Twelve Steps to Teshuva

Live Parenting Teleconference

Monday Evening, September 2nd at 10:00 p.m. EDT

Playback Number for Part Three after the conference:

(209) 647-1699 Participant Code: 827269#

Click here to listen to the 3rd teleconference or insert this link in your browser: http://tinyurl.com/12StepstoTeshuva

With hearts brimming with gratitude to Hashem, we are pleased to inform you of the birth of our granddaughter to our children Alanna and Baruch Horowitz. Mazel tov to our mechutanim Gary and Serena Apfel, to our mothers Beile Nutovic and Bracha Berger, and to Alanna's grandparents Mrs. Jenny Apfel and Ben and Betty Jacobowitz. May our granddaughter be a source of nachas to her wonderful parents, our extended families and all of Klal Yisroel.

As a result of the simcha in our lives, the third segment of our

"Time Out" teleconferences (see here for the original post on this matter - which generated over 83,000 hits) will be postponed to this coming Monday, September 2nd at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Dial-in Number for recorded call: (209) 647-1699

Participant Code: 827269#

Click here to listen to the recorded first teleconference, or insert this link in your browser: http://tinyurl.com/Horowitztimeout1

Click here to listen to the recorded second teleconference, or insert this link in your browser: http://tinyurl.com/TimeOut2Horowitz

Click here to listen to the 3rd teleconference or insert this link in your browser: http://tinyurl.com/12StepstoTeshuva

Since the teleconference will be so close to Rosh Hashana, we will redirect the focus of our talk to our own self-improvement with the understanding that the best chinuch lessons we can give our children in the arena of middos and personal growth is by modeling those values ourselves.

The topic for Monday's teleconference will be "Twelve Steps to Teshuva (Repentance)," where we will explore the striking similarities between the Rambam's approach to the halachic "Steps" one must take to perform teshuvaand the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous (for the record, the Rambam had the "copyright" 700 years before Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith.) Having worked with recovering addicts for many years, I find this to be a fascinating subject and hope you will gain from our exploration of this matter.

During our talk, I will share with you the response of one of my heroes, Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski, to the question I posed to him years ago - "Why is it that millions of addicts successfully "did teshuva" and changed their destructive habits, while I find myself struggling to improve my shortcomings year after year with less-than-perfect results?"

On the subject of Twelve Steps and recovery, my family will be returning to the Madraigos Rosh Hashana retreat this year and I will be a volunteer member of their staff, delivering a variety of shiurim and lectures over Yom Tov. Madraigos is a wonderful, Woodmere-NY-based organization that supports Jewish men and women who are in Twelve-Step Recovery programs all year long (Madraigos is Hebrew for steps). I very strongly encourage anyone struggling with an addiction problem to contact them and consider attending the retreat, which I found to be a transformational experience.

To help sponsor the Rosh Hashana stay of a member of Madraigos, or to assist them with their incredible work, please contact Rabbi Josh Zern at jzern@madraigos.org.

This year, I will be a scholar-in-residence at the Smilow Family ToursSuccos Program for the entire Yom Tov. In addition to the divrei Torah drashos, I will be leading a parenting track of their lecture series, where we will explore a wide range of parenting topics with extended Q&A sessions throughout the first and second days of Succos. The Smilow Family has graciously offered to give a meaningful gift to Project YES for people who book as a result of reading about it on our website. If you are considering joining us for Succos, kindly mention Project YES when booking.

P.S. Parents; please speak to your children about BOTH "Stranger Danger" and overall "Child Safety/Abuse Prevention.

Here are links to 3 free 4-5 minute videos which are designed to give you the tools and language to have safety talks with your kids:

#1 youtu.be/O3i9Gdlbw1g

#2. youtu.be/zS7WBs_osNE

#3 youtu.be/lp0vjJolygQ
and you can purchase our Project YES child safety book, “Let’s Stay Safe!” online at http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/letsstaysafe/index.html or at any of the local Jewish bookstores.

You can also download our Read-Aloud Video Version of our Child Safety Book here and watch it with your children.