Interfaith Families Havurah, which held its first event on August 4, with a day at the focusing on the theme of Jewish environmentalism, and will host an apples-and-honey gathering at the end of September, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah; and an East of the River havurah for mothers of children who recently celebrated a bar or bat mitzvah. The group recently hosted a havdalah service and took a trip to a salt cave in West Hartford. Non-Jewish moms and Jewish teens are invited to join.

Two other havurot are currently in the process of forming: one for Jewish religious schoolteachers and one for young Jewish professionals. 

Funding is available to start additional groups. To learn more about existing havurot or to apply for funding to start your own, contact Jennifer Schwartzman at jschwartzman@jewishhartford.org or (860) 727-6117.