Interview conducted by: Eli Ryp, LSW, LMSW, Social Worker at Ocean Partnership for Children

Current Job: Licensed Social Worker & Commissioner of Lakewood Fire Department

Age: 29

Hometown: Lakewood

Fun Fact: I served as a paratrooper in Battalion 890 as well as lead navigator & sharpshooter in the Israeli Army.

You’ve been making the rounds quite a bit in the Lakewood publications regarding your position as Commissioner with the Lakewood Fire Department…but what the public may not know is that you also perform life-saving work daily in a completely different realm. What does your day job entail?

I am a social worker/therapist who works with children, teens, and their parents through Nesivos Pathways, a mental health agency which provides therapeutic support services to Lakewood families. The agency’s clinical director Binyamin Greenspoon, LCSW is an out-of-the box thinker like myself and has inspired me with his unique and thoughtful approach to helping others. Binyamin gives people the confidence to grow and the ability to shine through his belief in emphasizing the individual’s strengths. 

Other than your work with Nesivos Pathways, where you help youth struggling with general issues such as school or interpersonal challenges, you seemed to have developed a more particular focus in the demographic of children and teens. What inspired you to begin working with the at-risk population?

I believe that most of us in the helping profession end up working with those we can connect to on a personal level. At a young age, I struggled very much in school and by the time I entered tenth grade, I had gone through four different high schools. I felt very misunderstood throughout my school years and my young adulthood was not always a smooth ride. Baruch Hashem, I was able to hold strong to my frumkeit, mostly due to my supportive parents and family who continue to inspire me in Yiddishkeit. Therefore, I feel driven to give back and help young men as others have done for me, giving them the support that they may not receive from natural resources. My volunteer work as a mentor for the Minyan Shelanu, a drop-in-center for young men in the community, is so rewarding for the very fact that I can interact and connect with those who struggle with challenges to which I can relate.

Can you tell us more about your work with children?

I enjoy very much working with children as I find my ability to understand them originates in part from growing up with 12 siblings and having countless nieces & nephews, bli Ayin Hara. Children have a unique perspective on life and therefore can be misunderstood at times. Baruch Hashem, with big families may come a lack of time and/or ability to give proper attention which is much needed for children to grow and thrive. I appreciate working with children particularly as their honesty and capability of expressing themselves is both entertaining and enlightening.

How would you summarize your main approach in therapy or your primary therapeutic modality?

Although I use traditional cognitive-behavioral and motivational interviewing therapies within my work, my main approach with clients involves helping them explore where they are now in life and where they truly would like to be. Most of us walk around with a feeling that we are not where we want to be in life, that we should be doing something else to be growing whether spiritually, emotionally, or mentally. When you ignore your goals or unfulfilled potential, you could develop stress in the body, and most certainly when you ignore that gut instinct, or pit, in your stomach. I like to help my clients identify what is driving that pit in their stomach and, in short, coach them in attaining their goals. I also do a tremendous amount of mentorship in my therapeutic work with male teens and young adults which I enjoy greatly.

What is one thing that as frum Jews, we can do on a spiritual level to serve as a protective factor against certain stressors that occur in daily living?

I strongly believe in the correlation between strengthening one’s emunah and bitachon and the ability to cope with life’s challenges. This is not new information, of course, but the power of peace of mind which follows studying works of emunah and bitachon is tremendous. Chovos HaLevavos certainly talks about bitachon being a cure for anxiety, or a way to achieve tranquility and peace mind. Additionally, the Chazon Ish, in his sefer Emunah u’Bitachon, states that “the role of bitachon should guide his actions, heal, and soothe him,” in speaking of one who faces a challenging situation in life. We are raised with these concepts as frum Jews, however, there are times, as humans, it slips away from us and we need to gauge where our levels of faith truly reside.

Other than working in your professional practice, do you have any upcoming endeavors with regard to your therapeutic work in the community?

I am beginning to run a biweekly cancer support group, starting next Thursday evening, May 10th imy”H, for adult men- both cancer patients and survivors alike. Once I establish a following and these groups gain traction, I will be conducting separate groups for parents and children of cancer.

You clearly know how to keep busy with incredible chesed for the Jewish community. Thank you so much for your time. How can the public contact you for therapy or for more information regarding your new groups?

Anyone can call or text message me at 732 597 2892. I also utilize email as a form of contact and welcome anyone to communicate with me that way as well: [email protected]. Have a blessed day.