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Yarden with the 2017-2018 UMatter board
continued from page 12
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14
August 2 • 2018
opens his home to them. He doesn’t
have a boundary between his per-
sonal and professional life. Everyone
feels they are part of his family,”
Shemtov said, “and he’s always look-
ing to grow and advance his knowl-
edge so he can become better at
what he does.”
When a spate of local teen sui-
cides brought the growing crisis
to the forefront, Yarden attended
a suicide intervention workshop
sponsored by a Canadian-based pro-
gram called ASIST (Applied Suicide
Intervention Skills Training). He
then brought the program home,
facilitating workshops for local
teens and adults interested in learn-
ing practical intervention skills and
developing a community-wide sup-
port network. Several teens report
having used the techniques they
learned to help friends contemplat-
ing suicide get help, and Yarden is
often the first call from a parent or
friend of a teen in crisis.
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2168010
In his efforts to make spirituality
accessible to teens, Yarden leads a
senior prayer discussion class at FJA.
“We take a concept from prayer, and
my daily challenge is to get teens to
leave the room feel-
ing the concept is
applicable to their
lives today,” he said.
Jodi Backalar, an
alumna of FJA now
in college, recalls
Yarden’s minyan
as a seminal part
Jodi Backalar
of her high school
experience.
“He wanted
to grow with us rather than just
teach us a lesson,” she said. “When
his class ended, he was interested
in continuing a relationship with
his students, in seeing their prog-
ress throughout high school and
beyond.”
Yarden has a unique ability to con-
nect with and maintain close rela-
tionships with many different teens.
“I really don’t know what it is
that allows me to connect well with
teens. People say it’s because I’m
present with them. Maybe it’s just
because I spend so much time with
teens,” he said. “I look at it as a gift I
have, and the question is how can I
use that gift to help people on their
journeys.”
Later this year, Yarden plans to
launch a series of support groups
where teens can share their chal-
lenges in a safe and supportive envi-
ronment. The topics will include any
issues the participants are strug-
gling with, including such weighty
topics as suicide, depression and
anxiety.
Sammy Schwartz, a recent gradu-
ate of Farber Hebrew Day School in
Southfield, says Yarden helped her
on her journey. She met him at The
Shul, adjacent to Friendship Circle,
where her family belongs.
Having spent part of the summer
in a psychiatric hospital, Sammy
said, “I couldn’t help but tell the
truth when he asked me what I did
over the summer.”
So began a close friendship that
included meeting weekly to talk.
“He’s taught me a lot about how
to live a life worth living,” Schwartz
said. She was especially touched
when Yarden visited her when she
was again in a psychiatric hospi-
tal. “Visiting hours had ended for
the day, but he was able to get in
because he was a clergy member.
We talked, and he helped me a lot.
The fact that he visited me after
hours is a testament to the person
that he is.” •
Rabbi Yarden Blumstein also is a member of
the Youth Mental Health Workgroup at the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
which launched a youth mental health initia-
tive called “We Need To Talk” (jhelpdetroit.org/
weneedtotalk). To learn more about UMatter
or to reach Yarden, email yarden@
friendshipcircle.org or call Friendship Circle at
(248) 788-7878 ext. 208.