Members of the Jewish community who have experienced pregnancy or infant loss are invited to attend Comfort in Community: Living with Pregnancy Loss.
The event will be from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 22, at Congregation Beth Shalom (14200 Lamar Ave, Overland Park, KS 66223).
In an effort to help members of the Jewish community deal with this loss in a communal setting, a spiritual care service will be held for all adults who have lost a pregnancy at any time and feel a need to be with others and remember the child who did not enter their world. This program is open to people of all ages and genders who have personal experience with this type of grief.
The loss of a pregnancy is sometimes kept private because it may be too painful to discuss or because the topic is uncomfortable. Some people have had to live with concerns about stigma or the pain of well-intentioned remarks that moved past the pain, such as assurances that the person will become pregnant again.
Yet losing a pregnancy can be a big deal. For many, losing a pregnancy is an emotionally painful event that never leaves them, a life-long grief.
Rabbi Talia Kaplan of Congregation Beth Shalom; Ellen Portnoy, a spiritual care volunteer at Jewish Family Services (JFS); Rabbi Monica Kleinman of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies; and several others who have experienced pregnancy loss will guide attendees through a brief service and then offer various breakout groups. There will be opportunities to share, listen, write, pray and grieve.
The service is hosted by Jewish Community Chaplaincy and Priya Programs of JFS; Congregation Beth Shalom; and Kehilath Israel Synagogue, with co-sponsorship from The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah; and Congregation Beth Torah.
Registration opens on Jan. 1, and attendees should RSVP by Feb. 16 at bethshalomkc.org/upcoming-events. The event is adults-only.