Have you ever stopped to think: “How do my personality and life story shape my dating experiences? What do I really want out of a relationship? Why can’t I find the right person to spend the rest of my life with (or, for those who think they have found Mr. or Ms. Right, how do I know if I’ll be happy with this person)?
On the weekend of Shabbos Nachamu, July 31-August 2, when the Journeys program for Orthodox singles, ages 25 to 35, officially launches, participants will begin to learn the answers to these questions and more. The retreat–complete with gourmet cuisine, a Top-Chef competition, and a Soul Farm kumzitz–will be held on a lush, seven-acre private estate in Wesley Hills, New York, that includes a beautiful botanical garden and swimming pool. It promises to be the perfect backdrop for Journeys’ life-changing workshops, run under the auspices of “Breakthrough Worldwide”– a refreshing new groundbreaking organization that already boasts nine participant engagements/marriages. Prior to the retreat, Breakthrough will be running a series of workshops for singles and community educators in Los Angeles’ Pico Shul, July 17-19, during a weekend made possible by Rabbi Yonah and Rachel Bookstein, J-Connect and the Alevy Family Foundation.
“I’m often asked what motivated me to start Breakthrough,” notes Founder and Director Shira Strassman. “ It was Divine Intervention, in the summer of 2012, that led me to meet relationship expert Leonard Carr, in the midst of a serious-relationship-gone-sour. His timely and sage advice was both life-saving and perception-altering in so many ways. Couple that paradigm shift with my continuous struggle to find Mr. Right, and voila! It was a recipe for some major soul-searching which–unbeknownst to me at the time–planted the seeds for Breakthrough.”
Carr, a clinical psychologist whose corporate clients include: Barclay’s, Toyota E. Africa and Deutsche Bank, had developed an integrated approach to relationships that is truly a game-changer. He garnered international media attention for his influential analyses in the Oscar Pistorius trial, and for his forensic work in other high-profile court cases. His wealth of knowledge in Torah and psychology combines to form a profound and relevant methodology, which he calls the “Appreciative Approach.” Now, with his help, Breakthrough Worldwide is changing the landscape of Jewish dating and bringing new possibilities to a population which has been known to feel “stuck” in their singlehood. Carr will be flying in from South Africa to lead various skill-building workshops at the Journeys retreat.
The luxurious Shabbos Nachamu weekend will be hosted by the Lichtenstein family. Shiffy Lichtenstein, a life coach, has played a major role in the development of the Journeys program. After realizing that “singles need more than just a common space to mingle,” she joined in Breakthrough’s effort to create a program that would imbue singles with practical tools to apply in their real-life dating scenarios, and effectively lead them on a path toward a lasting, committed, healthy relationship.
Best of all, Breakthrough works. One former participant, who has married since attending a Breakthrough event last year, remarked, “I wanted to break the dating pattern I had created. Leonard helped me learn what my needs were in a relationship and how to become attracted to the right guy who could meet those needs. Within just months, I was able to date with confidence and not waste time on men who were like all the men I dated in the past, who were not right for me. When my husband approached me, it was Leonard’s lessons that gave me the gift of clarity that he was the man I would marry on just our third date! I made my “breakthrough” at last!”
Fellow Breakthrough participant, newlywed Rabbi Baruch Freedman, concurs regarding the effectiveness of the program: “One of the things that Mr. Carr pointed out, that I realize is very universal in its challenge, is the problem of being emotionally open. We struggle with accomplishing it. We struggle with defining it. This leads to us being unable to grow the relationship roadmap past the most concrete parts of “family, accomplishments and cursory interests”. Basically one of the primary challenges we face is how to make sure date 9 and date 2 are not the same. And date 19 better not be the same as date 9–otherwise we are dating wrong…He helped clarify those challenges and some of the roadblocks in the way, and gave some nice conversation tools to help overcome those hurdles.”
With the launch of the Journeys program, Breakthrough is ready and able to take marriage-minded singles to the next level—and this revolutionary organization is excited, G-d willing, to play a major role in many more engagements to come.
The subsidized cost of the Journeys Shabbos Nachamu retreat is $499, which includes a 6-week e-course taught remotely by Leonard Carr. For further information about both the NY and LA events, visit www.BreakthroughWorldwide.com or call (516) 595-9498, or email: Info@breakthroughworldwide.com.
