Parenting Jewish Teens: A Guide for the Perplexed

Raising a teenager is difficult; your Jewish values can help make it easier.

Relationships with teenage children can be maddening and frustrating. They undergo the most peculiar transition from children you think you know into mysterious adolescent strangers you often wish you didn't.

Drawing upon the teachings, insights, and wisdom that have sustained the Jewish people throughout the generations, this groundbreaking and invaluable guidebook will help you navigate the tumultuous journey of parenting a Jewish child into adulthood while asking―and answering―important questions, including:

• How is my Jewish teen’s life different from my life when I was a teen?
• How do I cope with the pain of separation as my child enters the teenage years?
• What are the causes of the conflict between me and my teen, and how can I help our family move through our most difficult moments?
• How must my own behavior change as my teen grows older?
• Is it possible to live with differences in Jewish belief and observance within the same family during my child’s teenage years?
• What are the unique challenges of parenting Jewish teens in special situations, such as an interfaith home; a special-needs teen; an adopted teen; or a teen who is engaged in risky or self-destructive behaviors?

Joanne Doades, mother of three, is an award-winning Jewish educator who is a featured speaker at conferences, workshops and training programs on Jewish parenting and Jewish identity development topics. She is director for curriculum development for the Union for Reform Judaism's Department of Lifelong Jewish Learning.