New book "Child & Domestic Abuse" by Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn Ph.D

A new book by Dr. Daniel Eidensohn, Child & Domestic Abuse: Torah, Psychological, & Legal Perspectives, displays a balance between thoughtful response and outrage. The first volume contains essays by an assortment of professionals — rabbis, psychologists, social workers, lawyers. Each, in his own way, lashes out at the community’s response to sexual abuse of children and attempts to explain the proper response according to the Torah and/or their professional training and experience.

Dr. Eidensohn writes that we will not change the attitude of our rabbinic leaders by providing Torah sources and arguments, even from someone as respected as R. Moshe Sternbuch, who advised Dr. Eidensohn on the publication and personally reviewed the Synopsis section. The only way to spark change is to dramatically describe victims’ pain. When community leaders recognize the extent of the problem and its effects, they will join the cause. “To the degree that the rabbis and community leaders can be convinced that abused children suffer horrible lifetime wounds, you will discover that the legal objections disappear” (p. 12). The same, I believe, applies to the problem of corrupt and unethical practices. When leaders realize how much this damages the community, how deeply this disrupts the basic functioning of our community, they will respond seriously.

Eidensohn’s first volume provides an interesting contrast to another recent book, Breaking the Silence: Sexual Abuse and the Jewish Community, edited by Dr. David Pelcovitz and David Mandel. This book also contains essays by rabbis, doctors and lawyers, and contains victims’ accounts of abuse and its aftermath. The experts writing in this book are top notch, many of whom are household names in the Orthodox community. They provide statistics, guidelines, and concrete advice. The book is edited and typeset in a much more professional way than Dr. Eideonsohn’s. It is nothing short of a communal guidebook for best practices.

Yet, Dr. Eidensohn’s book is what really makes me want to do something. It inspires the passion that is necessary to change our communal practices. It elicits the appropriate level of outrage. It is a J’accuse against the bumbling efforts of Jews unwilling to make hard choices to save our children, incapable of admitting mistake, and failing to learn from the collapse of the Catholic Church over precisely this issue.

Dr. Eidensohn’s second volume is a remarkable encyclopedia of Jewish sources related to issues of abuse. He collects and translates hundreds of post-talmudic texts, organized by subject or author. In particular, his chapter on wife abuse puts to lie the canard that Judaism allows such treatment. Overall, this book is an indispensable guide to the halakhic sources on abuse. (link)

Another review

on Amazon

Untangling the Myths About Attention Disorder

But A.D.H.D. is not a metaphor. It is not the restlessness and rambunctiousness that happen when grade-schoolers are deprived of recess, or the distraction of socially minded teenagers in the smartphone era. Nor is it the reason your colleagues check their e-mail in meetings and even (spare me!) conversations.

“Attention is a really complex cognitive phenomenon that has a lot of pieces in it,” said Dr. David K. Urion of Harvard, who directs the learning disabilities and behavioral neurology program at Boston Children’s Hospital. “What we’re specifically talking about in kids with attention deficit is a problem compared to age- and gender-based peers in selective attention — what do you glom onto and what do you ignore?” full article

As Bullies Go Digital, Parents Play Catch-Up

Last April in an omnibus review of studies addressing youth, privacy and reputation, a report by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard noted that parents who checked their children’s online communications were seen as “controlling, invasive and ‘clueless.’ ” Young people, one study noted, had a notion of an online public viewership “that excludes the family.” A recent study of teenagers and phones by the Pew Research Center Internet and American Life Project said that parents regard their children’s phones as a “parenting tool.” About two-thirds said they checked the content of their children’s phones (whether teenagers pre-emptively delete texts is a different matter). Two-thirds of the parents said they took away phones as punishment. Almost half said they used phones to check on their child’s whereabouts. full article

Happy Hanukah to all the parents, students, teachers and staff!

R. Isaac Judah Trunk of Kutno (1879-1939), in his work Hasdei Avot #17, proffers a fascinating theory in relation to the genesis of the lighting of Chanukah candles. He begins by noting that in the famous Talmudic discussion about the origin of Chanukah the section concludes with the statement that the next year they established it as a holiday “with Hallel and Thanksgiving” without any mention of the institution of the lighting of candles in each and every home.

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Classical Music at Teacher/Parent Conference

I would love to express my gratitude to the unknown music lover at school today, who played Vivaldi's CD in the hall during the teacher/parent conference. The ethereal sounds of this magnificent composer added tranquility to a hectic rushing from teacher to teacher, enveloping parental worries and concerns in the cocoon of timeless beauty and serenity. THANK YOU!

Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction

...Researchers say the lure of these technologies, while it affects adults too, is particularly powerful for young people. The risk, they say, is that developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention. “Their brains are rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next thing,” said Michael Rich, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Center on Media and Child Health in Boston. And the effects could linger: “The worry is we’re raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently.” read the full article

The Animators of Life

Building on decades of research and mountains of data, scientists and animators are now recreating in vivid and sometimes jaw-dropping detail the complex inner machinery of living cells.

Rabbi Steinsaltz has completed his 45-volume Talmud translation and commentary in Hebrew

This weekend, the decades-long Talmud project that has come to define Rabbi Steinsaltz’s life has culminated with the publication of the final tractate in the series, Ta’anit. The day, Sunday, Nov. 7, was marked by a “Global Day of Learning” Dozens of communities across the world has taken take part in what is both a celebration of Rabbi Steinsaltz’s work and, in keeping with his vision, an opportunity for Jews everywhere to grapple with life’s “Big Questions,” as he puts it, ones the rabbis who compiled the Talmud wrestled with themselves.

The Longest Translation

Across the country, online education is exploding

Is it possible to learn as much when your professor is a mass of pixels whom you never meet? How much of a student’s education and growth — academic and personal — depends on face-to-face contact with instructors and fellow students?

School Pictures - A New process for RMBA

For the first time in many years all of the school pictures shot this year are NOT being pre-sold, or pre-ordered in any way. I am hearing from some parents that they like the new processand just as importantly they appreciate the fact that they are not pressured into buying something before they see it.

This is at the core of my photography business philosophy - I am only as good as the last shoot and only as good as my clients think I am. I am proud of my reputation and work, so the photography should speak for itself and it is up to my clients to decide what they like.

The hardest part has been getting the word and the link out to the parents. The school thought using the Beren Buzz was the most effective communication channel and indeed the link was in last week's Beren Buzz, but I am not sure how effective that is in communicating important information to parents. I asked for it to be included again, but not sure if it will.

What do you guys think of the school picture process and also the effectivenss of the Beren Buzz? I asked a couple of students about the Beren Buzz and they rolled their eyes at me - as if they never read it, or care about it. Are you guys hearing that from any kids?

Parents want Rabbi Nimchinsky back

Rabbi Dov Nimchinsky was one of my favorite teachers at Beren Academy. His dedication to students was exemplary.

I remember that I was invited once to their sukkah for lunch, and Rabbi's wife Rivkey explained their early agreement. He wanted to be a teacher, but they both knew that it would be a tough life. She asked only one question, “Will it make you happy?” He said, “Yes!” As long as he kept his part of the bargain, she kept hers, managing a large family. And for all 16 years that “Rabbi Nim” was at the Academy, he never wavered.

My son Yosef was one of his students, and a case of success brought through by perseverance, Rabbi Nim’s and his. Yosef had problems learning Gemarah, and it was hard for him year after year. I tried to help, but with not too much success either. The breakthrough came in the last grade! Finally the hard work of both of them paid up, and Yosef was not afraid of the Talmudic logic anymore. Then I noticed that he remembered all his lessons, and used to recall the ideas in our conversations. And then he was completely at ease, as if it never had been hard.

Hundred of students were brought up by Rabbi Nimchinsky, and I think that he, more than anybody else, represents the face and spirit of the Academy. I personally would like nothing better than to see him back. I hope it will happen.

The oldest Holocaust Survivor, pianist Alice Sommers will celebrate her 107th birthday in November

Mysticism Explained by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's knowledge was encyclopedic, he has written 111 books on all areas of Judaism, from popular booklets to Torah translation to Kabbalah. His photographic memory held thousands of pages, some from rare unpublished manuscripts from various libraries of the world. In his TV interview he gives an introductory overview of Jewish mysticism, and his every word is fresh.

Part 1

Part 2

Judaism and Justice

Judaism and Justice - A Conversation Between Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Professor Michael Sandel from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

Sad reality - Etrogs and pesticides.

....An etrog grower in Israel told me that with all the insecticides and herbicides he sprayed on his trees, he would have to be meshuggeh to eat the etrogs he cultivated. Another grower in Morocco assured me that an etrog was technically classified as a fruit, and beholden to the government-imposed parameters on pesticide use. Then, he confided in a quiet voice, because a single thrip (a small scaly insect that causes decolourisation on the peel) could lower the etrog's selling price by £10-15, he sprayed his etrogim more intensively than his other crops.

...Irony, in the fact that we devote hours examining every inch of our etrogs, yet never ask about the pesticides absorbed right under the skin? Have we become so focused on the external signs of beauty that we have forgotten that, in Judaism, beauty and responsibility, food appearance and food ethics, are one and the same? Full article

The End of the Spanish Course Saga

Today is the birthday of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, who wrote these words:

“Hechas, pues, estas prevenciones, no quiso aguardar más tiempo a poner en efeto su pensamiento, apretándole a ello la falta que él pensaba que hacía en el mundo su tardanza, según eran los agravios que pensaba deshacer, tuertos que enderezar, sinrazones que emendar, y abusos que mejorar y deudas que satisfacer.”

“Having, then made all these preparations, he did not wish to lose any time in putting his plan into effect, for he could not but blame himself for what the world was losing by his delay, so many were the wrongs that were to be righted, the grievances to be redressed, the abuses to be done away with, and the duties to be performed. “

We, too, can summarize our adventure.

Having been the subject of the three weeks of procrastinations that led nowhere, promises that were not fulfilled, and misleading messages that served to confuse, we can state that the Spanish I Course is not being offered. This issue discussed in depth in the e-mails with the principal and the Board, as well as on the Beren Parents Blog. Finances offered to the school, teachers suggested. Nine students in a high school of 70 being a significant group, their serious interest in learning Spanish disregarded.

The book which Harold Bloom calls the “first and finest modern novel, of cosmic significance” will remain closed to the students, who, if they do not start learning Spanish in 11th grade, will not be able to master the language before graduation.

Parents, who work hard and contribute significantly to the school's budget, still had their children deprived of a course that is offered for free in public schools all over the USA. And to think that the course would only cost $5,000-$10,000!

One can only conclude with another quote from the same book:

"The reason for the unreason with which you treat my reason , so weakens my reason that with reason I complain of your beauty" - "la razón de la sinrazón que a mi razón se hace, de tal manera mi razón enflaquece, que con razón me quejo de la vuestra fermosura."

History of Etrog (Citrus medica)

The only varieties accepted as a ritual etrog are Yanover, Balady, Moroccan, Yemen, Braverman, Kivelevitz.

Citron is the oldest known variety of citrus. Seeds of citron were found in excavations of the town of Nippur in the southern part of Babylon (present-day Iraq). These ruins date back to 4000 B.C. It is not known whether Mesopotamians cultivated citron at that time or imported the fruit from the east, but the seed-finds prove that citron was known to them at least 6000 years ago. Citron and its varieties.

Jerusalem 92 years ago...

Parent Support Is More Than Just A Check

Here is a link to me recent blog post.
http://childrenawarenesshope.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/parent-support-is-more-than-just-a-check/

L'Shana Tovah Tikatevu v'Tekhatemu!

Dear Parents, Teachers and Staff!

Shana Tova ! !שנה טובה

May this year be filled with happiness, robust health, intellectual and spiritual attainments coupled with success in all your endeavors, and peace in your homes and hearts!

Our Alum - Rabbi Shlomo (Miles) Brody and His Blog

Shlomo (Miles) Brody is Beren Academy '96 graduate. His parents have been the driving force behind the school, then called Hebrew Academy, since its inception. They have contributed time, money, and energy to the school. I remember how I first saw Dr. Baruch Brody, who was carrying a huge log on his shoulders into the building. It must have been needed on the children's playground. Back then he reminded me of Lenin on the Subbotnik, but later I would want to compare him to a giant in the story of Rabbi Nachman, “The Lost Princess.”

His son Shlomo went on to Harvard to study Jewish history, philosophy, and literature. After graduation, he received Semicha from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. He teaches at the Yeshivat HaKotel and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University, focusing on the philosophy of halacha.

He is an online editor of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), Tradition - a Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, including its acclaimed blog, Text & Texture, the Ask the Rabbi columnist for The Jerusalem Post.

His latest post on the prayer of Aleinu and the Pardes Story requires more of my study. He is by far the most prolific writer on the RCA blog, and his 45 posts cover the widest areas of modern Jewish life and philosophy today, aptly summarizing the gist of controversies, and leaving the reader curious for more, while allowing everybody to draw their own conclusions.

Pomegranates: The Healthy, Spiritual High Holiday Fruit

...."Turquoise, purple and scarlet" wool pomegranates adorned the clothing of the Kohen Gadol. Engraved pomegranates decorated the pillars in the First Temple, built by King Solomon. In fact, a thimble-sized, ivory pomegranate bearing an ancient Hebrew inscription is the only relic ever recovered from the Solomon's Temple...Jewish tradition holds that a pomegranate has 613 seeds, representing the 613 mitzvot that we are supposed to keep. According to Reish Lakish, a Talmudic Sage, even the sinners among the Children of Israel have as many good deeds as the seeds of a pomegranate. And on Rosh Hashanah, when we are being judged and want to accumulate points in our favor so that Hashem will feel obliged to grant us a coming year full of health and happiness, we eat pomegranates as a symbolic gesture in the hope that our merits will increase like the seeds of a pomegranate. Continue

Hearing loss hits 1 in 5 U.S. teens

One in five American teenagers now suffers from some type of hearing loss, an increase of 31% since the mid-'90s, new research shows.

Most cases of hearing loss are slight, affecting only one ear and involving mostly high-frequency sounds, according to a study in today's Journal of the American Medical Association. Many teens may not even notice the hearing change. About one in 20 have "mild or worsening" hearing loss, which can make them struggle to follow conversations or teachers at school.

"It's very concerning," says study author Josef Shargorodsky, an otolaryngology/head and neck surgery resident at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston.

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Where is the Spanish Course?

It has been a week that we are discussing a point that should be obvious: any high school, public or private, must have a real foreign language course. Not an online course, but a serious instructor course with live interaction, feedback, exams, and peer learning. Online courses are not what private schools are all about. They can be taken at home, without paying a school tuition, or even going to school.

The mark of a good school is not how much money in scholarships it collects or gives, but in the quality and the achievements of its students. In the 24 years of being parents of Beren Academy students, the question of having or not having a foreign language course never came up, and we never needed to discuss the merit and importance of it with the previous administrations. To deprive the students of this important part of curriculum is to diminish their chances of getting into good universities, and excelling in their future careers.

Our four older children excelled in foreign languages in high school. It was a powerful factor in their receiving scholarships at Brandeis, Yale, and other universities. Our older daughters teach Jewish children from many countries and talk to them in their native tongues. On many occasions they expressed deep gratitude to us and the school for their multi-language education. They touched lives of many Jews from around the world and continue to do so.

Let's make this a private blog.

I've done alot of thinking about this blog, and I think it has the potential to do great good for and great harm to the school. Things like this can engender great constructive debate, but even the best-intentioned debate about any problems at our school can give the wrong impression to outsiders who are trying to evaluate our school. I would strongly suggest that we make the READING of this blog as invitation-only, as well as posting. In addition, I would suggest restricting invitations to present & past parents and current staff & teachers, and possible carefully-selected others.

I would also suggest disabling all sharing of posts, to minimize the likelihood of people's comments being spread farther than they intend.

I think the use of a forum like this is a terrific idea, but they can, if we are not careful, degenerate into very destructive tools.

Comments?

Welcome to the blog!

Dear parents and friends, welcome to the blog!

This is the place for all of us to share our thoughts, concerns, ideas and suggestions regarding the school matters - academic, social, etc. Everyone can write and comment openly and freely.

Please bookmark this page or add this blog to your RSS reader (for example, Google Reader).

Sincerely, Mark and Helena Kerzner (parents of Ester and Rebecca)