Community Links Issue 222 by The Jewish Link

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December 28- January 11, 2 0 1 3

Vol. 9 Issue 222

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When The Unthinkable Happens

How can it be that a young man, of only twenty-something years old, could enter a school, of all places, and take the lives of so many, let alone the lives of children? Mia Adler Ozair, MA, LPCC, NCC

Stand & Deliver

"My hands have been shaking since nine o'clock this morning. My right hand is almost paralyzed. If I am ever to go down into history, it will be for this act. Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

THE COMMUNITY LINKS is published biweekly and is distributed free to the Jewish Community of Southern California. THE COMMUNITY LINKS accepts no responsibility for typographical errors or reliability of Kashrus of any advertisers. All submissions become the property of THE COMMUNITY LINKS and may be shortened and/or edited for length and clarity. Articles published in THE COMMUNITY LINKS express the views of the individual writers and may not necessarily represent the views of THE COMMUNITY LINKS. No artwork or any part of the magazine may be reprinted or otherwise duplicated without the written permission of the publisher.

Why Moshe Can’t Read

Understanding Why Students Struggle With Hebrew Reading. By Eyal Rav-Noy

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WHEN THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENS

Mia Adler Ozair, MA, LPCC, NCC

ow can it be that a young man, of only twentysomething years old, could enter a school, of all places, and take the lives of so many, let alone the lives of children? How do we as citizens of this country and in particular as Jews, make sense of the unthinkable? The reality is quite simple: we don’t. We can’t. It is not within the scope of human reason for the majority of human beings to understand or make sense of such actions, and perhaps that is part of what makes a situation like this truly unthinkable. For those people who believe they can make sense of this in a worldly way are perhaps themselves not quite well. As Jews who believe in a singular, omniscient G-d, we must come to a place of acceptance that no matter how much we wish to understand, how much we wish to know HaShem’s cheshbonot, calculations, we are not privy to this information. Perhaps it is in this exact point that our very faith in G-d is tested time and time again.

necticut with the intention of killing innocent children—all of these are tragic yet very real examples of the unthinkable that was thought of and carried out. What can we make of it with our limited view? According to the deepest facets of Judaism, we know that there exist two primary forces in G-d’s world—one for Light and one for darkness—and each will be revealed in ways that HaShem determines. We understand there is a Master Plan in G-d’s creation of this world and it presents us with our ultimate opportunity to trust that His wisdom and plan are ultimately in the best interest of each and every person’s soul. But in times like these when we mourn for the lost lives of innocent children, this is a difficult pill to swallow, let alone consider, as a part of a Grand Plan. We feel helpless, shocked, and wonder where to turn and what to do next.

As a therapist, people come to me in times of pain, confusion, trauma, and despair. At times I leave my office thinking that even if I try I could not create with my imagination the complicated and devastating situations that people are navigating each and every day in their own lives. Yet somewhere out there, others can and do come up with unthinkable ways to harm others. Has v’shalom, to fly an airplane into the Twin Towers, to strap a bomb to a child and say he will be a hero, to drive-by on a motorcycle and shoot innocent children at a school as happened in Europe, and to enter a school in Con-

• Trust. Make the conscious decision that you can and will trust HaShem and His Creation. Have a conversation with yourself, engage your soul—that higher part of you that can accept this—and let go of the rest of the conversation that triggers personal emotional pain. Move your focus to the world above us, the spiritual world, which at times can manifest itself in our world in ways we simply cannot intellectualize.

The following are some ideas to help alleviate the pain of this unthinkable circumstance.

• Give. Become heart-centered and use this as a way to enrich your connection with others. Give tzedaka to those in December 28 , 2012 • 323-965-1544 • info@communitylinks.info

need—from a large donation sent to people across the country to a one-dollar donation to the soul outside of the market. Each is valuable and each helps us move a step closer to our hearts and our G-d.

dichotomy in mind that while we grieve and heal from the unthinkable, there will eventually be Light revealed, and this is the foundation upon which our faith can make us stronger and more resolute.

• Look inward. Although most of us cannot physically travel across the country to mourn and comfort those in Connecticut, we can in fact comfort those close to us—our parents, our spouse, our children, our friends. We can hug them a bit tighter. We can share our appreciation of them with them. We can choose to let go of our own personal agenda and make the space for those around us to come closer in a meaningful and authentic way.

In overcoming the specific tragedy of the shooting in Connecticut, please be smart. Keep your own emotional reactions to a minimum in front of children, and depending upon their age shield them from the details of the events as best as is possible. If you are having a hard time dealing with your own feelings perhaps speak with your Rabbi, a friend, and/or a counselor. For as much as we wish these types of unthinkable events would simply not exist, the reality is that they do. The one thing we have in our power is to show the greatest respect for those who have suffered and/or perished by using the tragedy to grow and strengthen ourselves and our communities.

• Pray. Pray for those in pain around the world as the result of unthinkable events. Pray for those close to you. Pray for your own strength and courage to be the best you can be in this lifetime. Prayer is a powerful tool and although our days are packed with demands, prayer can be a comfort to us and those we pray for. •Keep your faith. In times of unthinkable chaos it is quite easy to lay down our faith and call it quits. However experience proves that from all things negative can rise something positive. From the scorched earth of a fire rises a richer, more fertile soil. Hold this

Mia Adler Ozair, MA, LPCC, NCC is a licensed clinical psychotherapist and educator with a private practice in Beverly Hills, California. Mia is licensed in both California and Illinois and she can be reached through her website at www.bhcounselingcenter.com, e-mail at mia@bhcounselingcenter.com, office 310-4645226, or followed on Twitter @MiaAdlerOzair.

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Stand & Deliver By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

This week the Book of Braishis ends. Yaakov (Jacob) summoned his son Yoseph (Joseph) and discussed final arrangements with him. He asked to be transported to Chevron and to be interred in the same cave as his father, mother, and grandparents. Yoseph returned home and an unprecedented event occurred. Yaakov took ill. He is the first human that the Torah records as getting sick. Yoseph was informed and quickly hurried to his father's bedside. The Torah tells us that when Yoseph was announced, "Israel (Jacob) exerted himself and sat up on the bed" (Genesis 48:2). Yoseph enters the room and Yaakov proceeded to recount major events of his life to him. Yaakov talked about his divine revelations and the blessings that the Almighty bestowed upon him. He discussed the death of Rachel and explained why he buried her in Bethlehem and not Hebron. Then Yaakov proceeded to bless his beloved son Yoseph's children in a unique manner. He designates Yoseph's children as

shevatim (tribes) with equal rights and inheritance as his other sons. One portion of the episode needs clarification. The Torah is usually short on detail. Why then does the Torah tell us that when Yoseph walked in Yaakov exerted himself and sat up in bed? Why is that significant? Who cares if he sat up or lay down? If he was able to sit, why should he not? And if it was very difficult for him to sit up, why did he? And isn't what Yaakov said more relevant than how he said it? Rashi explains that the seemingly supplementary detail teaches us a lesson. A father whose son has risen to power must show respect. It may have been quite difficult for Yaakov to sit, however it was important. One must show respect for royalty, even if it is his own child who has risen to power. I'd like to analyze the incident from another angle.

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American historian Paul F. Boller Jr. relates the following story: At noon on January 1st 1863, the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation was placed in front of Abraham Lincoln. He stared intensely at it as it lay before him on his desk. He picked up his pen to sign it, and was about to dip the quill into the ink when he hesitated and put his arm down. He paused, closed his eyes, and began the process again. Determinedly he picked up the quill, dipped it in the ink, and put it down. With a grim face he turned to Secretary of State William N. Seward and said, "My hands have been shaking since nine o'clock this morning. My right hand is almost paralyzed. If I am ever to go down into history, it will be for this act. My whole self is in it. However, if my hand trembles when I sign this proclamation, whoever examines it will say hereafter, 'he hesitated'". With that, the President mustered his strength, dipped the quill into the ink, and slowly but resolutely signed in perfect form -- Abraham Lincoln. As he lay on his deathbed, Yaakov Avinu was about to perform an unprecedented act. He was about to bestow the

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title of shevatim, tribes, to his grandchildren Ephraim and Menashe. This was an honor only relegated to his own children. Then he blessed them with words that were destined to become the hallmark of paternal blessings for generations to come. "By you shall (the children of) Israel bless their children - May G-d shall make you like Ephraim and Menashe. Thus shall be your children." Those were not blessings that could be endowed in a prone position. As weak as Yaakov was, he knew that the future of two young tribes lay in the strength of his blessing. He wouldn't give it lying down. Yaakov Avinu knew that any sign of weakness that he would convey in transferring that most important message would be recognized for eternity. He mustered his strength and sat up to give that blessing that would wax eternal. Execution of great actions needs great strength and fortitude. Our forefather Yaakov knew that just as there are things you can't take lying down, there are also many things, namely greatness and blessing, that you cannot give lying down. Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky www.torah.org

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Why Moshe Can’t Read Understanding Why Students Struggle With Hebrew Reading* By Eyal Rav-Noy © 2012, CAP IT, Inc. *This article has is an excerpt from the original. Visit www.capitlearning to read the full article

KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE As students settle into another school year, it is an opportune time to reflect on an inconvenient truth: Too many children struggle to read Hebrew. Much to teacher’s and principals’ dismay and parents’ frustrations, about 20 to 30 percent of children are not reading on grade level. Schools must invest heavily in an always occupied resource room, and parents are forced to hire tutors, an unwelcome addition to an already high tuition cost. Some of these children will be labeled with colorful acronyms such as ADD, ADHD, or LD, while others will be given medications as they keep getting into trouble by displaying at-risk behavior. Success in Chumash and Gemara will be out of the question, and one need not look far into the future to understand the predicament these children will face. The inability to give children the Hebrew reading skills they need not only damages their selfesteem, it threatens their future involvement in Jewish life. Imagine the terror and panic that seizes a young man who is called up to recite during prayer service before the entire community, or a father who stumbles through Kiddush before his wife and children. To solve this reading problem, we must have an honest discussion about its origins. It is my contention children are not reading fluently because of a fundamental misunderstanding of what is usually referred to as the “Mesorah Method” (“MM”) , also known as the “Kamatz Aleph UH” method. The Mesora Method that was espoused by all religious rabbis in the past has been inadvertently distorted to mean the exact opposite of what it originally meant, convincing a generation or two that this approach was the only acceptable and kosher way to teach children. This error sentenced — and continues to sentence — thousands of students to undue hardship and confusion. Before setting the record straight on the MM, a little introduction into the Aleph-Bais is in order. We must first understands the basics of our written code before we understand its reading methods.

UNDERSTANDING THE Aleph-BAIS The Aleph-Bais is a difficult, but efficient reading and writing system. Primitive writing systems are easy because they use pictographs, pictures for words, like a picture of a hand to signify the word “Stop!” The Aleph-Bais is difficult because it forces people to do two things that are unnatural: consciously split the words of speech into their smallest sounds, and imagine that these sounds have shapes. Thus, a word like Torah is split into tiny sounds, T + OH + R + UH. These sounds get their own corresponding symbols and some symbols are blended together: T is blended with OH, R is blended with UH (the final HEH is silent). The upshot is that the AlephBais is efficient because once you have memorized the various sounds and their corresponding symbols — the shapes of the letters and vowels — you can theoretically read and write an infinite number of words. This is a much more efficient method than memorizing different pictographs for each and every word. This brings us to a startling conclusion: Sounds came first; letters are merely their symbolic representations. Therefore, most students are incorrectly taught how to read. They are introduced to letters first, and are told that these letters have sounds. But this is backwards. Letters don’t exist in nature. Letters don’t have sounds. Sounds of speech do exist in nature, and we symbolically represented them with letters. Only later did we name the letters Aleph, Bais, Gimmel, etc. One thing is clear: when it comes to reading, a letter’s “sound” is more important than its name. HOW THE “MESORAH” BECAME THE MESORAH With this knowledge in mind we can reconstruct how reading was once taught by teachers and parents. A teacher would open any book they were lucky enough to possess. They would point to a letter and teach its sound. The teacher would then repeat the process with other letters, and possibly some

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vowels, teaching the student how to blend sounds together. They would repeat this process with all the letters and vowels until the student grasped the information completely, at which time the student would be an independent reader. The method can be summed up as follows: First teach the student a letter then teach him a vowel, and finally teach him how to blend the two together: “Kamatz Aleph UH!”

2. The letter and vowel “names” are the most important piece of knowledge the student needs to know, as opposed to the letter and vowel “sounds” which are not as vital.

All was well until a new trend was introduced by certain educators who made the following observation: Hebrew can be read without vowels. So they concluded that they did not need to teach vowels. Then they went further: Why should we teach the letters, why not simply teach whole words instead? For example, show a student the word “Abba” and tell him that this word says Abba. We can skip teaching letters and vowels if we can just teach entire words. Out of convenience I will refer to this approach as “Whole Language.”

This distorted approach to the MM’s original intent hinders the student’s ability to read properly by artificially creating three basic problems:

It is unsurprising that the rabbis were horrified by this development. Hebrew was always taught by first teaching the student the small sounds of language and showing him how to blend them together: Kamatz + Aleph = UH. Now they were told to skip the “details” and teach students to memorize “whole” words. No wonder that the rabbis fought this tooth and nail. They argued that their traditional (Mesorah) approach was superior to the new one. Decades of the “Whole Language” experience has proved them right! Over decades, the Mesorah Method’s original intent was lost, distorted, and misapplied. How did this happen? Answer: It was taken literally! I will refer to this approach by the name: “Literalist MM.” THE “MESORAH METHOD” TAKEN LITERALLY Whole Language never took off within the Frum world, so most Frum people forgot what the “reading war” was about. All that remained was the term “Mesorah Method” or “Kamatz Aleph UH Method,” but most people forgot why this method was developed to begin with. The disaster soon followed: People took the words literally. “Kamatz Aleph UH” no longer meant “teach the student the individual letter sounds and vowel sounds, and then teach him how to blend them together”; instead it was understood to mean “only teach the student the name Kamatz, and only teach the student the name Aleph, make him say the names: Kamatz, Aleph; and only afterwards must the student say: UH!” So instead of fighting against Whole Language, the MM was misunderstood to mean the following: 1. When teaching to read, we must follow this order: First the student needs to see and say the Kamatz, then he needs to see and say the Aleph, and only afterwards does he conclude: “UH.”

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3. Only a Kamatz and an Aleph together can make the sound UH. Meaning: Letters and vowels on their own have no sounds. Only when they are joined together do they make a sound.

1. Students read upside down. 2. Teachers teach the letter names and not the actual sounds the letters and vowels make. 3.Students have to memorize far more information than they would otherwise need to. The above three points are interconnected and, taken together, they are the main reason that so many of our children cannot read on grade level. I would elaborate on these points. (For a complete discussion, please see the full article here www.capitlearning.com). PROBLEM 1: READING UPSIDE-DOWN The first and most obvious problem caused by the Literalist MM is that the student is taught to read “upside-down.” When a student is taught “Kamatz Aleph UH,” they take it literally: First they look at the Patach Bais AHB Kamatz, then the Aleph, and then they say them together: “UH.” This Fig. 2 process encourage the student to read Hebrew from the bottom to the top, which is wrong (Fig. 1). Hebrew is supposed to be read from top to bottom and right to left (Fig. 2). The “Kamatz Aleph UH” apB + Ah = BAH proach reverses the order and forces the student to read upside-down, from the bottom (Kamatz or Patach) to the top (Aleph or Bais). Fig. 1

This leaves the student in a quandary: Does he read from top to bottom, or bottom to top? Most students discover the answer on their own: Hebrew is read from top to bottom. This means that the teacher’s implied direction of “bottom to top reading” must be ignored by the student. While some students figure out that they should be bypassing the teacher’s explicit instructions and read Hebrew “top to bottom,” too many students cannot “reverse engineer” the teacher’s instructions. Any student who fails to do so will end up totally confused by this contradiction.

I would point out that it is only the “Ashkenazy Literalist MM” that suffers from “dyslexia” as it teachers its students to read upside-down. The “Sephardi Mesorah” has it right: “Aleph Kamatz AH,” Aleph before the Kamatz, top to bottom. Could there really be two different traditions here? Of course not! The Mesorah of teaching students to read “Kamatz Aleph AH” was never meant to be taken literally. It originally meant: Teach the students the individual parts of the code before you teach them how to blend these parts together. PROBLEM 2: WHAT’S IN A NAME? The Literalist MM insists that teachers must first teach the letter names, and only after the student knows the names can they proceed to learn the sounds that correspond with them. This works for some students, but not all. While students seem to grasp a symbol’s name, many don’t seem to hold on to their corresponding sound. Parents and teachers phrase the problem like this: “The child seems to know their Aleph-Bais, but for some reason they can’t read.” Why is this so? The explanation is as follows: When it comes to reading, the names of the letters and vowels are a hindrance. Take for example the word “Siddur.” It is unimportant that the “S” sound is called “Samech” and that the vowel underneath it is called a “Chirik.” What matters are the “S” and “EE” sounds, and that together they say “See,” and that they form the first diphone (i.e. consonant + vowel) of the word “Siddur.” The names Samech and Chirik are completely beside the point. One can be a perfect Hebrew reader and never learn the symbols’ names. Most students can hold on to multiple associations (name + sound). But for too many students these multiple associations are a source of confusion. To be sure, students can and should master the letter’s and vowel’s names. The letters are especially necessary for page numbers and Biblical chapter and verse demarcations. But teaching students the symbols’ names before teaching them the sounds burdens them with information they do not need, and hinders their ability to read. Still, there will be parents and teachers who insist that letter names be taught before the letter sounds They should be aware of the potential problem this can cause, and be ever vigilant regarding any negative consequences to the student’s ability to read. I recommend that this entire process should take place outside of and before the “K’riah” class. So once a child begins to learn to read, the names of the letters should be dropped, and the sounds should take their place. After the reading class is over, the names can be reintroduced. PROBLEM 3: INFORMATION OVERLOAD Hebrew contains 33 consonants and 12 vowels, depending on how you count them. All Hebrew words are combinations of these letters and vowels. If we multiply the number of letters by the number of vowels, we realize that Hebrew contains a few hundred “sound combinations.” 22

The Literalist MM forces students to memorize not only the (few) consonants and vowels, but also all their possible combination. When a student is taught “BAH” (the Patach under the Bais), the student is forced to memorize the entire combination together. So instead of 2 symbols combined, the student memorizes on big symbol that is made of two parts. There is a reason for this: Patach + Bais cannot equal “BAH.” It doesn’t even sound like BAH. A Patach contains the following sounds: P, T and CH. Where is the P sound, the T sound, the CH sound in BAH? Furthermore, a Bais contains a S sound. But, there is no S sound in BAH either. So the student knows that he must skip the “Patach” & “Bais” sounds and only retain the “BAH.” To repeat: B + AH = BAH. But under no circumstances does BAIS + Patach = BAH. In other words, the student is not taught to break each word to its smallest components, but rather to recognize consonants with their vowels simultaneously. So instead of the student having to identify 33 consonants and 12 vowels and blend them together, they now need to identity and memorize hundreds of different combinations. This means that students must memorize almost a dozen times more information to be able to read accurately. To add to the confusion, according to the Literalist MM, Hebrew does not have one Patach, but actually over 20 different Patachs: a Patach under an Aleph, a Patach under a Bais, etc. The same would apply to all the vowels. In the same vein, the Literalist MM has more than one Aleph. It has over 10 Alephs: one over a Patach, one over a Kamatz etc. CONCLUSIONS Hebrew is a phonetic language that can be mastered by everyone, yet we find so many struggling Hebrew readers. This issue can be avoided if those running our school systems realize that there is a flaw in their teaching method. They have misinterpreted the Mesorah by taking it literally, and consequently developed a completely new and unworkable reading method for the three reasons detailed above. The good news is that these problems can be avoided. We can stop confusing students with conflicting instructions, information overload, and illogical postulates. We can make learning to read Hebrew simple, easy, and fun. With a little effort, we can minimize the number of children who struggle with Hebrew. For this to happen, we must embrace the original and authentic Mesorah, which always was and will be: Teach your children how to read Hebrew! Eyal Rav-Noy is director of JLA (Jewish Learning Academy), specializing in adult education and Jewish outreach. He is the author of the book “Who Really Wrote the Bible? And Why it Should be Taken Seriously Again.” He has lectured on the topic of Biblical Literature and Archeology, and made radio appearances all over the US. Together with his wife Tzippy, he founded CAP IT, Inc., a company that offers complete Hebrew reading solutions through its unique curriculums and educational methods. Their reading kits are being implemented in schools around the US and Canada. They offer their services at the CAP IT!® Learning Center, where they evaluate and treat students with learning disabilities and special needs. For feedback regarding this article, he can be reached on his site: www.CAPITLEARNING.com

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“Debunking Healthy Food Myths” - Part 2

“Myth #2: Healthy Food Costs an Arm and a Leg” By Shaina Kamman, AADP

Myth: Healthy food costs an arm and a leg. Fact: Packaged, ready-made, anything-with-a-shiny-wrapper costs an arm and a leg, and will put a real and unnecessary drain on your resources. In addition, packaged, ready-made, anythingwith-a-shiny-wrapper is not necessarily healthy. So how do we make healthy food that is economical? Well, let’s first remember our #1 Starting Place. Ask yourself: Would my great-grandmother recognize this and feed it to her family? If the answer is yes, you are onto something good! Today’s simple example is a delicious, deeply nourishing, and easy-to-make soup. Cream of Broccoli Soup In a big pot, sauté onions and celery in Extra Virgin Olive Oil on a medium flame until translucent. Add in salt and whatever spices you like. Chop up broccoli and potatoes into 1-2 inch pieces and throw them into the pot. Add leftover chicken soup broth from Shabbos (or whenever else you made it). Bring it all to a boil, and then simmer until the broccoli and potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. Then blend it all up with an immersion blender. Cilantro Lovers, you can add in half a bunch of chopped cilantro to the pot a few minutes before you blend it. If you want it really creamy, you can add a tablespoon or two of coconut cream to each bowl. Serve with a piece of whole grain bread and you’ve got a complete meal. The soup freezes well and can be brought out again as a super-fast, super-healthy, super-delicious dinner. This is the kind of ready-made that is great! So what’s so good about it, hmm? Onions, broccoli, and potatoes are some of the most inexpensive and most nourishing vegetables. Broccoli is high in carotenoids and Vitamin C and contains B-complex, phosphorus, and potassium. It is also rich in chromium, which protects

against diabetes, and indoles, which is a potent anti-cancer substance. Onions contain carotenoids, B-Complex Vitamins, all-important B6 and Vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sulphur compounds. They improve kidney function, lower cholesterol, have anti-bacterial qualities, and are also helpful in breaking up mucus in the throat, lungs, and nasal passageways. Potatoes provide Vitamin C and B-Complex, potassium, calcium, and iron. Chicken broth is inexpensive to make (and is sort of free is you are using leftovers that would have been thrown out!) and is a real powerhouse nutritionally. Chicken broth, like other meat stocks, contains the minerals from the bones, cartilage, marrow, and vegetables in the form of electrolytes, which makes them very easy to digest and assimilate in the body. It is also rich in gelatin, which aids digestion and has been used to successfully treat many intestinal disorders including hyperacidity, colitis, Crohn’s disease, and many chronic disorders including anemia, diabetes, muscular dystrophy, and cancer. The amino acids that are released from the cartilage into the broth have been used in the treatment of cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. And Rambam and your great-grandmother both prescribed chicken broth as treatment for colds and asthma. Add it all together and you see that this meal will not cost you an arm and a leg, is delicious, and can be frozen for a quick dinner for when you need it. And is something your great-grandmother and Rambam would be proud of! Myth #2 has been debunked. Shaina Kamman, AADP is a Board Certified Health Coach supporting you to Transform Your Kitchen into a Haven of Health! Whether you simply recognize the value of robust health and prevention, or you have specific health concerns you want to address, Shaina’s individualized program will make your transition easy, fun, and delicious! You can find more information at www.LifeWithin.info or on www.facebook.com/TheLifeWithin.

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but I have a case at the present time which greatly resembles the Newtown case in the kind of danger presented. I have a case involving a 22 year old who has made active threats against his mother, to the point where she fears for her life. The last threats were made with the police present, resulting in a forced hospitalization. This represents the eighth time in the past year that there was a forced hospitalization of this 22 year old young man. Each time, he gets hospitalized, he takes the medications which are prescribed. With the medications, he gets stabilized. Then he gets released. As soon as he is discharged, he stops taking his medications, as he claims he really does not need them. He then accuses his mother of having taken away his freedom by getting him hospitalized. He gets agitated. He threatens his mother, but also threatens all who around him. He actually has attacked his mother, but she has been rescued by those around her. By Robert J. Rome, Ph.D. He cannot live with anyone, having attempted to live in half-way homes as well as We are saddened by the events in Newtown, CT. The deaths residential substance abuse settings. He becomes homeless. of 20 children dealt a blow unlike any previous situation in He comes to attack his mother, leading once again to a hosour country. The acts of heroism committed by the six teach- pitalization. This happens every two to three weeks. ers who died were unbelievable. The father has written a letter to try to stop these “revolv-

Repeat of Newtown, CT

In the wake of the events in Newtown, there have been calls for new gun laws. Should individuals be entitled to carry assault weapons? Should clips of 30 or more bullets be outlawed? Should there be semi-automatic weapons in the hands of average citizens which shoot a 30-round clip in about 10 seconds? Should there be weapons in a family where one of its members has significant mental health problems? These are some of the questions which have emerged in the aftermath of Newtown. We expect there to be quite a debate on gun control after Newtown. But, what about the mental health issues which arise in the aftermath of Newtown? How was an individual with obvious mental health issues able to carry out the actions of that fateful day? Were there mental health services available to the mother? How did this individual escape the attention of authorities? Was the mother all alone in her efforts to assist her son? How can we prevent a re-occurrence of these tragic events? We will face an all-out discussion about the gun control issues and about the mental health issues involved with Newtown. As President Obama said at the multi-faith memorial service, we simply cannot have this event occur again.

ing” hospitalizations. He reasons that he has been repeatedly hospitalized and released, each time refusing to take his medications. If released, he will just stop taking his medications again. He will come after his mother. The father reasons, declare the young man as needed a conservatorship, to be conserved and maintained in a hospital setting until he improves. But the psychiatrists treat each hospitalization as a separate event. The boy starts out in the lowest program as he begins to take medication. He gradually improves, and he is upped to the next higher level. As he continues to take his medication, he improves some more, convincing the psychiatrists that he is ready for discharge. No psychiatrist is willing to go to court on the family’s behalf. No psychiatrist is willing to go out on a limb to get a conservatorship. The young man then is released, to repeat the pattern all over again. The family is left with one option: File a complaint with the police regarding the making of “terrorist threats” against the young man. But what if the boy is able to convince the police that he was not really serious and the police merely issue a warning. Or, if the police arrest the young man and he is later freed. He will have even more anger against the parents, leading to who knows what. Here is a case where we know of a danger that a young man

We may not want a repetition of the events in Newtown, 26

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represents. He has actually gone and attacked his mother. He has threatened others. Yet, he is about to be released. He will be free to torment his mother, at best, and at worst, actually attack and kill her and others. We live in a difficult time. Steps taken to prevent abuses in hospitalization marked the eighties and nineties. There were fears of individuals losing their freedom with hospitalizations. But in these difficult times, do we not need protections against innocent families and others? Do we not need to protect those whose are threatened and actually harmed? Can we afford in this age of mass murders to free a potential murderer? Don’t we need to protect the rights of the innocent against one who makes such threats and actually seeks to harm his mother? Do we have to wait to see another Newtown, or worse? It is time that we stop this nonsense. How many hospitalizations need occur before the system recognizes the danger that exists? How many times does a parent have to be threatened, and actually attacked, before the system will respond? There are simply no rights of a parent in regard to a son who has reached his 18th birthday. The parent must handle all of the danger presented without anyone protecting him or her.

We offer counseling for: Domestic Violence/Anger Management Groups Sexual Addictions

We talk of not repeating Newtown. But we allow event after event to occur where we can see the potential for a repeat of the tragedy of Newtown.

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We must get serious. We must stop playing games. We have to weigh the rights of the accused with the rights of a nation that has long been victimized. And we have to opt for the protection of the threatened. Here we have a danger presenting itself clearly and definitely. We can’t tolerate the danger of another Newtown. Yet, all the rules of our society do nothing to prevent such a recurrence.

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DNA/Paternity Testing Robert J. Rome, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in clinical practice in Encino, California. He can be reached at RJRome@aol.com.

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Baby Boy Ariel and Esther Ovadio Jay Karas & Monica Osborne Send us your mazel tovs to info@communitylinks.info

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