The Long Road: Children On and Off the Derech
Recent studies have indicated that a significant number of children raised in dati homes eventually leave the path of religious observance. Some estimates range from fifteen to twenty percent per year of the students in the religious high schools, the yeshivot tichoniyot, both boys and girls.
But children are not statistics and life is complicated.
Why are some children alienated from Judaism? What is the role of schools/shuls/ families/modern culture? Can children be raised and educated in loving and sophisticated ways and still ultimately reject yahadut?
How do parents balance off openness to the world with protecting the values of Torah? What are some of the better approaches available to help children negotiate the world of halacha and yet maintain their own identities? What does the presence of such children suggest about traditional Judaism as it is currently being practiced?
In this frank and nuanced panel discussion, we bring together educators, psychologists, parents and children who have been intimately involved with this issue.
Listen to this class
Meet the speakers
Dr. Ruby Wolbromsky
Dr. Ruby Wolbromsky, Ph.D., is a psychologist with more than 20 years experience, specializing in children and adolescents. He lives in Efrat.
Leah Malamet
Ms. Leah Malamet holds a Masters in Clinical Psychology from the University of Toronto, and is currently completing her doctoral dissertation in Clinical Psychology in the area of attachment theory/object relations and the psychology of religion. A psychotherapist for 30 years, Ms. Malamet's work includes individual treatment of children, adolescents, and adults, as well as marital and family therapy. Her practice includes patients presenting with a wide variety of psychological difficulties and disorders [e.g, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive behaviours, loss/bereavement, eating…
Rabbi Jeremy Stavisky
Rabbi Jeremy Stavisky is principal of the Himmelfarb High School in Jerusalem. He studied at the hesder program at Yeshivat Har Etzion. He holds a B.A. in modern history from Columbia University and M.A. in religion from Hebrew University.
Tovah Leah Nachmani
Tovah Leah Nachmani holds a B.A. in Near Eastern Language and Literature and Religious Studies from Indiana University and a Teaching Certificate in Tanach and Jewish Thought from the Michlelet Herzog Seminary in Gush Etzion. She has been involved in Jewish education for over 25 years, with the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, the Women's Beit Midrash in Efrat, and with Livnot U'lehibanot in Tzfat and Jerusalem.