EDUCATION

•

Parenting

Continued from Page 1

ter and nursery school have
doubled the size of the ex-
isting Shaarey Zedek B'nai
Israel Center from 15,000 to
30,000 sq. ft. When Shaarey
Zedek needed more room for
its existing nursery school,
it was decided that a par-
enting center would also be
a necessary idea. The
Center will bring parents • of
the nursery school togeth-
er with helpful day-to-day
suggestions on issues of
Jewish family life while un-
der the supervision of the
synagogue. The Center is
not exclusive to parents of
small children or Shaarey
Zedek members. It is open
to the community, and its
goals are inclusive of par-
ents of young children, teen-
agers, everyone. Grandpar-
enting issues will also be
discussed.
There are plans for the
Beth Hayeled and Parenting
Center to co-sponsor class-
es, bringing synagogue, chil-
dren and parents together.
Janet Pont, the Beth
Hayeled director, said it is
important that parents un-
derstand that the idea be-
hind the center is not a way
of underscoring what is
missing from Jewish life. It
is, instead, an opportunity
to offer an enrichment to the
Jewish family.
Still, Shaarey Zedek rec-
ognized the challenges fac-
ing the modern Jewish
family, and by offering its
Parenting Center, sought to
send a a positive message to
the community.
"The great discussion in
this Jewish community is
about intermarriage and
how the Jewish family is
falling apart," said
Congregation Shaarey
Zedek executive director,
Leonard Baruch. "We gave
much thought about how we
could enter the scene in-
stead of passively sitting
around and waiting for the
statistics to emerge."
Instead, Shaarey Zedek
gathered some stats of its
own, surveying its member-
ship about what sort of
questions they would like to
see answered. Many of the
concerns were about basic
Jewish rituals. There were,
however, other issues as
well, such as in the 1990s,
how does a busy family re-
prioritize its time, giving
more importance to religious
observance.

44A

Maw/ Al 10.1 ICT 9A 1049

Mr. Baruch said that it's
important for Jewish fami-
lies to look ahead and to not
necessarily focus on what
was. He added that in the
past, the Jewish family
alone was the teacher of its
children when it came to
history, ritual practice, the
importance of learning.
Rabbi Irwin Groner re-
members, growing up in
west Chicago, how nobody
needed a reminder that a
Jewish holiday was ap-
proaching, even the small-
est children could feel the
excitement in the air.
But that was at a time
when grandparents lived in
the same home as grand-
children and when uncles
and aunts and cousins all
lived nearby. Rabbi Groner
continued that the 1980s are
over, and more and more
people are taking stock of
their lives and realizing that
they might have the suc-
cessful career, nice house,
nice car and lifestyle. But
they are missing a spiritual
component to their lives.
That component is under-
scored when children come
along, and in many cases,
the children are told they
are Jewish, know they are
Jewish, but aren't given an-
swers to basic questions
from their parents. Their
parents sometimes don't
know the answers and are
typically embarrassed to ad-
mit that.
Ms. Beresh, who is the
Parenting Center's director,
said that the facility will of-
fer parents a continuation.
They'll be able to learn the
riches of their past, their
culture and pass them on to
their children. She added
that this is a real opportu-
nity for Jewish parental em-
powerment, an opportunity
to teach parents how to
teach their own children.
An example of some of the
classes to be offered:
"Hebrew Head Start," a
class where parents learn
Hebrew and Jewish holidays
with their children;
"Mentsch Making —
S.T.E.P. Systematic Train-
ing for Effective Parenting,"
guidelines for raising "hap-
py, healthy Jewish chil-
dren"; "The Wonder Year —
Whose Bar/Bat Mitzvah Is
It Anyway?", an opportuni-
ty to discuss the event and
its meaning. For a family
with a tight schedule, the

ISRAEL
Ti ON
coNGREGA ZEDEK;BNAI

SHAARE

CENTER RENOVATION

BAUM,

mARCIA & EUGENE
HAYSBUILDING
AND
ELED
PARENTING CENTER ADDITION

•1:POMAALA ASSCAST,
S ND C, L aNNERS,

N

N MAN Ac,ER