Jewish family (illustration)
Jewish family (illustration)Noam Moskowitz/Flash 90

The Beit Shean Hesder Yeshiva held a conference on the subject of family and familial relationships under the title "To Awaken Love."

The conference was initiated by Yeshiva Dean Rabbi Shlomo Shoshan and his wife Ora, who established a "family center" which holds workshops and activities throughout the year.

MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home), who spoke at the opening of the conference, said that "one of the main challenges in the postmodern era is the wish to break out of one's milieu. People wish to be totally unattached and this is part of the difficult cultural battle over family values."

"The desire to raise people completely cut off [from family] is an issue which is sweeping the world today. I think a large part of the fact that there is a difficult cultural struggle around family values concentrates on this point.

"Anyone who wants to fight the institution of the family wants to blur the concept that people have places where they have a feeling of belonging, the first of which is the family. Anyone who tries to undermine the family institution tries to undermine that concept, leading to disaster because this sense of belonging means much to forming our identity.

"We are identified with the family and we have a responsibility towards it. The fact that we are part of a family is a very important component of our identity. Strengthening family values is one of Israel's most important challenges today."

The conference was attended by hundreds of men and women from across the country, and included a wide range of lectures, classes, and workshops on the topics of family and familial relationships, jealousy and love, resolving disputes, and the gap between love and routine, among others.

Founder Ora Shoshan said, "In my job as a couples counselor, I meet many couples who are unwilling to live a life of emotional poverty and seek deeper meaning in married life. We therefore tried to ensure this conference would bring deep and enriching content into the inner reaches of our lives, and to do it with love."