On October 21st, 2010 the JGDC launched “Couples Aware”, a Rabbi Education Program presented in partnership with the NY Board of Rabbi’s (NYBR) and the UJA.
‘Couples Aware’ was created to better educate rabbis so that they may in turn inform their constituents, particularly young couples in pre-marital counseling, about the risks of Jewish Genetic Diseases and to encourage them to seek complete genetic screening prior to pregnancy.
The JGDC Rabbi Education Program consists of a physician or genetic counselor led a 45-minute seminar, a personal story from an individual with a family member afflicted with a Jewish Genetic Disease, and a rabbi led discussion and Q & A session.
Speakers at the Park Avenue Synagogue launch included: Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, Chair of this programs’ Rabbinic Advisory Committee and leader of the Park Avenue Synagogue, Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President NYBR, John Ruskay, Executive Vice President and CEO of UJA-Federation NY, Dr. Harry Ostrer, Professor and Division Director of Human Genetics Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology, NYU Langone Medical Center, and Randy Yudenfriend-Glaser, Chair of the JGDC
In attendance at the event were rabbis of all Jewish faiths from the NY, CT and NJ areas. The launch included a training session and Q&A moderated by Dr. Susan Klugman, Director of the Division of Reproductive Genetics at Montefiore Medical Center) and Rabbi Deborah Bravo of Temple Emanu-El in Edison, New Jersey.
Rabbi Education Program: In the News
The Jewish Week (NY): “Training Rabbis To Promote Screening”
On NBC’s New York Nightly News with Chuck Scarborough, Rabbi Joe Patasnik (Executive Director, New York Board of Rabbis) and Randy Yudenfriend Glaser (Chair, JGDC) discuss the JGDC Rabbi Education Program