THE ULTIMATE
DRIVING MACHINE
The New Guests
Are Security Guards
With or without security, one rabbi says
children will not stop being mischievous until
parents become better disciplinarians
KIMBERLY LIFTON
Staff Writer
udy Frankel had one
small request before
taking a job three
years ago as catering
manager at the Somerset
Inn in Troy.
She wanted security
guards to oversee bar mitz-
vah parties.
Frankel, who has children
of her own, says she knew
that youngsters could get in-
to mischief by roaming the
halls during fancy adult
parties.
So she brought guards to
bar mitzvahs, and hasn't
had a problem since her first
day on the job.
Some synagogues and
temples always have hired
extra security for parties.
Yet recently, guards have
become more visible
everywhere during these
gala affairs.
Some area congregation
officials say extra security is
needed any time a large
crowd is in attendance.
Others, who would comment
only if granted anonymity,
say the extra protection is
needed because party
organizors are having dif-
ficulty controlling rambunc-
tious teens during bar mitz-
vah parties.
According to one local
synagogue caterer, young
teens lately are opting for
food fights over dancing and
socializing, and constantly
leaving trash all over
bathrooms and corridors.
Beth Abraham Hillel
Moses was the most recent
synagogue to hire outside
security for all parties. Ex-
ecutive Director Joseph
Tarica says the congregation
needs protection from out-
side sources.
"These are very difficult
times," Tarica says. "And
every Jewish organization is
security conscious."
Guards, he says, were not
brought into the building
because of rowdy teens.
"We've had parties where
kids have been gems," says
Tarica. "But we've also had
parties where kids were
throwing food, plates and
glasses. It's usually just a
few kids who cause trouble.
Most are all right."
Temple Israel Rabbi M.
Robert Syme, who last year
delivered a sermon which
questioned the morals of to-
day's children, believes
parents are to blame for
disorderly youngsters.
"Children aren't worse to-
day than in the past," says
Rabbi Syme, whose sermon
was called "What's Happen-
ing to Jewish Children?"
"It's the parents," he says.
"Under the guise of
liberalism, parents thought
they would turn their
children free and, in fact,
have turned them loose."
During the sermon, he
shared a tale about a man
who had worked for years as
an usher during weekly ser-
vices. He resigned one day,
citing rude and noisy
children who had no respect
for adults.
"This whole generation of
children has been raised to
be pals with their parents,"
he says. "We were afraid of
our parents and grew up to
think our kids shouldn't be
afraid of us. Kids don't want
pals for parents.
"We, as parents, became
disiples of a movement. We
were going to make our
children happy — it's the
11th commandment?"
Once, Rabbi Syme recalls,
children became so rude
during a service that the
cantor stepped down from
the bimah and asked them
to keep quiet.
They continued to talk.
And when an usher escorted
one youngster outside, the
boy told him to be careful or
he would be facing a
lawsuit. The boy's father
was a lawyer.
"The child-centered home
has produced the self-
centered child. Some
parents provide a house for
their children, but fail to
provide a home," he says.
Rabbi Syme says children
will continue to misbehave
until parents start deman-
ding respect and instilling
better morals.
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