Dear Teachers, Help Your Students Learn the Facts. By weaving timeless Torah principles into your teaching, you ensure that these values live on, not just in words, but in the way our young people grow, act, and dream.
Dear Leaders of Yeshivot and Seminaries:
As we begin this exciting new year, with a new class of eager-to-learn young adults, I would like
to draw your attention to a rising, but unacknowledged challenge impacting a number of them:
same sex attraction, and sexual identity confusion.
It is not always a comfortable issue to acknowledge and discuss, however, serious and sincere
young Jews are dealing with these issues at increasingly high levels. Thirty percent of young
women in the US age 18-27 are now self- identifying as somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum. In
the elite universities, the numbers for both sexes are even higher. This cannot help but impact
our precious observant Jewish world.
We at Jewish Family Forever would like to help you provide clarity with compassion to your
faculty and students. We have been working hard to expose myths and misunderstandings and
provide those confused and in distress with access to Torah and scientific truth. Why wait until
students with sexual identity questions are struggling and coming forward to Rabbis and
counselors? Consider doing what a few religious institutions are doing including a sizeable well-
known Seminary program in Israel – teaching Torah and scientific clarity - upfront.
Over the past three years we have provided training for over 1500 Rabbis, teachers, counselors
and therapists spanning the observant Jewish world. Our video presentations have been seen
by over 15,000 viewers and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Despite a lack of any scientific evidence, young people are absorbing ideas that the reason for
their confusion is because they are LGBTQ and they need to self-label themselves and “come
out” and express this. They are further told there is nothing that can be done because their
condition is immutable. They are told that they have no free will. (This is the exact opposite of
what Rabbi Schneerson, ZT”L, stressed in his letter on this topic where he clearly expresses that
everyone has the God given capability to deal with these challenges.)
The truth is that upfront Torah and scientific learning can help prevent these outcomes which
not only devastate the young person’s future but also their family. Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz,
senior lecturer at Yeshivas Ohr Somayach and Rav of Kehillat Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem and
formerly the Rabbi of the Woodside Synagogue in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Professor of Law
at the University of Maryland Law School is the Rabbinic Advisor to Jewish Family Forever. He
has given numerous lectures on the foundational importance of the traditional family and he is
as clear as the Rebbe in his approach to the challenge. He encourages those who need help to
seek counseling from those who have Torah and scientific clarity.
Our website contains a whole host or articles, information and videos for sharing with staff and
students. If you feel that a consultation or presentation to staff or students from Jewish Family
Forever would be helpful, please let us know. Our website is:
https://www.jewishfamilyforever.org/
Dr. Koby Frances, our Education Consultant and a psychologist in private practice has had
tremendous success in helping clients move forward with clarity and confidence. (Nothing to do
with Reparative Therapy.) He has become a trusted voice in this area in the Orthodox
community and can be reached directly at: kobfran@gmail.com
Here is a recently published article on the exciting, emerging turnaround in the Orthodox world:
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/413894
We all know that this is a foundational moment in time for the precious souls that are attending
our institutions. Bezrat HaShem, let’s help them access Torah clarity and truth on this most
challenging topic.
Thank you for your consideration.
Please let us know how we can help.
L'shanah Tova,
Yehezkel Schiff
President, Jewish Family Forever
- This was distributed to all Yeshivah and Seminary Leaders in Israel.
