Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Congregation Beth Am in Longwood will host an informative meeting on Sunday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. -11:30 a.m. to discuss "Sex, Money & Power: Jewish Perspectives on Creating Healthy Relationships" among life partners, whether married or unmarried, straight or gay, newly coupled or with many years together. The expert panel features Rabbi Rick Sherwin, Dr. Roberta Marowitz, licensed marriage and family therapist, and Elaine Silver, collaborative divorce lawyer and family mediator.

Rabbi Rick Sherwin, a graduate of UCLA, was ordained in 1978 by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. Rabbi Rick's ubiquitous goal is for people to understand that Judaism is more than just a birthright, but rather a special relationship to be explored, cherished, and nurtured. He believes that every ritual, holiday and lifecycle celebration is based on two core tenets: Every human being is created in the Image of God; and Humanity and God are equal partners in the process of transforming the world from the way it is to the way it needs to be.

The Jewish strategy for bringing us to the actualization of these tenets is called "mitzvah." Rabbi Rick is well known to the Jewish community of Central Florida. He has been an adjunct professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Central Florida, and he is a past president of the Greater Orlando Board of Rabbis. Rabbi Rick, who serves as a chaplain at Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando, is also very active in interfaith education. 

Elaine Silver is a Florida Supreme Court-certified family mediator and peacemaker. She focuses exclusively on family law including divorce, dissolution of marriage, child custody for married and unmarried parents, alimony and child support, pre-nuptial agreements and dissolution of LGBT marriages and partnerships. Her firm is dedicated to helping clients resolve complicated divorce and parenting issues promptly and economically. She encourages clients to retain control over their lives and put their children's interests first. Silver counsels clients toward efficient and peaceful resolutions. Because of her unique approach to "Divorce Without Getting Pounded," clients travel from all over Central Florida to engage Silver's unique perspective to help resolve their divorce or other family transitions.

Dr. Roberta Marowitz is the founder and director of The Counseling & Relationship Institute. As a licensed marriage & family therapist and psychotherapist she offers individual, couple, family and group counseling. For over 35 years, she has helped people in Central Florida with a broad range of issues. Her clients have included people dealing with low self-esteem, stress, anxiety, phobias, panic, depression, relationship, employment and medical issues. Marowitz's training includes a variety of approaches such as cognitive behavioral psychotherapy solution-focused psychotherapy, dynamic short-term psychotherapy, family and couples psychotherapy, group therapy and life coaching. Her experience includes university crisis counseling, research on parenting with the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, graduate teaching and supervision at the University of Central Florida, Troy University and Private Practice and Clinical supervision of practicing psychotherapists or psychotherapists in training. In addition, she works in concert with legal and financial professionals in the area of Collaborative Family Law, which offers a way to resolve family legal disputes respectfully without going to court.

The panel will offer strategies to deal with complex relationship issues including: money; challenging children of all ages; helping aging parents; step-parenting; how to handle disagreements over sex, money, and responsibilities in the home; and decision-making.

Congregation Beth Am, located at 3899 Sand Lake Road, Longwood, Florida is the first synagogue in Seminole County. It is a youthful and growing congregation where everyone is family and the community learns, laughs and celebrates life together. This session is open to the entire community. A Continental Breakfast will be served at 9:30 a.m. Please contact Elana Moss, program coordinator at Beth Am, if you plan on attending by calling the synagogue office at 407-862-3505 or by email at elanamcba@yahoo.com. For more information on this event and all activities at Beth Am consult the synagogue's web site at http://www.CongBethAm.org.