When Rabbi Michael Goldberg, program director for Congregation Ner Tamid in San Francisco, tells people about the synagogue’s Jewish Lamaze class, they tend to laugh.
Perhaps the reaction to Jewish Lamaze conjures up mental images of being fed chicken soup to ease labor pains or having a rabbi in the delivery room barking “Push!” or “Don’t forget to breathe!”
But once people learn what the class actually entails, Goldberg says, they take it more seriously.
“Those who choose Lamaze tend to be sensitive to spiritual issues, and they may be interested in making the birthing experience more meaningful by including a spiritual element,” he explains.
The six-session class begins Wednesday, Nov. 11 from 7:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m., and continues every Wednesday through Dec. 16 at the Sunset District synagogue.
Each session will be led by registered nurse Anne Kounis, who will concentrate on teaching the Lamaze technique, and Goldberg, who will provide the Jewish context.
“This is about building trust with the Lamaze trainer and with the Jewish community,” Goldberg says.
The idea came from the synagogue’s board president, Charlotte Hyman. Goldberg was anxious to develop the program, even though he had never heard of Lamaze classes being held outside of a hospital. Ner Tamid, he says, is the first synagogue to hold Lamaze classes in the Bay Area.
“It is kind of novel,” Hyman says. “We wanted to offer this to couples who aren’t knowledgeable about lifecycle events in the Jewish tradition.”
Goldberg and his wife have two sons, ages 14 and 11. The Walnut Creek residents wish that before becoming parents, they could have had the opportunity to take birthing classes in a Jewish setting. “Hospitals are not comforting places to begin with,” he said. “The classes use standardized talks. There’s something clinical about it. They are not really set up to deal with deeper values. Judaism talks about the why-to’s, not just the how-to’s.”
Goldberg plans to cover naming and circumcision, as well as “broader issues on how Judaism sees family life, relationships and responsibilities.”
Learning about the Jewish significance of a naming ceremony, he said, shows the difference between American culture and traditional rituals.
“Birth reminds us of what it means to be human,” he says. “A naming ceremony tries to get us to see, through celebration, here’s a human being who hasn’t accomplished anything yet, but is being profoundly cherished already in the presence of a minyan. The community is welcoming a stranger.”
The synagogue is partially subsidizing the class, which is limited to 15 pregnant women and their partners, and costs $90 per household.
“We’re doing this as a mitzvah,” Goldberg says. “We’re not trying to make money on this.”
A possible benefit for the synagogue, which has 135 family memberships, could be increased numbers, should the class lead people to seek closer ties to the Jewish community. “In the class, we’re hoping to get people who might have felt alienated by Judaism in the past,” he says. “If that brings in more people to the synagogue, great.”