The Role of Judaism in Family Relationships

Abstract

This article explores the religious and social underpinnings of family as a central social structure to Jewish life. Torah and Talmudic sources, conceptual papers, and empirical research that address the relevance of family to Judaism are examined. Suggestions for working with Jewish families in a therapeutic setting are provided.Este artículo explora los fundamentos religiosos y sociales de la familia como estructura social central en la vida judía. Se examinan fuentes de la Torah y el Talmud, ensayos conceptuales e investigaciones empíricas que tratan la relevancia de la familia en el judaísmo. Se proporcionan sugerencias para trabajar con familias judías en un entorno terapéutico.

Shalom bayit—Peace of the Home: Ritual and Tradition in American Jewish Families

“…While this suggests that Judaism may impact a variety of family relationships via similar processes, the presence of a unique theme for each relational group suggests that Judaism's impact may in some ways also be dependent on relationship type. In addition, we find it interesting that only The current study is an examination of the familial and relational impacts of Judaism (Krieger, 2010;. However, there are several limitations to our study.…”

“…Some scholars have partially credited the survival of Judaism to the importance and value Judaism places on the family (Schlossberger & Hecker, 1998). Jewish sacred texts and laws emphasize the importance of marriage, childbearing, and childrearing responsibilities (Krieger, 2010). Indeed, both the Torah (the Five books of Moses) and the Talmud (rabbinical teachings regarding Jewish law) teach of the importance, even centrality, of familial relationships.…”

“…While the Torah provides some guidelines for marriage, the Talmud addresses marriage in much more depth, including expositions on responsibilities, obligations, and practices that should occur within marriage. In America, many religious practices ideally take place within the home and deal with spouses' responsibilities to nurture their children-and to honor their progenitors (Krieger, 2010). Davey, Fish, and Robila (2001) found that while some Jewish individuals felt that their religious rituals and traditions were inherently important or even sacred, others believed rituals were important because of the perceived benefit these observances had on their family relationships.…”

“…However, despite the importance of family in Judaism, little research has focused on family processes in Jewish families (Krieger, 2010;. In this article, we identify and explore strengths in exemplary Jewish families (that were referred to us by their rabbis) that reportedly help foster positive outcomes in life, marriage, and parenting.…”

Jewish Meditation in Counseling

“…Given that individuals may identify as Jewish by ethnicity, religion, and/or culture, several authors have noted the importance of understanding the complexity of the Jewish identity in counseling (Altman et al, ; Krieger, ; Schlosser, ). Of the 4.22 million Jewish adults in the United States, approximately 975,000 identify as Jewish ethnically but not religiously (Saxe & Tighe, ).…”