Newspaper Page Text
Psychiatric sessions make
life much easier for rabbis
NEW YORK-The xuccets of a
three-year-old psychiatric
program for rabbis in their mid-
career has persuaded the Central
Conference of American Rabbis to
launch a similar program for
younger rabbis.
According to Rabbi Eli Pilchik
and Rabbi Joseph B. Glaser,
president and executive vice
president, about 200 rabbis have
participated in various aspects of
the program which is now known
as Professional Career Review and
which consists of national or
regional three-day consultation
conferences; local weekly support
groups, and, if needed, individual
sessions. Many of the conferences
and meetings utilize rabbinical
counselors along with psycholo
gists who conduct sessions on a
group or an individual basis with
the participants.
“I explained to one rabbi that he
really has to be able to say no to his
board of trustees,” said Dr. Jack
Bloom of Fairfield, Conn., a
former pulpit rabbi and now a
licensed psychologist with a long
time interest in the special
problems of the clergy. He is
serving as director of the program.
Rabbj Glaser stressed that the
program is aimed essentially at a
mid-career or mid-life crisis faced
by rabbis just as are faced by other
professionals. It was Rabbi Paul
Steinberg, dean of the New York
School of Hebrew Union
College—Jewish Institute of
Religion who is also a
psychologist, who pointed out to
Rabbi Glaser that such reviews
were taking place in other
professions and encouraged him to
develop one for the rabbi.
“This has nothing to do with
God spiritually or with belief, it is
just with the difficulty of life as a
clergyman,” said Dr. Bloom.
The CCAR also wanted to get
their members to look at their lives
professionally and personally and
to see their strengths as well as
their areas of weakness.
At least part of the problem
causing rabbis to develop
“wanderlust, self-doubts and anti
pathies,” according to Dr. Bloom,
is the isolation of the rabbi.
“The pulpit rabbi,” he
explained, “is a symbolic
exemplar. He or she, as the case
may be, is the symbol of something
other than himself. The pulpit
rabbi is a symbolic leader who is
set apart to function within the
community as a symbol of that
community and as an exemplar of
desire for moral perfection. The
rabbi is thus a walking, talking,
living symbol. He stands for
something other than himself,
and m order to function, he must
be seen and perceived that way. In
order to function, he must act in
such a way as not to destroy that
symbol.”
It is crucial for the rabbi to fill
the symbolic aspects of that role.
Perhaps the major expectation of
the rabbi is that in some crucial
way, he is expected to be a different
kind of human being. He is the
embodiment of what people ought
to do but have no intention of
doing and he is expected to be
different in his morality, in his
caring for people, and he is
expected to be different as a
husband and as a father. That, of
course, has a lot of implications for
wife and family,” said Dr. Bloom.
According to Dr. Bloom, careful
consideration should be given to
participation of wives, in those
group mid-career reviews.
“Certainly the rabbfs wife is a
major source of support, affection
and one who helps cut though the
aloneness of the pulpit rabbi.
PREPARE FOR:
40th j
Yaar)
MCAT • DAT • LSAT • GRE
GMAT • PCAT • OCAT
• VAT • SAT
NMB I. II, III.
ECFMG*FLEX*VQE
NAT L DENTAL BOARDS
NURSING BOARDS
Flexible Program* A Hour*
Thgrg IS m diffgrgngg!!!
Trst Preparation Specialists Since 1938
2964 Peachtree Rd
Suite 654
Atlanta. Ga. 30305
262-7582
fer Locations in Other Cities. Call:
TOLL FREE. 800-223-1 782
Miriam Strickman Imtas-Admnistrator
For expert advice on your Group Insurance
and Business Life Insurance
1. Group Dental Expense Protection.
2. Group Major Medical up to $250,000.
.3. Group l.ifc — now permanent or term insurance plans.
4. (.roup l/int; Term Disability Income.
5. (.roup Pension Benefits.
©
OBERDORFER INSURANCE
Associates, Inc.
455-1511
Cdlectcr’s
Ccve. Inc
Barbara Krinsky & Judy Finkel
invite you to a unique shopping experience
An exciting collection:
• 14K Gold Jewelry
• Accessories for home & office
• Original & reproduction art
• Custom picture framing
• Discount art supplies
Cumberland Mall Northlake Mall
432-0026 939-8142
12:30-5:30 Sun.
10-9:30 Mon-Sat.
Special for Mother's Day with this ad 20% discount on
custom picture framing.
HflIRfley
The Prestige Hair Care Center
GRAND OPENING May 9-30
25% OFF ALL SERVICES WITH THIS AD
Discover the total concept in
Hair Design bringing together
Atlanta's most talented stylists
in a comfortable and attractive
atmosphere to set the mood
for that total look you've
tried to find everywhere else.
Gory Parker: formerly of Superhair
intemofionol
James Wilkes: formerly of the Foxy Set
Marilyn Edwards: formerly of Warrens
of Atlanta
A Preview Showing
to which Gary Parker has been invited to present a Paris Preview of
this spring & summer hair fashions will take place at
Perimeter Mall on the ground floor level
May 11-12 from 3-4 - You are invited too
THE HAIRACY
hrs. 9 am - 8 pm Mon-Fri
9 am s pm sat. Qt DQ| CO nies Shopping Center in Sandy Springs
256-0996
Pag* 9 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE May 5, 1978