Standing in Two Worlds with Doctor Sam Juni Episode 21-Cowered by the Command : Be fruitful-The conundrum faced by a couple with fertility issues-Extreme medical intervention or adoption

Inspired by Tamara Jenkins’s critically acclaimed Private Life, detailing a husband and wife's struggles to have a child, Doctor Juni sets forth some steep psychological challenges that threaten any happy resolution to many Orthodox couples faced with the same quandary confronting the fictional characters in the film.Rabbi Kivelevitz points out that adoption was originally restricted to orphans and viewed solely as an act of kindness to abandoned children. The discussants outline the religious, cultural, and psychological aspects of the Fertility Anguish Syndrome.Kivelevitz eloquently depicts the prevalent pain of childlessness which he sees as a potential threat to the self-concept of some couples as it mitigates marital viability. This is especially true in cultures where childrearing is the cardinal purpose of marriage. This, in addition to the positive value children have on the richness of the marital relationship proper.On the flip side, Prof. Juni elaborates on the pernicious effects of mandates on any human endeavor. They are in agreement, however, that resentment will prove inevitable in reaction to the traumas often connected to IVF and adoption procedures, and will burst to the surface with negative repercussions.Prof. Juni is emphatic that there is always an underlying feeling of resentment on the part of adopted children. Arguing that children are best off if they never become aware of their adoption, Dr. Juni acknowledges that Halachic guidelines preempt this possibility in religiously observant families – particularly when adopting a non-Jewish child.From the Rabbinic perspective,. Kivelevitz shares details of the keen sensitivity to personal issues by the contemporary Rabbinate and outlines Halachic innovations in the IVF and adoption arenas. He also shares his experiences in the Modern Orthodox community, where he finds no evident prejudice toward adopted children who bear tell-tale signs of hailing from non-Jewish heritages.The episode stresses the value of couples having their eyes wide open before considering a response to childlessness . Kivelevitz promotes the option of coming to terms with the reality of infertility and considering adoptive or other options, while Juni stresses the need for preemptive counseling to anticipate the negative effects inherent in any steps they may consider.Doctor Samuel Juniis one of the foremost research psychologists in the world today.He has published groundbreaking original research in seventy different peer reviewed journals, and is cited continuously with respect by colleagues and experts in the field who have built on his theories and observations.Samuel Juni studied inYeshivas Chaim Berlinunder Rav Yitzchack Hutner, and in Yeshiva University as aTalmidof Rav Joseph Dov Soloveitchick.ProfessorJuni is a prominent member of theAssociation of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, and has regularly presented addresses to captivated audiences.Associated with NYU since 1979,Juni has served as Director of MA and PhD programs, all the while heading teams engaged in important research.Professor Juni's scholarship on aberrant behavior across the cultural, ethnic, and religious spectrum is founded onpsychometric methodologyand based on a psycho-dynamicpsychopathologyperspective.He is arguably the preeminent expert inDifferential Diagnostics, with each of his myriad studiesentailing parallel efforts in theory construction and empirical data collection from normative and clinical populations.Professor Juni created and directed NYU's Graduate Program in Tel Aviv titledCross-Cultural Group Dynamics in Stressful Environments.Based inYerushalayim, he collaborates with Israeli academic and mental health specialists in the study of dissonant factors and tensions in the Arab-Israeli conflict and those within the Orthodox Jewish community, while exploring personality challenges of second-generation Holocaust survivors.Below is a partial list of the journalsto which Professor Juni has contributed over 120 articles.Many are available on lineJournal of Forensic PsychologyJournal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma.International Review of VictimologyThe Journal of Nervous and Mental DiseaseInternational Forum of PsychoanalysisJournal of Personality AssessmentJournal of Abnormal PsychologyJournal of Psychoanalytic AnthropologyPsychophysiologyPsychology and Human DevelopmentJournal of Sex ResearchJournal of Psychology and JudaismContemporary Family TherapyAmerican Journal on AddictionsJournal of Criminal PsychologyMental Health, Religion & CultureAs Rosh Beis Medrash, Rabbi Avraham Kivelevitz serves asRavandPosekfor the morningminyanat IDT.Hundreds of listeners around the globe look forward to his weeklyShiurinTshuvos and Poskim.Rav Kivelevitz is aMaggid ShiurforDirshu Internationalin Talmud and Halacha as well as a Dayan with theBeth Din of America.Please leave us a review or email us at [email protected] more information on this podcast visityeshivaofnewark.jewishpodcasts.org See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. 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