Rabbi widens his ministry: New Yorker takes message about helping teens to conferences, seminars across U.S.

Originally published in The Detroit News, written by Janet Naylor

STERLING HEIGHTS -- Yehudah Fine has been called "The Rabbi of Times Square." He once spent his nights feeding peanut butter sandwiches and hot chocolate to crack dealers and combing the streets of New York City searching for runaways looking for a way out.

Now, retired from his days as a street rabbi, Fine brings his experiences as a counselor, therapist, educator and home schooler to Metro Detroit. He will be a featured speaker and workshop leader at the National Homeschool Conference this weekend in Sterling Heights.

It might not seem like a man used to working with teen prostitutes and hustlers would have much to say to parents who care enough to immerse themselves totally in their children’s education. But that’s not the case.

“What one learns with adolescents in the darkest hours of the night … has applications to all kids,” said Fine, still a New Yorker, but now spreading his message to conferences and seminars around the country. “The issues are the same, the fears are the same.”

The lessons he learned in the subways and alleys he termed “The Way Beyond” are just as applicable to well-off teens in upscale suburbs as they are to the street kids. He has distilled those lessons into a short list of tips for parents to improve communication with their children, without breaking down the parent-child relationship.

“Children are going to best learn how to tackle … life’s biggest dilemmas from their parents,” he said.

Not only do your teens need to see how you succeed, “they need to see how you fail and regroup, too.”

The conference is sponsored by the Clonlara School of Ann Arbor, which 20 years ago helped give birth to the modern home schooling movement. Fine educated one of his three children at home through the Clonlara program, which reaches 8,000 students in 25 countries.

“As home schooling parents, we aren’t perfect. Our children have problems, and sometimes, we’re not equipped to deal with them. So we’re educating ourselves,” said conference coordinator Carmen Amabile, who has home schooled both of his children, one of whom is now in college.

Ties that bind

Author, rabbi and family counselor Yehudah Fine believes that maintaining the lines of communication with your teenager can go a long way in preventing problems of violent, troubled youths.

Here are his top tips on how to get closer:

Tell your children you love them and why.
Stay in touch with your teen’s world.
Stay in close communication.
Be flexible. What worked at age 9 is irrelevant at age 16.

(Source: Times Square Rabbi: Finding Hope in Lost Kids’ Lives, 1997, by Yehudah Fine.)