Jewish Family in the 21st Century: Changes, Opportunities
and Challenges
Friday – Sunday | January 20 – 22, 2012
The American Jewish community faces unprecedented challenges in the 21st Century especially in relation to family values. Our distinguished speakers, Dr. Wendy Mogel, Rabbi Kerry Olitzky and Dr. Steven M. Cohen, will address: how to raise self-reliant children; the impact of intermarriage on the Jewish American family; and how we, as a community, retain our strength in an increasingly secular world. Concurrent programming for adults and children will be available on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.
 

Schedule

Friday, January 20

6:15 pm | Musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service

7:30 pm | Shabbat Dinner

8:00 – 9:30 pm | Organized Activities for Children (Divided by Age Group: 3 – 6 and 7+)

8:30 pm | Lecture by Dr. Mogel, Pleasure in Adulthood: Leading by Example in Every Age and Every Stage

9:45 pm | Comedy Performance by Lenny Marcus
 

Saturday, January 21

9:15 am | Shabbat Morning Service

11:30 am | Sermon by Rabbi Olitzky, Welcoming the Stranger Already in Our Midst

12:30 pm | Shabbat Lunch

1:30 pm | Breakout Lecture by Dr. Mogel, Raising Resilient Children: Teaching them to Swim in Unsettled Waters
Or
Breakout Lecture by Rabbi Olitzky, The Behavior of Boomers: What the Future has in Store for All of Us and Our Families

1:30 pm | Musical Service and Programming for Children Ages 3 – 6
Or
Educational Programming for Children Ages 7+

2:30 – 4:00 pm | Organized Activities for Children (Divided by Age Group: 3 – 6 and 7+)

2:45 pm | The Changing Contours of Jewish Families, A Presentation with Dr. Cohen and Panel with Dr. Cohen, Dr. Mogel and Rabbi Olitzky and moderated by Rabbi Zuckerman

4:00 pm | Minha and Light Refreshments

4:30 pm | Text Study with Rabbi Olitzky, Kohelet: Musings of the Old Professor

5:40 pm | Maariv followed by Havdalah with the PAS Rock Band
 

Sunday, January 22

9:30 am | Morning Minyan

10:30 am | Brunch and Lecture by Rabbi Olitzky, Tools for Effective Interfaith Grandparenting | cohosted by the Men’s Club, Sisterhood and WEG
 

Cost

Shabbat Dinner and Speaker:
Members $45; General $60; Children (12 and under) $15

Shabbat Lunch and Breakout Lectures:
Members $25; General $40; Children (12 and under) $12.50

Sunday Brunch:
Members $15; General $17

Click here to register.

Presenter Biographies

Dr. Wendy Mogel
Dr. Wendy Mogel is an internationally acclaimed clinical psychologist and author. She appears as a guest expert on the Today Show and is regularly interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and NPR.

A frequent keynote speaker, she addresses diverse groups including the national associations of Independent Schools, of Principals of Schools for Girls, of Episcopal Schools, and the American Camp Association.
Dr. Mogel serves on the scientific advisory board of Challenge Success, a program of the Stanford University School of Education and the Parents Magazine board of advisors.

Publisher’s Weekly gave her New York Times best-selling book, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, a starred review saying, “Impassioned, lyrical and eminently practical, this volume is a real treasure.” Rabbi Harold Kushner (author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People) praised her book about raising teenagers, The Blessing of a B Minus—calling it “wise, witty and well-written . . . . a treasury of common sense for anyone dealing with adolescents.”

_{Arrangements for the appearance of Wendy Mogel made through Greater Talent Network, Inc., New York, NY.}

Rabbi Kerry Olitzky
Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky, D.H.L., is the Executive Director of the Jewish Outreach Institute, the only national independent organization dedicated to bringing Judaism to interfaith families and the unaffiliated. He is a Fellow at the Center for Jewish Studies, Graduate School and University Center, CUNY. Formerly, he served as vice president of the Wexner Heritage Foundation and was national Dean of Adult Jewish Learning and Living of HUC-JIR following his tenure at Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford, CT.

A leader in the development of innovative Jewish education, particularly for adults, he has shaped training programs for clergy of all faiths, especially in the area of pastoral care and counseling in the Jewish community. He is a contributing editor of Shma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility and is also the author of many books and articles in a variety of fields. Among his most recent publications are: Making a Successful Jewish Interfaith Marriage: The Jewish Outreach Institute Guide to Opportunities, Challenges, and Resources with Joan Peterson Littman; and Twenty Things for Grandparents of Interfaith Grandchildren to Do with Paul Golin.

Dr. Steven M. Cohen
Steven M. Cohen is Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy at HUC-JIR and Director of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at NYU Wagner. He serves as Research Director of Synagogue 3000, Senior Counselor to the Chancellor at JTS and Director of the Florence G. Heller/JCCA Research Center. Previously he taught for 14 years at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Cohen is the author and co-author of several books about Judaism and Israel, including Sacred Strategies: Transforming Synagogues from Functional to Visionary; The Jew Within; and Two Worlds of Judaism: The Israeli and American Experiences. His current research interests focus on the emerging patterns of Jewish identity and community among Jews in their 20s and 30s.

Lenny Marcus
Lenny Marcus has been a stand-up comedian in New York City for fifteen years. He has performed at both the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada and HBO’s U.S. Comedy Arts festival in Aspen Colorado. Lenny has performed stand-up on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, NBC’s Friday Nite, NBC’s Comedy Showcase with Louie Anderson and MTV’s The Jim Brewer Show. Lenny has written for national publications such as Us Weekly and Life and Style magazines and is a contributing writer for DailyComedy.com. Lenny first comedy CD, You’re Getting a Zero is a fan favorite, and last summer he released his second CD entitled, Sharks, Toasters, Meredith—and Other Things that are Harmful to Your Health.

_{Arrangements for the appearance of Lenny Marcus made through Allen Dalton Productions.}