Israel – A newly launched course trains rabbis to engage in family and marital counseling and give advice on marital problems in order to help the religious sector deal with these rather sensitive issues.
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The course focuses on psychological aspects and family relationships, said Rina Wasserman, Vice Chairperson of Emunah (Religious Women’s Organization) Israel, which has initiated the course.
“Many people have no authority to give answers on those issues, yet they do, and this may harm the person seeking the advice. Sometimes they (the advice givers) themselves aren’t familiar with the subject. We must extend the limits of Halacha and those fluent in it to intimate matters too. The goal is to provide an immediate response to the religious community’s problems.”
The first course in training rabbis to become marriage counselors has recently ended, equipping 25 Orthodox rabbis with professional tools to offer couples’ therapy and counseling. During the course, the rabbis took a couples’ workshop with their wives, acquiring techniques related to counseling and learning how to handle questions in this field.
Wasserman, who handles Emunah’s family services and is in charge of running the course, explained that many religious couples rely on their rabbis to answer their intimacy problems, and therefore their advice must be extensive: “We would like to have the rabbis acknowledge the professional, counseling and academic systems so that they can refer people to get professional help when the problem requires a more profound intervention.”
“We are no longer living in an era where problems are kept at home,” Wasserman concludes. “The communities’ rabbis are catalysts for change within the family, and one should praise rabbis who are willing to take up such sensitive matters.”
I think this is a great idea, the question is, what kind of rabbis are participating?
About time!!!
You mean to say , that up until now, the Rabbis have been totally inadequate to deal with this? What have they been doing in lakewood for 25 years?
At least the picture is accurate…The woman walking behind the man.
Moishe Mulva, That’s so she can push him down the first flight of steps they come to in Mea Shearim.
wow!!! this is a great idea!! they should do this in america…. there are many couples who can’t afford marriage counseling, therefore some free guidance from a rav with torah perspective would really be beneficial to troubled marriages.
You mean all of those rabbis who cannot read a secular book, and who are opposed to mental health professionals are going to treat people with marital problems? Uch and vay.
I THIN THIS WILL MEKES US POSHETE YIDEN WHAT DO THINK?
Houlihan
The rashab of lubavitch (the 5th rebbe) went to visit freud…
Did the rashab study secular stuff ? he did.. he was also able to go to frued for advice even though frued was a kofer.
Freud later quoted the rashab many times.
Freud’s science is based on a nefesh habahamis, a goy’s neshama.. he does not discuss a nefesh elokis.. bechira chofshis, the chaya and yechida etc..
They shoul also train the Rebbetzins, who might have better communication with the wives.
They should initiate a program to teach some of these so called Marriage Counselors how to counsel.
I have heard some horrendous stories regarding these so called marriage counselors who are so incompetent that instead of helping they actually broke up marriages.