December 22, 1999
Parenting: The Toughest Job
You’ll Ever Love
OU to Host Conference on Positive Jewish Parenting
The Shabbat
candles are lit. The aroma of cholent
wafts through the air. Dressed in their finery, the family sits down for the Friday night
meal. Father and Mother bookend the table, beaming as they glance from one well-mannered
child to the next, each sitting like a proper young lady or gentleman. Dinner is served.
There is no grabbing. There are no spills. There are no sibling squabbles. It’s the
perfect start to a peaceful shabbat. Sound like the scene at your house? Of course
not. It’s a myth, a la (a Jewish) Norman Rockwell, and it’s time to deal with
reality.
To help observant Jewish parents cope with the challenges of
parenting, on January 16, 2000, the Orthodox Union will
give parents the opportunity to meet with some of the Orthodox community’s most
well-respected professionals in the fields of parenting, education and psychology at a
special day-long conference on Positive Jewish
Parenting to be held at New York’s Congregation Kehilath Jeshrun/The Ramaz School
on East 85th Street in Manhattan. The conference is organized in cooperation with the
Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, Inc.
Designed as a resource for parents on how to give the most
to their children, while getting the most out of being a parent, the conference will offer
13 concurrent, interactive workshops – each offered in both morning and afternoon
sessions. Each will focus on the Jewish
perspectives on a variety of issues including discipline, homework strategies, sibling
rivalry, the impact of television and the internet, enhancing children's self-esteem and
raising children with special needs (including gifted children). Noted psychiatrist and
author, Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D., will deliver the keynote address.
Presentations on normative development will precede the
workshops.In each of five sessions – for parents of preschool, early elementary,
elementary, preteen and teenage children – leaders in the field of child development
will address appropriate behavioral expectations for each age and stage of growth, from
birth through adolescence.
According to psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman, who helped organize and who will be one
of the speakers at the conference, some of the questions parents frequently ask include:
How do I cope with meeting the different needs of each child? How do I help my children be
all that they can be without over pressuring them? How do I settle their fights without
yelling at them? This conference will help parents answer these and other questions from a
Jewish standpoint, Dr. Lichtman said.
Conference registration begins at 9:00 a.m. The cost is $18 per person. Sessions will
be held from 9:45 a.m. and until 4:30 p.m. Lunch will be served and child care is
available through advance registration – please call conference coordinator Frank
Buchweitz, at (212) 613-8188. Participants in planning the conference included the
Rabbinical Council of America, NEFESH (the International Network of Orthodox Mental Health
Professionals) and the Yeshiva Elementary and High School Principals Councils of
Metropolitan New York.
"The Torah teaches us that being a parent is the single most important job a
person will ever have, because as parents, we are charged with the awesome task of forming
and shaping our children's lives," said Rabbi Moshe Krupka, Director of the OU's
Department of Synagogue Services. "Today, being a parent is perhaps more challenging
than ever before. And that its why it is imperative for us to fortify mothers and fathers
with guidance and support – framed in the context of traditional Jewish values.
The parenting conference is part of a series of
synagogue-based programs on strengthening a healthy marriage and family.Throughout the
upcoming weeks and months, family, child psychology and educational professionals will be
leading interactive discussions on dating, marriage and parenting in synagogues across the
New York metropolitan area.
The Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of
America and other countries, is a foremost leader in youth
work, advocacy for the disabled, synagogue services, adult education and political action. Its kosher supervision label, the OU, is the world’s
most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 220,000 products in 62 countries
around the globe.
###
www.ou.org
Comments?
Requests? Questions?
 Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
of America
Department of Public Relations
Sharyn Perlman, Director
Main Office:
11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004
Phone: 212-613-8321 Fax: 212-564-9058
E-mail: media@ou.org |
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