Update your contact information! Contact Us How to Help Us		Our Mission Stars of David is a non-profit organization providing a compassionate network of support, adoption information, and education to prospective parents, adoptive families, adult adoptees, birth families, and the Jewish community. Our History Stars of David owes a debt of gratitude to the Nissen family of Reading, Massachusetts, for launching an adoption support group that addresses the unique issues of adoptive families who identify themselves as Jewish, regardless of how observant or non-traditional they are. When Phyllis and Stan Nissen adopted their two Korean-born daughters in the mid-1970's, they did not know any Jewish families that looked quite like theirs. The Nissens looked to international adoption groups for support, but their interest in helping their daughters, Misti and Melanie, assimilate into the Jewish community was not addressed by these other groups. In an interview published on October 6, 1985 in the Lowell, Massachusetts Sunday Sun, Phyllis Nissen explained that she did not want her daughters to feel like they were "the only Korean Jewish kids in the world. We had no major problems or issues, but we felt a need to feel connected with other families in the same situation." To find this connection, Phyllis and Stan turned to their rabbi, Susan Abramson of Temple Shalom Emeth in Burlington, Massachusetts. Together, Phyllis and Rabbi Abramson founded Stars of David in 1984 to provide support to families like the Nissens: Jewish families that have grown through adoption. They selected the name "Stars of David" because it was interesting and readily identifiable by Jewish families. Phyllis and Stan's then 10-year-old daughter, Misti, designed the Stars of David logo shown above. Once word of the newly formed group made its way through the Jewish community, Phyllis Nissen and Rabbi Abramson received many supportive letters and other positive feedback. It quickly became apparent that the need for an adoption support group with a Jewish orientation was widespread. In light of the favorable response to Stars of David, Phyllis and Rabbi Abramson planned the group's first event, a Chanukah potluck party, in December 1984. To their delight, more than 125 people from 26 Massachusetts towns attended this event, held at Temple Shalom Emeth. The first members of Stars of David included families with children from eight countries, including the United States. Based upon the conversations that took place among the families in attendance at the Chanukah party, the ideas of a member mailing list, an adoption discussion group, a picnic, and the Star Tracks newsletter took root. In January 1985, the first edition of Star Tracks was distributed to 75 member families in more than 12 states. By the time Stars of David celebrated its first anniversary, the group had grown and members had founded satellite chapters in Minneapolis/St. Paul, California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Within three years, Stars of David grew from 35 families in the Northeast to 500 families nationwide! Today, there are many chapters of Stars of David International, Inc., with over 2000 members in the United States, Canada, and other nations. The children of our member families represent many more than the original eight countries. The newsletter and website have grown to encourage further communication and information sharing among members throughout the world. The size and the technology may have changed since 1984, but the mission is true to the vision of Phyllis Nissen and Rabbi Abramson – the provision of a forum for the exchange of ideas and support to Jewish adoptive families. Click here to get an update on Stars of David's founders, Phyllis and Stan Nissen, and their family.
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