Celebrating Mother’s Day in Quarantine | The Jewish AgencyCelebrating Mother’s Day in Quarantine

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Nina and her family in quarantine

07 May Celebrating Mother’s Day in Quarantine

Posted at 09:11h in Stories by

Celebrating Mother’s Day in Quarantine
For Nina and her family who are quarantined at home in Detroit, Mother’s Day this year will focus on spending time together with no distractions

Nina and her family at home
Nina and her family at home; Photo provided by Nina

As a Jewish Agency Shlichah (Israeli emissary) serving in Detroit for her third year, Nina has been busier than ever since all Shlichim activities moved online when the coronavirus shut down schools, Jewish institutions, and other opportunities for in-person programming.

Nina is now working from home with the majority of her days spent on Zoom or otherwise online as she and other Shlichim globally try to reinvent what Israel engagement looks like. So while her five- and seven-year-old daughters and 13-month-old son are in the house with her and her husband, there’s been little time to do something together. That’s why Nina is determined for Mother’s Day to be a time where her family can just spend time with one another.

“For us as a family, this year the best gift I could get as a mom is just to be with my three kids,” shared Nina. “Even though I’m at home, I’m still working and very busy. For Mother’s Day, I’m hoping to participate in an Israeli cooking class over Zoom with the kids.”

In Israel, years ago Mother’s Day was changed to Family Day and occurs in February. Though Nina and her family are Israeli, they have long celebrated Mother’s Day, even if only in small ways, and continued to do so in Detroit while serving as Shlichim.

“The way we spend Mother’s Day isn’t over-the-top, but what makes it special is when the kids would make a little project or especially a poem or card for me. Words mean the world to me… though, of course, diamonds are nice,” said Nina with a laugh.

To other moms serving as Shlichim, you rock; there’s nothing in the world you can’t do.

A select group of Israeli emissaries, The Jewish Agency for Israel's Shlichim are called to manifest our collective heritage in communities around the world. They act as living bridges to Israel by promoting Israeli experiences, facilitating Jewish social activism, and speaking authentically about faith and culture.
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The biggest thing Nina is looking forward to about Mother’s Day, she reiterated, is really family time. As a member of a WhatsApp group for Shlichim mothers, Nina knows it’s challenging to juggle working from home, looking after your kids, and continuing to be relevant and organize engaging online activities about Israel, calling her fellow Shlichah moms “superheroes.”

“To other moms serving as Shlichim, you rock; there’s nothing in the world you can’t do,” said Nina emphatically. “And to moms who aren’t Shlichim, you also rock. And what’s become my motto in all this is that we need to be a bit like Elsa (from Frozen) and let things go. Nothing is normal and we all just have to go with the flow, see where it takes us. Embrace this crazy time and be strong.”

Amidst this unprecedented pandemic, and extended time at home, we wish all mothers a wonderful Mother’s Day and hope you can spend do something fun as a family to celebrate the amazing moms out there who are juggling it all.

Added Nina, “Moms, we all deserve a nice, big glass of wine — or whatever else helps you get through this!”

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